Transition from SaaS platforms

Why your own online store gives your business more freedom

Ukrainian SaaS platforms for online stores, such asHoroshopandShop-Express, have become a popular solution for quickly launching online sales. They provide ready-made hosting, design templates, basic integrations, technical support, updates, and a clear start-up model without complex development.

For a small or medium-sized business, this can be a good solution at the first stage. The company quickly launches a website, adds products, connects payment, delivery, analytics and starts selling. But the SaaS model has its limitations. When a business grows, increases its catalog, develops a B2B direction, works with wholesale customers, needs complex integrations or wants to gain more control over its digital infrastructure, a standard SaaS platform may no longer be enough.

In such cases, it is worth considering switching toEvoCommerce- a platform for creating your own B2C online store, B2B portal, or a combined B2C+B2B model.

What is a SaaS platform for an online store?

SaaS is a model where a business does not fully own the software solution, but uses a ready-made platform as a service. The online store runs on the platform provider's infrastructure, and the store owner pays a regular fee for use, support, updates, hosting, and access to functionality.

This is convenient at the start, but it is important to understand the difference: a SaaS store is not entirely your own system. You work within the limits of the platform's tariffs, rules, available functionality, technical limitations, and development roadmap.

For example, Horoshop's tariff model includes a usage fee, a limit on the number of products and orders, and if these parameters are exceeded, the tariff may be recalculated after the end of the billing period. Shop-Express also has a tariff plan with monthly or annual payments, limits on the number of products and disk space.

What are the limitations of SaaS platforms?

SaaS platforms have many advantages, but they are designed as a one-size-fits-all solution for a wide range of customers. Because of this, businesses often face limitations when they need custom logic.

Main limitations of SaaS platforms:

• availability of monthly or annual payment;
• dependence on the tariff plan;
• restrictions on the number of goods;
• restrictions on the number of orders or resources;
• code access restrictions;
• inability to deeply change the platform architecture;
• dependence on ready-made functionality;
• limitations in non-standard integrations;
• limited flexibility for complex B2B processes;
• inability to fully adapt the system to the internal business logic.

This doesn’t mean that SaaS platforms are bad. They’re useful for a quick start, testing a niche, or launching a standard online store. But if a company wants to build its own commerce system for years to come, it needs more freedom.

Horoshop and Shop-Express: what they bring to business

Horoshop and Shop-Express are Ukrainian SaaS solutions focused on quickly launching online stores. They have ready-made templates, hosting, SSL, integrations with payments, shipping, marketing tools, and support.

Horoshop lists features for B2C stores on its pricing page, including multilingualism, mobile version, product variants, product import, Google Analytics, GTM, Facebook Pixel, integration with Nova Poshta, online payments, and PRRO. Shop-Express also offers ready-made tariffs, hosting, support, SSL, multilingualism, your own domain, unlimited managers, and a number of integrations.

This is a good set for a standard online store. But for a business that wants to go beyond the typical catalog, the question arises: is a SaaS platform enough for a full-fledged digital transformation of sales?

Restrictions on the number of goods and tariffs

For companies with a large catalog, it is important to consider tariff restrictions.

Horoshop has limits on products and orders on lower tariffs. For example, a tariff with a payment of 288 UAH per month when paying for a year has a limit of 1000 products and 1000 orders per month, and if the number of products or orders is exceeded, the tariff may be recalculated. On higher tariffs, Horoshop shows higher limits, in particular options up to 50,000, 100,000, 150,000, 200,000 or 250,000 products, but this is a different level of cost.

In Shop-Express, the tariff table also contains restrictions on the number of products: 2,500 products in Basic, 25,000 in Optimal, 50,000 in Pro and B2B. The monthly payment is indicated as 350, 750, 1,500 and 2,000 UAH respectively, and when paying for the year - 280, 600, 1,200 and 1,600 UAH per month.

For a small store, such limits may be acceptable. But for a business with a large catalog, a large number of modifications, suppliers, warehouses, language versions, B2B prices, and complex integrations, the pricing model can become a limiting factor.

