What CMS Do E-commerce Giants Use – and Why?

Choosing the right CMS (Content Management System) is crucial for running a successful e-commerce business. With so many options available, business owners often struggle to decide which features they need and how much they should invest upfront. A good approach is to look at successful brands and learn from their choices.

Leading e-commerce companies invest heavily in selecting and customizing their CMS. They know that product catalog management, scalability, page load speed, and payment integration directly affect conversions, user experience, and sales growth. Their decision isn’t random—it’s based on a deep analysis of business needs, future development, and platform capabilities.

However, a CMS that works well for a global retailer may not be the best fit for a small or mid-sized online store. That’s why it’s essential to understand which factors truly matter when choosing an e-commerce platform. It’s also helpful to see which systems industry leaders prefer and why. In this article, we’ll explore the CMS choices of well-known brands, break down their reasoning, and discuss what makes a platform the right choice.

Skullcandy + BigCommerce: Music That Grows with the Brand

BigCommerce is a powerful e-commerce platform built for flexibility and growth. It’s an excellent choice for brands that want to scale without limits on customization and integrations. The platform offers user-friendly marketing tools, supports headless commerce, and makes website management easy—even for teams without deep technical expertise. That’s why businesses looking for complete control and adaptability often choose BigCommerce.

This approach was a perfect fit for Skullcandy—a legendary audio brand making music an adventure since 2003.

Why Skullcandy Chose BigCommerce

Skullcandy has always focused on a young, active audience that values high-quality sound, bold design, and the latest technology. However, keeping modern consumers engaged is a challenge. Their previous CMS, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, required too many external resources to manage the website effectively.

The team wanted more control over their platform and a solution that made website management easier. They considered BigCommerce and Shopify but ultimately chose BigCommerce. According to Mark Hopkins, Chief Information Officer at Skullcandy, the decision quickly proved to be the right one:

The Impact of Switching to BigCommerce

The results were impressive. Skullcandy gained a platform that allowed their team to manage the website efficiently and scale without technical roadblocks. The transition led to:

• 104% increase in traffic
• 146% growth in revenue
• 50% boost in conversions

These numbers prove that the right CMS directly influences an e-commerce brand’s success.

Seamless Integrations

One of BigCommerce’s most significant advantages is its integration flexibility. Skullcandy easily connected all the tools they needed, including:

• Marketing tools: Facebook Ads, Instagram Shopping, Google Shopping
• Customer engagement: Back-in-stock notifications, product reviews via Yotpo
• Email marketing: Klaviyo
• Financial systems: Payment processing, tax management, inventory tracking

Today, Skullcandy continues to grow with BigCommerce. Their journey is an excellent example of how the right e-commerce platform can do more than support a business—it can help it evolve and scale at its rhythm.

Gymshark + Shopify: From Garage Startup to Global Success

Shopify is known for its ease of use and scalability in e-commerce. Its advanced version, Shopify Plus, offers even more—automation, personalization, and the ability to handle massive traffic spikes without crashing. That’s why brands with global ambitions choose this platform.

Gymshark, a British fitness apparel brand, needed that reliability and flexibility. What started as a small garage business quickly became one of the most recognizable names in the fitness industry.

Why Gymshark Chose Shopify Plus

Ben Francis founded Gymshark in 2012 when he was just 19 years old. The brand grew rapidly, using social media to connect with fitness enthusiasts worldwide. But this fast growth came with challenges. By 2015, Gymshark urgently needed a new e-commerce platform to meet demand.

At first, the team chose Adobe Commerce (Magento). But the transition took too long—6 to 8 months—and it was already outdated by the time the site launched. Then came a significant disaster. On Black Friday, the website crashed for eight hours, costing Gymshark £100,000 in lost sales.

How Shopify Plus Solved the Problem

After this failure, Gymshark switched to Shopify Plus in just 10 months. The decision was based on key advantages:

• Stability and scalability – The site could handle colossal traffic, even on the busiest shopping days.
• Flexible customization – Shopify Plus allowed quick updates without months of development.
• Innovative tools – Features like Shopify Scripts helped personalize shopping experiences, such as offering gifts with purchases.
• Omnichannel experience – Shopify POS supported Gymshark’s global fitness tours, where customers could meet influencers and buy products on-site.

The Impact of Switching to Shopify Plus

The new platform allowed Gymshark to focus on growth and innovation. By 2017, the brand had:

• Reached £41 million in revenue
• Gained 5.1 million followers across 131 countries
• Become one of the fastest-growing fitness brands in the world

Gymshark’s story shows that success depends on a robust platform and the ability to scale and adapt. Shopify Plus allowed the brand to grow, helping it go beyond selling apparel to building a global fitness movement.

Is Adobe Commerce a Bad CMS?

Not at all. Adobe Commerce wasn’t the right fit for Gymshark, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad platform. Some of the world’s biggest brands use it successfully, making it one of the most well-known e-commerce solutions.

Coca-Cola + Adobe Commerce: Personalization on a Global Scale

Adobe Commerce (Magento) is more than an e-commerce platform. It’s a powerful solution for brands that want to do more than sell—they want to create personalized customer experiences. With Adobe Experience Cloud, businesses can analyze customer behavior, automate marketing, and tailor their offerings in real time.

That’s why Coca-Cola, one of the world’s biggest brands, chose Adobe Commerce. The company sells 2 billion drinks daily and manages over 250 brands, including sodas, coffee, tea, juices, and alcoholic beverages. To connect with customers worldwide, Coca-Cola made Adobe Commerce a key part of its digital strategy.

Why Did Coca-Cola Choose Adobe Commerce?

Coca-Cola is no longer just a soda company. It calls itself a “total beverage company,” offering people exactly what they want when they want it.

