How to choose the CMS for eCommerce

Let's face it: today's market is oversaturated. With so much competition in practically every niche, creating a unique product is not enough. You must go above and beyond to sell it, especially online. 

This is when businesses realize they need the best tools, and a CMS for eCommerce is one of the most important ones. 

Whether you already have a CMS and want to upgrade to a better one or you are just starting an eCommerce project, this article will guide you through picking the content management system that will boost your online sales. 

8 features to consider when choosing the best CMS for eCommerce

Like any other industry, the content management systems market is also rather big and has multiple options to offer. For example, when dividing by tech architecture, there are monolithic (traditional) ones, headless and decoupled systems. Each of these categories has dozens, if not hundreds, of solutions. But how would you choose the right fit for your company goals? 

We've compiled a list of eight must-have features to look for in a CMS for eCommerce:

1. Integration options 

eCommerce business involves multiple activities and processes, and, in most cases, there is a perfect tool for each of them. It's not a secret, that specialized solutions will always be more sophisticated and effective than an all-in-one platform. Be it an order management system, personalization app, email marketing tool, payment solution, or chatbot, you should always have a choice instead of agreeing on an unflexible bundle of services. 

When it comes to a CMS, being able to integrate the best-of-breed eCommerce solutions into your infrastructure allows you to enhance the overall performance and build the setup YOUR business needs. So, instead of asking, "Which CMS is best for eCommerce?" ask, "Which CMS supports all the needed integrations?"

Check if the CMS has all the needed integrations or whether it is an API-friendly one. In such case, if the system doesn't have the arranged integration, you can still connect it via API and enjoy the powerful features you require.

2. Scalability and flexibility

Every company wants to grow and expand, but is your CMS ready for rapid growth? Scalability is essential to accommodate increased traffic, products, and customer interactions. In other words, your eCommerce CMS should be able to grow with you. 

When comparing monolithic and headless systems, the second is more flexible and scalable. The difference is in the architecture. Monolithic systems have the database (back end) and the presentation layer (front end) tight together, making any change a big deal. In a headless system, these parts are separate and communicate via APIs, making it easy to add new features, products, or services without completely overhauling the whole structure.

The ability to scale and adapt ensures your business can evolve and expand while maintaining a consistent and reliable online presence.

3. Omnichannel capabilities

In today's eCommerce landscape, reaching customers through multiple channels is essential. Consumers expect a seamless shopping experience across various platforms, such as your website, mobile app, social media, and brick-and-mortar stores.

Meanwhile, many CMSs are too complicated or simply lack omnichannel capabilities. In this case, headless options are the best because they are built to deliver content across multiple channels. In other words, as a content editor, you can publish content from one place to any medium you need, including AR, VR, kiosks, mobile apps, voice assistants, etc. 

With omnichannel capabilities, you can ensure that your customers can engage with your brand no matter where they are, increasing the chances of conversion and customer retention.

4. User-friendly interface for your team

While thinking about your customers is often the first that comes to mind, you shouldn't forget about your team working with a content management system. Your CMS should be user-friendly for your content editors and administrators, ensuring that managing and updating your eCommerce website is a straightforward process.

When the platform has comprehensive documentation and the ability to choose a tech stack, your developers will be more productive and can build a clear system. 

Meanwhile, business users need an easy-to-use editor that allows them to work independently. For example, Storyblok, a headless CMS for eCommerce, provides a Visual Editor where you can easily build content using the drag-and-drop functionality and preview all the changes in real-time. With it, users can easily create, edit, and publish content of any complexity without help from developers. 

An easy-to-use interface speeds up adding content, managing products, and making changes. This makes it easier for your team to run the online store and keep it up-to-date.

5. Personalization and localization

Modern customers expect brands to offer personalized experiences, and they know exactly what it should look like. In the McKinsey report, consumers shared the most important personalization action they expect from retailers. These included offering relevant products and services, tailoring messaging, targeted promotions, following up post-purchase, and sending personalized triggers based on their behavior and so on. 

