WooCommerce VS Shopify – which one should you choose?

WooCommerce and Shopify are both popular and commonly used eCommerce platforms. Both platforms are used by millions of businesses all over the world to power their businesses. When it comes to choosing either of the two, the decision must be taken after comparing pertinent factors.

For the uninitiated, both platforms are quite powerful but provides with different options to sell products online. Thus, one can safely assume that which platform is good for an online trader will largely depend on his personal circumstances.

Where Shopify gives you an all-in-one package where you can indulge in building and publishing your own online store using this platform, using its apps and features, WooCommerce already provide online merchants with a website. It provides a plugin that works well with WordPress.

Here, we bring you a comparative analysis between both platforms helping you to make a well-informed decision.

• Ease of Use- When we consider ease of use as a factor, know that when using Shopify, you need not worry about technical running of the store. It has ample eCommerce tools that can make the task of an online merchant easier than ever. For newcomers or beginners, Shopify is a good platform as it has intuitive platform. WooCommerce is a good option for those who possess high technical skills. This platform can be used just by having a WordPress account.

• Features- Another parameter that can be used to compare both platforms is the repertoire of features they provide to their clients. Where Shopify gives you eCommerce features like Discount Codes, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Website and Blog, Unlimited Products and more than 100 products, WooCommerce may provide some of these features at a cost. The sales features of Shopify are excellent and has been successful in helping businesses generate more than $55bn revenues. Flexibility is the main strength of WooCommerce. Custom-built plugins can be added by the developers to the store as it is an open-source platform. Some worth mentioning features of WooCommerce are ability to embed products, unrestricted authorization, built-in blogging, one-click refund for customers and more.

• Design- When comparing Shopify and WooCommerce in terms of design and appearance, it is worth noting that both platforms have stylish themes and give a professional feel and look to the online store. Shopify provides more than 60 paid and free themes which are very polished and are designed to sell. Premium themes can be purchased at $140. WooCommerce, on the other hand, comes with Storefront as an entry theme which is mobile responsive. Using technical skills, users can create a unique WooCommerce design.

• Security- For any website, its security must be of utmost importance. It especially holds true for online stores as these stores handle customer’s money. Moreover, they are also handling their customer’s information which needs protection so that it doesn’t fall into wrong hands. Shopify is very serious about ensuring security and takes responsibility in case of security breach. WooCommerce is self-hosted as it works with WordPress. The plugin originally used lacks built-in security, leaving this to be handled by the hosting provider of the online merchant.