How to Choose the Right B2B eCommerce Platform: Expert Tips for 2025 

Choosing an ecommerce platform is one of the most important strategic moves for any B2B company, especially in a landscape where digital transactions are becoming the norm. In 2025, it's projected that 80% of all B2B sales interactions will occur via digital channels, a significant increase from 30% in previous years. This shift underscores the importance of selecting a platform that aligns with your business goals, innovation requirements, and budget considerations. 

The global B2B ecommerce market is experiencing growth, with valuations reaching $19.34 trillion in 2024 and expected to soar to $47.54 trillion by 2030, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.17%.  

In this environment, understanding your business context, assessing potential risks, and choosing a platform that supports your long-term strategy without leading to vendor lock-in or escalating costs is essential. This article provides a practical, step-by-step approach to ecommerce platform selection, offering expert insights and checklists grounded in real-world experience. This article provides a B2B ecommerce platform comparison to assist in evaluating the most popular solutions available. 

Want a deeper dive? Download our free Guide to Choosing an eCommerce Platform or evaluate investment risks with our eCommerce TCO Guide! 

1. FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A B2B ECOMMERCE PLATFORM
2. STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE: HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT B2B ECOMMERCE PLATFORM
3. STEP 1. DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS CONTEXT AND GOALS
4. STEP 2. UNDERSTAND YOUR RISKS OF DISRUPTION
5. STEP 3. CONSIDER YOUR BUDGET & TCO
6. STEP 4. ASSEMBLE THE RIGHT TEAM
7. STEP 5. BUILD LONG & SHORT LISTS, AND EVALUATE ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS
8. STEP 6. PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESS
9. WHY CHOOSE VIRTO COMMERCE?
10. CONCLUSION

When it comes to ecommerce platform selection, many companies focus on well-known brands or feature lists. While architecture and functionality are important, they are not the most critical criteria, especially when you’re choosing an ecommerce platform that needs to support your growth for years to come. 

At Virto, we believe successful selection starts with aligning the platform to your business context, not the other way around. That means looking beyond checklists and considering three key dimensions that shape your long-term success: 

• Disruption risk: How urgently do you need innovation to stay competitive? If your market is evolving fast, choosing a flexible platform is essential. 

• Investment readiness: What resources — time, budget, and talent — are you prepared to invest over the next 3–5 years? A solid budgeting strategy helps you avoid costly surprises. 

• Platform capabilities: Instead of focusing solely on out-of-the-box features, evaluate the platform’s technical maturity and adaptability. Can it scale with your business, integrate with your tech stack, and support improvements 

Importantly, a platform’s current limitations don’t have to be a barrier. As Virto’s co-founder Evgeny Grigul highlights, in truly flexible systems, capability is something that can be developed, not a restriction. The real challenge lies not in what the platform can’t do today, but in whether its architecture allows you to evolve without hitting costly roadblocks. In digital commerce, agility is often the deciding factor between disruption and leadership. 

These factors form the foundation of smart platform decisions. If you’re looking for practical tips on B2B ecommerce success, start by matching your platform to your strategic reality. 

The first step in choosing an ecommerce platform is not about features or vendors — it’s about understanding your own business. Before exploring solutions, take time to define the role digital commerce should play in your broader strategy. 

Outline Desired Outcomes: Clearly define what you aim to achieve with digital commerce, be it expanding into new markets, reducing costs, or improving customer experience. For example, the global B2B ecommerce market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.5%, reaching $36 trillion by 2026. Positioning your business within this expanding market requires clear objectives.  

Assess Market Position: What are your competitors doing in digital commerce, and where do you need to catch up — or leap ahead? This context will help clarify whether innovation is a nice-to-have or a strategic necessity.  

Financial Commitment: Consider your investment capacity over the next few years and the expected return. Thinking in terms of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), rather than just upfront costs, helps avoid unexpected expenses. The total cost structure for B2B platforms includes platform licensing fees, deployment and hosting, data migration, third-party integrations, user experience development, training, and maintenance. 

Define Core Platform Requirements: Establish key requirements early on, such as the expected scale of operations, preferred deployment models, integration needs, and compliance constraints. For instance, if your business anticipates significant growth, selecting a platform that can scale accordingly is crucial.  

Identify Current Challenges: Reflect on existing pain points. Are manual workflows causing delays? Is your team struggling to personalize the buyer experience or meet customer expectations? Identifying these challenges will guide you toward solutions that address specific issues.  

Tip: Refer back to these goals throughout the whole selection process. A good vendor should align with your business — not the other way around. 

One of the most important drivers behind choosing ecommerce platforms today isn’t functionality — it’s survival. 

The B2B landscape is shifting rapidly. A recent report indicates that 83% of senior executives rank innovation among their organizations' top three priorities. However, only 3% of companies qualify as "innovation ready," highlighting a gap between recognizing the importance of innovation and being prepared to implement it effectively. This disparity underscores the risk of being outpaced by more agile competitors who are better positioned to capitalize on digital transformation. 

