E-commerce has become an indispensable part of the global economy and the number of people shopping online keeps increasing. A number of e-commerce platforms are making it possible for people to shop online.
Many of the stores on these various platforms are dropshipping businesses. Let's find out, which platforms are the best for a dropshipping business.
How to start a dropshipping business?
Dropshipping works like this. Your store lists products that you want to sell, but you don't keep these products somewhere in a warehouse. You take orders from your customers for the products which are made and stored by the manufacturer who is also responsible for shipping the product once your customer has paid for it.
Your duty as a dropshipper is to source suppliers of products you want to sell, handle your online orders, and provide customer service.
Your job as a dropshipper is to maintain an online store where you handle everything customer-related, from taking their orders, placing those orders with your supplier, and managing customer service.
This business model has attracted many people because it is easy to start and doesn't require a big investment in the beginning. But this is also the reason dropshipping is highly competitive.
How to select the most suitable platform for dropshipping?
In order to be able to select the best e-commerce platform for dropshipping, we need to decide on some criteria to measure them by. The ideal platform for dropshipping should:
- Be easy to use
- Be free or cost next to nothing
- Be integrated with all dropshipping plugins
- Scalable, allowing many products and fast loading times
- Have built-in marketing support
- Provide round-the-clock support
Let's look at some of the best e-commerce platforms for dropshipping businesses according to these criteria.
Note: look through the Cart2Cart Blog for useful tips & tricks on how to migrate data across various shopping cart solutions.
Magento
Magento is a free eCommerce platform for the open source version; the Enterprise version has a significant annual cost. One benefit of the Open Source version is that it remains free even if your business grows and revenue goes up. Compare this to other eCommerce platforms that charge a monthly fee based on your sales.
Magento has many dropshipping extensions to integrate with your store to enable your dropshipping business. Magento is a good choice for dropshipping because of its solid scalability.
Magento is a widely used platform, so there is an official forum for Magento users where help is always available.
Magento has one drawback, though: it is an advanced eCommerce platform that requires coding skills, but customization services can help bridge this gap. So if you want to start a dropshipping business and are not tech-savvy, this is not the platform for your business.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce has proven its worth in the eCommerce platform market. It is the most frequently used eCommerce platform in the world. WooCommerce is an open-source solution and is therefore scalable. It comes with many WordPress SEO features which can boost your marketing efforts. WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress, which has a significant market share of websites. WooCommerce is free to use and it's easy to install.
However, WooCommerce doesn't offer an impressive range of dropshipping plugins. On top of that, they are expensive and give users problems. So, dropshippers using WooCommerce are better off using third-party extensions.
Although WooCommerce is completely free to download and use, running it still incurs hosting and maintenance costs, which can vary.
In terms of support, you won't be left hanging. WooCommerce is widely used, so there is an extensive community of users and developers ready to support you with advice.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a hosted eCommerce platform with advanced CEO capabilities. As a scalable platform that can host stores selling hundreds to thousands of products, BigCommerce is an ideal platform for dropshipping on a large scale.
BigCommerce users have access to countless dropshipping apps and suppliers.
The platform offers great support via email, chat, phone, and forum.
Shopify
Shopify is a very popular eCommerce platform, hosting millions of eCommerce stores worldwide. This platform is known for being the go-to solution for people who want to run an online store, but do not know how to code.
Unlike the other eCommerce platforms discussed in this article, Shopify is not free. There are three paid plans, starting from around $39 and up to several hundred dollars.
If you are wondering if Shopify is good for dropshipping, consider this: Shopify's extensive App Store provides numerous powerful dropshipping integrations, making it easy to connect with suppliers and automate your business. This makes setting up and running a dropshipping business on Shopify straightforward.
One of Shopify's outstanding features is its ability to scale up when a store gets big, with loading times staying lightning-fast.
Not only is Shopify user-friendly, it also offers a lot of 24/7 support via email, phone, and chat.
Shift4Shop
Shift4Shop is an eCommerce platform that targets people who have no coding skills.
Shift4Shop offers a compelling pricing model, including a feature-rich free plan for businesses that use their in-house payment processor, Shift4 Payments. Paid plans are also available for those who prefer other payment gateways.
Shift4Shop is one of the best eCommerce platforms for dropshipping. The platform has built-in features to support dropshipping business, such as automatic emails to suppliers as soon as an order has been received. In addition, store owners have access to multiple dropshipping suppliers.
The platform offers expert support every day of the year via phone, chat, and email.
Best online platforms for dropshipping
It's not possible to choose one eCommerce platform that is better than all the others; they all enable dropshipping. The best one for your business will depend on factors unique to your business. You'll need to study each one in detail to know which one will suit your needs best.
One thing to consider is your technical skills. If you are a techie, fine, then you can go with the more advanced solutions, but if you are not, you'll need technical help and that can be costly.
It may help you to know that many consider WooCommerce and Magento among the top choices for open-source eCommerce platforms. Shopify and BigCommerce, while offering robust hosted solutions, come with subscription costs.
Are you planning to migrate your store? If you are thinking to migrate from your existing store to another one, the Cart2Cart Shopping Cart Migration tool can accomplish it for you with no fuss. Ours is an advanced automated migration tool that transfers all your data to another platform quickly and securely.
Monthly Update – December 2025
As 2025 comes to a close, the dropshipping landscape is continually evolving. This month, a key trend gaining traction is the increased adoption of AI-driven analytics for product sourcing and predictive inventory management. Dropshippers are leveraging AI to identify trending products faster, optimize pricing strategies, and anticipate customer demand with greater accuracy, significantly reducing the risks of overstocking or missing out on popular items. Furthermore, sustainable and ethical sourcing practices are no longer just a niche, but a growing expectation from consumers. Businesses that can demonstrate transparency in their supply chains and offer eco-friendly products are finding a competitive edge. Automation in customer service, through advanced chatbots and personalized outreach, is also crucial for maintaining high satisfaction levels without scaling operational costs. Focus on building strong relationships with suppliers who offer fast, reliable shipping and integrate smoothly with your chosen platform to ensure seamless order fulfillment. Looking ahead to 2026, embracing these technological shifts and consumer values will be paramount for sustained success in the dynamic dropshipping market.
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Comment by eshalboutique
Thanks for the information it helped me a lot.
Comment by Svitlana Kryskova
Hello!
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