Digital sovereignty and e-commerce: what technological dependency costs PrestaShop stores
Digital sovereignty isn’t a debate for lawyers or executive teams. It’s an operational, concrete issue that affects every PrestaShop store that depends on tools whose decision-making center is thousands of miles away. Over 10 years, the tech stack of an average online retailer has grown from 3 tools to more than twenty. Each one added for a good reason. Together, they form a technological dependency in e-commerce that no one chose deliberately and whose real cost few people measure. That’s the observation made by Thomas Rayrat, CEO of Profileo, in an episode of the E-Commerce Nation podcast alongside Nicolas J. Chevalier.
Watch the video: Thomas Rayrat on E-Commerce Nation
What is digital sovereignty for an online retailer?
Digital sovereignty in e-commerce refers to a merchant’s ability to control their tools, data, and technological infrastructure, without depending on providers over whom they have no leverage. It rests on three pillars: control of costs, control of data, and control of technical agility. Losing just one of the three is enough to weaken an entire business.
How dependency built up layer by layer
The CMS, then hosting. Then payment, email, CRM, advertising. Each tool, taken on its own, seemed reasonable. Every contract signed had its own logic. The result: a large share of French businesses run their operations on infrastructure whose technical teams don’t have a single employee based in France. Thomas Rayrat put it in a simple image:
“Ask yourself how many employees in France work on the tools you use every day. Not the salespeople, but the technical teams — the ones who build the tool. For most typical e-commerce stacks, the answer is close to zero.” Thomas Rayrat, CEO of Profileo
Why digital sovereignty isn’t a patriotic issue
This isn’t an ideological debate. It’s a matter of operational control. Three concrete dimensions for a PrestaShop store:
1. Cost control
American SaaS providers raise their prices without notice, sometimes by 20, 30, or 40% in a single renewal cycle. When your business depends on them entirely, you have no negotiating leverage. You just have to take it.
2. Data control
Your customers, your catalog, your order history — where are they hosted? Under which jurisdiction? Who can access them, and under what conditions? These questions directly determine your GDPR compliance and your ability to switch providers.
3. Technical agility control
A closed system decides for you what you can do with your own data. An open source environment like PrestaShop gives you the choice: integrate AI your way, adapt your architecture, migrate if needed. Technical freedom is strategic freedom.
The 80% threshold: a practical rule
Thomas Rayrat set a simple criterion in the podcast:
“If you exceed 80% dependency on your core tools, and you can’t roll back if one of them goes down, you should be asking yourself some questions.” Thomas Rayrat, CEO of Profileo
It’s not the number of tools that’s the problem. It’s the lack of a backup plan. A PrestaShop store able to switch to an alternative within 48 hours is in a very different position from one that can’t. Resilience is something you build before the crisis hits.
Where to start in practice: 3 habits to adopt
You don’t need to rebuild everything. Three actions are enough to gradually reduce your exposure:
- Export your data daily to European hosting. A minimal safety net.
- With every tool renewal, add a question to your benchmark: what’s the European or open-source alternative?
- Map out your dependency: list your 10 main tools and identify the ones for which you have no backup plan.
Nicolas J. Chevalier sums up the right approach well:
“It’s not about all-or-nothing. It’s mainly about not putting all your eggs in one basket.” Nicolas J. Chevalier, Founder and CEO of E-Commerce Nation
Frequently asked questions about digital sovereignty in e-commerce
What is digital sovereignty in e-commerce?
Digital sovereignty in e-commerce refers to a merchant’s ability to remain in control of their tools, data, and technological infrastructure. It rests on three pillars: cost control (avoiding dependency on vendors who raise their prices without notice), data control (storing customer data under European jurisdiction), and agility control (being able to switch providers or migrate without having to rebuild everything).
Is PrestaShop a sovereign choice for an online retailer?
Yes. PrestaShop is an open-source CMS, which means you can host it wherever you want, modify its code freely, and migrate from one host to another without vendor lock-in. Paired with specialized PrestaShop hosting on European infrastructure, it forms a solid, sovereign technological foundation.
How can an online store reduce its technological dependency?
Three concrete steps: (1) export your customer data and catalog daily to European storage, (2) with every tool renewal, evaluate the European or open-source alternative, (3) map out your stack to identify the tools with no backup plan. Applied consistently, these habits reduce risk exposure without a sudden break.
What does GDPR require for hosting a PrestaShop store?
GDPR requires that European customers’ personal data be processed under guarantees equivalent to European law. Hosting your PrestaShop store on servers located in Europe, with a provider subject to European law, is the most direct way to meet this requirement without added legal complexity.
Profileo helps PrestaShop retailers structure their technical infrastructure. Specialized hosting, and PrestaShop expertise — discover our approach.