27 Ecommerce Platform Success Stories [2024]
Over the past decade, eCommerce has become an indispensable part of the global retail framework. According to statistics, over 2 billion people prefer shopping online.
While brick-and-mortar stores are still making more sales compared to online sales, the adoption of eCommerce is still rising, mainly because of the increased speed and convenience of online shopping.
Therefore, starting an eCommerce platform could set you on the right path to building a futuristic business.
In this list, you'll find real-world ecommerce platform success stories and very profitable examples of starting a ecommerce platform that makes money.
1. StoreYa ($24M/year)
StoreYa was founded by Eyal Reich and his brother Yariv, along with Pasha Zaft, with the goal of creating a profitable business model in the e-commerce industry. They started by launching the first Facebook shop app, which gained traction and led them to develop on-site promotion apps. Recognizing the challenge of getting targeted traffic, they then created Traffic Booster, which leverages their expertise in PPC and technology to automate Google Ads using AI. StoreYa has since become a successful marketing and advertising platform, with over 200,000 online sellers and generating $700K MRR.
How much money it makes: $24M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 18
StoreYa co-founders Eyal Reich and Yariv Dror, along with CTO Pasha Zaft, created a suite of marketing and advertising apps that include Traffic Booster, which has generated an average of $700,000 MRR and helped the business win a 2018 Google Acquisition Performance award, as well as becoming a PayPal exclusive advertising partner.
2. Gumroad ($21.2M/year)
Sahil loves building stuff. He really enjoyed the process of taking a problem coming up with a solution, and then shipping a prototype of that solution to see how good his concept was. Before finishing college he had already shipped a dozen products. Most of the time, they weren't that great.
But sometimes something works out really well, and then he has to decide if he actually wants to work on the idea some more. Very rarely, the answer is yes. That was the case with Gumroad. The question at its core was really compelling to him: How easy could one make it to sell something?
How much money it makes: $21.2M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 17
3. Sockrates Custom Socks ($6.3M/year)
Samuel Moses, the founder of Sockrates Custom Socks, came up with the idea for his business while managing a men's accessory store in Toronto. After realizing the high demand for socks and receiving requests from companies for custom socks, he saw a gap in the market and decided to pivot his business towards producing high-quality custom socks for corporate clients. Today, Sockrates is a global business with thousands of clients worldwide and a reputation for excellence in design and production.
How much money it makes: $6.3M/year
How much did it cost to start: $25K
How many people on the team: 10
This case study article showcases the success of Sockrates Custom Socks, a business that started with 10-15 orders a month and now receives 150-350 orders a month from all over the world, specializing in fast 7-day turnaround for high-quality custom socks for B2B clients including Fortune 500 companies.
4. The Clunker Junker ($5.89M/year)
Eric and Valerie Mitz, founders of The Clunker Junker, initially started off as an affiliate website generating leads for junk car removal companies. However, after facing challenges and setbacks, they decided to provide the service themselves and built a custom software platform connecting junk car buyers and sellers. The Clunker Junker has since grown into a successful business, generating close to $6 million in revenue in 2020.
How much money it makes: $5.89M/year
How much did it cost to start: $20
How many people on the team: 4
The Clunker Junker founders built a modern platform that has enabled the purchase of hundreds of thousands of cars across the US, generating almost $6 million in revenue in 2020 and changing their lives forever.
5. Dropout SRL ($1.68M/year)
Kola Tytler, the founder of dropout, came up with the idea for his business after learning about the underground sneaker resale market and self-teaching himself to code a sneaker bot. He later teamed up with others to create software that collected data and ran statistical analysis, which led to the creation of HypeAnalyzer. Frustrated with university, Kola decided to bring the ultimate sneaker shopping experience to Italy, leading to the birth of dropout.
