WooCommerce vs Shopify: Which One is Right for Your Online Store?
When you are looking for the best platform for your online store, two names stand out: Shopify and WooCommerce. But which should you choose for your online business, and why?
By looking at the features on offer and the way each platform works, we can get a better understanding of what each choice means, and why one might be better for your situation than the other.
1. A simple system or a complex feature set – which is better for you?
The first thing to think about when it comes to your online store is how you will run it day-to-day. If this is your first online store, or you are not very tech-minded, something that is simple to use is probably best. Even if you understand the basics of how websites work, you may not want to spend your time tweaking every setting, and again, something simpler is better for you.
Shopify is the right option here, as it is designed with simplicity in mind. Shopify takes care of security automatically, you don’t have to worry about hosting and payment systems as it’s all part of the product, and everything is updated automatically behind the scenes too. A simple editor makes it easy to manage your products and add content.
However, the downside of this is that unless you use third-party plug-ins or employ professional web developers to help, you may not have access to some tools that could make your life easier. If you want something more flexible and original, then WooCommerce is the one to go for.
With that flexibility comes complexity though. From every aspect of the store layout and design to the security on offer, and which payment system you want to use, all of it is fully customizable and can be pretty much anything you want. That results in a site that needs more time and effort to manage, and a web development team to set up in the first place. If you are comfortable with web tech or are happy to pay someone who is, then WooCommerce provides almost limitless options to create the perfect website for your business.
2. Customization – WooCommerce is ideal for custom sites
If we look beyond the user interface and technical feature set, the thing that has the most impact on your visitors is the way your site looks. Shopify has a large number of themes to choose from, and you can change colours and so on too, so you can make your site different. But unless Shopify offers it, you can’t do it, so there is a limit to how many changes you can make.
That can be great, if you are doing it all yourself too many choices can be overwhelming, and with all the options from Shopify itself, you choose the one you want, pick some colours and it is all done. That makes it simple to use as well, so even if it’s your first site, you can get a good look pretty quickly. But with over a billion websites out there now, and around 10 million Shopify stores, if you want to stand out, you probably need more choices.
That is where WooCommerce comes in. With a professional web development team and WooCommerce, there are no limits to what you can achieve. Whatever you can dream of, it can become a reality. Importantly, no matter how complex your branding, your site can match it exactly, creating a website that compliments your business and marketing to perfection. You can use interactive elements, add in any type of gallery or display solution for showing products, anything you want, WooCommerce has the flexibility to make it happen.
3. Pricing – WooCommerce keeps costs down
If you visit Shopify, you will see the $39 a month pricing everywhere, but if you look closer things are not quite what they seem. That is for the basic service, if you want additional features or to use any payment system beyond the Shopify system itself there are extra costs involved, and the price can go up very quickly. For many Shopify stores, that $39 quickly becomes $399 a month to get everything they need, and even then, it’s a store that lacks the flexibility of alternatives, including WooCommerce.
WooCommerce lets you build a website to suit whatever budget you have. The platform itself is entirely free, so from hosting to development, payment systems and more, you can choose options to fit your needs and have complete control of the costs involved. The result is that for a fully 4. featured website, it is often WooCommerce, not Shopify, that offers the best pricing for you.
4. Website SEO – WooCommerce sets the standard
A website is only useful if people can find it, and that means including search engine optimization as part of the development and content. Shopify benefits from some built-in tools to help boost where your site appears in the rankings, but they are limited.
WooCommerce allows you to use leading SEO tools and techniques that can help you reach the top of search results in any industry. Whether you are targeting local consumers or looking for wider reach, the ability to easily add blog content, manage URL’s meta descriptions and incorporate relevant keywords and phrases, WooCommerce puts you a step ahead for search engine optimization.
5. Freedom of Ownership – WooCommerce puts you in charge
One of the reasons Shopify is so simple to set up and use is that there are no choices to be made. Think of Shopify as renting an apartment. It is what it is, you get access while you pay your monthly fee, and if you stop paying, your shop disappears. If Shopify changes the terms, you either agree and keep your online store, or you don’t, and again it disappears. It is never truly yours. This is not normally an issue, but it does restrict how your site can grow and develop over time.
By contrast, WooCommerce puts everything in your hands. You choose your own hosting and everything else, and that means you are in full control of every aspect of the site. If you want to use another host, you can move your WooCommerce site. Change payment provider, redesign the store, anything you want, there are no restrictions. It’s your site, under your control, and that is never quite true when it comes to Shopify.
6. Scalability – Growth is easy with WooCommerce
Both Shopify and WooCommerce let your online presence grow as your business does, however, there is a distinct difference in how that is achieved. The way you grow within Shopify is moving to the next tier of subscription, which is simple enough. However, that can be a big jump in costs, sometimes a hundred dollars a month more, and often includes features you don’t use, and may never use. You always seem to be paying for things that are not relevant, just to get the things you need.
But with WooCommerce, everything is your choice. From hosting plans to higher volume payment options, you choose what you want, and that means you only pay for the things you need. The result is that for a growing business, WooCommerce can be significantly more cost-efficient than Shopify. You control expenses, you control your site growth, and you control where your money is spent.
7. Customer Experiences – WooCommerce gives access to limitless options for your site users
With the ease of integration and its open-source compatibility, whether it is payment gateways, marketing tools or any other feature, you can create an engaging user experience that is completely unique to your site. With the ability to include third-party tools as well as the hundreds of thousands of WordPress plugins available today, there are no limits to what you can offer for your users.
Shopify is much more limited, with only certain approved third-party tools allowed, and an additional charge added when they are enabled. WooCommerce is both more flexible and cost-efficient when it comes to creating memorable user experiences.
Conclusion
With its lower costs and greater flexibility, WooCommerce allows you to create a website that is unique, designed to meet your specific needs and tailored to deliver the user experience that your customers value.
But for businesses who want to take full advantage of the online opportunity, it is that WooCommerce doesn’t impose limits on what you do, or how you do it, that makes it the best choice for most people. Ownership of your site, the ability to evolve the site as your needs change, is something that Shopify can never match.
If you want a website that is yours, that can grow, and that you can build into something incredible over time, then WooCommerce is the platform you need.