Ecommerce Solution Comparison: WooCommerce vs Shopify

WooCommerce vs Shopify Article
Table of Contents

There are currently millions of ecommerce websites currently available, with this number set to rise with businesses slowly digitalising their businesses. An online store is an essential tool for companies to sell their products and services, diversifying their sales channels and reaching wider audiences. The benefits of an e-shop are quickly becoming realised, as they help business owners automate their processes and enhance various areas of their operations.

This article will discuss two of the most popular ecommerce solutions currently available, WooCommerce and Shopify. Both options deliver seamless and effective online stores, with many features and functionalities for both users and business owners to utilise. However, there may be key differences that will make one a preference over the other.

An Introduction to WooCommerce and Shopify

Firstly, WooCommerce is a free ecommerce plugin used with the most popular website content management system (CMS), turning any website into an online store. WooCommerce is one of the most (if not the most) popular plugins on WordPress, with over 5 million installations worldwide. Importantly, WooCommerce is an open-source plugin, that gives you complete control over your content, data and structure.

On the other hand, Shopify isn’t a tool built on top of something, but a packaged system that has its own dependent addons and features. This solution requires paid subscriptions and is a closed system. Although the Shopify platform does offer many of its own add-ons and extras.

Key Features of the Two E-Shop Solutions

It’s important to look at some of the key features that are necessary for both business owners and customers on your website. After understanding the differences in these features, you will be well informed to make a decision on the online store solution you need.

Ease of Use

The user experience (UX) of a platform is absolutely crucial for both yourself as the business owner and your customers, to get the best experience from your chosen platform. When it comes to WooCommerce and Shopify, you need to find a solution that is straightforward and easy to use. Luckily, we can safely say that the set-up of the two presented solutions is both quite straightforward, however, there are a few differences.

On WooCommerce, you need to have a WordPress website first, and then add the free WooCommerce plugin to it. This also means you will need to have a hosting platform set up and a domain name that is pointed to your server. Once you do have your WordPress website online and connected, then adding WooCommerce is straightforward.

Shopify, on the other hand, is a platform and all-in-one website itself, with hosting. As soon as you sign up for your Shopify account, you can start building your store. This ecommerce solution is designed to be as easy as possible for business owners to do themselves. Therefore, if you are attempting to do it yourself and you are not too technical, then this could be the option for you.

Winner: Shopify

Features and Functionality

This is where the platforms may differ the most, both solutions offer various features and functionalities for your ecommerce store, but there are differences that are important to know about.

WooCommerce is an open-source system, which means it is completely customisable to any extent, it just depends on how creative you are. There are thousands of extra plugins and add-ons that people have developed to work directly with WooCommerce, adding unique features to your online store. Whether you want multiple languages, specific payment gateways, a customisable checkout form or anything else, you will be able to find a solution with WooCommerce.

However, Shopify is a packaged ecommerce solution, and the features offered are built-in and provided as addons. There are many options to add to your Shopify website, although these can end up making your monthly payments quite expensive.

Winner: WooCommerce

Pricing

Pricing is an important factor to consider when deciding between WooCommerce and Shopify. They use different pricing models and as a business owner, you must know what to expect with your chosen solution.

WooCommerce is a free plugin, but you are required to have hosting and a domain name, these costs together can be anything from €80 – €500 a year, depending on your server requirements. For a basic hosting provider and domain, you can expect to pay no more than €150 a year. Although the more custom functionality you need, the higher your annual cost will be, some additional features may be advanced custom reporting, abandoned cart recovery tools, variation swatches for your product and so on.

Shopify, although doesn’t require you to purchase hosting, does require you to pay a monthly subscription. Additionally, when you add on extra features and advanced functionality, your monthly subscription will also increase. Additionally, Shopify charges transactional fees for sales made through its payment gateway.

Winner: WooCommerce

Marketing and SEO

Ecommerce Marketing and SEO are two necessary services and strategies to promote your online store. Therefore, it’s important to consider the differences that WooCommerce and Shopify, the range of tools they offer and the features to utilise for the above services.

WooCommerce comes with its own analytics system, coupon management and email marketing options. This means that you can run promotional campaigns, send automated emails, and track all your sales data directly on WooCommerce. Additionally, there are many free plugins you can add that integrates with WooCommerce to support SEO, such as Yoast SEO or RankMath. This helps to give you more control over your ecommerce website and increase online sales.

Additionally, Shopify also provides a series of tools for SEO and marketing that can help with your online store marketing activities. For example, there is a built-in SEO tool, email marketing and social media integration that can help promote your website. The Shopify solution also offers paid marketing services to support your marketing efforts on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, helping to drive traffic to your online store.

Winner: WooCommerce

Customer Support

The last thing any website wants is issues, therefore, it is important to find a solution with helpful and active customer support, so you know your problems will be handled, should they arrive. Luckily, both of our systems in question have a solid customer support service that can help you.

For example, WooCommerce offers a variety of support services such as online documentation (especially for any customisation), a knowledge base, a community forum and tech support from their professionals. Additionally, if you are using any WooCommerce-developed addons, you can get support specifically for those plugins.

Shopify also provides a support service that consists of a knowledge base, online documentation and a community hub. Additionally, you can get 24/7 support via phone or email depending on your monthly subscription.

Winner: Draw

WooCommerce Support
https://woocommerce.com/

Professional vs D.I.Y

Ultimately, the most important question you need to ask yourself is, who will be designing and developing your website? There is a huge difference in whether you are trying to do it yourself or if you are ready to hire a professional.

When hiring a professional, most likely they will opt for the WooCommerce solution, due to its open-source nature and complete customisations, it provides more flexibility and freedom when creating a website for a client.

However, if you are wanting to create your own website, then Shopify may be a bit easier as it is all packaged together, however, the monthly costs will most likely be higher this way. Nonetheless, if you are wanting to develop your own website, then WooCommerce is definitely a solution that you should consider.

Conclusion

To conclude, both WooCommerce and Shopify provide great reasons as to why they make a great ecommerce solution. We can summarise WooCommerce as a free solution that comes with loads of features and functionalities to help you customise your online store, however, it does require a WordPress website to be set up, along with a hosting plan and a domain. Whereas Shopify is an all-in-one packaged ecommerce platform that comes with many features and is specifically designed to be user-friendly. However, it is a monthly paid service that can quickly add up to high amounts.

In conclusion, both WooCommerce and Shopify are solid options for building and managing an online store. WooCommerce is a free plugin that offers a high degree of customization and a wide range of features and integrations, but it requires a separate WordPress website and may require some technical expertise to set up and manage. Shopify is a standalone e-commerce platform that offers a range of built-in features and tools and is designed to be user-friendly, but it is a paid service with transaction fees on sales made through its payment gateway.

We truly believe that once you know the details of your online store and your objectives, you will be able to choose the best platform for you. If you are familiar with WordPress, or already have a WordPress website, then WooCommerce should be your go-to. However, if you are new to the online world and do not have a lot of technical expertise, then Shopify may be a more convenient option for you.

It is possible to have great success with either of the platforms, the most important factor is what works best for you, so we recommend considering both options before deciding. Yet, as previously mentioned, if you are using a professional, individual or company, then most likely they will opt for a WooCommerce online store.

Read More Articles