Top 10 eCommerce Platforms for Enterprises — 2021
eCommerce has become an indispensable channel for any business with increasing online spending, which is about 21% of the total retail sales in the US. It has increased by more than 40% from last year and is expected to expand more rapidly. The software companies are evolving their products to be more agile, scalable, and secured which enables the business to launch or transform with new capabilities. The top 10 platforms are shortlisted based on industry analysts such as Gartner, Forrester, and IDC ratings
Note: Platforms such as WooCommerce, Wix, and Squarespace are very popular but they are not listed or rated by the industry analyst for enterprise adoption.
Cloud eCommerce Platforms
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Demandware was first launched in 2004, as one of the first cloud-based eCommerce platforms and later acquired by Salesforce in 2016 to become Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
“We’re poised to deliver the future of commerce by joining Demandware’s industry-leading digital commerce platform with Salesforce, the world’s #1 CRM company,” said Tom Ebling in 2016. Now, they proved it by gaining a large share of the enterprise eCommerce adoption. The major strengths of SFCC are the integration with other Salesforce products such as marketing cloud, service cloud, analytics, and slack. It brings a complete spectrum of capabilities to run a large online business globally with the required scale, security, and innovation
Adobe Commerce Cloud (Magento)
Magento was created by Roy and Yoav in 2008 as an open-source eCommerce platform. In 2011 eBay acquired Magento and later became independent in 2015. In 2018, Adobe acquired the company for $1.68 Billion and offering it as an Adobe Commerce platform.
Adobe Commerce / Magento is a completely cloud-hosted solution, open & customizable, secured, and has a large marketplace for the apps & integrations. It has an inbuilt page builder, content management, personalization, and recommendation engine. It can also integrate with different marketplaces like Amazon and can be offered as pure Headless commerce as well.
SAP Hybris
Hybris is one of the oldest software, founded in 1997 and evolved continuously over time. In 2013, SAP acquired Hybris and offered it as an SAP Commerce cloud.
SAP Hybris is most common among the enterprises which use SAP products such as ERP, Finance, Integration, and Master data management. SAP Commerce cloud offers all the standard capabilities, along with AI-driven storefronts which enables personalization and order management. It is best for the B2B business scenarios, where direct integration with SAP ERP & Finance modules enable seamless opertions.
Oracle Commerce Cloud
ATG (Art Technology Group) is another older company, which created an eCommerce package solution in the late 1990s. In 2011, the company got acquired by Oracle and organically evolved into the current offering called Oracle Commerce Cloud
Similar to SAP, Oracle Commerce Cloud can natively integrate with all other Oracle products and solutions. It has rich B2B capabilities and also D2C features with self-service tools for catalog management, workflow governance, multitier pricing, flexible subscription modules, and content management. The solution has an inbuilt CDP capability, which powers real-time personalization, identity resolution, and consumer insights.
Shopify
Shopify is a Canadian eCommerce platform provider, launched in 2006.
One of the favorite products for brands & small businesses, which brings all the fundamental commerce platform needs into one simple platform. It has nearly 1.7 billion merchants on record and is easy to configure & set up with minimum IT knowledge. Simple configurations for the storefront, readymade themes, cloud-hosted pre-built tax engine, and OOB integration with 100+ payment gateways & several shipping providers. Technically, you can launch your stores in few hours with Shopify and best for experimenting with online commerce.
Microservices eCommerce Platforms
VTEX
Founded in 2000, one of the few companies that are still operating under the same brand. They build an eCommerce platform for Walmart in 2005 and later the platform became popular in the Latin American market.
VTEX platform is built on MACH architecture — Microservices, APIs, Cloud Native, and Headless. It provides all the standard eCommerce features on the platform. The single platform offers solutions for online, omnichannel, customer service, clienteling, marketplace, and also instore POS. So, the solution is well integrated with all the services and affordable for the developing markets.
Commerce Tools
Commercetools is german-based company, which launched the product in 2006 and currently servicing more than 200 customers globally.
It is one of the earlier Headless eCommerce platforms, which is built on MACH architecture — Microservices, APIs, Cloud Native, and Headless. It is an omnichannel platform, which can bring shopping experiences across devices, wearables, social platforms, and VR/AR apps. It also provides the Merchant Center, which can enable self-service and open marketplaces with integration with leading DXP and payment providers. Interestingly, they also offer a clienteling capability for the instore sales reps integrated with the online store.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an Australia-based eCommerce platform provider, founded in 2009.
An API first, a headless platform where 90% of the data sets are exposed as APIs and has customizable storefronts. As the product is more prevalent in the south Asian markets, the platform caters to several international demands such as multiple currencies, language, and cross-border fulfillment. It has integration with top marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and also social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Skava Commerce
In 2002, Skava was founded in SFA focused on the mobile retail solution and later acquired by Infosys in 2015 to become a microservices-based eCommerce platform.
Skava is a module commerce platform built on several microservices ranging from the digital catalog, promotions, pricing, inventory, cart management, etc. The headless architecture enables the flexible customer experience across different channels such as online, social, gaming, and AR/VR apps.
Kibo Commerce
Kibo was formed in 2015 by Vista Equity Partners, merging 3 companies. Kibo has built a modern Unified Commerce platform, which provides a seamless shopping experience for the consumers.
An interesting concept of the platform is Unified Commerce, which is more than the omnichannel commerce platforms. It is a single technology stack, which caters to the needs of all different channels and still can be centrally managed & governed. The platform is built on a modern tech stack, API first, and micro services-based architecture. It is also powered by the leading AI products called Monetate and Certona.