Why your own platform gives you more control

EvoCommerce differs from a SaaS platform in that the business receives not just access to the service, but its own e-commerce system, which can be developed to meet the specific needs of the company.

On EvoCommerce you can create:

• B2C online store;
• B2B portal;
• combined B2C+B2B model;
• catalog with individual structure;
• personal accounts of clients;
• integration with CRM, ERP, BAS/1C;
• integrations with payments, delivery, warehouse, analytics;
• separate logic for working with wholesale buyers;
• own frontend;
• own modules;
• AI tools for catalog, sales, support or marketing.

EvoCommerce provides system work with catalog, products, categories, prices, currencies, import and export of products. The platform also contains modules for the store, orders, payments, deliveries, statuses, integrations of payment systems and synchronization with the API of delivery services.

This means that the platform can develop not only as a website, but as a full-fledged digital trading infrastructure.

Comparison of SaaS platforms and EvoCommerce

Why a B2B portal is not just a “wholesale online store”

It is necessary to separately explain the important difference between a real B2B portal and simple “wholesale store simulations”.

In many SaaS solutions, B2B functionality is often reduced to a few features: wholesale prices, customer groups, category access, minimum order, product multiplicity, or dealer account. For example, Horoshop B2B describes customer groups, different prices, category access, wholesale prices per quantity, minimum product quantity, and order multiplicity. Shop-Express B2B also provides price types, customer groups, dealer account, warehouses, catalog view selection, and B2B API.

These are useful features, but they are often not enough for full-fledged B2B trading.

A true B2B portal is not just a site where a wholesale customer sees a different price. It is a system that automates the entire cycle of interaction between a company and its partners.

A full-fledged B2B portal should take into account:

• companies and corporate accounts;
• multiple users within the same company;
• roles: purchaser, financier, manager, administrator;
• access rights;
• personal catalogs;
• individual price lists;
• contract prices;
• minimum and multiple orders;
• quick order by article number;
• repeat purchases;
• requests for commercial offers;
• approval of orders;
• bills, invoices, acts, documents;
• credit limits;
• accounts receivable;
• work of managers with clients;
• integration with BAS/1C, ERP, CRM, WMS;
• analytics by companies, segments, managers and products;
• B2B marketing, personal offers and retro bonuses.

This is where the difference between a regular wholesale online store and a B2B portal becomes fundamental. A simple wholesale store displays products and prices. A B2B portal manages the relationships between the company, partners, dealers, wholesale customers, warehouses, documents, orders, and financial terms.

EvoCommerce as the basis for a true B2B portal

EvoCommerce allows you to consider B2B not as an additional function to a regular store, but as a separate area of ​​digital sales automation.

For a wholesale company, this means the ability to create a system in which the customer doesn't just go to the website and see the wholesale price. He gets his own account, personal terms, access to the desired catalog, order history, documents, repeat purchases, communication with the manager, and a transparent work process.

For managers, this means less manual work, fewer orders in Viber, Excel, phone, and mail. For the leader, it means more control over sales, customers, managers, margins, purchase frequency, and the efficiency of the affiliate network.

EvoCommerce also provides a personal user account, order history, shipping profiles, selected products, and other customer interaction elements. This can be the basis for building more complex B2B logic for a specific company.

Your own online store as a digital asset for your business

The main advantage of switching from SaaS to EvoCommerce is the transition from using the service to developing your own digital asset.

A SaaS store is convenient, but the business pays for access to the platform. A proprietary platform allows you to invest in a system that belongs to the business, develops according to its strategy, and can be adapted to the company's real processes.

This is especially important for companies that:

• have a large customer base;
• want to develop a brand;
• are planning a B2B direction;
• work with dealers or partners;
• have a complex pricing system;
• have several syllables;
• require integration with BAS/1C or ERP;
• want to enter foreign markets;
• want to implement AI tools;
• are planning to scale for years to come.

Your own online store is not just a website. It's control over data, sales, customers, marketing, analytics, integrations, and future development.

Innovation and AI integrations

A modern e-commerce platform should not only accept orders. It should help you sell more, serve customers better, and automate your team's work.

