Launching a Product Online: How to Choose the Right E-Commerce Platform

Think of an e-commerce platform like the lease on a shop. The rent is only part of the deal. You also need to know what the landlord takes from each sale, whether the aisles are easy to walk, and whether you can move out without tearing down the walls.

Let's follow a made-up example the whole way through. Maya is a Portland maker launching a small-batch hot sauce. She expects to sell about 100 bottles a month at $40 per gift set to start. Which platform should she pick?

What does each e-commerce platform cost in 2026?

Entry-level store plans now land around $29 to $39 a month, and card processing starts around 2.9% + 30¢ per order almost everywhere. Here's what the official pricing pages showed in September 2026. Prices change, so check before you sign up.

One surprise: Shopify and BigCommerce now have nearly identical price tiers ($29 / $79 / $299 a month billed yearly). Price alone won't decide it anymore.

Where do the hidden fees hide?

The biggest hidden costs are per-sale fees on top of card processing, sales caps that force upgrades, and add-ons. Let's run Maya's numbers: 100 orders at $40 is $4,000 a month in sales.

• Card processing: 2.9% of $4,000 is $116, plus 30¢ × 100 orders = $30. That's about $146 a month on almost any platform.
• Shopify with an outside payment provider: Basic adds 2%, or another $80 a month. Using Shopify Payments avoids that fee.
• Squarespace Basic: the 2% transaction fee would also cost her $80. Upgrading to Core costs $10 more a month and drops the fee to 0%. Simple rule: if you sell more than about $500 a month, Core is cheaper than Basic.
• BigCommerce: plans are tied to sales volume. Once a store passes the cap for its plan, it has to move up a tier.
• WooCommerce: "free" isn't the same as cheap. Hosting, a few paid extensions, security and updates can cost more than Shopify Basic. You're paying for control and ownership, not savings.

Which platform fits which kind of business?

Match the platform to how your business sells, not to whichever ad you saw last. Here's our honest take, based on how each platform is built:

• Shopify: product-first brands that plan to grow, add sales channels and use lots of apps. This is where Maya lands.
• Squarespace or Wix: businesses where the story, portfolio or services come first and the shop is a small add-on, like a photographer selling prints.
• WooCommerce: owners who already run a WordPress site and want full control of their store and data.
• BigCommerce: larger catalogs or businesses selling wholesale to other businesses.

We've built stores like this ourselves. For example, we built the e-commerce store for Expert Power Wash, which sells pressure-washing equipment online. You can see more on our e-commerce service page.

Why do shoppers leave without buying, and how does your platform help?

Most carts get abandoned. Baymard Institute's average across 50 studies is 70.22% (updated September 2025). Many of those shoppers were just browsing, but the rest leave for reasons a well-built store can fix.

Every major platform can do all of this. The difference is whether someone actually sets it up. That's also the fix for a store that gets traffic but few sales, a problem we cover in why your website gets visitors but no calls.

And the opportunity is real: the US Census Bureau reports e-commerce made up 17.1% of all US retail sales in Q2 2026, up from 16.3% a year earlier.

Do you need to collect sales tax if you're in Oregon?

Not for Oregon itself, since Oregon has no general sales tax. But you may still have to collect other states' sales tax once your sales into a state pass that state's "economic nexus" limit.

Since the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair Supreme Court case, states can require out-of-state sellers to collect tax. The most common threshold is $100,000 in sales into a state over 12 months. California, New York and Texas use $500,000. Some states also count the number of orders, though several are dropping that test.

Most brand-new stores won't hit $100,000 in any one state for a while. Still, track your sales by destination state from day one, turn on your platform's tax settings, and talk to a CPA. This is general information, not tax advice.

What should be on your launch checklist?

Before you share your store link, run through this list:

• Privacy policy, terms of service, shipping policy and returns policy pages
• Contact information that's easy to find
• Tax settings turned on and reviewed
• Test orders placed, including a refund
• Checkout tested on a real phone
• Analytics (GA4 or your platform's built-in reports) and any ad pixels installed
• Alt text on product photos and readable color contrast
• A custom domain and a business email address
• A cookie consent banner if you sell to customers in the EU
• A logo, colors and fonts that look the same everywhere (see our guide to what's in a brand kit)

For privacy policy and accessibility requirements, talk to an attorney about what applies to your business.

Frequently asked questions