How to Choose an Ecommerce Platform
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An ecommerce platform is really three products in one: a storefront, a checkout, and the plumbing behind them. The right choice depends less on feature lists and more on what you sell and how much of the plumbing you want to think about.
Shopify is the default managed storefront — it hosts your store, checkout, and payments in one platform. Big Cartel serves the other end: simple stores for independent artists and makers with a small catalog. This guide helps you figure out which end you are on.
Match the platform to your catalog
Catalog size is the fastest filter. A maker selling twenty original pieces needs a simple, affordable storefront — Big Cartel is built exactly for independent artists with a small catalog. A business with hundreds of SKUs, variants, and collections needs the product management, search, and filtering of a full platform like Shopify.
Be honest about growth. If the small catalog doubles every year, starting simple is fine as long as you know the migration point. If you already have a large catalog, do not start on a platform designed for a small one.
Follow the checkout
The checkout is where revenue happens, so evaluate it like revenue depends on it. Who processes the payment, what does the buyer see, and how much of the checkout can you customize? Shopify bundles checkout, store, and payments together, which removes integration headaches but ties you to its ecosystem.
Also check the money story: payout timing, supported payment methods, and how refunds and chargebacks work. A beautiful storefront with a painful payout process will cost you more attention than any theme ever saves.
Count the true cost of easy
Simple platforms stay affordable because they do less; full platforms earn their keep through apps and integrations. List the apps you will actually need — email marketing, reviews, shipping labels, accounting sync — and price the stack, not just the platform.
Themes deserve the same treatment. A free theme you can launch this week beats a perfect custom theme that ships in three months, but check what customization costs when the business outgrows the default look.
Think about who does the work
Managed platforms like Shopify handle hosting, security, and updates — you never touch a server. That is worth real money if you have no technical staff. The trade-off is control: you live within the platform's rules and its app store.
If you have developer help, or your needs are genuinely unusual, the managed trade-off may chafe. For everyone else, managed is the right default — your time is better spent on products and customers than on servers.
Quick checklist
- Write down your SKU count today and in two years — small catalog points to Big Cartel, large or growing to Shopify.
- Walk the checkout as a buyer: payment options, account requirements, mobile experience.
- List the apps and integrations you need and price the full stack.
- Check payout timing and how refunds and disputes are handled.
- Confirm who handles hosting, security, and updates — and what that costs you in time.
- Trial the product and inventory tools with your real catalog, not the demo data.
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