Choosing an online e-commerce platform is one of the first significant decisions you should make when you are starting an online store. It’s important to make this decision because it will change how your business works over time. That’s why before making a decision, you should conduct some research on it.
Right now global e-commerce sales reached $7 trillion. It’s the perfect time to launch an online store. Although it can be challenging to determine which e-commerce platform is the most suitable option between WooCommerce and Shopify. To compare these two popular eCommerce platforms, we created a guide for WooCommerce and Shopify.
However, there are plenty of distinctions between them. If you’re planning on doing some research, you are in the right place. By reading this article, you can decide between WooCommerce and Shopify as an e-commerce platform.
This article provides you with an elaborate comparison of two of the most popular e-commerce platforms: Shopify and WooCommerce. In the beginning, let’s have a glance at the larger picture of Shopify and WooCommerce. First of all, we will discuss their general features and the intended users that these services can cater to. Next, we’ll discuss costs, payments, marketing features, and more in detail. So, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Comparison between WooCommerce and Shopify
To get started with e-commerce, you must have some basic knowledge. What is an e-commerce platform? An e-commerce platform hosts your online store and allows you to sell and customers to buy from you. There are multiple e-commerce platforms out there on the internet, each with its own set of benefits.
Online marketplaces can offer you a greater range of handmade goods or alternatives. That specializes in drop shipping. Thus, we suggest you conduct a bit of preliminary research. This helps you choose the platform that best meets your needs. Let’s explore the features and benefits of Shopify and WooCommerce.
Shopify
The US market’s most prominent e-commerce platform is Shopify. Almost 2.1 million online store users use Shopify to create their online store. It is also the primary player in the global market and accounts for roughly 28% of all eBay. Shopify is a complete online marketplace. It empowers users to create virtual stores. It also helps to handle payment, inventory, and other aspects of the buying process.
Shopify is a great place for new sellers. It offers professional-looking website templates with a user-friendly and intuitive interface. It doesn’t take much time to set up. The downside of Shopify is that it has plenty of limitations. That applies only to experienced sellers who sell in bulk, are budget-conscious, and want to maximize customization options.
WooCommerce
Like Shopify, WooCommerce is one of the most trustworthy e-commerce platforms in the world. Almost 20.2% of online businesses worldwide use WooCommerce to create their online store. WooCommerce has a free plugin, and it can be easily installed on your WordPress website in minutes. WooCommerce operates as an open-source platform. Thus, it gives you more control over the look, cost, and functionality of your website.
This can be a great option for experienced sellers who want to understand their target audience. They can truly customize their shop to suit their customers’ needs. Its lack of simple functionalities and slight technical expertise can make it a bit overwhelming for new users.
If your store already exists, consider incorporating WooCommerce. Although it requires some technical expertise, WooCommerce can save you significant money. It offers you specialized add-ons that can be mixed and matched.
An elaborate comparison: Shopify vs. WooCommerce
We can now gain a deeper understanding of these platforms and their intended users. But here’s a crucial question. What factors should you consider when deciding whether to use an e-commerce platform for your business? Which factors will provide you with the most clarity when making a decision?
First and foremost, you need to choose an e-commerce platform that you are comfortable with. You should evaluate various options and identify the most logical one. It is important to take into account the matter of cost. The majority of platforms require payment for maintenance or subscription services.
So you should be aware of the fees. It should also be noted that the platforms provide you with extensive customization options. This allows you to display your store the way you want. You can easily integrate with third-party applications. Such as Printful, which are essential for your businesses.
Let’s dive into various aspects of Shopify vs. WooCommerce. Those are very crucial to understanding these platforms and making better decisions.
Which online store builder is comfortable to use: Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Running an online business requires knowledge in many areas, but most business owners are not developers or web design experts. It’s important that your e-commerce platform is user-friendly, easy to use, and offers great learning resources.
Shopify
Shopify is a great option for those who are new to e-commerce and want to get started. When you sign in to Shopify and begin managing your shop from the start, there’s a step-by-step setup guide. That provides you with all the essential details about creating an online store. It includes product descriptions, pricing information, and customizing options.
Shopify offers you many built-in features, including web hosting for e-commerce stores. With a hosted e-commerce platform like Shopify, you don’t have to worry about many of the technical things. Your hosting provider can offer you plenty of features. Such as payment gateways, shopping cart software, SSL certificates (security certificates required to run your website), easy-to-use building tools, and database support.
Shopify provides you with a hosted platform for several of these. You don’t have to worry about domain names or hosting. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about getting an SSL certificate. Shopify has additional features that simplify the entire process of creating a Shopify store. The Shopify Payments feature eliminates the need for a third-party payment gateway.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin and is not hosted by Shopify. This is the opposite of what they do. This means you’ll have to take care of things like web hosting and safety yourself. To get your WooCommerce store online, follow these instructions:
- Complete the necessary steps.
- Secure a name for your domain.
- Discover a hosting provider
- Sign up for a WordPress account
- Install the WooCommerce plugin
- Obtain an SSL certificate
- Find a third-party payment gateway for your store
Creating a WooCommerce store is tough, and WooCommerce is not as easy to learn as Shopify. But it’s not incredibly difficult. It is a fortunate fact that WooCommerce plugins can automate most of the above tasks.
To give you an example, Bluehost is a top choice for the WooCommerce plugin. It eliminates many of your web hosting obligations, including purchasing & protecting your website from hackers. On the official WooCommerce site, Bluehost is a reliable hosting partner that offers numerous exceptional features to users of the website.
How easy is it to launch: Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Shopify
If you focus on how easy it is to create a fully functional store that accepts orders, then Shopify is the real winner. Shopify, a hosted e-commerce platform. It handles essentially most of the technical work needed to launch your online store. The package comprises a domain name, hosting, and issuance of an SSL certificate.
