If you are thinking about starting an online business then there are high chances that you have given proper thought to the necessary tools to use. Although a wide range of eCommerce development platforms are available in the market, WordPress and Shopify are named among the best of the bests. Although you’ll often find lots of posts around WordPress and Magento, in this post we’re comparing WordPress and Shopify.
If you already own a website that is powered by WordPress then it would be more suitable for you to go with WordPress for eCommerce. You just have to install the WooCommerce plugin and launch the eCommerce store as an element of your existing website. WordPress allows you to get more things done with less effort.
But if you don’t have a website yet and are looking for a dedicated and hands-on solution then Shopify is likely to be more suitable for you. The platform comes with a variety of advanced features that could extend the capabilities of your online store.
Although it is logical, the approach we discussed to pick the best eCommerce development platform is not always ideal. So, which option is better suited?
Which one is Better: WordPress vs Shopify
Shopify is an eCommerce solution. It comes with a promise of robust performance and exceptional flexibility. In a nick of time, you can create a site using Shopify.
If you don’t have enough experience then you can take the aid from 24/7 Shopify support to solve the technical issues. You can test if Shopify is the right platform for you by signing up for its 3-day trial period and checking out all of its features.
It doesn’t matter if you already have a site or build a new one using WordPress, you just need a website to integrate with Woocommerce to build an online store. Apart from that. WordPress also offers you different types of functionalities ranging from elegant themes to SEO and content management features.
Although features matter, their impact matters more. That’s why it is necessary to discuss the pros and cons of these platforms.
WordPress (WooCommerce) Pros
Open Source
If you have a tight budget or are looking for a free eCommerce platform then WooCommerce is an ideal choice. Because it is open-source. It is compatible with WordPress and is supported by a large community that can help you overcome any technical or development-related issue. It is also important to mention that some of the WooCommerce extensions from WordPress come with a price tag.
Fully Customizable
WordPress offers a wide variety of high-quality and professional-grade themes to choose from for your eCommerce website. WordPress allows you to customize all the sections of the website including the header, footer, product page, checkout page, and more. If you are using PHP, HTML, or CSS code then customizing would be much simpler. The plugins and lightweight themes such as Generatepress offered by WordPress are also easily customizable.
Plugins and Extensions
Untangling the tangled webs becomes easy if you have help from an extra pair of hands. Similarly, your eCommerce development task is complicated. But it can become easy to add various types of functionalities to your store using WordPress plugins.
You can see the extent of the power of a WordPress plugin as WooCommerce is itself a WordPress plugin that transforms a simple WordPress site into an eCommerce store. Although you have to upload the products and related information on your own, the overall eCommerce development product is much simpler in comparison to other platforms.
Apart from that, you have got plugins for web and content optimization, email marketing, tracking store performance, and more.
All kinds of extensions are also available on the WordPress platform, may it be, paid or free. You can use them to add specific functionalities to your website and boost the customer experience without the need of writing a single line of code. Any requirement you have regarding your eCommerce store like payment options, better search, shipping, shopping cart, checkout, product page, reporting, store management, and more, you can get an extension for everything.
Product and Inventory Management
WordPress, with the help of WooCommerce, enables you to sell both digital and physical products on your website. You are allowed to put different categories of products as well as add new products on the site. Moreover, managing the inventory is simple, thanks to WordPress’s user-centric interface. This interface allows you to track the stock levels of all your products as well as handle day-to-day stocks.
Mobile-Friendly
In this digital era, almost everyone owns a smartphone. And if they are buying things online, they are likely to buy using their mobiles. So, your online store must also be mobile-friendly. WordPress offers hundreds responsive themes. An added benefit of having such themes is that you don’t have to create a new website for a new device or an operating system.
SEO Optimization
WordPress is a content management system, so, it would come with a load of robust SEO plugins. So developing content and optimizing it for search engines isn’t a difficult task when you are using WordPress. Just select whatever plugin you feel comfortable using and start optimizing your site. These plugins are also updated regularly so they are both efficient and secure to use.
Cybersecurity
With the advent of technology, hackers are crafting more sophisticated approaches to steal your private data. This means you have to be more vigilant to secure customer data and sensitive business data. WooCommerce provides a trustworthy environment for users which prioritizes protection and privacy. And to stay on top of security issues, WordPress frequently releases new updated versions of the eCommerce plugins.
Multiple Currency and Payment Gateways Support
With a geolocation support feature, WooCommerce allows you to accept multiple currencies around the world. WordPress offers multiple shipping and payment options which helps attract new customers from various locations and countries of the world. This, in the end, could help boost sales and revenues. Having the flexibility to pay in their native currency and tax rates provides them with an enhanced user experience. So, it’s a win-win scenario.
