Welcome to the topic “WooCommerce or Shopify, which one of these is better for your business?”
WooCommerce and Shopify are two of the most popular and easy-to-use e-commerce platforms that are available in the market. Both of these platforms have multiple strengths that can be the perfect solution is you want to build an e-commerce store. The best news is that you can do everything on your own without getting any help from the developers or professional designers.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin that is specifically built for WordPress. It helps you to leverage the most powerful content management system (CMS) and help you to run your online store. As WooCommerce has an open-source nature, therefore, you can customize different aspects of your store and can quickly build your custom extensions.
What is Shopify?
It is an all-in-one e-commerce platform that makes it relatively easy for you to create your online store. You can manage your inventory and accept any payments from one platform without even thinking or getting worried about the technical aspects of managing your website like security, web hosting, caching etc.
WooCommerce or Shopify?
When you start your online store, there are a few things that you have to keep in mind, as these factors will help you to decide which platform suits you better for your needs. The factors include cost, ease of use, payment methods and scalability.
Cost
A critical consideration for the e-commerce website owners is cost. You must evaluate the value to start your online business while keeping in mind the other variables for add-on services and software.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin for WordPress.org and is an open and freely available source as a WordPress plugin. However, you still require a domain name, SSL certificate and also a WordPress hosting account to start your WooCommerce store.
Usually, the domain name costs $14.99, the SSL Certificate $69.99 and web hosting for around $7.99 per month. Various hosting companies now offer specialized WooCommerce hosting plans that reduce the cost significantly.
Shopify
If you want to start your online store, Shopify makes it easy for you. The basic plan starts at $29 per month, and you can upgrade it to your Shopify plan for $79 or can go for the Advanced Shopify plan for $299 per month. All of these plans include domain name, SSL certificate and also web hosting.
Ease of use
The majority of people who start their online store are not web developers or designers. People who have an understanding of the basic concept require an easy to use platform that that gets out of their way.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is not a hosted platform; therefore, you have to install it, manage updates, keep backups and also make sure that your website remains secure. Various free and pay plugins can help to automate most of the tasks for you. When it is about customization, WooCommerce is very flexible, as you have full control of the whole platform. With more than 55,000 WordPress plugins, you can add functionality imaginable to your website.
Shopify
Shopify is a platform that is fully hosted, and you and doesn’t require installing, managing or updating any software. You also don’t need to worry about performance, security, backups and different compatibility issues with Shopify. You can pick a design for your website as soon as you sign up, and after that, you are helped to walk through customization and then add products.
Payment options
Various payment gateways can be used to accept online payments. Some methods might not seem suitable for you, and others may not be available to your customers. Therefore, you must make sure the platform that you choose offers multiple payments options to you.
WooCommerce
By default, WooCommerce offers PayPal and Stripe payment options. Through add-ons, there are other popular payment methods that it also supports. It even has support for various less popular and regional payment services. As there is no entry barrier; therefore, any payment company is able to create add-ons for WooCommerce and offer support for it.
Shopify
There a lot of payment options that you can use to receive payments with Shopify, whereas it also has its own payment solution known as Shopify Payments that is powered by Stripe, and other popular third-party payment gateways. The main issue is that Shopify charges an extra 2% fees on each of its transaction that is made through the third-party payment gateways.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is an online business in which an e-commerce store does not keep any of its products in stock. Instead, the orders are filled by purchasing the products from the vendors and then directly shipping to the customers. Due to the low overhead, dropshipping has become quite popular around the world.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is considered to be a prevalent choice among different dropshipping businesses. The main reason is that it helps you to install extensions that can make speedy order fulfilment. It is easy to find extensions that will enable you to import the products instantly and fulfil your orders from the website. Your supplier and vendor may have minimum order requirements, membership and a few other charges.
Shopify
When you build your dropshipping business, the front end of your website will be looking just like any other online store. The users will be able to browse different products, add them to cart and then make payments. Shopify has the integration apps for a number of popular dropshipping marketplaces that include AliExpress, Oberlo etc. All of these product marketplaces have their own membership fees, shipping and other charges.
Conclusion
In the end, both of these e-commerce platforms have advantages for different situations. Once you have a clear idea of what you need and what could be best for your particular business model, then your choice may become apparent. Shopify values simplicity, but if you value flexibility and ownership, then WooCommerce is the best bet for you.
Have any questions regarding WooCommerce or Shopify, which one of these is better for your business? Feel Free to comment down below.
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