CMS or Framework, there are many platforms for designing an e-commerce site. The choice of platform depends on your needs, the complexity of your products and the progress of your project.
Here we present the interfaces we use and their characteristics.
On the e-commerce CMS side
A CMS (Content Management System) is an interface for designing and managing a website or an application. It allows you to create, publish and modify content without necessarily needing programming expertise.
The three CMS we recommend:
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WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an extension to the WordPress CMS for designing online shops. This platform appears to be the easiest and most common way to set up an e-commerce site.
If it is free to install, you can customise the site by adding plugins, sometimes for a fee, to access certain functions (adding filters to products, customising the design, managing payment, etc.). For example, we can mention Yoast, a plugin for referencing, or Stripe, a payment module.
Using WooCommerce is inexpensive and therefore makes sense for small projects. It is also the solution we recommend if you want to integrate an online shop to your website.
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Prestashop
Prestashop is a complete French editor, whose installation is open source. The advantage of a French platform is the access to French documentation and modules, which makes it easier to understand. However, Prestashop is available in several languages, which makes it possible to use it internationally.
The development of an e-commerce site via this CMS requires, like WooCommerce, the installation of modules that can be paid for. Prestashop offers many features to customize your e-shop and manage specific tasks (orders, payment, products, ...).
Prestashop is particularly recommended to meet the requirements of VSEs and SMEs.
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Magento
Magento is a very successful publisher that appears to be the leader in the sector. This CMS actually offers two platforms: Magento Open source, a free version offering the basic functionalities and which can be supplemented by extensions, and Magento Commerce, a paying enterprise version.
Magento allows the design of a customised site, with unlimited customisation. Indeed, it offers a wide range of features and extensions can be added.
However, Magento is a more complex software and the design of a site via this interface can be very expensive. Indeed, there are few free themes, and costs generated by hosting, extensions, developments or the cost of maintenance.
The enterprise version offers new features, including a B2B solution. Another advantage of the enterprise package is that cloud hosting is included in the licence.
Magento is the recommended solution for setting up large online shops or more complex projects, requiring for example the management of multilingual, multi-currency or multi-shop.
Another interesting solution for your e-commerce: Sylius
The particularity of Sylius is that it is an open source e-commerce framework linked to Symfony.
A framework is a development base integrating a certain number of functions to simplify the work of a developer. Symfony is a PHP framework designed to create complex websites or applications.
Presented as an easy-to-use tool, Sylius offers great customisation possibilities thanks to the flexibility of the interface. The functionalities are numerous: management of categories, products and their variations, order management, management of payment methods and promotions, etc.
In addition, Sylius also offers the addition of extensions called bundles, which provide additional functionality.
These features are modular. This allows you to avoid cluttering up your work environment by selecting only the modules needed for each project.
There is a version for companies, Sylius Plus, for which a fee is charged, which offers advanced solutions and a more complete support service, which is an interesting advantage for the project developers.
Sylius appears to be an effective solution for carrying out specific projects quickly and simply.
To conclude, there are different solutions for setting up your e-commerce site. The solution you choose for your site depends on your needs (size and complexity of the project, budget, ...).