How much money it makes: $1.68M/year
How much did it cost to start: $120K
How many people on the team: 8
Founder Kola Tytler managed to build a profitable business, Dropout, worth over $2.5 million by selling limited edition sneakers and streetwear, despite having no prior experience and juggling medical school; the company saw over 50,000 in-store visitors and over $100k in sales in December 2021 alone and raised €750k via equity crowdfunding in 6 days.
6. Upper Limits ($1.44M/year)
Matthieu Fortin, the CEO of Upper Limits, started the company in 2013 with the goal of creating a place where medical cannabis patients could find education and guidance. Inspired by his personal experience with the health benefits of vaporization, he saw an opportunity to provide new product technology education and fill a gap in the market. With an initial investment of $30,000, he bootstrapped the business and focused on sourcing high-quality products and building relationships with vendors and customers. Word of mouth and a strong online presence, including Google tools, have played a significant role in attracting and retaining customers for Upper Limits.
How much money it makes: $1.44M/year
How much did it cost to start: $30K
How many people on the team: 7
Upper Limits, a hybrid brick-and-mortar/e-commerce company located in Springfield, IL that sells dispensary, smoke shop products, and custom glass pipes, has succeeded in generating 366% greater sales revenue than their industry peers by facing challenges head-on and diversifying their revenue streams.
7. Ultra Growth Marketing ($720K/year)
Matthew Larsen, the founder of Ultra Growth Marketing, came up with the idea for his business after realizing the need for a comprehensive eCommerce marketing book specifically tailored to eCommerce store owners. He decided to write a step-by-step guide with over 75,000 words, offering actionable advice to help business owners create multi-million dollar eCommerce stores. Through Facebook lead generation ads, Larsen was able to give away over 17,000 free copies of his book and capture valuable leads, resulting in over $60,000 per month in recurring revenue.
How much money it makes: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 3
Matthew Larsen's Ultra Growth Marketing earns over $60,000/month in recurring revenue by giving away his eCommerce Marketing Book for free and then capturing leads using Facebook's Lead Generation ads, resulting in over 19,000 downloads in the first month since its launch.
8. Custimy.io ($600K/year)
Kristoffer and his co-founder, Martin, came up with the idea for Custimy while on vacation in Spain. Martin, who was working in London as a director for a software and technology consultancy, pitched the idea of building a customer data platform for e-commerce stores. Inspired by the potential to revolutionize e-commerce, Kristoffer quit his CEO position at a food-tech company, and together they built Custimy from scratch, eventually raising $1.6 million in pre-seed funding and attracting major media attention.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $875K
How many people on the team: 30
Custimy.io co-founders Kristoffer and Martin created an e-commerce data platform that uses machine learning to help SMB stores make better decisions based on higher-quality customer data, raising the biggest pre-seed funding round in Denmark at the time and currently having 50K USD in monthly recurring revenue.
9. Launch Cart, Inc. ($600K/year)
Greg Writer, the CEO and founder of Launch Cart, came up with the idea for his business after managing e-commerce stores for celebrities and realizing the limitations and high costs of existing platforms like Shopify. He wanted to create a faster, higher-converting platform with built-in features and a marketplace for entrepreneurs to source products on a drop-ship basis. Launch Cart aims to be a viable alternative to platforms like Shopify, Amazon, and Etsy in the e-commerce space.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2.5M
How many people on the team: 8
Launch Cart CEO and founder Greg Writer created a new and faster e-Commerce platform to compete with Shopify, with over 35,000 registrations to date, and a Source and Sell Marketplace that allows entrepreneurs to source drop-ship and affiliate marketing products, driving promising growth as their future looks bright as a viable alternative to Shopify, Amazon, and Etsy in the e-Commerce industry.
10. Bagisto ($600K/year)
Saurav Pathak, the Chief Product Officer of Bagisto, came up with the idea for the open-source e-commerce platform after realizing there was a huge gap between demand and supply for platform-driven e-commerce solutions. With the goal of making it simple for developers to create their own online stores, Bagisto has generated over $1 million in revenue and has a user base of 200,000.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
How many people on the team: 47
Open-source e-commerce platform Bagisto has generated over $1 million in revenue in the past four years, with $350,000 annual recurring revenue for the past two years, has over 70,000 downloads, 5,000 Github stars, 5,000 community members globally, and over 150 contributors enhancing its features.
