eCommerce Software Rating Criteria
eCommerce Software Rating Criteria
eCommerce software (a.k.a., shopping cart software) comes in two primary forms: 1) fully-hosted, SaaS platforms with a monthly subscription fee, and 2) open-source platforms that are often free to use but require the user to download and install the software with a hosting service. Most of our readers use SaaS platforms for ecommerce, so the criteria below are largely geared toward evaluating these types of platforms. We make small adjustments in evaluating open-source solutions.
eCommerce software is rated on the following nine sections: Pricing, Ease Of Use, Features, Web Design, Integrations & Add-Ons, Payment Processing, Customer Service & Technical Support, User Reviews, and Security.
Each section is assigned a rating of Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor based on the outlined criteria. The overall score out of 5 stars is then based on the following general guidelines:
| Overall Score | Section Ratings |
|---|---|
| 5.0 | Majority "Excellent" and "Good", no "Poor" |
| 4.0 - 4.5 | Majority "Good" |
| 3.0 - 3.5 | Majority "Good" and / or "Fair" |
| 2.0 - 2.5 | Majority "Fair" and / or "Poor" |
| 1.0 - 1.5 | Majority "Poor" |
For more detailed information on scoring, as well as how we make recommendations based on these scores, see our Rating And Scoring System.
The following characteristics warrant an Excellent rating:
Pricing
- The price accurately reflects the value of the software at each pricing level
- Price is competitive and affordable relative to the intended customer base
- All fees and expenses are made explicitly clear prior to signup
- Industry-standard features are included within the main pricing plans
- No pressure to sign up for a long-term contract
- Discounts available (e.g., annual or multi-year subscription, education, non-profit)
- If an in-house payment processor is available, the rates and other associated costs are competitive
- Provides a free trial to test the software
Ease Of Use
- Signup and on-boarding is simple and well-guided
- Interface design is logical, intuitive, and easy to navigate
- Individual features are easy to use with self-explanatory input fields
- Balances customization capability with an accessible learning curve for beginners
- Requires little (if any) coding knowledge to use
- Provides a free trial option to test ease of use
- Offers quality and easily-searchable learning resources (e.g., demo, tutorials, in-dashboard guidance, etc.) to assist new users
- Runs smoothly with no major bugs or glitches affecting basic features
Features
- Provides a well-rounded set of built-in features that serve the intended audience
- Feature set offers good value for the price
- Features include: unlimited products/storage/bandwidth, numerous product variations, inventory management, complex coupon/discount creation, real-time shipping and tax calculation, manual order creation, advanced SEO tools, abandoned cart recovery, faceted search, and more (see Buyer’s Guide)
- Features of specialized, niche software may differ from above but still offer strong value for the price and intended customer base
- Advanced features are available at fair and competitive price points
- The majority of individual features are robust and flexible
- Feature set accommodates business growth in many areas (user seats, number of product listings, revenue, bandwidth, storage, customer support needs, etc.)
Web Design
- Provides a varied selection of modern, elegant, and functional templates
- Templates serve a wide variety of industries
- Templates are fully mobile-responsive
- Includes free templates, and/or premium templates at a competitive price
- Provides flexible, no-coding-required template customization tools
- Allows some degree of drag-and-drop layout adjustments
Note: eCommerce plugins with no web design capability of their own are given a baseline rating of Fair, provided they integrate well with quality site builders and/or CMS platforms.
Integrations & Add-Ons
- Offers a large number of integrations
- Provides a well-organized app marketplace that is easily searchable
- Offers numerous feature add-ons that complement the core feature set
- Provides a well-rounded set of widely-used third-party software integrations (e.g., accounting, shipping, POS, marketing, loyalty, etc.)
- Provides additional advanced or niche integrations
- Includes a Zapier (or another multi-app connector) integration
- Provides multiple payment gateway integrations
- Provides an open API for developers
- App store includes user reviews of integrations
Payment Processing
- Offers multiple payment processor options for a wide variety of situations (e.g., countries, business types and sizes, monthly processing volumes, average ticket sizes, risk levels, etc.)
- Offers flexibility in choosing a payment processor
- For in-house or preferred payment processors:
- Processing rates and fees are competitive with (or discounted over) industry-standard
- The processor is good quality (reliable, well-reviewed, multi-featured, etc.)
Customer Service & Technical Support
- Provides multiple avenues for personalized support (e.g., phone, email/web tickets, live chat)
- A live representative can be reached 24/7 via phone, live chat, or email/web ticket
- Company responds to support requests in a timely manner (e.g., emails within 24 hours, phone holds and live chats within minutes)
- Support representatives are knowledgeable, courteous, and able to resolve issues
- Support department has a reputation for good service, even if some complaints exist
- Provides an extensive collection of quality online self-help resources (e.g., FAQ, knowledgebase, tutorial videos, community forums, blog, etc.)
User Reviews
- The number of complaints is reasonable in proportion to company size and user base
- Complaints reference isolated, specific circumstances rather than systemic problems the company has failed to address
- Complaints are addressed publicly in a reasonable and respectful manner
- Customer feedback is taken into consideration when updating the software, which frequently renders older complaints obsolete
- A substantive number of credible positive reviews are available online from verifiable customers
- Receives mostly positive reviews/scores on trusted third-party review sites
- Positive reviews include significant detail regarding reasons for the high rating
Note: eCommerce software with very few user reviews receive a rating of Fair until more data becomes available.
Security
- The company is transparent about its security measures
- Security features include at a minimum: firewalls, virus/intrusion detection and prevention, physical security measures for data centers, site-wide SSL certificate
- Provides Level 1 PCI compliance out-of-the-box or provides a clear pathway to PCI compliance
- Maintains a long track record of no major, wide-spread security issues
- Percentage uptime is at or above industry-standard levels
- Provides updates regarding security status, planned maintenance and downtime, etc.
Note: Since the security of locally-installed software is the responsibility of the business owner, locally-installed ecommerce software receives a rating of Fair to reflect this variation.
