E-commerce Platform Market Share: Evidence-Based Analysis of Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce

Platform Selection Guidance

Evidence-based decision framework for choosing the right e-commerce platform

Platform Selection Decision Framework

Choosing an e-commerce platform requires matching technical capabilities, business requirements, and growth trajectory. Here's evidence-based guidance for platform selection.

When to Choose Magento/Adobe Commerce

Ideal For:

• Enterprise B2B with complex pricing, catalogues, account hierarchies
• Multi-brand or multi-region commerce operations
• High-volume transactions (>10,000 orders/day)
• Extensive custom integrations (ERP, CRM, PIM, WMS)
• Headless/composable commerce architectures

Key Strengths:

• Unmatched flexibility and customisation depth
• Strong B2B feature set (quote management, contract pricing, approval workflows)
• Mature headless APIs and PWA capabilities
• Proven scalability for high-volume operations
• Extensive developer ecosystem and module marketplace

Considerations:

• Higher total cost of ownership (hosting, development, support)
• Requires dedicated technical team or agency partnership
• Longer implementation timelines (3-12 months typical)
• Steeper learning curve for developers and administrators

ROI Expectation: Positive for businesses with >£5M annual online revenue or complex B2B requirements

When to Choose Shopify/Shopify Plus

Ideal For:

• SMB to mid-market B2C retailers
• Rapid time-to-market requirements (launch in weeks, not months)
• Teams without dedicated technical resources
• Multi-channel selling (online + social + marketplaces + POS)
• Subscription or recurring revenue models

Key Strengths:

• Fastest time-to-market (weeks vs months)
• Lowest total cost of ownership for standard use cases
• Best-in-class hosting and performance out-of-box
• Extensive app ecosystem for feature extension
• Excellent developer experience and documentation

Considerations:

• Customisation depth limited compared to Magento (particularly for B2B)
• Transaction fees on non-Shopify Payments (removed on Shopify Plus)
• App costs can accumulate (£500-£2,000/month typical for mature stores)
• Platform lock-in (data portability requires effort)

ROI Expectation: Positive for nearly all SMB and mid-market B2C retailers; Shopify Plus viable for enterprises up to £50M revenue

When to Choose WooCommerce

Ideal For:

• Small businesses with budget constraints
• WordPress-first content and commerce strategies
• Simple product catalogues (<1,000 SKUs)
• Low to moderate transaction volumes (<500 orders/day)
• Teams already familiar with WordPress ecosystem

Key Strengths:

• Lowest upfront cost (open source, free core)
• Seamless WordPress content + commerce integration
• Massive plugin ecosystem for feature extension
• Full control over hosting and customisation

Considerations:

• Scalability limitations become apparent at moderate volumes
• Security and maintenance burden on merchant
• Requires technical expertise for optimal performance
• Total cost of ownership increases with growth (plugins, hosting, support)

ROI Expectation: Positive for businesses <£1M annual online revenue; consider migration beyond £5M

When to Choose Headless/Composable Commerce

Ideal For:

• Enterprises with dedicated engineering teams
• Omnichannel commerce across multiple touchpoints
• Brands requiring cutting-edge front-end experiences
• Organisations with existing commerce logic requiring flexible presentation layer

Key Strengths:

• Maximum flexibility in front-end design and technology choices
• Best possible performance (Core Web Vitals, page speed)
• Independent scaling of front-end and back-end
• Technology stack future-proofing

Considerations:

• Requires significant technical investment
• Longer implementation timelines
• Higher ongoing maintenance burden
• Need for front-end and back-end expertise

ROI Expectation: Positive for enterprises with >£20M revenue and strategic technology differentiation goals

Platform Selection Matrix

Migration Timing Considerations

Migrate Now If:

• Current platform cannot meet performance requirements (Core Web Vitals, page speed)
• Platform approaching end-of-life (e.g., Magento 1)
• Hitting hard scalability limits (transaction volume, catalogue size)
• Total cost of ownership exceeds platform value

Delay Migration If:

• Current platform meeting business requirements
• Major feature launches or peak seasons imminent
• Team lacks bandwidth for migration project
• Budget constraints prevent proper migration investment

Migration Budget Expectations:

• SMB → SMB: £10k-£50k (e.g., WooCommerce → Shopify)
• Mid-Market → Mid-Market: £50k-£200k (e.g., Magento 1 → Magento 2)
• Enterprise → Enterprise: £200k-£1M+ (e.g., Legacy → Headless Magento)
• Architecture Shift: £500k-£2M+ (e.g., Monolithic → Composable Commerce)

Key Recommendations

1. Align platform to growth trajectory: Choose platform that supports 3-5 year roadmap, not just current needs
2. Evaluate total cost of ownership: Consider licensing, hosting, development, support, and app/extension costs
3. Assess technical capabilities: Match platform complexity to available technical resources (in-house or agency)
4. Prioritise performance: Platforms with native performance advantages (Shopify, headless) reduce ongoing optimisation burden
5. Plan for migration: All platforms have migration paths; avoid lock-in paralysis but choose deliberately

Edmonds Commerce Perspective

With 18+ years focused on Magento and PHP e-commerce, we see Magento/Adobe Commerce as optimal for:

• Enterprise B2B operations
• Complex multi-brand/multi-region scenarios
• High-volume, high-complexity transactions
• Organisations requiring deep customisation and integration

However, we actively recommend Shopify Plus for mid-market B2C brands prioritising speed-to-market, and support headless architectures (Magento + React/Next.js) for omnichannel requirements.

Platform selection should be evidence-based, not ideology-driven.