Illustration by Melanie Peters
This year, global ecommerce sales are expected to hit $5 trillion for the first time ever. While global ecommerce growth has been slowing as the COVID-19 pandemic eases, it’s still on an overall upward trajectory and is projected to hit more than $7 trillion by 2025.
These stats provide a look into how quickly and robustly the ecommerce industry is growing. They also show how much competition is entering the global ecommerce space.
If you want to stay ahead of the competition and snag a healthy portion of that multitrillion-dollar pie, you have to invest in a reliable and scalable enterprise ecommerce tool.
This article will cover everything you need to know about enterprise ecommerce tools and help you select the right one for your ecommerce enterprise.
Top enterprise ecommerce platform picks
What is an enterprise ecommerce system?
An enterprise ecommerce system is a comprehensive software that helps large businesses operate online and grow sales efficiently. An excellent enterprise ecommerce solution will help large business owners make more sales, manage inventory, and track customers, and will provide solutions to streamline operations.
Enterprise ecommerce systems differ from smaller ecommerce platforms because they’re built for high-volume and high-growth companies.
“Enterprise-level ecommerce platforms offer a high degree of scalability. As businesses grow, they need an ecommerce platform that can handle increased traffic and transactions. Enterprise-level platforms are built on a robust infrastructure that can support a large number of users and transactions,” says Will Yang, head of growth at Instrumentl.
As such, enterprise software typically has more features, is highly customizable, and integrates with other essential ecommerce tools and ERP systems.
Features business owners should look for in a top enterprise ecommerce system include:
What are the main advantages of enterprise-level ecommerce platforms?
Smaller ecommerce platforms are designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that don’t see high traffic volumes and don’t capture hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in sales.
If you’re running a small ecommerce store and only manage a handful of sales every day, there are plenty of ecommerce solutions that will suit your needs.
But, as soon as your business starts to grow, it’s essential to migrate from your legacy or small ecommerce platform to an enterprise platform that can adequately handle the volume of an enterprise ecommerce business.
Think of it like hosting an event. If you’re hosting a small dinner party for your work friends, you can invite your guests into your home and provide a wonderful experience. If you’re hosting a gala for your industry, your home won’t do. To accommodate your needs and the needs of your guests, you need to rent a large, classy event space.
“The main benefit of being an enterprise-level ecommerce platform is the bandwidth to cater to any ecommerce business, regardless of size, and help them scale,” says Gabrielle Wooden, senior content marketing manager at Tapcart.
But providing enough bandwidth to keep your site up and running during traffic surges isn’t the only benefit of enterprise-level ecommerce platforms.
“The main advantage of enterprise-level ecommerce platforms is that they are scalable and can grow with your business. They offer features that are not available in the free software. They also have integrations and partnerships with other vendors,” said Krittin Kalra, founder of Writecream.
“Enterprise-level platforms offer a wide range of features and functionality, from sophisticated search and navigation to powerful marketing and merchandising tools. This allows businesses to tailor their ecommerce solutions to their specific needs and requirements,” adds Will Yang.
“These platforms also offer excellent security and compliance features. This is essential for businesses that handle sensitive customer data or are subject to industry regulations.”
Types of enterprise ecommerce software
To understand the different types of ecommerce solution options (and pick the right one), it’s first essential to understand the technical, behind-the-scenes aspects of what is required to run an online store effectively.
All ecommerce stores need:
The different types of enterprise ecommerce software solutions simply refer to how many of these tasks you want to build, maintain, and manage yourself.
Let’s take a look at the three main types of enterprise ecommerce solutions.
1. What is a SaaS enterprise ecommerce solution?
SaaS stands for software-as-a-service. Enterprise ecommerce solutions are one type of SaaS solution. There are also SaaS solutions for marketing, advertising, sales management, customer management, operations, and analytics.
SaaS is growing rapidly in popularity across all industries. In fact, Statista reports the SaaS industry will exceed $100 billion by the end of this year.
It makes sense why SaaS is growing so rapidly. It’s popular among non–technically trained business owners and ecommerce merchants because it does the hard work from a single platform.
With a SaaS enterprise ecommerce solution, you rent your server space and the SaaS solution manages everything. This means you don’t have to go outside of the SaaS platform to get hosting, secure your website, comply with PCI standards, maintain your platform, or manage the uptime of your site.
