
Customers have shifted their choice from offline to online shopping after the pandemic. Ecommerce businesses increased in the past few years. Many companies are building their online stores to increase their customer base and sales as well.
With the rise in the eCommerce business, many store-building tools are introduced for start-ups and medium-sized businesses. WooCommerce and Shopify are well-known eCommerce platforms chosen by new businesses. These tools come with a wide range of features that help to build professional online stores. But there are some differences between these online store-building tools. In this blog, we will look at the features of these tools and the differences between both tools.
What Is WooCommerce?
This is a very popular term that we often hear these days. WooCommerce is a plugin that helps to convert the WordPress app into an eCommerce store. It is easy to install this plugin on your WordPress to build an online store and run it smoothly.
What Is Shopify?
Shopify is different from WooCommerce. It is a tool for creating online stores for eCommerce companies. This tool includes many features that fulfill the needs of every business and client. Shopify was developed in the year 2004. It is older than the WooCommerce plugin and used by more than 1 million businesses all over the globe.
WooCommerce vs Shopify: Comparison
Many people say that WooCommerce is similar to the Shopify platform. But they are different from one another. Let us have a look at the major differences between WooCommerce and Shopify in the below section.
Differences | WooCommerce | Shopify |
Themes | WooCommerce has unlimited themes for different businesses. These themes are available in both free and paid versions. | Shopify has a limited theme. You will get only 60 themes for your business on this platform in free and paid versions. |
Total Users | WooCommerce is used by approximately 3,300,000 users around the globe. | Shopify is used by around 1,300,000 users around the world. |
Type of Installation | Installation of WooCommerce is a tricky process. You have to follow many steps to install this plugin on your system. | The process to install Shopify is very simple. Even beginners can install this platform easily on their system. |
Mobile Version | woocommerce creates online stores according to the themes that businesses choose for their activities. | Shopify builds mobile-friendly websites for businesses. |
Compatibility with HTML | WooCommerce is easily compatible with HTML. | Shopify platform works perfectly with HTML. |
Blog | You can post unlimited blogs with the help of the WooCommerce plugin. | Shopify allows you to post limited blogs on your website. |
Trail Pack | WooCommerce does not offer free packages to online businesses. | Shopify offers 14 days free version to the users. |
WooCommerce vs Shopify – Which is better?
We discussed many points in the above paragraph that differentiate WooCommerce and Shopify. Businesses are very confused when choosing one option from these two options. Now, let us discuss a few more things about these two platforms and look at the best platform to choose for your business.
Ease of use
This is the most important factor to see in the process of ecommerce website development. Shopifysoftware contains hosting and security. It does not need any coding process to work. Anyone without technical knowledge can build online stores with the help of Shopify features.
WooCommerce is not an easy plugin to use for beginners. It needs coding experience and knowledge. So, the team of experienced web developers can only use the WooCommerce plugin to build professional websites.
Time to build websites
Time also plays an important role while building websites. The process of Shopify web development is faster than developing websites on WooCommerce. Shopify contains all the features that a business needs to develop its websites. On the other hand, WooCommerce lacks many features and takes time to develop online stores.
Sales Commission
This is the category where WooCommerce wins over the Shopify platform. In the case of WooCommerce, you do not have to pay any sales commission out of profits earned from the sales.
Shopify charges a sales commission between 0.5% and 2% of your total sales profits. WooCommerce is the better option for new businesses and start-ups.
Paid Version
WooCommerce is a free plugin to use for new businesses. On the other hand, Shopify offers paid versions such as basic packs and advanced packages. So, new businesses and start-ups can select WooCommerce for carrying out their business activities.
Third-Party Integration Feature
You will need many tools to run an eCommerce store. Social media tools and email marketing tools will help to run your ecommerce store successfully. WooCommerce is better than Shopify in this category. You can easily integrate your business stores with many other tools by using the WooCommerce platform. It is also easy to add different payment options on WooCommerce sites.
Feature of Customization
Themes and user interface are important elements in any website. WooCommerce does not contain any themes. You have to download the themes from another source or link. Shopify has several themes that suit different business sizes and needs. In this case, Shopify wins over the WooCommerce platform.
Hosting options
Shopify is one of the best platforms with several servers. It also offers unlimited storage for business data. On the other hand, you have to select the provider to host your website. It also provides servers of your choice. So, you can choose Shopify as it includes SSL certificates.
Final words
These are the major differences between WooCommerce and Shopify platforms. The process of WooCommerce development is a bit difficult process but comes with a wide range of features for startups and new businesses. On the other hand, Shopify has limited options. It also offers many paid packages that startups might find costly.
WooCommerce has no sales commission and can easily integrate third-party tools with your website. Apart from that, you will also get a variety of SEO plugins in WooCommerce that help to run an online business successfully.
Finally, we can say that WooCommerce leads the race and is a better platform than Shopify for new businesses.
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