Online retail is one of the fastest growing markets globally because it allows for effortless shopping and gives almost anyone the opportunity to launch a business in no time. eCommerce continues to grow at a steady rate and is projected to account for 13.7% of retail sales worldwide in 2019.
The figures are gigantic, so it’s not a surprise to see so many entrepreneurs thinking about creating their own digital stores. However, there is one big question to answer here: Which eCommerce platform should you use?
Most people end up choosing either WooCommerce and Shopify because they are the two largest eCommerce platforms. But which one is better? In this article, we will discuss the features of WooCommerce and Shopify to determine which is better.
WooCommerce and Shopify: The Background
Before we get into specifics, you need to know some basic information about both platforms.
WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress. With over 70 million downloads, the platform powers more than 28% of all online stores. Users can enhance and customize WooCommerce stores with other WordPress plugins. According to the report, almost 25% of the entire eCommerce sales volume is processed by this provider.
Shopify is an all-encompassing online retail platform that covers everything from store opening to payment processing. To date, Shopify businesses around the world have made over $100 billion in sales. According to the industry report, more than 800 thousand merchants currently operate on this eCommerce platform.
The two eCommerce networks are obviously extremely popular, but now we need to analyze their features in order to understand the pros and cons of each one.
Key Features of WooCommerce and Shopify
In order to assess the value and quality of both eCommerce providers, we need to analyze some of their major features. The list of things we could explore here is almost endless and it includes details such as scalability, inventory management, shipping, invoicing, tax management, and many more.
But there are five very distinct functions that we consider to be of the utmost importance here:
- Prices
- Simplicity
- Payment options
- Integrations
- Customer support
In such circumstances, it is necessary to check out each criteria and see how WooCommerce and Shopify perform. Let’s take a look!
Pricing policies
The Internet is a funny place where you can do pretty much everything – buy assignments or hire dissertation writing services like EssayHave review and BestEssays AU review. But no matter what you do, the first thing you want to see is price.
Shopify can cost you from $29 to $299 per month depending on the package you choose: Basic, Standard, or Advanced. Shopify also charges transaction fees and third-party tools needed for system upgrades, which can be tricky as your digital store keeps expanding.
On the other hand, WooCommerce is an open-source platform and you can use it free of charge. You do need to take care of website domain and hosting, but there are lots of providers who can handle that in less than $15.
This means that WooCommerce is a better solution price-wise.
Simplicity
Another aspect we need to think about is the ease of use. As a hosted eCommerce platform, Shopify is very simple and intuitive. With this provider, you don’t have to worry about details like setups, administration, updates, compliance, security, or backups. Most of the work is fully automated so you can focus on the business itself.
WooCommerce is totally different because it forces users to handle everything on their own. All the things we mentioned (backups, updates, etc.) are yours to be done. While this gives you the opportunity to tailor and customize eCommerce stores based on your own preferences, it also makes the job a lot harder.
Therefore, Shopify is a better solution simplicity-wise.
Payment options
Shopify enables a wide range of third-party payment solutions, which is more or less the standard eCommerce practice. However, the platform also gives you a native option called Shopify Payments. This is a preferred payment method because Shopify charges you 2% per transaction whenever a payment is done through third-party services.
WooCommerce makes things simpler by using PayPal and Stripe payments. If you want more payment options, you need to install add-ons. WooCommerce does not charge you any transaction fees, which is a much better solution for most online retailers.
Integrations
Another important thing is to have a platform which enables lots of integrations. This makes the scaling process a lot easier and improves the overall performance of an eCommerce business.
Shopify has over 2.5 thousand apps that you can use to strengthen your online retail store. Most of those apps demand monthly payments and don’t integrate with external services.
As part of the WordPress universe, WooCommerce grants you access to over 55 thousand plugins. A lot of these tools are free of charge and allow seamless integration with third-party services, which is a big advantage.
Customer support
Sooner or later, every eCommerce store faces technical issues and needs expert help. You don’t have to worry about it with Shopify because the platform guarantees 24/7 customer support 365 days a year. You can reach them through instant messaging, email, phone, or social media. At the same time, Shopify built a vast knowledge base with all the sources you need to learn more about the system.
WooCommerce grants you access to precious learning resources, while there are also lots of online forums where experts help you to solve technical problems. However, this type of customer service can hardly compete with solutions offered by Shopify.
The Bottom Line
After everything you’ve seen so far, it is probably obvious that we can’t name a clear winner. What we can do, however, is say which platform performs better depending on your specific situation.
Shopify is better for first-time users who don’t have any experience with launching and administering eCommerce websites. The tool is almost entirely automated so you won’t have any problems setting up a store and scaling it.
On the other side, WooCommerce is better for experienced eCommerce professionals who know exactly what they want and know how to achieve it. WooCommerce gives you incredible customization possibilities and represents a much cheaper solution.
The bottom line is that the two eCommerce platforms are more or less equal, so the choice depends on the peculiarities of your business. Although we can’t name a winner here, this article should help you make the final decision. Which way will you go?
About the author
Michael Gorman is an eCommerce analyst at the top paper writing services like math homework help and https://www.bestassignmentservices.co.uk/. He is also a part-time content contributor at UK-Dissertation.com. Michael has written hundreds of articles related to online retail, SEO, and digital marketing. In his spare time, Michael enjoys running in the local park. Feel free to contact him via Facebook or check out his Twitter.
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