An eCommerce CMS that supports personalization allows you to gather and utilize customer data, such as browsing history and purchase behavior, to recommend products, offer discounts, and send personalized marketing messages. All these efforts directly influence purchase decisions and behavior. The above report shows that personalization results in 76% likeliness to buy, recommend, and repurchase. 

Localization, on the other hand, is essential if your eCommerce business operates in multiple regions or serves customers from different countries. It involves adapting your website to regional preferences, languages, and currencies. Localized digital content not only improves the user experience but also builds trust among international customers, making them feel more comfortable and confident when making a purchase.

6. Rich SEO features

Ranking on search engines such as Google is crucial because data show that more than 25% of people click on the first Google search result. So, the higher your organic position, the more site visitors you will receive and, respectively, more sales. 

An eCommerce CMS with built-in SEO tools or the option to integrate SEO plugins can help boost the search engine rankings of your website. Customizable meta tags, URL structures, and tools for optimizing product listings are examples of features that can help you attract more organic traffic.

7. Mobile responsiveness

Modern customers are getting used to buying via their mobile devices. Smartphones accounted for 72 percent of retail site visits and 61 percent of online shopping orders in the first quarter of 2023 in the United States. Hence, a CMS for eCommerce should support responsive design, ensuring that your eCommerce site functions well and looks great on mobile devices. 

Mobile responsiveness is not only critical for user experience but also for SEO, as search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites in their rankings.

This feature is also related to a user-friendly CMS interface. Can your editors preview the mobile version of the page while creating it in real time? If yes, creating and adjusting content for mobile devices will be much smoother and faster, increasing your time to market and ensuring the mobile version works well.  

8. Security

Security in eCommerce is crucial because not only are you reliable for your company data, but also for your clients. Your CMS should have robust security features and certifications demonstrating it can protect customer data, payment information, and your company's reputation.

To reduce the risk of data breaches and fraud, look for features such as secure payment gateways, encryption, and regular security updates.

Top 5 best CMS for eCommerce in 2024

Now that you know what features to look for in a content management system for your eCommerce store, let's have a look at the best examples on the market.  

Storyblok

Storyblok is a headless content management system (CMS) that empowers all teams to create and scale modern content experiences across any digital channel.

Storyblok provides businesses with all the required features, including an easy-to-use Visual Editor, multiple eCommerce integrations, SEO features, and omnichannel publishing. 

The headless design enables eCommerce stores to increase conversion rates, load times, and traffic across all channels. Storyblok also has the market's highest proven ROI of 582%. 

WordPress

Being an open-source CMS, WordPress remains one of the most popular options for many stores, especially small businesses. However, by its nature, it's not an eCommerce CMS, and you will need to integrate a WooCommerce plugin. 

While the core WordPress is free, it also offers multiple extensions and themes you can buy to expand functionality and adjust the design. 

Shopify Plus

Previously, Shopify was a standalone eCommerce platform, but later, the company introduced Shopify Plus – a headless system that can be perfectly integrated with a CMS via GraphQL and REST APIs.

This transformation made it possible to benefit from the key features of a headless approach. This includes posting across multiple channels and touchpoints and integrating numerous solutions, including CRM, ERP, email platforms, third-party marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay, and much more.

OpenCart 

OpenCart is another free open-source eCommerce platform, making it the best option for small online businesses. Similar to WordPress, it has a bunch of extensions and themes, allowing users to create an online store with no coding knowledge. 

The platform offers multiple store management features that help to manage products, customers, orders, tax rules, coupon codes, and more.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is another popular platform that has a lot of built-in features and CMS capabilities. It can be a good choice for both established businesses and smaller startups that only launch their eCommerce stores. 

BigCommerce has advanced SEO integration and flexible APIs, allowing businesses to connect with any software and CMS solutions while still using the BigCommerce shopping cart on the back end.