Getting started in e-commerce is a real adventure and a good start depends in particular on the choice of CMS.
This pillar of your online shop determines your flexibility, scalability and even your long-term success.
Open source or SaaS, feature-rich or ultra-intuitive, each CMS has its strengths and limitations.
The right CMS must not only correspond to your technical needs, but also adapt to your growth strategy.
An e-commerce site is a sales engine that must be fluid, efficient and scalable.
And because choosing the best solution can quickly become a headache, we have done the sorting for you.
So let's discover together the 7 best CMS on the market, their advantages and their limitations.
First of all, we need to define what a CMS (Content Management System) is.
It is software that allows you to create and manage a website without having to code.
In the context of an e-commerce site, it facilitates the management of products, orders and payments.
Unlike conventional CMS, e-commerce CMS integrate specific functionalities such as stock management, payment gateways and the integration of marketing tools.
They thus offer a turnkey platform for selling online.
An e-commerce CMS saves time by simplifying the management of your shop.
There is no need to develop a customised site, everything is already in place to make your task easier.
These solutions are scalable and adapt to the needs of growing businesses.
In particular, they are compatible with numerous marketing tools: SEO, customer reviews, payments, loyalty programs, etc.
A major asset for developing your business.
The right CMS can make or break the success of your online shop.
To help you choose the solution best suited to your needs, here is an overview of the best e-commerce CMSs on the market, with their strengths and limitations.
✅ Advantages:
Shopify is simplicity itself.
If you want to launch your online shop quickly and without hassle, this is the CMS for you.
No need to worry about hosting, updates or security: it's all included.
The interface is intuitive, even for beginners, and makes it easy to manage products, orders and payments.
Another big advantage is its comprehensive ecosystem.
Shopify offers hundreds of professional themes, a large marketplace of applications to add features (marketing, SEO, inventory management, etc.), and powerful sales tools.
It is even possible to sell on social media and marketplaces directly from the platform.
❌ Disadvantages:
This convenience comes at a cost.
Shopify operates on a monthly subscription model and charges a commission on sales if you don't use Shopify Payments.
In other words, the more you sell, the more you pay.
Advanced customisation is another limitation of the CMS.
Shopify certainly offers a wide range of themes and extensions, but if you want to make in-depth code changes, you'll need to learn Liquid or hire a specialised developer.
Less flexible than an open source solution like PrestaShop, Shopify is still ideal for those who prioritise ease and efficiency.
✅ Advantages:
PrestaShop is a key reference in the world of open source e-commerce CMS.
Why? Because it is completely free and offers impressive freedom of customisation.
Unlike SaaS solutions like Shopify, you have total control over your shop.
You can modify the code, add features and integrate more than 3,500 modules to enrich your site according to your needs.
In terms of management, PrestaShop is well designed for small and medium-sized businesses.
Its interface makes it easy to manage the product catalogue, orders and customers.
As a bonus, a large community of users and developers provides access to numerous resources and quick assistance.
❌ Disadvantages:
This flexibility comes at a price because PrestaShop requires technical skills.
Its installation and configuration require external hosting and a certain amount of know-how, particularly to optimise the site's performance.
Without a developer at your side, you may spend time trying to understand how the CMS works and solving any bugs.
Another point to consider: many advanced features are paid for.
Premium modules and themes can quickly drive up the bill, especially if you need specific integrations (payments, SEO, automation, etc.).
To go further, discover the comparison between Shopify and PrestaShop
Pssst... You might find this interesting!
Loyoly's loyalty programs are available for you brand on Shopify and Prestashop. Check out our platform!
✅ Advantages:
WooCommerce is a plugin based on WordPress, the world's most popular website creation platform.
The result? You benefit from all the power and modularity of WordPress, with complete management of your online shop.
The main attraction of WooCommerce is its low cost: the plugin is 100% free and integrates directly with WordPress.
In addition, there are countless extensions and themes, allowing you to add features such as advanced SEO, diverse payment options and marketing tools.
The community is huge, and you will easily find resources and support.
❌ Disadvantages:
WooCommerce's flexibility has a downside because you have to manage everything yourself.
Unlike Shopify, hosting, updates and security are your responsibility.
The wrong choice of hosting or configuration can slow down your site, which affects the user experience and SEO.