11. AVTOPRO ($540K/year)
In a communal apartment in Odessa, Evgeny Alyanchikov and friends turned their classic web studio into a major marketplace, Avto.pro. By 2021, over 5,000 stores in Ukraine sold automotive products worth $105 million through their platform.
How much money it makes: $540K/year
How much did it cost to start: $35K
How many people on the team: 50
Avto.pro is a leading Ukrainian marketplace for auto products that sold goods worth $105 million in 2021, with the potential to become a new Unicorn, by providing unique solutions that digitize the market, optimize logistics and trade chains, rebuilding relations between car owners and service stations, and introduce simplicity and transparency to the process for the client.
12. Utokia ($504K/year)
After overcoming a wrist injury and opioid dependency, Holly Hillyer discovered cannabis through her parents' homemade edibles. This, combined with Oregon's newly legalized cannabis market in 2016, inspired her to leave her project management job and launch Utokia, now generating $30,000 monthly.
How much money it makes: $504K/year
How much did it cost to start: $30K
How many people on the team: 2
Discover the journey of a cannabis entrepreneur who transitioned from opioids to cultivating some of the best indoor flowers in the nation, generating $30,000 a month, and expanding into a hemp-derived product line that already rakes in $15,000 a month in revenue.
13. KOGLAND Commerce Pvt Ltd ($360K/year)
KOGLAND Commerce Pvt Ltd, an online marketplace for healthcare professionals in India, was founded in 2015 by Varghese Samuel. The idea came from discussions among a team of technology, engineering, and medical professionals who recognized the challenges faced by healthcare providers in procuring quality medical supplies. Since its launch, KOGLAND has achieved a ten-fold increase in revenues, steady growth in online traffic, and aggressive hiring plans.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $7K
How many people on the team: 8
KOGLAND Commerce Pvt Ltd is one of India's fastest-growing online surgical supply stores, with a ten-fold increase in revenues, steady growth in online traffic, aggressive hiring, and scaling up plans, following a hybrid model of stocking and selling fast-moving consumables and surgical products.
14. Aun Digital ($240K/year)
When a friend's cleaning business couldn't afford a website, Aun Ali discovered that many UAE startups faced similar challenges, inspiring him to launch Aun Digital. The firm offers affordable, comprehensive digital services and now generates annual revenue between $200,000 and $300,000, serving 20 regular clients.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $60K
How many people on the team: 50
Aun Digital, a UAE-based web design company, generated $200,000 to $300,000 annually by offering affordable and reliable digital services to small businesses, startups, and medium-sized enterprises, with 20 regular clients per year and an average project cost ranging from $10,000 to $15,000.
15. Secret ($216K/year)
Jean-Loup Karst, the co-founder of Secret, came up with the idea for his business while running his previous startup. He realized that many entrepreneurs, including himself, struggled to find affordable software deals. Inspired by the perks programs offered to accelerators and incubators, Jean-Loup decided to create a platform that would provide exclusive deals on services and software for startups.
How much money it makes: $216K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Secret is a platform that offers exclusive deals on services and software for startups, allowing entrepreneurs to save up to $50,000 on 70+ SaaS deals and make their businesses more profitable at 100% free, and their accelerated growth is fueled by personalized email marketing and niche forums.
16. Gun Made ($180K/year)
Hello, meet Brady Kirkpatrick, the Founder of Gun Made. Brady started Gun Made as a blog about guns, ammo, accessories, and more, and it has now become a media business with 1.5-2 million readers per year. The business generates $15k per month in recurring revenue, mainly from affiliate marketing, and is on track to become a seven-figure business in a few years. Brady's next big project is creating an E-commerce platform that integrates pricing from hundreds of retailers to help consumers find the lowest-priced firearms. Impressive, right?
