Ask buyers what frustrates them about their ecommerce platform and the answer depends on which platform they run. Shopify's users — most of the brands in these interviews — describe a platform that is quick to run but can constrain the customizations they want. Buyers report limitations involving checkout, promotions and customer accounts, although the available options depend on their plan, configuration and supported extensions; they also describe reporting they replace with other tools, and an app for many gaps. The enterprise platforms draw a different set of complaints: buyers describe greater flexibility, but often at the cost of developer involvement, complicated maintenance and difficult upgrades. How much technical support routine changes require depends on the platform and how the storefront was built. Buyers mostly live with the first set and act on the second — the moves described here run from the enterprise platforms toward Shopify or custom builds, not the other way. For the ratings and the pre-purchase view, see what buyers wish they'd known before replatforming.
The six complaints — graded
Each complaint is classified by how buyers in these interviews typically respond: tolerating the issue, working around it, waiting for the vendor, or reconsidering the contract. These are observed responses, not fixed severity ratings; the same limitation may be manageable for one company and unacceptable for another. Every platform here draws complaints, and the question is which of them matter for your business.
It cannot do it natively
The most common complaint, and Shopify's defining one in these interviews. Buyers describe limitations in how far they can customize parts of their storefront, especially checkout, accounts, promotions and subscription experiences; some capabilities depend on Shopify's supported extension mechanisms, the plan and the requirements of the merchant's own implementation. In their words: “checkout is not really flexible, account is not flexible, sign-up page is not flexible,” one says, and asked what they would change, another answers “Their checkout. Literally just their checkout.” Promotions, bundles and subscriptions come up too — “we still have challenges with some of the complexities of our promotional setup.” Enterprise platforms draw it less, though one Salesforce Commerce Cloud user sums up the attitude they meet: “Either this is how it works, use it or don't use it.” Shopify's users mostly wait: “So we live with those limitations until Shopify releases additional capabilities around those.” They describe the trade as worth it, and none here leaves over it.
Named for this: Shopify · SAP Commerce · Salesforce Commerce Cloud · Adobe Commerce
Every change needs a developer or an agency
The enterprise counterpart to Shopify's customization complaints is the engineering effort required to use that flexibility. Buyers describe implementations where even relatively simple storefront changes depend on developers or outside agencies, adding cost and slowing execution. On Salesforce Commerce Cloud “it takes tickets and weeks and months to make a very simple change, like on a landing page or the homepage”; on Magento, “Any time we need to do anything, it involves an expensive call with expensive consultants”; on SAP's platform, “It's absurd how much time it takes the developers to build it.” This is the complaint most often behind the moves buyers describe, though many tolerate it — one Salesforce Commerce Cloud user says “at the moment, I don't think we're planning on moving from Salesforce Commerce Cloud, unfortunately.”
Named for this: Salesforce Commerce Cloud · Adobe Commerce · SAP Commerce · commercetools
The built-in reporting is weak
A complaint that falls mostly on Shopify. “Its reporting is terrible,” one user says; another, “It's not a reporting tool. It's not an insights tool.” Magento and BigCommerce users say the same about their platforms — “Trying to pull any kind of data requires us to go through GA4 rather than through the web platform itself because the reporting options are limited.” Buyers fill the gap with analytics, BI and attribution tools: “We have to use a third party like Looker for us to really understand true retention.” Nobody here leaves a platform over it.
Named for this: Shopify · Adobe Commerce · BigCommerce
Cost, fees and price rises
The complaint takes different shapes by platform. On Shopify it is the share of revenue and the rising bill as a brand grows — “As you scale, you've got to pay a significant percentage to Shopify, and that's tough,” and “it's getting quite pricey with Shopify. The cost just keeps growing.” On the enterprise platforms it is licence and upkeep: “the license costs, the maintenance cost is very, very high,” says one SAP Commerce user, and a Salesforce Commerce Cloud user feels they are “paying quite a high cost for, you know, basically the checkout function.” Shopify's users mostly accept it — “it is more expensive than most other platforms, but honestly, no complaints,” says one. On the enterprise platforms cost appears in decisions to leave, but always alongside another complaint.
Named for this: Shopify · Salesforce Commerce Cloud · SAP Commerce · Adobe Commerce
App and extension sprawl can increase cost and maintenance
Platforms that rely on apps and extensions to fill functionality gaps can leave buyers managing a growing collection of third-party dependencies. Some apps add storefront code or scripts that affect performance, while others mainly add subscription cost, integration complexity and maintenance work; the effect depends on what each app does and how it is implemented. One Shopify Plus user says that “for every single thing you need to have an app, and the more apps you have, the slower your site speed is”; another puts it more simply: “We have way too many apps.” Apps add to the monthly bill and break when the platform changes. On Magento it shows up at upgrade time: “we were kind of at the mercy of the extension creator.” Buyers respond by auditing and pruning, and one brand that called its app count a problem renewed its Shopify contract anyway.