Extensions can also be expensive. WooCommerce is free, but some essential features (advanced payments, stock management, automation, etc.) require paid plugins.
And if you don't know WordPress, you can expect a learning curve (although WordPress is the most widely used CMS in non-commercial website publishing).
✅ Advantages:
Adobe Commerce (Magento) is a real powerhouse for e-commerce.
This CMS is designed for large companies and shops with a high sales volume.
It allows you to manage huge product catalogues, with advanced inventory management, pricing rules and personalised promotions.
When it comes to customisation, anything is possible.
Magento is open source, which means that you can modify every detail of your shop to adapt it to your needs.
It also offers excellent SEO management, optimised performance and integrated marketing tools.
If you are looking for a powerful and scalable solution, it is a strategic choice.
❌ Disadvantages:
To take advantage of its full potential, you need solid technical skills to master it.
Unlike Shopify or WooCommerce, installation and configuration require development.
Maintenance can also be cumbersome and costly.
Another important point is the operating costs.
Even if the open source version is free, hosting and development represent a significant budget.
Without a dedicated team or a service provider, managing Magento can become a real headache.
✅ Advantages:
Webflow is the new generation e-commerce CMS that combines design, flexibility and simplicity.
Unlike other solutions, Webflow uses a no-code approach, allowing you to create a unique shop without touching a line of code.
Its visual editor is a real asset: you design your site using drag-and-drop, with total control over the appearance and user experience.
Another advantage: Webflow offers optimised performance.
Hosting is included and ensures ultra-fast loading speed, which is essential for SEO and the customer experience.
In addition, it offers advanced features in terms of design, animations and customisation, ideal for brands that want to stand out.
❌ Disadvantages:
Webflow is primarily a tool designed for design.
Its e-commerce features are limited compared to Shopify or Magento.
Inventory management, payment options and marketing integrations are less developed.
Webflow operates on a monthly subscription basis, and e-commerce features are only available on the highest plans.
What's more, if you want to customise payments or product pages in depth, it can quickly become complex.
✅ Advantages:
Drupal Commerce is an ultra-modular CMS designed for complex e-commerce projects.
Unlike turnkey platforms such as Shopify or WooCommerce, it offers unlimited customisation.
You have total control over the architecture of your shop, which is perfect for companies with specific needs.
Another major advantage is its robustness and scalability.
Drupal Commerce is used by large companies and institutions because it allows advanced management of product catalogues, multiple currencies and extensive customisation options.
It is also ideal for e-commerce sites that require strong content structuring and smooth integration with other systems (CRM, ERP, etc.).
❌ Disadvantages:
Drupal Commerce is not intended for beginners. Its use requires advanced technical skills and a mastery of the Drupal CMS.
Unlike WooCommerce or Shopify, it doesn't just take a few clicks to launch your shop: everything has to be configured manually, which can be a hindrance for entrepreneurs who want to get online quickly.
Another important point: the development costs.
If you are not a developer, you will have to call on a specialised agency, which can represent a significant investment.
And even if Drupal is open source, hosting, maintenance and customised extensions can quickly add to the budget.
✅ Advantages:
Pimcore is much more than just an e-commerce CMS.
It is an all-in-one platform that allows you to manage products, customer data and content on a single system.
Ideal for companies with a large product catalogue, it offers advanced management of stocks, prices and combinations.
When it comes to customisation, anything is possible.
Pimcore adapts to complex projects requiring fine-grained data management and specific integrations (ERP, CRM, etc.).
It is a perfect choice for large companies and B2B players looking for a high-performance and scalable platform.
❌ Disadvantages:
Pimcore is not designed for small e-commerce shops. Its interface and functionalities require advanced technical skills to be fully exploited.
Moreover, it offers few ready-to-use extensions, unlike Shopify or WooCommerce.
Even though Pimcore is open source, its integration requires development resources, which can represent a significant investment.
The choice of an e-commerce CMS is based on a major dilemma: open source or SaaS?
On the one hand, you have free and flexible solutions, on the other, turnkey and ready-to-use platforms.
Each has its strengths... and its limitations.
If you like to keep control over your shop and customise your site to suit your needs, open source CMSs are for you.
Solutions such as PrestaShop, Magento and WooCommerce allow for advanced customisation, without depending on a publisher.
