Ecommerce can be an excellent way for your business to outshine others. Who wouldn’t want loyal customers or get to know better ways to reach clients? A great way is to own a website, which is a critical piece of your eCommerce strategy. You must select the right eCommerce platform since it is a vital touchpoint for your business. Shopify and WooCommerce are two trending e-commerce platforms. Which one to choose? There is no simple answer! It is best to look at all the facets that both platforms offer before making a decision. After all, no business is alike. It’s only sensible that your choices will be different too. In this blog, we will look at demystifying both platforms, which will enable you to form a well-informed decision. Let’s start.
What is Shopify?
Imagine you want to set up an online store where you can showcase your products. Plus, sell them. Shopify is a great e-commerce platform that helps you set up an online store. It offers a fast way to launch your dream eCommerce website and reach your clients.
What’s more, Shopify helps you accept payments and manage inventory all from a single platform. The good part—one does not need to be technically proficient in managing a website. Many facets of security, web hosting, caching, and more are seamlessly taken care of for you.
What is WooCommerce?
Think about having your online dream store! Well, an extra platform to pick from, helps. Isn’t it? You’ve got it! Just like Shopify, WooCommerce helps you set up an online store. However, WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plugin. It allows users to customize every aspect of an online store.
What’s more, WooCommerce is well-known for its flexibility and functionality. Plus, it has all the pros of WordPress, such as strength and reliability, making it a popular go-to platform.
Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Shopify and WooCommerce have excellent features. Let’s try and look at each eCommerce platform and weigh some of these facets. You can also think of reaching a proficient eCommerce development company, if weighing the options look overwhelming. Let’s dive in!
1. Flexibility
Shopify is great for beginners and does not require knowledge of programming or code. However, the platform has limitations when customizing.
WooCommerce has an extra edge over Shopify as it is an open-source platform. One can easily customize an online store, which is a huge blessing. The catch is if you don’t know how to code, WooCommerce can get challenging when it comes to using it.
Bottom line: WooCommerce wins.
2. Pricing
With the global pandemic, many entrepreneurs are on the lookout for an economical solution.
Shopify offers a straightforward solution with some existing pricing packages. After one signs up, it is easy to set up an online store. Plus, one can always pay more for premium themes and apps.
WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin. However, one has to look at the additional costs that get added when making an online store.
Both eCommerce platforms have transaction fees that are typically around 2-3% per purchase.
Bottom line: there’s no simple answer! Entrepreneurs need to look at budgets. Plus, the amount of flexibility they need when building their online stores. However, if one plans to see simple products with not many variations, Shopify steals the show.
3. Plugins
It is great to have some exciting plugins. When it comes to Shopify, the platform offers over a thousand free and paid reliable apps. One can find ratings and reviews for each app, which can help make a quick decision on the ones to install.
In the case of WooCommerce, as it is an open-source platform, it relies heavily on plugins. With over 50,000 plugins to choose from, one can completely develop a custom website seamlessly.
The bottom line is that both eCommerce platforms offer that extra functionality that suits all businesses. However, WooCommerce wins this feature as it offers better plugins than Shopify.
4. SEO Features
As an entrepreneur, you’d want to appear high in Google’s search results. How can one achieve this? Yes, you’re right! SEO is critical to getting you your results.
Shopify offers an excellent way to add basic SEO information to your online store project. It is easy to add titles for images, products, and pages. The platform is popular for clean code. Plus, it also extends a natural linking structure, which offers a smooth user experience. These facets help you achieve higher search engine results.
When it comes to WooCommerce, the platform uses code optimized for SEO. Plus, it’s integrated with WordPress, which offers an incredible range of SEO plugins. It is easy to customize URLs and helps search engine users find your pages easily. What’s more, during the development process, one will receive SEO prompts, reminding you of incorporating SEO for your eCommerce site.
Bottom line: both platforms have an excellent range of SEO plugins. WooCommerce probably wins by a nail. Yes, you’re right! It is a close call.
Wrapping Up
As an entrepreneur, you need to weigh all your options before making that decision. It’s simple. The right eCommerce platform can help you reduce costs, boost ROI, and also improve customer loyalty. If you’re not sure which platform to select, always reach out to a proficient e-commerce website developer who can walk you through the journey. We at Cosmic Technologies have incredible experience in helping businesses develop incredible websites. Talk to us.