How much money it makes: $180K/year
How much did it cost to start: $70K
How many people on the team: 1
Gun Made, a media business founded by Brady Kirkpatrick, started as a COVID side project and now generates about $15k per month in recurring revenue from affiliate marketing, with plans to help retailers generate over $2.5M in sales in 2022 through their new e-commerce platform that aggregates pricing from hundreds of retailers.
17. FriendsWith limited ($174K/year)
Paige and Dan came up with the idea for FriendsWith during the first lockdown in New Zealand. With more time on their hands, they evaluated what they wanted for their future and saw the opportunity in the growing market of social commerce. They combined their skills and created a social commerce platform that incorporates social media, commerce, and an affiliate rewards program, attracting users to shop and share content for premium fashion and lifestyle brands. They have seen a 300% increase in app users and estimate to bring in $200,000 in revenue for the next financial year.
How much money it makes: $174K/year
How much did it cost to start: $42.5K
How many people on the team: 2
FriendsWith, a social commerce platform with a built-in affiliate rewards program for premium fashion and lifestyle brands, saw a 300% increase in app users since launching in August 2020 and estimates bringing in $200,000 in revenue for the next financial year, with a focus on attracting shopping enthusiasts to become "influencers" to start a side hustle with no overhead costs.
18. Yoga Strong ($120K/year)
After retiring from a seven-season professional basketball career and struggling to land job interviews, Jason Deutchman turned a family dinner conversation about making yoga more fun into Yoga Strong, a luxe performance fitness accessory brand now raking in close to $10K monthly sales.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $20K
How many people on the team: 0
Yoga Strong, a performance fitness accessories company, developed the perfect quality yoga mat with "Composite Technology," sourcing materials from over 200 yoga mat tests, and uses limited drops and influencer and affiliate partnerships to attract and retain customers, all while showing close to $10,000 in monthly sales.
19. caddesignhelp.com ($96K/year)
CADdesignhelp.com was started by Scott Tarcy, a mechanical engineer who wanted more control over his schedule and life. After reading "The 4-Hour Workweek" and "The $100 Startup," Scott decided to turn his skills in CAD and product design into a business. He started by networking and providing CAD design services, eventually expanding into selling his own products online. Today, the business averages $9,000 a month in revenue with over 200 clients per year.
How much money it makes: $96K/year
How much did it cost to start: $15K
How many people on the team: 0
A 3D CAD designer and product inventor who started as a side hustle and averaged $9,000 a month in revenue, shares his insights on the ups and downs of owning a service-based business alongside an eCommerce store, as well as lessons learned in customer acquisition and in generating multiple streams of passive income.
20. Maynuu ($36K/year)
Aaron, the GM of Maynuu, came up with the idea for their business out of frustration with how big food delivery platforms were charging exorbitant fees to small restaurants. He wanted to create a tool that would help small restaurant owners make more money online. He connected with Wafiq, the CEO of Maynuu, who had a similar idea to help his brother's café business. They merged their projects and launched Maynuu, which has seen significant growth, making about $4,300 last month and growing about 200% in the last year.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
How many people on the team: 4
Maynuu helps small restaurant owners streamline their online ordering process, making an average monthly revenue of $3,050 in the past 12 months and growing about 200% throughout the pandemic, with plans for Southeast Asian expansion and global distribution.
21. DataCue ($36K/year)
Shahram and Ann came up with the idea for DataCue while on their honeymoon in Central America. They realized that small and medium businesses lacked access to data for making informed decisions, and wanted to democratize data for all. After meeting a stranger who told them about a government-funded initiative in Chile, they applied and moved there to turn DataCue into a reality.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How many people on the team: 5
DataCue helps eCommerce entrepreneurs sell more and improve conversion with their personalization platform, which has generated over $2m in additional revenue for eCommerce businesses in 2019, and is growing at 40% m/m after being founded just 18 months ago, with a goal for 2020 being profitability.