A SaaS enterprise ecommerce solution also provides quick and easy front-end functionality. You can design your store, set up your shopping cart, add your products, and flesh out your product pages from within the platform.
But that’s not all. A SaaS platform also helps you manage your back-end operations, so you can track, store, and manage orders from within the platform.
In essence, a SaaS solution takes the technical DIY out of the equation and does it for you. The one tradeoff is you have less back-end and code-level control.
2. What is a headless enterprise ecommerce solution?
A headless ecommerce enterprise solution is a type of SaaS solution and smart innovation in commerce tech. All headless ecommerce solutions are SaaS, but not all SaaS ecommerce platforms are headless.
With a headless ecommerce solution, you get similar hosting and back-end functionality to a traditional enterprise ecomm SaaS tool. For example, it will provide PCI compliance, inventory management, and tight security.
The difference is that it decouples the front-end and back-end architectures and offers more flexibility to customize the front-end experience, or “the head.”
“We’re seeing many companies choose a headless ecommerce solution because it allows them to create unique, rich experiences for their customers. By using a headless solution, they benefit from a faster site, omnichannel capabilities, and deeper personalization,” says Lidia Infante, senior SEO manager at Sanity.
“Headless platforms are essential for DTC brands, in particular, who use digital experiences to communicate their values and build strong relationships with their customers in a highly competitive landscape.”
A headless SaaS ecommerce solution is an excellent choice for enterprises that:
3. What is an open source enterprise ecommerce solution?
Open source ecommerce enterprise solutions are open to anyone and sometimes free to download and use. The caveat is you have to do a lot of the coding yourself to create and customize your store.
“There are some great advantages to leveraging an open source ecommerce platform like Adobe Commerce, formerly Magento. Ultimately, open source gives you complete control. Although, this control comes at a cost financially and it’s resource-intensive,” says ecommerce consultant Elliott Davidson.
“Additionally, with a platform like Shopify Plus, you don’t need to do regular software updates to prevent security risks. Shopify Plus takes care of this for you. To protect you against security risks from an open source perspective, you’ll have to either hire an agency on retainer or take this in-house.”
Using an open source platform may be a good option for highly skilled coders, but it’s crucial to remember you don’t get the same all-in-one functionality that you get with a SaaS solution. You’ll have to purchase and manage any third-party apps, add-ons, or extensions you use to run your store. You also have to pay for licensing, design, hosting, maintenance, and PCI compliance.
“The TCO [total cost of ownership] from an open source platform can be very costly and tends to be more expensive than the SaaS counterpart,” says Davidson. “You really have to ask yourself if you even need this extra control. In most cases the answer is no.”
Top 5 enterprise ecommerce software solutions
1. Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is a headless enterprise ecommerce SaaS platform used by more than 10,000 enterprises across 175 countries to host ecommerce businesses. Shopify Plus is built with scalability in mind and it’s flexible, quick-to-launch, and affordable.
Since it’s a headless ecommerce SaaS platform, it does the heavy lifting on the back end. It also allows you to change the front end of your store with ease whenever you see fit.
Brands using Shopify Plus include Staples, Heinz, Allbirds, Magnolia, Rebecca Minkoff, and Steve Madden.
Top Shopify Plus features
Top Shopify Plus features include:
Shopify Plus pros and cons
Pros: Shopify Plus is touted for being a fully hosted, headless ecommerce platform that is easy to navigate and streamlines commerce operations. It is the perfect tool for omnichannel commerce and has hundreds of extensions and plug-ins to help enterprises customize their store. Shopify Plus also has dedicated, 24/7 support. Best of all, Shopify Plus is incredibly reliable, stable, and can support unlimited growth.
Cons: Since Shopify Plus is a fully hosted SaaS tool, there is limited flexibility for coding. Shopify Plus doesn’t allow for open-source alterations to code or build modules from scratch. It does, however, allow for extensions and app integrations.
What customers are saying about Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus has a 4.8 star rating on Capterra. Customers love Shopify Plus for its scalable architecture, ability to boost conversions, and its comprehensive RESTful API.
Capterra reviewer Greg H. gave this verified review:
“Shopify Plus has been a game changer for us. Conversion rates improved 50% after deployment. Site speed is phenomenal, the dashboards are great, uptime is great, and access to the app catalog cuts development time down to a matter of days. We have deployed more features and services in less than a year, something which would have taken multiple years at 3-4x the cost on our prior platform.”
