E-commerce platforms provide comprehensive software solutions that allow businesses to create and operate online stores without technical expertise. These platforms include website builders, product catalogs, shopping carts, checkout systems, and merchant dashboards. Modern solutions offer responsive design templates, SEO optimization, multi-channel selling, app marketplaces, and integrations with payment processors, shipping carriers, and marketing tools. They support various business models from single-product stores to large multi-vendor marketplaces.

Revenue streams include: (1) Monthly subscription fees ranging from $29-$299 based on features and sales volume, (2) Transaction fees of 0.5-2% on all sales for basic plans, (3) Payment processing fees when using native payment gateway, (4) Premium themes and templates ($150-$350), (5) App marketplace commission (20-30% revenue share), (6) Professional services for custom development, (7) Enterprise custom pricing for high-volume merchants. Many platforms offer tiered pricing with transaction fees decreasing at higher subscription levels.

• Merchant Onboarding Rate

  Number of new stores launched monthly

• GMV Growth Rate

  Month-over-month growth in total sales volume

• Platform Availability

  System uptime percentage

• Merchant Retention Rate

  Percentage of merchants renewing subscriptions

• Average Store Revenue

  Mean monthly sales per active store

• Time to First Sale

  Days from store launch to first transaction

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix eCommerce, Cafe24