But how do you keep up with the preferences of billions of consumers across different markets? Previously, Coca-Cola’s marketing teams in various countries used separate tools, making data management fragmented and complex. The company unified all customer data into a single platform to solve this issue. This solution allowed them to analyze trends in real time and make marketing more personalized and efficient.

How Adobe Commerce Helps Coca-Cola Connect with Customers

1. Personalization for Billions of Consumers

Coca-Cola uses Adobe Real-Time CDP (Customer Data Platform) to collect data from 100+ countries and manage 98 million customer profiles (and growing). This allows Coca-Cola to personalize offers based on consumer preferences:

• Families receive discounts on juices and coffee for breakfast.
• Sports fans get coupons for energy drinks.
• Loyal customers receive updates on new flavors.

2. Marketing Adapted to Local Markets

Coca-Cola sells different products in different regions. Consumer habits vary, and marketing needs to be flexible. With Adobe Commerce, Coca-Cola’s teams can:

• Easily adjust global campaigns for local markets.
• Share successful marketing strategies across countries.
• Launch scalable, personalized marketing campaigns quickly.

A great example is the Virtual Bottle Program in Latin America. Customers can return used bottles for new drinks. The program automatically sends discount coupons and reminders, while Adobe Target personalizes email offers. As a result, bottle recycling increased by 16%—a big step toward sustainability.

3. Data-Driven Advertising Campaigns

With insights from Adobe Customer Journey Analytics, Coca-Cola launched:

Coca-Cola and Adobe Commerce: E-commerce Without Borders

Coca-Cola built a truly global marketing strategy by choosing Adobe Commerce and Adobe Experience Cloud. Now, the company can analyze customer behavior in real time, personalize offers, and engage with consumers at every touchpoint—from physical stores to digital campaigns.

Coca-Cola’s story proves that e-commerce is more than just selling. With the right technology, brands can create personalized, memorable experiences that keep customers engaged and drive growth.

Adidas + Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Personalization at Full Speed

Salesforce Commerce Cloud is more than just an e-commerce platform. It’s a powerful tool for creating personalized customer experiences. Integrating eCommerce, marketing, and customer service helps brands connect with consumers at every stage of their journey.

This approach fits perfectly with Adidas’ digital-first strategy. The brand relies on Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud to create seamless digital experiences, engage customers, and make shopping as easy as possible.

Why Did Adidas Choose Salesforce Commerce Cloud?

“To you, for you, with you.” — This was the message behind Adidas’ new mobile app, introduced at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. The app became a key part of the brand’s global digital transformation strategy.

Adidas knows that customers expect more than just products. They want personalized interactions with the brand. To meet these expectations, Adidas needed a platform that could:

• Deliver personalized content based on user interests.
• Unify e-commerce, marketing, and customer service into one system.
• Support omnichannel experiences (mobile app, website, social media).
• Automate recommendations and push notifications to keep customers engaged.

How Does Salesforce Help Adidas?

1. Real-Time Personalization

By integrating Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud, Adidas creates a seamless and personalized shopping experience. Customers get:

• A customized news feed with articles based on their interests.
• Automated push notifications for discounts, new arrivals, and exclusive deals.
• AI-driven product recommendations based on purchase history and location.
• One-click payments with Apple Pay and Google Pay for a smooth checkout.

Adidas blends content and commerce, turning every interaction into a personalized digital experience.

2. AI-Powered Email Marketing

Adidas uses Salesforce Marketing Cloud to personalize email campaigns at scale.

The key innovation is Einstein Content Selection (ECS), an AI-powered system that updates email content in real time.

When a customer opens an email, AI selects the most relevant content at that moment:

• Headlines, banners, and text change based on customer preferences.
• Content updates dynamically based on time of day, promotions, or seasonality.
• Emails are personalized to match the recipient’s favorite sports, styles, or teams.

• 40% lower email marketing costs.
• 8% increase in engagement across key markets (2020 vs. 2019).
• Over 1 million personalized email campaigns in 20+ countries.

3. E-commerce Growth & Omnichannel Expansion

Adidas is focused on digital sales, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud is the foundation of this growth. The company set an ambitious goal of €4 billion in eCommerce revenue by 2020, and Salesforce played a significant role in achieving it.

How Salesforce supports Adidas’ digital growth:

• Adidas.com and Reebok.com became the brand’s most profitable sales channels.
• Seamless integration across mobile apps, social media, email, and the website.
• AI-driven analytics and recommendations to enhance the shopping experience.

Adidas and Salesforce: The Future of E-commerce

Adidas has built a genuinely personalized digital experience with Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud. The brand isn’t just selling products—it’s creating long-term customer relationships.

What’s Next?

More AI. More automation. More personalization.

Adidas is already using artificial intelligence to update emails as they are opened and automate real-time marketing campaigns.

Adidas’ journey proves that the future of e-commerce lies in personalization, omnichannel experiences, and AI-driven engagement.

How to Choose the Best CMS for Your E-commerce Business?

The success of major brands shows that the right CMS can make a huge difference in online sales. But there’s no universal solution—your choice should depend on your business model, scale, and growth strategy.

• If your brand is growing fast and needs flexibility, BigCommerce and Shopify Plus offer stability and easy management.
• If you rely on advanced marketing and analytics, Salesforce Commerce Cloud or Adobe Commerce (Magento) might be the best fit.
• If full customization and control are your priorities, building a custom CMS could be the smartest choice.

Ask yourself these key questions:

At Vilmate, we do more than develop e-commerce platforms—we help businesses find the perfect CMS for their needs. If no existing solution fits, we can build a custom CMS tailored specifically to your goals.

Contact us, and let’s find the best solution to help your business grow and succeed!