2. BigCommerce Enterprise
BigCommerce is an open SaaS ecommerce solution that combines SaaS and API-enabled openness, making it a highly flexible platform to help you customize your store. BigCommerce is another platform that is designed to help you scale quickly and reach an international market.
Top brands using BigCommerce include MitoQ, Solo Stove, Skullcandy, Uplift Desk, and Burrow.
Top BigCommerce features
BigCommerce pros and cons
Pros: BigCommerce is another commonly used enterprise platform that is well-suited for businesses of all sizes. It’s possible to start with BigCommerce as a smaller enterprise and grow on the platform with ease. It also has inclusive features in its entry-level product options, making it easy to add and manage items in your product catalog.
Cons: Some customers complain about the high price point for the number of features, and that the support team doesn’t often have the answers to technical questions.
What customers are saying about BigCommerce
While this platform has a lower overall rating than Shopify Plus on G2 and Capterra, it still has mostly positive customer reviews. G2 gives it a customer rating of 4.2 and Capterra rates it with 4.4 stars out of 5.
BigCommerce user Roland B. provided this feedback on Capterra:
“Pros: Very easy set up. Once you or your client chooses a theme it is a pretty straight forward process getting your store online. Cons: I would say the thing I liked least is not having some sort of builder for basic web pages. Too much customization needs to go into creating custom category pages.”
3. Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce, the artist formerly known as Magento, is a multi-channel enterprise ecommerce solution that helps its customers optimize across the digital shelf. Adobe Commerce is a highly flexible platform with an adequate price point.
Brands that use Adobe Commerce include Conn’s Home Plus, Claire’s, DISH, Pearson, Cora, and The Walt Disney Company.
Top Adobe Commerce features
Here are the top features of Adobe Commerce:
Adobe Commerce pros and cons
Pros: Adobe Commerce is one of the largest open source ecommerce software solutions on the market. This means it’s highly flexible and you can customize it however you like.
Cons: Since Adobe Commerce is open source, you have to be an excellent developer to get the most out of it. You’ll also be responsible for updates, PCI compliance, and everything else a SaaS solution would handle for you. It can also be more expensive, depending on what integrations you need.
What customers are saying about Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce has a 4.0 rating on G2 and a 4.3 rating on Capterra. Customers who are skilled developers tend to review the software positively, but also point out that development costs can be expensive, and there are more cost-effective options.
Here is what Capterra reviewer Lena V. said:
“Pros: I like how everything I need is easily accessible through the software, I don’t have to integrate a lot of different things to have a fully functional store. Cons: Sometimes some of the setup can be a bit difficult and the pricing could be more competitive.”
4. Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce Commerce Cloud is an enterprise ecommerce solution that helps its clients with omnichannel order management. The platform is flexible and provides an accurate and detailed view into inventory from a single platform.
Recognizable brands using Salesforce Commerce Cloud include Amazon, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Comcast, FedEx, and LVMH Group.
Top Salesforce Commerce Cloud features
Salesforce Commerce Cloud pros and cons
Pros: Salesforce Commerce Cloud is one of many Salesforce products, and it integrates well across its other solutions. The platform has several features and can help you streamline and optimize the sales funnel.
Cons: Since Salesforce Commerce Cloud is so robust, it can also be challenging to learn and complicated to manage. You need to be highly tech-savvy to get the full benefits of the platform.
What customers are saying about Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Customers rate Salesforce Commerce Cloud with 4.2 stars on G2 and 4.3 stars on Capterra. Customers typically like its many features and robust functionality, but complain it can be buggy and difficult to digest all of the information.
Here’s what Capterra reviewer Leticia L. said about Salesforce Commerce Cloud:
“Pros: It has many features, is very detailed, and can help you in every part of the sales funnel. It has a good integration with other apps, but you need a team to make it happen faster. Cons: Because it is so detailed, it is sometimes difficult to have quick information in the palm of your hand, especially when providing dashboards and reports.”
5. Oracle Commerce
Oracle Commerce is a cloud-based ecommerce platform, designed for businesses of all sizes. It helps businesses simplify their tech stack by connecting customer, sales, financial, and operational information together.
Top companies using Oracle Commerce are Banco Nacional, Bruno Fritsch, Carmen Steffens, Groupo Universal, and Delly’s Food Service.
Top Oracle Commerce features
Oracle Commerce pros and cons
Pros: Oracle Commerce has good out-of-the-box features that help you get your site up and running quickly. This includes content management, product recommendations, and subscription management.