WordPress (WooCommerce) Cons
Lacks Advanced Features
WordPress is just a content management system and its WooCommerce plugin helps you transform an existing WordPress site into an online store. Although you get everything you need to build an eCommerce website along with robust CMS features, there are many advanced eCommerce features available on this platform the likes of which are offered by dedicated eCommerce platforms like Magento, and Shopify. And besides basic web development features, all the themes and eCommerce features will cost you money.
Frequent Updates
To stay on top of the latest features and functionalities, platforms have to be updated regularly.
But having too many updates can be considered a hassle. Since you are working with an eCommerce site which can be large and complicated, updating it will be very time-consuming. You also have to be ready to face common issues that occur because of updating a plugin for testing or data backup.
Not Beginner-Friendly
Although building a site is easy with WordPress, customization is not. And because the maintenance support provided by the platform is very minimal, you have to rely on the community to guide you through the challenges related to web design, development, and maintenance of the eCommerce site. Furthermore, you need to have basic coding experience to customize the store.
Performance Glitches
Not being a dedicated eCommerce platform requires WordPress to work with a large array of plugins to add different types of functionalities to the online store. But usage of more plugins will consume more storage space. This ought to adversely affect the speed as well as the performance of your eCommerce website.
Shopify Wins
Elegant Themes
Shopify provides a variety of themes both for free and for premium. All of these themes are designed professionally so they look elegant and are mobile responsive. The rates of premium themes start from $140.
Better Security
Shopify has its cybersecurity experts hack-proof the website because they know the customers will be paying via credits and other options on the site. So it is imminent to keep the site secure. Also, for fast and secure checkout, Shopify uses 100% SSL.
App Store
Shopify has its in-house app store that offers over 1200 apps and plugins. You can find some free options among them or could pay for the apps or plugins you want. These apps can help you streamline as well as automate the web development process. The process becomes faster whereas other relevant processes like shipping, inventory management, accounting, and more become more efficient.
Custom Domain
Once you sign up for the paid version of Shopify, you get to choose a custom domain for your online business. It enables you to handle your custom domain in the same location as your online store domain. It also allows you to make any change you want in the domain store and your domain site.
Detailed Analytics
Shopify provides you with various analytics features to keep track of the performance of your eCommerce store including conversion tracking, stock levels, and customer behavior. This ought to provide you with an overview of your store’s performance as well as figure out what needs to be optimized. Detailed analytics reports can also help you out with tracking average order value, returning customer rates, total sales, products, online store sessions, and more.
24/7 Customer Support
One of the many reasons why eCommerce developers love this platform is because Shopify offers 24/7 customer services efficiently. To get in contact with a knowledgeable representative on the other side, you can use any medium at your convenience, may it be phone, chat, or email support.
Scalable
Future needs should also be taken into consideration with current needs when you are building an online store. Because with the growth of your online business, you need to expand your online store too. You need a site that can handle increased traffic and a massive product catalog in the future so you don’t have to redesign your eCommerce website now and then.
Shopify Losses
Transaction Fees
Shopify offers two types of subscription plans. The first one offers basic features whereas another is advanced and starts from $39 per month which is very expensive. Now the real catch is that despite paying subscription fees to use the platform and despite providing multiple payment options, if you aren’t using Shopify payments for any transaction then you will be charged with an additional transaction fee on top of the processor fees from Stripe or Paypal. Additionally, Shopify only offers 10 themes for free use.
Customization Limitations
Shopify can be customized but it has certain limitations. You won’t be able to unlock some features if you lack good coding experience. Moreover, to customize the site you have to spend many hours writing detailed code for the platform.
Steeper Learning Curve
Every platform has a learning curve and in the case of Shopify, it’s a little steeper. What further complicates things is that Shopify uses different terms for certain things in comparison to other eCommerce platforms. For example, categories are referred to as collections in the Shopify platform. This ought to confuse both developers as well as customers. This may also badly affect the user experience.
Product Filtering and Categorization
Even with millions of users, the search engine mechanism of the Shopify platform is not very efficient. You will only be able to search for one keyword or word and not for long-tail keywords. For example, if you search for jeans then you will get the result for the same. But after that, you don’t have any option to narrow down your search like light wash jeans or anything else. The same filter issue is with every product. This makes it hard for the customers to find products on your site and the longer or difficult it is to navigate on your site, the more likely they are to lose interest and never come back.
Lacks Email Hosting Facility
Unlike WordPress, Shopify doesn’t have any email hosting feature. This means that you can’t have any domain-specific email address. You either have to set up an email forwarding system or opt for the Google suite of services.
Summary
Picking a platform between WordPress and Shopify is not an easy decision. As we saw, both have something unique to offer. On one hand, Shopify comes with better eCommerce website builders with excellent support, on the other hand, WordPress is an ideal hands-off solution.
In this article, we tried our best to discuss the strengths and limitations of the popular platforms and provide our take on the WordPress vs Shopify debate. But in the end, it is up to your business requirements. A platform that ticks all or most of the boxes is the one you should pick for your project.