22. Checkout Page ($26.4K/year)
Sander, the founder of Checkout Page, came up with the idea while working as a freelance developer and traveling as a digital nomad. He identified a need for an easy way to accept payments in Stripe and saw it as an opportunity to help people make a living online. After launching on Product Hunt and receiving positive feedback, Sander continued to focus on customer support and validation to further develop the product.
How much money it makes: $26.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0
Checkout Page is a payment software for independent businesses that processed over $1M in transactions last year and is now aiming to 10x the business to $10k monthly revenue with a new co-founder and focus on user experience and marketing.
23. CartFox.io ($18K/year)
Simon, the founder, started his eCommerce business with a 5K EUR investment inherited from his grandmother. After successfully creating several brands and generating over 150M+ EUR in revenue, he identified the need for a SaaS solution for SMS marketing and cart abandonment recovery in the competitive EU eCommerce market. This led to the birth of CartFox.io, which aims to become their flagship product within a year or two.
How much money it makes: $18K/year
How much did it cost to start: $120K
How many people on the team: 7
Slovenian eCommerce business owner turns internal solution into SaaS product CartFox, with over 150M EUR revenue generated through several brands, but still breaking even $1.5K/month with salaries included from CartFox.
24. Clankart ($14.4K/year)
Nitesh Garg, the founder of Clankart, came up with the idea for his business while in college. He witnessed the difficulties students faced when buying and selling used books, and saw the need for a marketplace dedicated to students. With over 25,000 registered students on the platform, Clankart is working towards empowering students to connect and trade their used books online in India.
How much money it makes: $14.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $6K
How many people on the team: 3
Clankart is an Indian-based online marketplace for students to sell their used books to other students located anywhere in India, with over 25,000+ registered users, and aims to consistently add something game-changing and worthwhile to its experience.
25. Estuary ($12K/year)
Mikey Young, a sneaker enthusiast and finance senior at Georgetown, realized during the pandemic that existing sneaker resale platforms were laden with fees and inaccessibility. Inspired by Phil Knight's "Shoe Dog," he launched Estuary, a fee-free resale platform, amassing $200k in inventory and 7 sellers by their February soft launch.
How much money it makes: $12K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 0
Estuary, a unique secondary marketplace for sneakers that eliminates hidden fees and connects buyers with exclusive products through a subscription-based model, has attracted over 7 subscribed sellers, sold over 30 pairs of sneakers and is on track to earn about $12,000 in ARR within a month of its soft launch.
26. On Brand ($1.8K/year)
After working in the merchandising industry at Banana Republic and earning his MBA, Brian McEuen noticed a shift in how men were shopping for clothes. He saw an opportunity to curate personalized selections for guys shopping online, leading him to start On Brand. With 75 users and an annual revenue run rate of $1800, Brian aims to improve and expand his product in the future.
How much money it makes: $1.8K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.2K
How many people on the team: 1
On Brand founder Brian McEuen curates personalized selections of clothing for men online, sending emails to individual users without duplicate products, with 75 current users and an annualized revenue run rate of $1800.
27. Really Simple Store ($1.2K/year)
Drew Thomas came up with the idea for Really Simple Store when he was running a digital agency and had clients who wanted ecommerce capabilities without switching their whole site to platforms like Magento or Shopify. After shelving the idea for a few years, Drew revived it and rebranded it as an ecommerce platform for makers. The project took a unique turn when he integrated a token economy into the platform and decided to go all in, converting Really Simple Store into a self-service, public ecommerce platform.
How much money it makes: $1.2K/year
How many people on the team: 0
A founder shares how he launched Really Simple Store, an ecommerce platform for people who "simply have something to sell," generating less than $100 per month but with a lot of potential for growth and improvement, and emphasizes the importance of building a community while growing a business.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
