Whenever we begin working with a new client, one of the things that will often come up at the start of a project is “Which ecommerce platform should we be using?” Given the number of platforms that are available and the inevitable uniqueness of a client’s requirements, this can be a very challenging question to answer, particularly at the start of an engagement. Generally speaking, we’ll need to have several discovery conversations and some design sessions before we start to uncover the right platform for our client.

While we may not necessarily know which platform we’ll use at the beginning of a project, it’s always refreshing when our clients have done their homework on the subject and can ask very specific questions during discovery about how we’re helping them pick the optimal solution.

If you’re a business that’s just starting to sell online and need an ecommerce platform or if you’re a seasoned online merchant that may be looking at the current ecommerce landscape for a possible change, this article should help to give you an introduction to some of the major players. To level set on expectations – this is not a deep dive of any one platform. We’re keeping things high-level and will have follow up articles with more details on features, benefits, technology, etc.