How to choose the best ecommerce platform for your online store: questions to ask vendors

In this guide, a vendor is a company that sells an ecommerce platform (software for running an online store).

Why a sales demo is not enough

An ecommerce demo shows a beautiful store with a smooth checkout. The problems show up later, for example:

• a fee on every sale, on top of the payment fee and the monthly plan,
• apps and add-ons you need for basic things, each with its own monthly charge,
• products and orders that are hard to move if you switch later.

So ask about these in writing, and ask every vendor exactly the same questions. Then you can compare their answers directly.

Before you contact any vendor

Write down your answers to these four points. They decide which questions in the checklist matter most to you.

• What you sell. Physical products, digital downloads, services or subscriptions, and roughly how many products.
• Your sales. Expected orders a month and the average order value.
• Where your customers are. Your country and theirs, the currencies and payment methods they use.
• How you deliver. Shipping carriers, local delivery, collection, or downloads.

The checklist

The questions are in three groups. Must have means a problem here can cost you sales, break tax rules, or make it costly to leave. Nice to have means it makes a real difference for many people. Optional means it only matters to some people. When you open the checklist in NeutralPick, you can move any question to a different group to match your answers above.

• Must have
• Total fees you can affordAt my expected sales, what is the total yearly cost: plan, platform fee per sale, payment fees, and any apps I'd need?Ask for a written total at your sales level. A platform fee on every sale can cost more than the monthly plan.
• Payment methods your customers useWhich payment methods work in my country and my customers' countries, and can I choose my own payment provider?Customers leave if their usual way to pay is missing. A platform's own payment service may not work in your country, and some charge extra if you use another.
• Taxes and invoices done correctlyOften required by lawDoes it calculate sales tax, VAT or GST for my country and the countries I sell to, and issue invoices or receipts that meet the rules, including e-invoicing?Tax rules for online sales differ by country and can apply when you sell abroad. The platform may calculate tax, but registering and paying is still your job. Ask your accountant.
• You can take your store with youCan I export all products, customers and orders at any time, in files other tools can open (such as CSV), and move my domain name?This is what lets you change platforms later without starting again.
• Your own domain and a secure checkoutCan I use my own domain name with a secure (https) checkout on the plan I'd buy, with no platform branding at checkout?Customers trust a checkout on your own address more.
• Nice to have
• Shipping that fits how you deliverCan it calculate shipping costs by weight or zone, print labels for my carriers, and send tracking to customers?Shipping errors cost money on every order.
• What's built in, and what needs paid appsWhich of the features I listed are built in, and which need paid apps or add-ons, at what monthly cost?Add every app you would need to the price before comparing.
• A store that works on phonesDo your example stores and checkout load quickly on a phone when we test them with a free online page-speed tool?Many customers shop on phones. Speed also depends on the theme and apps you add, so test a store like yours.
• Can be found in search enginesCan I set page titles, descriptions and addresses for products, and does it create a sitemap (a list of pages for search engines)?These basics help search engines understand your products. They don't guarantee a high position.
• Stock and variantsCan it track stock for each size or colour, and sync stock with a physical shop or marketplace if I sell there too?Overselling an item you don't have upsets customers.
• Optional
• Help when your store has a problemHow can I get help (chat, phone or email), in which languages and time zones, and is it available when my store is busiest?A broken checkout costs sales every hour.
• Several languages and currenciesCan the store show prices in other currencies and pages in other languages?Matters if you sell abroad, or if your own country uses more than one language.

Answers to look at carefully

Vendors often answer the points below in vague terms. When you get a vague answer, ask the follow-up question shown here. A vague answer often means the honest answer is "no" or "only partly".

• A low price per month. Ask for the written yearly total at your sales, with platform fees, payment fees and apps.
• "Thousands of apps". Ask: which of the features I need are built in, and what do the apps cost each month?
• "Sell anywhere". Ask: which payment methods and tax rules are handled for each country I sell to?
• Leaving later. Ask: can we export orders as well as products and customers, and move our domain?

What to do with the answers

1. Put all the vendors' answers side by side.
2. Look at the Must have questions first. If a vendor answers No to something you marked as a must-have, remove that vendor.
3. If a vendor answered "Partial" to a must-have, ask them exactly what is missing.
4. Set up a few real products in the trial of each one left and place a test order on your phone.

Why use NeutralPick to compare ecommerce platform vendors

• Every vendor answers the same questions. Each vendor gets its own private link to your checklist and answers in writing, so you can compare their answers question by question.
• All the answers in one table. You see every vendor's answer to every question side by side, instead of searching through emails and call notes.
• No vendor can pay to influence it. There are no adverts, no paid placements and no "featured" vendors. No vendor can pay to be shown to you or placed higher.
• Free, with no account. You don't need to sign up or pay anything.

Start with this checklist See an example comparison