EvoCommerce can be developed using AI tools to:

• generation of product descriptions;
• creating SEO metadata;
• smart catalog search;
• personal recommendations;
• selection of product sets;
• tips for managers;
• customer behavior analysis;
• customer base segmentation;
• automation of B2B offers;
• preparation of commercial offers;
• analysis of leads and repeat sales.

In SaaS platforms, AI functions are usually available only in the form in which the service itself implemented them. On your own platform, AI can be embedded deeper - into the catalog, client account, CRM logic, analytics, marketing, and manager work.

When to switch from Horoshop or Shop-Express to EvoCommerce

The transition is worth considering if the business has already outgrown the format of a standard SaaS store.

Typical signals:

• you lack standard functionality;
• the catalog becomes too large or complex;
• non-standard pricing logic is required;
• a full-fledged B2B portal is needed;
• deep integrations with BAS/1C, CRM, ERP are required;
• your own client account logic is required;
• individual business analytics are needed;
• custom automation is needed;
• AI logic is needed;
• more control over the platform is needed;
• The business does not want to constantly depend on the tariffs and limitations of the SaaS service.

How to switch to EvoCommerce

The transition from a SaaS platform to EvoCommerce can be done in stages.

First, the current store is analyzed: catalog structure, categories, products, URLs, SEO data, orders, integrations, design, analytics, customer base, and business processes.

After that, a new structure is formed on EvoCommerce: catalog, categories, filters, product cards, checkout, personal account, B2B accounts, pages, SEO structure, integrations, user roles, and customer service scenarios.

Next, products, categories, photos, descriptions, features, SEO data, customer data, orders, and content are transferred — depending on what data is available for export from the current platform.

After migration, redirects, SEO, sitemap, robots.txt, analytics, payments, delivery, CRM, BAS/1C, user accounts, B2B logic, and testing of all key processes are configured.

EvoCommerce includes SEO settings, SEO rule templates, Google Tag Manager, robots.txt, and sitemap. The platform also supports a public part of the site with categories, filters, product cards, shopping cart, checkout, search, comparison, subscriptions, and a personal account.

Key benefits of switching from a SaaS platform to EvoCommerce

1. Own e-commerce platform
   The business receives not just access to the service, but its own digital trading system.

2. Less dependence on SaaS tariffsThe company is not tied to the standard tariff grid, limits, and ready-made platform logic.
   

3. More control overEvoCommerce functionality can be tailored to specific business processes rather than a universal template.
   

4. The ability to create a full-fledged B2B portal.This is not just wholesale prices, but a system for working with companies, roles, price lists, documents, orders, and integrations.
   

5. Deeper integrationsThe platform can be linked to CRM, ERP, BAS/1C, WMS, payments, delivery, analytics, and internal systems.
   

6. The best foundation for AIAI can be integrated into catalog, search, recommendations, marketing, B2B offerings, CRM, and manager work.
   

7. Flexible frontend and designThe store interface can be created for your brand, audience, niche, and sales scenarios.
   

8. Control over the customer baseThe company independently manages customers, segments, purchase history and repeat sales.
   

9. B2C and B2B development in oneEvoCommerce system allows you to combine a retail store, a wholesale portal, and an affiliate area.
   

10. A long-term investment in business.The platform becomes a company asset that can be developed for years.
    

Conclusion

Horoshop and Shop-Express are useful SaaS platforms for quickly launching an online store in Ukraine. They provide a ready-made start, basic integrations, support, and a clear usage model. But the SaaS approach always has limitations: tariffs, limits, dependence on platform functionality, limited access to code, and the complexity of implementing non-standard business logic.

For companies that want to scale e-commerce, develop B2B, work with dealers, integrate BAS/1C or ERP, use AI, control their customer base, and build their own digital infrastructure, switching toEvoCommercecan be a strategically sound decision.

EvoCommerce is not just an alternative to a SaaS store. It is a platform for businesses that want to own their own online sales system, develop it for their processes, and build full-fledged B2C and B2B e-commerce on their own terms.