5 Best eCommerce CMS for Online Businesses in 2020

Aware of the complexity and the wide variety of solutions available on the market, we have listed the most popular in this article.

I – Create Store Using CMS or Completely Custom-Made?

Several options exist to create an e-commerce site: but each requires different requirements. The first decision you need to make is whether to create your eCommerce website using a CMS or make it completely custom-made. But which option to orient? Is there a more relevant choice than the other? The best answer depends on your needs, your desires but also your budget and the time you want to devote to it.

The tailor-made allows you to create from A to Z a unique site, completely personalized and totally adapted to your needs. This method offers you the possibility of owning a site that stands out from the competition: none of your competitors will be able to reproduce your online store identically. However, creating a custom site involves a lot of energy, time and a sizeable budget if you decide to go through a professional. In the event that you have the technical skills necessary to complete this project, creating your site alone is still a major undertaking.

The second option is to create an e-commerce site using a CMS (Content Management System) or content management system. It is simply a category of software for dynamically designing, managing and updating websites or mobile applications. They allow your future site to have so-called “classic” functionalities, essential to your activity and present in the vast majority of e-commerce sites.

However, some CMS offer customization possibilities and you can have control over many elements: this is the case of open-source CMS which are particularly modular.

There is another type of CMS called “SAAS”. These are much less flexible because the technology used in these CMS does not allow you to have access to the code. You very quickly find yourself limited in terms of development.

II – What are the different CMS available on the market?

1 – Shopify

Turnkey e-commerce solution, no download is required to use Shopify. This CMS, suitable for novices or small online shops, is acclaimed by more than 800,000 e-merchants (2019). The Canadian platform is a hit in the digital sphere: its revenues increased by 47% at the start of the 4th quarter.

Shopify uses SAAS technology: you cannot mod your e-commerce site as you wish. The possibilities for customization are nevertheless relatively numerous.

In addition, the free templates offered by Shopify have a very basic design and are rarely used by e-merchants. You will understand, if you want to have more freedom, you must abandon the free version and switch to the premium version which remains particularly expensive. Shopify also takes a certain percentage of your turnover: the more your store grows, the more expensive the solution will be for you, and this even with the free version!

Compared to its competitors, Shopify does not offer as many templates in its catalog of its premium version. Even if it has a hundred models, the choice is not very diversified compared to the other solutions available on the market.

In short, Shopify is a suitable choice for inexperienced users thanks to a well-designed and easy-to-use interface. The platform can also be suitable for e-merchants wishing only to integrate very basic functionalities into their online store. For others, the lack of flexibility will quickly be felt and the costs will accumulate very quickly!

2- WooCommerce, the e-commerce module of WordPress

WooCommerce is an e-commerce module available on the WordPress editorial CMS. It is important to note that this is not at the base of a CMS dedicated to e-commerce: the performance of the module in comparison with other e-commerce solutions is lower, which could make it alongside artisanal or unprofessional. Moreover, many modules offered in the catalog are not interesting or not very relevant for the development of your online store.

Like Shopify, WooCommerce may be suitable for people new to their e-commerce business. However, it will be necessary to resort to the help of professionals for the implementation of certain more sophisticated functions which can be complex if you do not have certain technical knowledge. For example, the setup process can be tricky for inexperienced users. WooCommerce gives you some leeway. Being open-source, you have access to the code and have the ability to modify it if you wish.

In summary, WooCommerce can be a powerful tool but can quickly turn into your worst nightmare if you don’t have some technical basics. In addition, we can note the multitude of hidden costs to have additional functions or modules that will be essential for the proper development of your store.

3 – PrestaShop

PrestaShop is a free open-source CMS (but also exists in the cloud). However, the more your store grows, the more you will obviously have to buy modules to be able to meet your new needs.

One of the most complete e-commerce solutions on the market, this CMS offers many features for an excellent quality / price ratio.

The first great strength of PrestaShop lies in customization: the platform offers a large choice of templates in its catalog. Completely customizable, you also have the possibility of creating a 100% tailor-made design.

Second advantage: the diversity of the modules. More than 7,000 modules are available in the PrestaShop Addons catalog for an average, very affordable price of around 70 €. In comparison, Magento only has 3000 modules in its catalog and the prices are much higher: it takes you around $ 200 to acquire a module.

In addition, its particularly active community gives it great strength: more than a million people actively contribute to the development of the software.

The CMS is regularly updated in order to offer an ever more efficient solution and respond to the problems encountered by e-merchants.

Praised by 270,000 online stores, it is a very intuitive and easy-to-use CMS that also has many already native features. PrestaShop is an excellent choice for launching your online store in a sustainable way.

4 – Magento

Magento is, alongside PrestaShop, one of the most complete CMS on the market. The solution has two major strengths:

• Its extensibility: Magento has the capacity to manage a rapid and strong increase in products, traffic, sales …
• Its flexibility: the CMS offers many possibilities of customization and modules that adapt perfectly to your wishes.

Particularly resource-intensive and complex in terms of use, Magento is more recommended and suitable for large companies. This is a CMS offering very extensive features, complete but proving to be too complex for the needs of small businesses. The user interface requires a great deal of technical expertise. Magento is an expensive solution requiring the intervention of competent professionals.

In addition, the CMS focuses all its efforts on its premium version to the detriment of its free version, making large companies its preferred target.

5 – And the other solutions?

The offer is large and it is impossible to list all the e-commerce solutions available. However, here are some other CMS examples that you are likely to find as well:

• Oxatis: e-commerce solution in SAAS, Oxatis found itself in compulsory liquidation before being bought out in extremis. You will quickly find yourself limited in terms of customization!
• WiziShop: just like Shopify or Oxatis, it is a CMS in SAAS. This solution may be right for you at first, but if your store grows, it won’t work in the long run.
• Drupal e-commerce: Similar to WooCommerce, Drupal is not an e-commerce CMS at its core. Its use is not very intuitive and the e-commerce management functions offered are not as efficient as those of its competitors. Getting started can be complicated without a solid knowledge of HTML and CSS. In addition, the management of the modules is absolutely not optimized.
• Wix: CMS using SAAS technology, Wix now allows you to create professional sites with an offer that may seem attractive at first glance. However, sites created with Wix are difficult to find on the internet because Google does not reference them. Using this CMS to create an e-commerce site is not highly recommended since certain essential functions (adding products to a basket, ordering, payment, etc.) are not correctly integrated. In addition, many templates are not responsive!