WooCommerce & Shopify: Which platform is best in 2021
Following the online store benefits and needs in this digital landscape, thinking about creating one is natural. Now, having a store that matches well with the business or company needs is also necessary.
Thankfully, there are various ways with which the Ecommerce Website Development Services build online stores. That being said, two of them comes with the name WooCommerce & Shopify.
Both platforms are in use in 2021. However, many people still want to know which platform is best to go with. Therefore, we researched and gathered the facts, and now we will list the comparison here for you.
Ease of Use
When using WooCommerce, you need to make a little effort as it is a self-hosted platform. For instance, you have to install it, manage the updates on your own, and keep track of the backups and the security.
Unlike WooCommerce, Shopify is a platform that takes out all the stress of the tasks mentioned above. Shopify is a full-hosted eCommerce platform saving your time and efforts. In particular, no need for installation, backup and performance checks, updates, and security.
In simple words, Shopify best suits beginners, and WooCommerce works best with experts. Thus, in comparison, Shopify seems to have greater ease of use.
Customization
As far as the customizations in WooCommerce & Shopify are concerned:
WooCommerce being the self-hosted software, is pretty flexible. How? The owner person has extensive control over the complete platform. WooCommerce has thousands of plugins, so you can add plugins per the store’s needs for each functionality and get the desired results.
However, WooCommerce does not offer a built-in drag & drop design-builder. Therefore, if you need one, you have to pay and purchase the builders.
On the other hand, Shopify does not allow complete control. For instance, if you need any add-ons, you can use only the available ones in the Shopify marketplace. Similarly, web design and development tools are limited too.
However, it provides a built-in drag and drop interface to help you manage the products, sales, and inventory effortlessly.
Scalability & Growth
No need to mention, when the business expands, it needs extra resources. The same is the case with an online store. Therefore, while deciding on the platform, you definitely need to think about the scalability range of the platforms. At a glance, WooCommerce & Shopify both have good scalability and easily accommodate huge orders and traffic. Here are the details.
Shopify, the fully-hosted platform, takes care of all the technicalities, so whatever performance, security, and scalability isn’t a headache. Moreover, upgrading the Shopify plans is also easy. Besides, there are no hassles of downtimes, backups, updates due to growth and the large traffic volume.
Store growth easily eats up all the resources and requiring more. Eventually, you have to upgrade your hosting plan although paying yet getting desired amount and control on resources. When it comes to WooCommerce, the owner has full control of the store, thereby managing the growth in every possible and preferred way.
SEO
SEO is a need of every website or online store because it helps you be visible in front of the right people, especially when they are searching for a product/ service relevant to you and drawing traffic. So why not have a glance at the SEO options of both platforms.
WooCommerce incorporates SEO-optimized code, and you also don’t have to worry because it has an extensive range of SEO plugins. Besides, you can take advantage of URL customization, user-friendly SEO guides, Yoast SEO, and more.
Shopify’s app stores also provide SEO plugins, for instance, SEO Booster, to help you work out the basic SEO for your store. However, if compared, WooCommerce is much more viable when it comes to SEO.
Payment Options Available
Online payment is one of the most crucial factors of online stores. Having multiple payment gateways on your eCommerce website is always better to follow the prospects and customer base preferences. The ones you wish to incorporate, discuss with your hired Ecommerce Website Development Company to integrate them into your store.
Shopify
It offers its own payment solution, with the name “Shopify payments” (powered by Stripe). In addition, the third-party payments include PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, 2checkout, FirstData, and amazon payments.
A critical point to mention here is that the payment gateways always charge a transaction fee. However, on every transaction through third-party payment gateways, Shopify charges an extra 2% charging fee.
Woocommerce
Stripe and PayPal are the by default payments option available in WooCommerce. In addition, it supports all the famous and less popular gateways. So via add-ons, you can integrate any gateway of your choice. Also, WooCommerce does not charge any extra fees for transactions.
Consumer Support
No matter how much a platform is easy, anyone can get stuck in any place while working. So support from the platform becomes necessary.
Let’s check out the support options both of WooCommerce & Shopify provide.
Shopify supports its consumers with round-the-clock customer services using live chat, phone, email, and Twitter. Users can also hire Shopify experts if needed. Besides, people who want to take the lead can get the help of Shopify’s provided guides, knowledge base, tutorials, and forums.
For DIY (do it yourself) Woocommerce website has plenty of documentation, guides, and tutorials. You can also expect extensive help from WooCommerce users and experts. However, WooCommerce, being a self-hosted platform, does not back support when issues from the server arise.
Final Words!
Indeed, both platforms WooCommerce & Shopify, are feasible to adopt to create a store. However, it mainly depends on the preferences alongside personal skills.
Still and all, whatever platform you decide to follow your store needs, Ecommerce Website Development can quickly build your store. They assist in incorporating all the features, whichever free and paid versions features and plugins you use and let you have a captivating online store.
