Shopify Vs WooCommerce: Which Is Best For Your Business?

The E-Commerce industry is booming and more local businesses are coming online to sell products. When it comes to E-Commerce, there are two most popular platforms — WooCommerce and Shopify. New business owners often get confused while picking one for their business.

If you are also new to the digital retail domain and looking for a suitable platform to begin, then one of the leading Web Development Company in India got you covered. In this article, we will have a look at both platforms so that you can pick the ideal one for your business.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a complete e-commerce platform which means you don’t need any coding knowledge to set up an online shop with Shopify. This makes it easy for new entrepreneurs and small business owners to jump-start their own businesses without any assistance. The power of Shopify lies in its App Store, where you can choose from hundreds of apps built by independent developers to boost your store’s functionality without writing a single line of code yourself. It, however, does not offer much flexibility when it comes to customizations so if your website needs backend modifications, then you should consider alternatives like WooCommerce or Magento.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a WordPress plugin that lets you set up your own online store in minutes. It requires some technical knowledge to design and update your website but it gives you a platform with a lot of flexibility when it comes to customizing backend features. In addition, there are hundreds of free and paid plugins available for download from the official WooCommerce website which allows you to add new functionalities to your ecommerce shop without breaking a sweat. You can also integrate with tons of third-party services like PayPal, MailChimp, etc., with just a few clicks.

Ease of use

If you are new to E-Commerce, then Shopify is most likely the platform for your business. It has a powerful set of tools that help you create an attractive website, update it regularly with fresh content, and manage orders efficiently. If you are tech-savvy or have someone in your team who knows WordPress well enough to update your website, WooCommerce might be a better option for you.

Technical support

The technical support offered by both platforms is equally great but when it comes to user reviews, WooCommerce holds the edge over Shopify. With tons of paid and free plugins available on WordPress’ official directory, WooCommerce’s plugin library surpasses Shopify’s App Store with ease. However, if there is some plugin missing in the library that you wish to add to your store, then you can always contact a developer and ask them to create the plugin for you. It may cost some money but that’s better than not getting what you want.

Supported devices

When it comes to supported devices, both platforms are perfectly fine with mobile, tablet, laptop, or desktop users viewing your online store in all browsers. However, when it comes to E-Commerce stores on smartphones and tablets, Shopify offers faster load times than WooCommerce due to its lighter size. If speed is an important metric for your business metrics, Shopify is again the clear winner here.

Types of products supported

Offering fewer products than other top ecommerce systems like Magento or OpenCart; WooCommerce is great for small businesses who are willing to work on limited products. It does not offer as many options for product customizations like price, color, etc., but if your business is based on a single or limited range of products then WooCommerce is perfectly fine. On the other hand, Shopify is a better choice if your business is based on several product lines and offers several customization options.

Scalability

The scalability offered by Shopify is almost unbeatable. There are no limits to the number of products, users, orders, and the bandwidth you can put on a single Shopify store, unlike many open source ecommerce tools where you need to pay more money for advanced features and functionalities. On the other hand, WooCommerce is also a great platform that can be easily scaled for larger businesses according to your needs. So, in terms of scalability and growing your business online, you don’t have to worry much about both platforms.

Marketing tools

Both platforms have tons of marketing tools that help you grow your business exponentially. Shopify has a few advanced features like Google Analytics Tracking ID, Facebook Pixel Code integration, Mailchimp/Mandrill API for sending transactional emails to customers, etc., whereas WooCommerce comes with no such advanced features but WordPress itself is known as the most versatile CMS platform in the world. So if you are familiar with WordPress already or want to drive traffic from other sources then both platforms are equally good for marketing purposes.

SEO compatibility

WooCommerce has better SEO as it’s based on WordPress which is SEO-friendly by nature. Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce better supports SEO techniques like internal linking, meta description, etc., but in comparison to WordPress, the built-in SEO features of Shopify are pretty basic and it can’t compete with WooCommerce when it comes to this factor. If you are managing all things on your own and don’t have a dedicated SEO team for your business then Shopify is also a good option concerning search optimization.

Security

When it comes to security, both platforms are perfectly fine. However, the general thought is that WooCommerce’s open-source platform creates more vulnerabilities for your online business than Shopify which happens to be a closed source. So if you are worried about web threats and attacks on your store, you should definitely install a complete security suite on your WooCommerce store or go with Shopify instead.

Wrapping up!

After going through the Shopify Vs WooCommerce battle above, it’s not difficult to see that both platforms are great choices for your business. It all comes down to what features you need in your ecommerce platform and how useful they are for your business depending on the nature of your products. Get started with a suitable platform and thrive online on better sales and more customers.

 

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