Are you planning to start your eCommerce store? If yes, then you've made a wise decision, and here's proof. As per the developer stats, it is estimated that 95% of all purchases will be made through eCommerce by 2040.
Isn't that surprising! No doubt, eCommerce is the golden pot of opportunities needed for a successful business. It is crucial for a positive ROI and will help achieve not only local customers but also individuals from all over the world.
But which platform would be best for creating an e-store? Shopify and Woocommerce are the two most popular platforms for creating an online business.
Take a look at the Google Trends graph below. See the blue and red lines shooting up in recent years? Yes, they represent the public's interest in Shopify and WooCommerce, two solutions for building fully online stores.
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Since it is a tough job to find out which one is right for you - Shopify or WordPress (WooCommerce). So, here's a complete guide that will help you decide the right eCommerce platform for your business.
Let’s dive in!
Shopify VS Woocommerce: Overview
Shopify
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Shopify is a hosted shopping cart that launches and manages online stores effortlessly. With a customer base, which spans over 1.8 million sites, Shopify is one of the most prominent e-commerce platform players today.
It has become one of the well-known names in the eCommerce sphere as it offers dynamically developed eCommerce solutions. Currently, it powers more than 1 million businesses in 175 countries around the world. You may hire woocommerce developers in india to get the best of woocommerce solutions at affordable prices.
In a nutshell, it will impress you with the most enhanced eCommerce functionality currently offered by a shopping cart.
Perhaps, it is the easiest to use tools to build your online store. It is a full-fledged, hosted solution designed to provide you with everything you need to start selling online.
WooCommerce
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WordPress theme developer WooTheme developed this plugin in the year 2011. Since its launch, 26% of websites among online stores are being handled through WooCommerce.
WooCommerce has a 6.8% stake in the top 1 million websites and is currently ranked No. 1 among eCommerce platforms in market share.
Shopify VS Woocommerce: The Battle Begins
Ease of Use
Shopify
Shopify is one of the best eCommerce websites builder for beginners. As soon as you sign up with Shopify, you only need to choose the design theme for your website, and it takes you through all the other features.One of the handy solutions available for a complete online store is Shopify. This is because, from the time you create an account, they will guide you through the entire setup.
Moreover, they will also take care of the hosting for you and even offer you an option to "play around" with your online store before publishing it. You won't require any technical expertise to get started in minutes.
Woocommerce
As stated above, it is a WordPress plugin and works best for its websites. Install and activate the WooCommerce plugin, then add products, shopping cart, and see options - you're good to go! If you know how to use WordPress, you will be an expert in handling this platform in no time.As far as ease of use is concerned, it may take you some time to learn how to operate the Woocommerce plugin. However, it is easy to navigate things as changes and operations have to be done from the dashboard.
Customer and login
Both services offer consumers the option of logging in to process their payments or continue checking out as slick incognito ninja guests.In addition, both Shopify and WooCommerce make it easy to send automated emails to customers who have not completed their purchases. It is already included in Shopify's plans by default.
For WooCommerce, you have to use one of the many available plugins, some of which are free.
Shopify offers a "one-page checkout," which lets you skip the cart and go directly to the payment page, but you'll have to implement it with a few lines of code.
Plugins
Shopify
Shopify comes with a powerful API and an App Store, where you can buy add-ons for your Shopify store. They are usually made by third-party services and have their own pricing.Shopify also supports marketing tools, SEO and payment gateway integration. In addition, it has multichannel selling that enables you to integrate your store with Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and Pinterest.
Woocommerce
Since WooCommerce is an open-source platform, you have over 55,000 free plug-ins and several paid plugins to choose from. You can add any additional functionality to your website without any limitations.You have many marketing tools, SEO plugins to help you grow your business. Integration with Payment Gateway in WooCommerce is also simple.
SEO and Mobility
Shopify
The good news is that mobile site design options are desirable and comfortable on Shopify's eye. There is also the ability to manage your site from a suitable mobile device.SEO is essential when it comes to enhancing brand recognition and getting your name out of there. Shopify offers reliable SEO options, WooCommerce being the more comprehensive of the two.
Woocommerce
Both free and chargeable SEO plugins are available. To get the best out of SEO it is recommended you consider premium plugins.- Adding SEO title, meta description, and meta keywords to each page and post.
- Write a custom title for your main site, archives, category, and tag pages.
- When updating your site, you can make full use of Open Graph metadata, Twitter Cards, Sitemaps, and ping search engines.
Pricing
Shopify
Differences in terms of Shopify and Woocommerce hosting and self-hosted platforms makes it difficult to compare pricing. As you will see, the WooCommerce store entry level is shallow overall.Shopify's pricing is more straightforward in terms of monthly pricing, but you should still remember that premium apps and pay-for add-ons will increase outlay.
Shopify has five plans, with a basic plan starting at $ 14 / month. This plan is not appropriate unless it is a very small e-Store. The most expensive plan called Shopify Plus, which can be used for a large eCommerce website can get $ 200 / month.
Below are the interim plans. Apart from these, the Shopify fee is around 2.5% per transaction.
Pricing chart of Shopify
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WooCommerce
On the other hand, WooCommerce is a free plugin that can convert a WordPress website into an eStore. The term free only means that the plugin is free. You have to pay for hosting the website.And a reliable hosting plan with SSL may not be the cheapest, of course. Also, WooCommerce will let you install some additional plugins to have a full-fledged eStore.
If you choose a Premium plan, then these plugins can increase further costs. Thus, it may be cheaper or more expensive than Shopify.
Shopify vs Woocommerce: Which is the best eCommerce website builder in 2024?
Shopify and WooCommerce are both influential eCommerce website builders with a combined user base of over 2 million users. Well, it all depends on your personal needs and preferences when choosing the best eCommerce website to build your online store in 2021.If you have little knowledge of coding or website design and require an easy platform to build an online store, Shopify may be the one for you. It can be set up quickly, and it also has a fixed-price plan.
If you desire to build a fully customized online store on a tight budget with complete control over it and don't feel like putting some effort into the process, WooCommerce can be the best eCommerce website builder you can lay your hands on.
Final Takeaway
I hope by now you have an idea of which platform you should use. Both platforms are right for getting your e-store up and running. Which one you choose largely depends on your requirements and budget. So, choose accordingly.If you find it difficult to extend your e-store functionalities, you must consult an eCommerce development company in India. They will surely fulfill your needs, keeping your budget and functionalities in mind. I hope the article proves fruitful for you.