So how do you know if you're at risk? 
 

Look Inside Your Business 

Start by asking a few tough questions: 

• Has your ecommerce revenue flatlined or stayed under 10%? 

• Have you gone a year or more without launching a new digital feature? 

• Does your team avoid using or talking about your current platform? 

• Are you unsure how your customers interact with your ecommerce site? 

If you answered “yes” to any of these, it’s a strong signal that your current solution may already be slowing you down. 

Watch What Competitors Are Doing 

Even if your platform seems stable today, disruption often starts with small signals in the market: 

• Your competitors are investing in new digital tools or platforms. 

• They're building new self-service features, integrations, or mobile channels. 

• Their messaging is shifting toward digital-first customer experiences. 

These are signs that innovation is already part of their strategy — and may soon be part of your threat landscape. 

Listen to Your Customers 

Sometimes, it’s not the competition, it’s your customers who lead the change: 

• They’re using digital-born services alongside your offerings. 

• They’re shopping more often through marketplaces. 

• They share positive experiences with third-party ecommerce providers. 

If your buyers are quietly moving toward faster, smarter, more convenient options, the disruption has already happened. 

Bottom line? If you’re seeing any of these warning signs, now is the time to act. When you're thinking about how to choose the best ecommerce platform, prioritize innovation readiness. It could mean the difference between gaining ground or losing it. 

Choosing an ecommerce platform isn’t just about upfront costs, it’s about long-term sustainability. That’s why understanding your TCO is a critical part of the selection process. TCO includes everything you’ll invest in over time, such as: 

• Initial implementation and configuration 

• Licensing or subscription fees 

• Ongoing maintenance and operations 

• Future upgrades and innovation 

Two platforms may appear similar on the surface, but differ dramatically when it comes to required resources, development effort, and team size. For example, platforms with rigid architectures may need larger technical teams and costly customizations, while modular, API-first solutions are often more resource-efficient. 

Tip: Engage technical experts early to assess real-world costs beyond vendor promises. 

Plan for the Cost of Innovation 

Innovation isn’t a one-time project, it’s a continuous journey. And depending on the platform you choose, the cost of evolving your solution can either stay predictable –– or spiral. 

So, how to choose the best ecommerce platform with innovation in mind? Look for signs of cost efficiency and technical agility, such as: 

• Small team size for implementation and maintenance 

• Fast onboarding (e.g., 2 weeks or less for new developers) 

• Monthly release cycles and rapid feature delivery 

• Ability for separate teams to deploy independently 

• Low overhead for scaling to new regions or business units  

• Reusable features across regions at minimal migration cost 

• Linear scalability, where resource costs grow with usage, not complexity 

If your shortlisted solution meets most of these conditions, you’re far more likely to sustain innovation over time without ballooning costs. 

Tip: Most vendors won’t highlight these details in sales pitches. That’s why it’s crucial to involve independent technical reviewers or consultants to evaluate the platform’s architecture and scaling model before you choose an ecommerce vendor. 

Before diving into vendor demos or comparing features, make sure you have the right people at the table. B2B ecommerce projects are rarely just about technology — they succeed (or fail) based on collaboration between business, technical, and operational teams. 

The process of choosing an ecommerce platform and implementing it requires diverse expertise across multiple phases, from early evaluation to post-launch scaling. 

At a minimum, your team should include: 

• A project sponsor – a senior leader who owns the business outcome and ensures alignment with company goals. 

• A product owner – the internal champion responsible for translating business needs into platform requirements. 

• Technical experts – solution architects or engineers who evaluate architecture, integrations, and scalability. 

• Subject matter experts – stakeholders from sales, marketing, operations, or finance who understand process needs and pain points. 

These roles can be filled internally, supported by partners, or augmented with outside consultants. As our guide recommends, include a solution architect in all major platform decisions. They’ll help evaluate technical fit, TCO, and long-term innovation capacity beyond what sales teams promise. 

With your internal team in place and business context defined, it's time to begin evaluating ecommerce platforms. This process spans several stages, from casting a wide net to selecting a strategic partner that fits your roadmap, team, and growth model. 

Start with a Long List 

Avoid jumping straight to the most recognizable brands. Some of the best-performing platforms, especially in B2B, are underrepresented in analyst reports but excel in innovation, flexibility, and long-term cost efficiency. 

To build a smart long list, combine sources like analyst reports (e.g., Gartner, Forrester, IDC), peer and partner recommendations, case studies etc.  

Tip: Platforms that show up across multiple credible sources—analyst reports, referrals, and real-world use cases—are strong candidates for your shortlist. 

Shortlist and Engage Vendors with an RFI 

Once you’ve identified a range of potential platforms, the next step is to filter the list based on business alignment, not just feature sets. This is where many companies go wrong — evaluating platforms based on outdated checklists or vague demos. 

