7 Best Ecommerce CMS to Grow Your Online Store

MR JIM : Looking for the best Ecommerce CMS for your Online Store? CMS Ecommerce is a tool that you can use to manage your online store effectively and efficiently. Here are 7 recommendations for the best Ecommerce CMS that you can use.

E- commerce business is currently growing. We can see this with the increasing number of digital platforms used to sell services or products online.

Along with the easier internet access in Indonesia, people nowadays tend to prefer online shopping activities. When compared to conventional transactions through offline stores, online shopping is considered more practical, easier, and saves more time or energy.

In order to be able to compete with competitors, as a business owner, of course you need to follow the growing trend by providing the convenience of shopping through digital platforms. To make it easier for you, there are currently a variety of Ecommerce CMS that you can use to easily manage your online store.

What is an Ecommerce CMS?

Ecommerce CMS is a system or tool that allows e-commerce store owners to create, edit and publish digital website content without having to write any code. CMS itself stands for Content Management System. This system also allows users to be able to change the look or feel of their online store. Examples such as changing the layout of product pages, creating banners for promotions, or adding new sections on website pages for better promotions.

Ecommerce CMS itself is available in two main categories, namely:

1. SaaS

CMS SaaS is a cloud-based solution for Ecommerce stores that does not require a separate server. When using this type of CMS, you don't need to download the system, manage updates, or set up a data repository because the vendor's software will prepare it for you. To use this SaaS CMS, you need to pay a subscription fee.

2. Open source

When you use this Open source CMS, you have complete control over the functionality of your ecommerce web. The open source software is free to download and you can host it yourself. That means, you need to find hosting, maintain the server, and install software updates when needed.

7 Best Ecommerce CMS for Developing an Online Store

1. Shopify

Shopify is one of the most popular and well-known SaaS Ecommerce CMS. This CMS is often used by small online business owners or beginners because it provides a simple interface at an affordable price. In addition, Shopify can also be the best solution for business owners who do not have technical knowledge and cannot afford to hire their own development team. However, the features provided by Shopify are quite diverse depending on the type of package you choose so that even large businesses can use them.

Shopify advantages:

Fast and easy to use
No technical skills required
Safe and reliable
24/7 service
Mobile friendly

2. Magento

Magento is an open source based Ecommerce CMS. This CMS offers a variety of interesting functionalities ranging from marketing features, search engine optimization, catalog management, chatbots, and much more. In addition, Magento also offers flexibility for its users. You can plan to build a large or small ecommerce with this CMS.

Although it can be used by businesses of all sizes, Magento is often the choice for large companies that can afford to hire their own development team. This is because Magento requires a technical understanding of website development.

Magento Pros:

Open source and free
Mobile friendly
SEO friendly
Customizable
Powerful

3. WooCommerce

The next e-commerce CMS is Woocommerce. Basically, Woocommerce is an open source based WordPress plugin that is used to build online stores. Just like WordPress, this CMS plugin also has a simple interface that makes it easy to use.

WooCommerce is one of the most customizable e-commerce CMS. You can add various features or extensions to enhance the functionality of your online store. If you are building an online store using WordPress, then WooCommerce could be the perfect solution for you.

WooCommerce Pros:

Open source and free
Customizable
SEO friendly
Affordable and flexible
Safe to use

4. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a hosted platform that allows you to sell products online through your website. If you choose to use BigCommerce, then you don't need to download and provide a place to store anything because this ecommerce CMS is a type of SaaS CMS.

BigCommerce has many useful features for your online store. Some of them are tools for managing submissions and payments, optimization for search engines or SEO, integration with Amazon, eBay, or social media sites, and others. Just like Shopify, BigCommerce also offers flexible plans. So whether small, medium, or large businesses can choose the package service that best suits their needs.

BigCommerce Pros:

Mobile friendly
24/7 service
SEO friendly
Quick setup
Easy to use

5. OpenCart

OpenCart is an open source ecommerce CMS that offers a variety of templates and plugins for fast online store setup. This CMS includes a lightweight and simple platform that is often used by beginners or small businesses. Nonetheless, OpenCart performs quite well and integrates with more than 20 payment gateways and eight delivery methods.

Advantages of OpenCart:

Open source and free
Offers a lightweight and fast CMS platform
Has a lot of third-party extensions and modules

6. PrestaShop

Prestashop is an open source CMS with MySQL data management and allows for extensive backend code customization. If you want to develop an online store from scratch, then PrestaShop is for you.

Basically, PrestaShop is quite easy to use and install. However, you need to know that in order to set up this PrestaShop, you will need a little understanding of website development.

PrestaShop provides many useful features for a business. Some of these include features such as SEO settings, configuration for shipping or shipping, and even features for handling product taxes.

PrestaShop advantages:

Open source and free
Flexible and easy to manage back-end
Provides a variety of payment gateway options

7. AdvanceCart

AbanteCart allows you to create an ecommerce site to offer your products or services. Through this platform, you can manage multiple stores in one panel and make sure your site works well on mobile or tablet devices. This ecommerce CMS is open source and provides a variety of useful features such as providing a variety of themes, having features for shipping, and others.

Advantages of AbanteCart:

Open source and free
Provides features to manage and categorize products
Has features for marketing management

Tips for Choosing the Best Ecommerce CMS for Your Business

When choosing which ecommerce CMS to use, there are at least a few things you need to pay attention to, namely:

1. Easy to use

A CMS should be able to provide assistance in managing your online store. If you are currently starting an online business and do not have a development team, then make sure you choose an ecommerce CMS that is easy to install and use. In addition, make sure the features and workings of the CMS are not complicated so that you can still give the main focus on business development.

2. Costs that need to be incurred

Knowing how much it will cost you is the most important factor to consider when choosing a CMS. You need to know, to manage an online store, there are some basic features that must be available in a CMS, such as features to manage product pages, add payment forms, manage order lists, track inventory, and others.

So, make a list of all the CMS platforms that offer those features then compare them and see which option fits your budget. Before choosing, also consider all other aspects needed to create an online store be it domains, plugins, hosting, and others. Thus, you can run an online store according to the available budget.

3. Easy to optimize to provide a good User Experience

Shoppers today are increasingly familiar with e-commerce websites. If your ecommerce website is difficult to operate, then customers can leave your website without making a purchase. Therefore, make sure your ecommerce CMS has a flexible and mobile friendly design. Some ecommerce CMS also offer various integrations and plugins that can be used to run promotions on the website. In addition, to provide a good user experience, also make sure your e-commerce website can work quickly.

4. SEO friendly

SEO has an important role so that your e-commerce website stands out on search engine pages. As many people know, when users need a product/service, they will look for it through search engines like Google. By having an SEO friendly CMS, you can increase the chances that your e-commerce website can be found by customers easily.

5. Security

Because your online store will be the place to make transactions, you also need to make sure that the CMS uses a good security system. As an eCommerce owner, data security must be a top priority. If a data breach occurs, the reputation of the business will be damaged and customers will no longer trust your services.

6. 24/7 service

If you are a solopreneur or have a small team with limited IT experience, then choose a CMS platform that offers 24/7 customer service. With this service the CMS development team can help you when a problem occurs 24 hours non-stop. This needs to be a concern because when the e-commerce web cannot operate, the business will lose revenue.

Ecommerce CMS is one of the tools needed by a business to manage its online store. This tool provides various features ranging from managing product catalogs, shipping, and others.