The basic process of creating your Shopify account includes selecting your theme, purchasing your domain name, or syncing an existing domain. Utilizing your own Shopify Payments gateway will enable you to accept credit card payments right away
WooCommerce
WooCommerce requires you to create a WordPress website if you don’t already have one. You will also need to specify your web hosting and domain name. These items are essential for the swift setup of WooCommerce. Hosting packages or domain names can require additional fees in WooCommerce.
WooCommerce has a helpful setup wizard that guides you through the majority of the initial setup. To complete this process, a payment gateway is required. The selection of monetary value, currency, and shipping options is also necessary. Numerous blogs, tutorials, and instructional videos offer guidance on establishing a WooCommerce store. There is indeed a learning curve, especially for those building their first WordPress site.
Layouts and Templates: Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Shopify
When you sign up for a Shopify account, you get instant access to over 70 free themes and several paid themes. These are simple and sophisticated. Design elements can be easily manipulated in Shopify. Shopify store offers you a one-time charge for theme purchases. But it’s quite expensive. If customization is your top priority, Shopify offers premium themes out of the box. You should remember this essentially.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce provides you with a broad range of designs and themes. You can customize the theme for mobile devices. If you are looking for a more customized layout for your e-commerce site, choosing WooCommerce is a wise decision. However, keep in mind that you need to be able to invest time and money in development.
Every plugin has a unique user experience (UX) that you need to learn. So it takes more time to ensure that your website design is clear and easy to understand. However, this means that you can share the same theme across multiple online stores. The key to success lies in being unique.
Online store builder Cost: Shopify vs. Woocommerce
Shopify
Shopify provides you with a free trial. It lasts for 14 days and then charges you for recurring subscriptions. The basic plan of Shopify start at $29 a month, the next level is $79 ppm (the top package costs $299 p/m). Every plan of Shopify comes with an annual payment. Each plan comes with web hosting and SSL protection. Internet security and sensitive data protection are the main objectives of using SSL as a standard protocol.
If you have your own unbranded domain name, there is an additional fee of $14 per year. For example, if you include a service like Shopify in your URL, it will require an additional fee. The entry plan allows two users per account. But it provides unlimited products and storage space. In addition, the above does not apply to in-platform tools and external add-ons.
You can keep a note that there is a sliding scale for transaction fees. The basic package charges you a flat fee of 2.0% on all trades. On the other hand, the top package reduces this to 0.5% on trades. Depending on the sales volume you handle, it may be worth keeping most of your indirect profits in your listings.
WooCommerce
There are no fees for the initial version of WooCommerce. However, there will be additional charges you will have to pay for additional services. The service list includes domain name booking, SSL certification, and many WordPress hosting accounts. The price of these services may differ. The cost of hosting varies from $5. The cost of acquiring a domain name typically is $9 per year.
You can obtain an SSL certificate for your website for free or charge up to $100 annually. SSL ensures the security of your website. We think this is a top priority for the betterment of your website and worth the money. By utilizing various third-party apps, you can construct a WooCommerce website at various cost levels.
Remember that you can be obligated to pay for multiple extensions. Due to various reasons, you have to pay particularly for the SEO plugins. The cost factor can affect the decision-making process. So you should consider features rather than price when deciding which platform is most suitable for you.
SEO Friendliness: Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Shopify
Shopify provides you with simple SEO tips and tricks for your store. Your product page will be described and titled as part of this process. WooCommerce offers you a wide selection of plugins, but in the Shopify App Store, you will get some useful SEO plugins. Such as SEO Booster. By using this plugin, you can create an SEO report that thoroughly analyses your store. By using the plugin, you can optimize your search engine performance.
WooCommerce
Your online store’s revenue can be greatly enhanced by SEO. More than 40% of most e-commerce stores’ sales come from organic traffic. In addition, 39% of online searches are based on related questions. WooCommerce code is ready to use and optimized for SEO. It also allows you to include meta descriptions and titles on your product pages.
Furthermore, it provides you with the opportunity to set the URL accordingly. By taking these steps, your store pages will be ranked highly in search engine results. Also, you can add more WooCommerce plugins to enhance your website’s SEO experience. The package contains robust software that is specifically tailored to enhance SEO. You can use these SEO plugins to enhance your SEO visibility on your pages.
Support: Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Shopify
Both platforms offer you some level of support. In that case, Shopify has a much better system. Shopify customer support is available 24 hours a day. Because it runs on a closed platform. It can provide you with the opportunity to find solutions to problems. That results in better documentation of errors for the user.
WooCommerce
On the other hand, anyone can integrate add-ons into WooCommerce. It is an open platform. Unfortunately, they don’t have a dedicated support team to resolve your issues. But there’s a huge community of developers and programmers that can help you resolve issues in your WooCommerce store. You can easily find them on various marketplaces, like Fiverr and Upwork.
Conclusion
All businesses have particular requirements for their online store. If you want to make a seamless transition into e-commerce, it’s important to identify the right platform for your business. Shopify is the ultimate solution for your e-commerce business. It offers you fast and user-friendly functionality and apps. Also, it has a skilled support team to assist you with any inquiries and help you enable numerous integrations with other e-commerce solutions.
If you have already established a WordPress site or have plans to expand, WooCommerce is the perfect choice for you. It helps you seek more control over your online store or advanced design knowledge. It is highly adaptable, suitable for SEO purposes, and can be greatly scaled.
Your decision regarding what your company requires is ultimately in your hands. So before finalizing your preferred e-commerce platform, recheck the areas of both of these platforms. Then make the decision based on your requirements.
