WooCommerce vs. Shopify | E-Commerce Websites

 In Wordpress

For the last few years, e-commerce has grown tremendously, causing a vast sensation on the internet. Currently, a significant number of people make purchases online. In fact, e-commerce was responsible for $2.3 trillion in sales in 2017. This growth led to the emergence of various e-commerce platforms that allow entrepreneurs to have their own online storefront. Trouble, however, begins when it comes to selecting an ideal e-commerce platform for your business. Most people are torn between WooCommerce and Shopify, which is why it’s important to know the difference and take advantage of the platform that reigns over the other.

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of the comparison, you need to first get an overview of the two.

WooCommerce

This platform works hand in hand with WordPress — an extremely important tool that aids in the creation of e-commerce websites. As such, by incorporating WooCommerce into your e-commerce website, you’ll reap the benefits associated with the world’s best Content Management System (CMS). WooCommerce is also an open source plugin, which enables you to customize your e-commerce website. This implies that you can add as many features as you wish to your site. WordPress also provides different themes that you can use to improve the appearance of your site.

Shopify

This e-commerce platform allows you to build an online marketplace, manage your products and receive payment for goods or services. With this platform, you can manage every aspect of your store including SSL certificates as well as web security and hosting. However, the features that will be included in your online store depend on the kind of plan you get from Shopify.

Which is Better?

While Shopify and WooCommerce are critical tools for the development of e-commerce websites, they do have several distinguishing features. To help you gain a better understanding of the two, read on to find vital comparisons between them.

Cost Friendliness

When launching a business, entrepreneurs need to engage a platform that offers the best features at a relatively reduced cost. E-commerce platforms require the user to pay a certain amount of cash up front with the sum depending on your choice of plan. They also require other fees for extra services or add-ons that are part and parcel of creating an effective online market.

Shopify comes with several plans with monthly costs beginning at $29 and going up to $299. You’ll also incur other costs during your operations. For instance, the basic plan charges you for adding third-party extensions or tools, which increases the overall cost of operation. But that’s not all — Shopify comes with a default payment feature that charges 2.9% plus 30 cents for every transaction. You may choose a higher plan that charges 0.5% for every transaction, but you’ll have to pay $299 as a down payment.

WooCommerce, on the other hand, is an open source platform that you simply download from the WordPress site. However, to begin your operations with this platform, you’re required to purchase web hosting and an SSL certificate. Luckily, companies like Simplemachine offer web hosting services and SSL certificates. Also, WooCommerce doesn’t charge any transaction fee, which means that you get to keep all your profit. Another thing that makes WooCommerce cheaper is that you’re only required to buy add-ons and tools that are critical for the success of your site.

The Freedom of an Open Source

When choosing an e-commerce platform, you should get one that will work best with your website’s requirements. Shopify has limited product variations, no option to migrate to another site and no sub-categories, which makes it a closed platform. Conversely, WooCommerce is more of an open source; it provides you with full access and control over your site. In fact, you can customize any aspect of your e-commerce website and integrate any service without limitations. For instance, WooCommerce provides you with a bunch of website themes but doesn’t prevent you from outsourcing others when you’re not satisfied with what they have.

Powerful SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the key to attracting many customers and making more sales. It all boils down to ensuring your site ranks higher in Google’s search results. Shopify helps you generate more sales by allowing you to incorporate necessary apps like Blog module, free SSL certificate, and SEO ready website structure. While all these are necessary, WooCommerce is a greater help when it comes to SEO — and for good reason. It gives you access to the WordPress blogging infrastructure, which gives you the ability to do thorough research and edit your metadata. Also, through giving you access to CMS and allowing you to edit the aesthetics of your site, integrate your site with Facebook and understand user behavior, WooCommerce gives you everything you need to harness the power of SEO.

The Number of Add-ons

The work of e-commerce platforms cannot be complete without add-ons or extensions. As your business continues to grow, you’ll need to add more features on your site, which means that your ideal platform is one that allows the most add-ons and extensions. Shopify comes with an app that works like Google Play. It allows you to download and store different features to your online shop. To integrate the apps to your site, you’ll, however, need to download API keys, which lengthens and complicates the process even further. Also, premium apps come with monthly and yearly subscriptions, which increase your operational costs.

Luckily, WooCommerce comes with more flexibility; it works with 50,000 free plugins provided by WordPress. These plugins will help you add amazing features to your online stores like payment, SEO and analytical solutions. It also provides content and speed optimization tools as well as product review add-ons. Also, when your business grows, you can hire a development team like Simplemachine and let them create custom plugins and extensions that can integrate with your WooComerce platform. This means that you can use these experts to build a bespoke e-commerce website.

Better Design

A well-designed website can help attract customers to your business. This is something you need to keep in mind when choosing the right platform for your business.

Shopify has over 100 different themes to choose from but only 20 are free. It also offers minimal room for customization. WooCommerce, on the other hand, doesn’t contribute much to your website’s design. Instead, it integrates and contributes to the functionality of your site. This platform is designed to work with different themes on the internet. This platform is designed to work with different themes on the internet and is also completely customizable when utilizing a company like Simplemachine, to develop your website into really any type of e-commerce application.

The above information compares the cost, amount of add-ons each platform allows, freedom of operation and ability to facilitate SEO and website design. Overall, WooCommerce works with WordPress and CMS. This enables this platform to provide online store owners with all the tools needed for launching and running an effective e-commerce website. However, setting up WooCommerce calls for a lot of expertise, which is why you should call Simplemachine — a company that will provide you with WordPress web design, development and hosting services.

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