I have built and migrated eCommerce stores across WooCommerce, Magento 1, Magento 2 and custom platforms for clients in Australia, USA and UK. The platform you choose determines your development costs, your running costs, your flexibility and how painful your next migration will be. Here is an honest breakdown without vendor bias.
The most expensive mistake: Choosing a platform based on price alone, then outgrowing it in 18 months and spending 3x the original build cost on a migration. Match the platform to where you are going, not just where you are today.
WooCommerce Best for Small to Medium Stores
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that turns any WordPress site into a full eCommerce store. It is free to install, but you pay for hosting, extensions and a developer's time. Best for:
- Businesses already using WordPress for their website
- Stores with fewer than 5,000 products and moderate traffic
- Businesses that need content marketing (blog, SEO) alongside their store
- Projects with limited development budgets (£3,000–£15,000)
Limitations: WooCommerce can struggle at scale tens of thousands of products, heavy traffic and complex stock management require significant optimisation. Not ideal for multi-warehouse, B2B or complex fulfilment workflows without heavy customisation.
Magento 2 - Best for Large or Complex Stores
Magento 2 (now Adobe Commerce) is an enterprise eCommerce platform built for scale and complexity. It is the right choice for:
- Large catalogues - 10,000+ products with complex attributes and variants
- B2B eCommerce company accounts, custom pricing, quote requests, purchase orders
- Multi-store and multi-language setups from a single admin panel
- Complex fulfilment multi-warehouse, click and collect, third-party logistics integration
- High-volume stores Magento 2 handles hundreds of concurrent transactions reliably
Limitations: Magento 2 requires a skilled developer and a more capable server. Development costs are higher (£15,000–£100,000+ for a full build). Not the right choice for simple stores under 500 products.
Shopify Best for Non-Technical Founders
Shopify is the easiest platform to get started with. No hosting to manage, no server to maintain, and a large app marketplace. Best for:
- First-time eCommerce businesses that want to launch quickly
- DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands with simple product catalogues
- Founders who want to manage their store without a developer long-term
Limitations: Shopify charges transaction fees (up to 2%) unless you use Shopify Payments. Monthly platform fees ($29–$299+) add up. Customisation is limited by Shopify's Liquid template system complex custom functionality requires expensive custom apps or workarounds. You do not own your data or your platform.
Custom Build For Unique Requirements
A custom eCommerce build (React + Node.js or Laravel + a headless CMS) makes sense when your requirements cannot be met by an off-the-shelf platform subscription-based marketplaces, auction platforms, complex booking-and-purchase flows or deep integration with a proprietary system. Budget £50,000+ and 4–6 months of development time.
My Recommendation by Business Type
- Starting out, under 500 products, simple checkout: Shopify or WooCommerce
- Content-led store, WordPress already in use: WooCommerce
- Large catalogue, B2B or multi-warehouse: Magento 2
- Marketplace, subscription or highly custom logic: Custom build