A web-based configurator tool that takes structured inputs about a user's business (product count, expected monthly revenue, technical skill level, hosting preference, multi-vendor needs, budget) and outputs a ranked platform recommendation with a transparent scoring matrix. The tool generates a live total-cost-of-ownership estimate over 12/24 months including fees, plugins, and hosting, plus a compatibility report showing which platforms best fit the user's specific stack and growth trajectory.

The ecommerce platform market has fragmented significantly in 2025-2026 with the rise of headless commerce, open-source alternatives like Medusa.js and Bagisto, and Shopify fee increases pushing merchants to actively re-evaluate options. Post-pandemic ecommerce normalization means a new wave of small businesses and solo creators are entering the market without technical backgrounds, creating massive demand for objective, unbiased decision support tools.