Instead, create a business-context-driven RFI that clearly outlines your business goals and expected outcomes, key platform requirements (integrations, scale, compliance), etc. Ask vendors to respond with detailed inputs, not generic marketing copy, including timelines, diagrams, and past case studies that mirror your use case. 

Evaluate Vendors in Depth 

Once you’ve narrowed the field to 2–3 serious contenders, it’s time for a deeper technical and strategic review. Collaborate with vendors to resolve uncertainties, test assumptions, and validate capabilities. 

Involve your solution architect and business owners throughout the process to ensure both the technical and operational needs are considered equally. 

Tip: Our guide recommends keeping your shortlist to 2–3 vendors max. More than that creates unnecessary complexity and delays decisions. 

Common Platform Types by Strategic Fit 

Here’s a high-level look at how different platform types align with business needs: 

• SAP Commerce Cloud (Hybris) 
  Enterprise-grade with extensive features, but high complexity and cost. Best for large enterprises with internal capacity and no urgent need for innovation. 

• Adobe Commerce (Magento) 
  Open-source and flexible in early stages, but becomes more expensive and complex as scale increases. Suited to companies preparing for digital growth—but not leading it. 

• Virto Commerce 
  Modular, headless, and built for innovation. Designed for B2B companies needing fast scalability, deep customization, and efficient cost control. 

Once you’ve selected your platform and vendor, the real work begins. Implementation is where strategy becomes reality, and in B2B, that reality can be complex. Unlike B2C, B2B ecommerce often involves tiered pricing, multiple buyer roles, contract terms, and system integrations that go far beyond the storefront. 

That’s why it’s critical to approach implementation not just as a launch project, but as the first phase of a long-term transformation. Here’s how to set your project up for success: 

Define Your MVP 

Start by scoping a Minimum Viable Product — a focused release that delivers core functionality quickly. This helps your team get value early while avoiding over-engineering upfront. 

Your MVP should answer: 

• What business processes must be digitized first? 

• Which users (internal and external) are most critical? 

• What integrations are essential from day one? 

Keep it lean, measurable, and aligned with your strategic goals. 

Analyze and Align Requirements 

Bring your internal and vendor teams together to translate your goals into concrete requirements: 

• Role-based permissions 

• Pricing logic and approvals 

• Regional catalogs or storefronts 

• Compliance and audit needs 

The more clearly these are defined upfront, the smoother development will be. 

Build, Test, and Validate 

With scope and requirements in hand, development can begin. This phase includes: 

• Backend and frontend development 

• Integration with ERP, CRM, and third-party systems 

• Performance testing at realistic volumes 

• User acceptance testing with real users and data 

Don’t skip over testing, especially in B2B, where edge cases and workflows are more complex. 

Launch and Enable Your Team 

Once your platform is ready to go live, make sure your internal team is too. Provide training, documentation, and post-launch support so everyone, from sales reps to customer service, can use the system confidently. 

You’ve chosen an ecommerce platform that fits your needs. Now it’s time to empower your organization to use it effectively! 

Plan for Continuous Innovation 

The most successful B2B ecommerce teams don’t treat launch as the finish line. They build a roadmap for future innovation, from regional expansion to feature enhancements and AI-driven personalization. 

By choosing a platform with a composable, modular architecture, you’ve already made that future more achievable. 

Tip: Align your internal and vendor teams around a quarterly innovation cadence, and revisit platform performance regularly against KPIs. 

If your business needs a flexible, scalable platform that supports continuous innovation without unpredictable costs, Virto Commerce is built for you. 

Virto is more than a B2B ecommerce solution—it’s a composable, API-first platform designed to evolve with your business. Whether you’re launching a new channel, expanding to new regions, or optimizing complex workflows, Virto gives you the tools to do it faster, smarter, and more affordably. 

What makes Virto different? 

• Modular Atomic Architecture™ – Breaks down ecommerce functionality into easily customizable components for faster innovation and future-proof flexibility. 

• Open-source accessibility – Transparent and auditable codebase, publicly available on GitHub. Your team stays in control. 

• Headless and API-first – Connects seamlessly with your existing systems through modern APIs (REST, OpenAPI, GraphQL/xAPI). Build what you need — when you need it. 

But technology is just the beginning. 

Virto’s team brings deep B2B expertise to every project. From initial platform selection to post-launch optimization, we act as a strategic partner, not just a vendor. We’ll help you assess your digital maturity, define a scalable roadmap, and implement a solution that fits your real-world operations. 

Companies that invest early in the right platform are better positioned to adapt, compete, and lead. By prioritizing innovation, aligning technology with your business goals, and choosing a solution that supports long-term scalability, you're setting the stage for sustainable digital growth. 

So, what’s the smartest path forward? 

• Assess your risk of disruption and identify how innovation can drive your advantage 

• Choose a platform that fits your business model, scale, and ambition 

• Compare options based on real-world adaptability—not just features 

• Partner with a vendor who brings not only technology, but strategic support 

If you're ready to explore modern, composable platforms and get practical guidance on your next move, we’re here to help.