You are free to modify everything, add specific features and optimise every detail.
Unlike SaaS platforms, you only pay for hosting and the domain name, which can be more cost-effective in the long run.
But this freedom comes at a price: you have to manage the hosting, security and updates yourself.
This requires technical skills or a specialised service provider.
A well-optimised open source shop can be a powerful asset, but it requires time and resources.
Conversely, if you are looking for a hassle-free solution, SaaS CMSs like Shopify are an excellent option.
Everything is already configured: hosting included, security managed, automatic updates.
You can launch your shop in a matter of hours, without worrying about the technical aspects.
Technical support is another big advantage.
In case of a problem, there is no need to look for a solution yourself, you benefit from dedicated assistance.
Ideal for e-merchants who want to focus on sales rather than on the technical management of the site.
There are still costs in the form of monthly subscriptions and sales commissions depending on the CMS.
Choosing an e-commerce CMS is not just about its price or ease of use.
To build a successful and sustainable online shop, certain features are essential.
From inventory management to SEO, including payments and customer loyalty, here are the 6 criteria that should not be neglected.
A good e-commerce CMS should enable you to manage your catalogue effectively.
An efficient online shop relies on optimised product pages, clear descriptions and variant management (sizes, colours, formats, etc.).
But that's not all! Accurate stock monitoring is crucial to avoid shortages or overselling, which can frustrate your customers and damage your image.
A good platform should offer stock alerts, automatic updating of quantities and, ideally, synchronisation with your suppliers.
A successful e-commerce site is one where you can navigate with pleasure and ease.
Today, more than half of online purchases are made on mobile, so it is imperative to opt for a mobile-friendly CMS with a responsive design.
Loading speed also plays a key role: a slow site means a customer abandoning their basket.
Finally, intuitive navigation, with a powerful search engine and well-thought-out categories, improves the experience and facilitates the purchasing journey.
The payment stage is crucial: if your CMS does not offer the right options, you risk losing sales.
Offering several means of payment (credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, bank transfer) reassures your customers and builds loyalty.
Payment facilities (payment in instalments, deferred payment) are also a real plus to boost your conversions.
A good CMS must integrate with secure solutions that comply with PCI-DSS standards to guarantee the protection of bank details.
An e-commerce site without SEO is a bit like a shop without a shop window!
To put it mildly, SEO is a source of acquisition not to be neglected, so your CMS must at least allow you to optimise your tags (titles, meta descriptions), have clean URLs and integrate a blog to write relevant content.
Features such as redirection management, automatic sitemaps and image optimisation are also criteria that should not be overlooked in order to rank well in search results.
A satisfied customer who comes back is more profitable than a new customer to be won over.
To achieve this, your CMS must offer effective loyalty options: points programs, VIP discounts, promo codes and, above all, abandoned basket reminders to recover lost sales.
All these features are offered in the Loyoly loyalty programs.
You can easily integrate a loyalty and referral program into your shop and turn your customers into true ambassadors.
Your online shop should not be an isolated channel.
Integration with marketplaces (Amazon, Cdiscount, eBay) and social media (Instagram Shopping, Facebook Ads, Google Shopping) is essential to increase your points of sale.
A good CMS should allow you to synchronise your catalogue in real time, to avoid stock discrepancies and optimise order management across multiple platforms.
We have listed 6 essential features, but there are many others.
Discover our selection of the best e-commerce tools.
The choice of your e-commerce CMS should not be taken lightly.
It is the basis of your online shop, the tool that will structure your business and support your growth.
An unsuitable CMS can quickly become a hindrance: technical limitations, lack of options, hidden costs, etc.
It is better to plan ahead and make the right choice from the start.
Before you start, take the time to define your needs.
Do you need a turnkey solution or an ultra-customisable CMS? What is your budget? What is your long-term vision?
Testing several solutions is an excellent approach to see which one best meets your expectations.
Finally, consider the scalability of your shop.
Your CMS must be able to keep up with the growth of your business, without requiring a complex migration in a few years' time.
A strategic choice today will avoid many complications tomorrow.
Once you have chosen your CMS, don't miss out on our best advice on e-commerce.
Loyoly is a loyalty and referral platform combined with UGCs, which helps to engage customers in 40+ ways to increase LTV and social proof, while reducing CAC.
