These days, brick-and-mortar stores are in decline as sales on E-commerce platforms soar.

The world is shifting from walk-in boutiques to online shopping from the comfort of your own home. The numbers speak for themselves. If you are looking to open your own shop, you should have an online presence to compete effectively.

This article is for those who have done their research and want to move ahead with opening an online store. One of the hardest choices is deciding what e-commerce platform to use.

There are so many options out there, and for many non-technical people, they all seem the same. The first step to making the right decision is to understand what’s out there and the advantages of each one.

Comparing Three Types of E-commerce Platforms

There are three general types of e-commerce platforms: hosted, marketplace, and SaaS.

Let’s start by discussing hosted solutions. This involves downloading a piece of software and installing it on your own server or shared hosting account. This is the most flexible option as it gives you freedom to modify the software as needed and control performance. With this option, you avoid pigeonholes and gain freedom to process orders. The downside to this e-commerce platform is that it requires technical knowledge to set up. You also need to pay infrastructure costs. These days, however, infrastructure has become a commodity, and costs can be negligible.

Marketplace solutions, like Amazon and eBay, are the least flexible. With these solutions, you process your orders according to their rules. You’re out of business if the marketplace shuts down because you have no control over performance.

SaaS (software as a service) platforms, such as Shopify, are similar to marketplaces because you have no control over infrastructure. However, they offer a little more flexibility with template design and integrations with third-party services. While your store is separate from others who use the service, you are still dependent on that service for maintaining your site’s performance. Again, your store will only remain open as long as the e-commerce platform is a going concern.

Which platform type is best for you?

Now that you know some of the available systems, which is best for you?

If you are looking to sell as a hobby, then the marketplace or even SaaS solutions are for you. If you are looking for a long-term solution, then the hosted solution is the best option for you. Contact us, and we will show you why FutureEcom is the best hosted solution out there.