Cons: This tool is not as comprehensive as other tools on the market and can sometimes be outdated. It can also be challenging to fully customize your store.
What customers are saying about Oracle Commerce
Out of the top five enterprise ecommerce tools listed, Oracle Commerce has the lowest reviews on G2 and Capterra. It has 3.7 stars on Capterra and 4.3 on G2.
A front-end developer, Edwin Alexander O., said this on G2:
“It allows a great personalization of the store since it uses technologies such as Knockout, RequireJS and LESS, if we combine this with the modularity that the platform possesses, we find a fairly powerful formula for your ecommerce…One of the biggest problems that the platform has is that the documentation is too much and it is not correctly classified making it take hours to find the solution to a problem, you always have the support by chat, but usually they direct it to the documentation which is very confusing.”
How to choose an enterprise ecommerce software
There are several excellent enterprise ecommerce platforms on the market. The platform you choose for your business will depend on how big your company is, how experienced you are with coding, what your needs are, and how fast your store will grow.
“To choose the right enterprise ecommerce software, start by evaluating your needs and objectives. Once you clearly understand what you need, you can begin researching different platforms,” says Instrumentl’s Will Yang.
“When narrowing down your options, be sure to read online reviews and compare pricing options. You also need to make sure that the software is easy to use and can be seamlessly integrated into your existing systems. Once you’ve selected a few final candidates, take the time to test out the software before making your final decision.”
More concretely, here are some specific things to look at when choosing an ecommerce software:
When in doubt, schedule a demo
Enterprise ecommerce solutions come with many different features. If you’re still wondering what the best solution is for you, schedule a demo of your top choices.
“One of the best ways to choose an enterprise ecommerce software is to understand the benefits and drawbacks of the available options,” says Tapcart’s Gabrielle Wooden. “Scheduling software demos are an excellent way for brands to understand each software better and get a better feeling for the customer support available to brands that are new to the software.”
Upgrade to an enterprise ecommerce software
If you’re looking to boost your revenues and grow your online store, it’s essential to upgrade from a traditional ecommerce solution to an enterprise solution.
Pick a platform that is designed with trends in mind, continually innovates, and provides the support you need to meet your customers with excellent experiences—no matter where or when they shop. (We recommend Shopify Plus.)
Enterprise ecommerce software FAQ
What is an ecommerce enterprise system?
An ecommerce enterprise system (ECES) is a software solution designed specifically for large online stores (i.e., stores making more than $5 million in revenue). An ECES helps merchants manage their entire business operations, including order management, inventory control, customer relationship management, and marketing automation.
A good enterprise system includes an integrated suite of applications that helps merchants automate their business processes and streamline their workflow. The goal of a solution is to provide a single point of access to all aspects of the retailer’s business.
What is the main advantage of an enterprise-level ecommerce platform?
Ecommerce platforms are designed to streamline the entire customer experience from start to finish. They provide rich features such as inventory management, order fulfillment, abandoned cart recovery, logistics, returns, and payment processing.
There are several advantages to choosing an enterprise-grade ecommerce platform. But the main advantages include enhanced security, faster performance, better reporting, excellent integrations, and advanced analytics.
How do you know if it’s time to move from a traditional ecommerce platform to an enterprise platform?
Businesses eventually run into issues with standard ecommerce platforms when they start growing more rapidly or when they reach a gross merchandise value (GMV) of more than $5 million.
If businesses that are rapidly scaling start seeing poor site speed or can’t handle the amount of traffic they are getting, it’s time to switch from a traditional platform (e.g., Shopify) to an enterprise platform (e.g., Shopify Plus).
Additionally, if an ecommerce enterprise wants to do more with its store in terms of adding cool features, upgrading to an enterprise platform is the way to go. Enterprise ecommerce will allow for vivid imagery, background video, and cool CSS effects. These features usually take up a lot of server space. If you want your site to continue to load instantaneously and meet your business needs, it’s essential to sign up for an enterprise plan with more speed, better user experience, UX features, and improved performance.
Which platform is the best for enterprise ecommerce?
As a retailer, you want to offer your customers the best experience possible. That means having a great shopping cart software solution that allows them to easily add items to their carts and checkout without hassle.
While there are hundreds of ecommerce platforms available, the right one for you depends on your needs, budget, whether or not you have a multi-store model, and growth goals.
We suggest Shopify Plus.
Leave a Reply