Named for this: Shopify · Adobe Commerce
Aging technology and painful upgrades
The complaint about where a platform is going. A Salesforce Commerce Cloud user says “it feels very similar from five to eight years ago than it does today”; an SAP Commerce user that “It's written on an antiquated technology stack”; and on Magento, “the upgrade process has been very painful a couple of times when we've done it.” Alongside needing developers, this is the complaint in the leaving decisions buyers describe: one company is moving off SAP Commerce to a custom build — “we've chosen to go for a leaner, simpler solution” — and another is pulling capabilities out of its legacy platform piece by piece. On Shopify, the few who raise it are describing their own old theme code rather than the platform.
Named for this: Salesforce Commerce Cloud · SAP Commerce · Adobe Commerce
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The counter-current: what buyers don't complain about
Shopify's ease of use and speed to market are praised almost everywhere, including by the users who complain about it: “the speed to market and standardization would offset any of the customizations that we can't do,” one says. Salesforce Commerce Cloud's stability draws praise, not complaints — “the platform is incredibly stable,” says one user, and another names “the uptime” as one of its key strengths. Shopify's support splits its users rather than uniting them in complaint. And almost no one complains about checkout conversion or security on any platform; the checkout complaint is about how far it can be customized. Before you conclude the platform is the problem, separate what the vendor controls from what depends on your apps, themes and team; the second is often fixable without a replatform.
What this means — whether you run one or you're buying one
If you already run an ecommerce platform, the complaints split by type. On Shopify, the common ones — rigidity, reporting, apps, fees — are usually worked around or waited out, and buyers here keep the platform. On the enterprise platforms, developer dependence and aging technology are what put the contract in play, and the moves buyers describe head to Shopify or composable and custom builds. If you're evaluating one, our recommendations — not practices buyers describe — are to list the checkout, promotion and subscription behaviour you need and test it natively before counting on an app or a roadmap; to price the platform with its apps and reporting tools, not alone; and, for an enterprise platform, to ask how many of your routine changes will need a developer. For how long a move takes, see real ecommerce replatforming timelines; for cost, what buyers actually pay for an ecommerce platform; for what triggers a move, why brands replatform.
Common questions
What are the most common complaints about ecommerce platforms?
Six recur across Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Adobe Commerce (Magento) and SAP Commerce. The most common is that the platform cannot do something natively — checkout, promotions, bundles or subscriptions. Next come changes that need a developer or agency, weak built-in reporting, cost, dependence on apps and extensions that add cost and maintenance, and aging technology with painful upgrades. Which complaints dominate depends on the platform: rigidity on Shopify, developer dependence and aging technology on the enterprise platforms.
What are the biggest complaints about Shopify?
Shopify users in these interviews most often describe limits on customization: checkout, account pages, promotions and bundles could not be customized as far as they wanted in their setup, with options that depend on plan, configuration and supported extensions. They also describe weak built-in reporting, the need for an app for many functions — which adds cost and can slow the site — and fees that grow as they scale. Few of them leave over it; most wait for Shopify to add capabilities, use apps or third-party reporting, and praise its ease of use and speed to market.
What are the biggest complaints about Salesforce Commerce Cloud?
Salesforce Commerce Cloud users in these interviews most often say that simple changes need developers, tickets and weeks of work. They also describe licence cost that is high for what they use, and tooling that feels dated. Its stability draws praise rather than complaints: no user here complains about outages, and several name uptime as a strength.
Why do companies leave their ecommerce platform?
In these interviews, the complaints tied to leaving are needing developers for every change and aging technology with costly upgrades, sometimes alongside licence cost. They come from users of Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Adobe Commerce and SAP Commerce, and the moves buyers describe head to Shopify or to composable or custom builds. Completed exits with a stated cause are few; most are underway or under evaluation. No Shopify user here is leaving over its main complaints.
Are these complaints reasons to switch ecommerce platforms?
It depends on the complaint. Buyers often wait out rigidity on the vendor's roadmap, fill reporting gaps with other tools, tolerate cost and prune apps. Developer dependence and aging technology are the complaints that put a contract in play, and they concentrate on the enterprise platforms. These are how existing customers respond, not a judgment that any limitation is acceptable for a new buyer.
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