{"id":60313,"date":"2020-12-11T08:40:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T14:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/?p=60313"},"modified":"2026-01-22T08:25:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:25:33","slug":"best-hosting-for-big-online-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/best-hosting-for-big-online-stores\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Hosting for Big Online Stores"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Online stores have been growing in size and complexity. Part of this is caused by the boom in ecommerce,<\/strong> part is due to the increased competitiveness in the niche. <\/strong>Regardless of the reason, growing your online shop means handling larger volumes of visitor traffic,<\/strong> which results in greater stress on your hosting account<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to continue serving your customers well, moving on to Virtual Private Server<\/strong><\/a> (VPS) or even dedicated hosting<\/strong> might be unavoidable. As the growth in digital retail sales increases further, you have to be prepared with a powerful enough hosting solution to handle all visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a Big Online Store<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Amazon<\/strong>, Walmart<\/strong>, Rakuten<\/strong>, or BestBuy <\/strong>– those are names we are all familiar with. Some have literally grown with the internet, while others moved online to diversify their sales channels. There are also a few that maintain a combination of both physical and virtual stores.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big part of the success of these brands stems from the fact they carry goods in both scope and volume<\/strong>. Amazon, for example, allows sellers to list almost anything for sale to destinations worldwide. Yet most of these ecommerce<\/strong> retail<\/strong> giants started much smaller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, their success has top ecommerce brands to widen their scope of operations. Of course, any startup looks to eventually grow<\/strong> to become an enterprise of this magnitude<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of Big Online Stores<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The term online store can be a bit too generic. In reality, there are many types of online stores that can be segregated in various ways – revenue model, website type, <\/strong>or even business model.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the more traditional retail structure, we can split ecommerce sites into a few groups: individual brands<\/strong>, retail stores<\/strong>, and digital marketplaces<\/strong>. Each of these has the potential for high volumes of sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individual Brand Store<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In some instances, brands may prefer exclusive control over their online sales. Even if they choose to work with retailers<\/strong>, many will often set up their own store. These stores are more exclusive and will restrict what\u2019s available for sale<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example of an individual brand store is Nike.com<\/strong>, which only offers products from its own brand. At the same time, it sells various types of goods, such as footwear<\/strong>, clothing<\/strong>, and accessories<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online Retail Platform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These sites are the digital form of physical retailers that often represent multiple brands<\/strong>. Retail platforms will buy and then resell the goods on their own channel, resulting in a mall-like experience for consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BestBuy<\/strong> is a great example of an online retail platform<\/strong>. It sells various brands of consumer electronics and even allows you to group similar products from various brands. The advantage of such online stores is the range of offerings, bringing in a wider audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital Marketplace<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Digital marketplaces are not involved in actual sales, instead, they merely provide a medium allowing others to do so<\/strong>. Anybody can join the platform on either side of the equation and find the brand that has their desired products<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rakuten.com<\/strong> is a highly popular digital marketplace<\/strong> that works in this manner. The platform is a medium for buyers and sellers and acts as the governing intermediary for online sales. The large transaction volume that marketplaces like Rakuten handle is truly impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criteria to Choose Hosting for a Big Online Store<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most online stores have higher requirements than<\/strong> standard websites <\/strong>when it comes to web hosting. Part of the reason is due to the platforms that drive these sites. Other areas of consideration factor in as well – including the amount of traffic that each site needs to cope with the load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, many areas of<\/strong> web hosting<\/strong><\/a> come into focus for big online stores.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Given how demanding consumers are today, underperforming online stores are more likely to lose out on potential sales<\/strong>. Amazon researchers have found that even a 100ms increase in latency could result in a 1% drop in sales<\/strong> on their platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In almost all cases, online stores rely on traffic numbers. A microscopic change in performance could lead to big changes in your revenue stream<\/strong>. You need to always aim for the best performance possible, not only for your brand but as a way to offer your customers the best shopping experience they can have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since online stores have to handle personal and financial data<\/strong>, these sites have to be kept more secure than other websites. While some of this responsibility falls on the site owners, web hosting also plays a major part<\/strong>, with services such as VPS or dedicated hosting often being superior simply because of the advanced infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reliability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although site speed can affect sales possibilities, reliability is even more crucial. Downtimes will not only lose you sales <\/b>but affect your brand reputation and customer trust in a negative way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your online shop goes down, it’s important to know the web host you\u2019ve chosen has your back at all times. Some providers may offer limited recourse for technical assistance<\/strong>, which is why the ScalaHosting support<\/a> has such a strong competitive edge. Our trained professionals are always ready to help with advice<\/strong>, tips<\/strong>, and issue resolution assistance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scalability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ecommerce stores tend to need a high degree of agility when it comes to hosting. Periods like Black Friday<\/strong>, Cyber Monday<\/strong>, or Christmas<\/strong> can be extremely heavy on online shops with sudden spikes in visitor volume. Any hosting that offers easily adjustable resources<\/strong> is guaranteed to meet these ad-hoc needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backups<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Knowing that any operational outages can cost you a significant amount of money, your hosting provider has to have a good backup system in place. It enables you to quickly recover from any disasters<\/strong> and maintain strong business continuity<\/strong> at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hosting Environment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not all online stores make use of the same platforms. Some have specific needs, which is why customizable hosting environments are important<\/strong>. Having the flexibility to build the exact components you need for your online store can not only serve that purpose but also allow you to make adjustments for optimal performance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How VPS Might Help a Big Online Store<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While there may be some debate about the exact type of hosting that fits the needs of big online stores, two contenders are certainly at the forefront – VPS and dedicated hosting<\/strong>. Far superior to shared hosting, both these categories offer excellent performance and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the two, VPS hosting<\/strong> is much more cost-effective while allowing site owners to enjoy similar benefits. Among these are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n