What Is the Best CMS for Ecommerce Projects?

I often overhear programmers and computer nerds (term of endearment) debating about which content management system (CMS) is best for an ecommerce project. So, I decided to talk to each of the programmers in our office to get to the bottom of the debate and declare a winner based on my research. So, here is what I uncovered.

Magento

The newest CMS among the big boys is Magento. It is one of most search engine friendly ecommerce systems and is very robust. While it still needs work, it has many advantages including a high-end shopping cart that provides an extremely professional looking interface. The biggest knock against Magento was that it wasn’t content management friendly, but their 1.4 update has an editor. However, the opinions were mixed on just how good the editor is.

Drupal

Drupal lovers love Drupal… it’s really as simple as that. It seems they have so much love for it, that they just can’t bring themselves to like anything else. They love the way it supports SSL, multimedia, document management, user management, permission features and much more. The documentation is second-to-none and the add-ons make using it a no-brainer. Possibly the most important aspect – according to one programmer – is that the product manager is easy to use and update. I am not sure if I agree with that, however.

Joomla

Joomla was also mentioned as a solid CMS for ecommerce websites. Ease of use was one of the key benefits, which should make life easier for non-technical individuals. Extensions are always being improved and Joomla sites generally upload faster than some of their competitors. The big drawback was that it wasn’t as robust as the others, but that was a minor complaint. Now for the million dollar question… which one is the best for ecommerce? Honestly, it sounds like all of them have their strengths and weaknesses, so it really depends on the client and project. Our in-house computer nerds (ahem, programmers) are experts at developing the above CMS sites along with ExpressionEngine, WordPress and X-Cart.