WooCommerce vs Shopify : Which Is Best For You?

In the modern world, choosing the right ecommerce platform is extremely important. Many people planning to offer their services online are choosing Shopify. It is a software-as-a-service e-commerce platform. It is being globally used by billions of customers, who are able to earn high profit margins.

Woocommerce is another WordPress-based eCommerce platform that is being used worldwide by many people for similar purposes. In this blog, we’ll dive into the comparison of WooCommerce vs Shopify, which can help you choose the ideal platform that aligns with your vision for an exceptional online store.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Comparison

Features	Woocommerce	Shopify
Free Trial Length	WooCommerce is an open-source software that can be used for free.	Shopify offers a 14-day free trial period without needing any credit card.
Transaction Fee	While using WooCommerce, you need a hosting partner and pay $20 for a domain name. The hosting fee starts from $162 per month.	Prices vary as per the plans. Basic Spotify: $38/month. Shopify Mid: $99/month Advanced Shopify: $389/month
Support	Users can use an in-depth support tab to complain about an issue and get a ticket. You can also see a lot of forums available online.	In the Shopify Help Centre, it is easy to locate certain documents. You can also contact an expert directly.
Offline and Online Usability	You can only use WooCommerce online.	Shopify has a point-of-sale kit that is available either online or offline.
Platforms	WooCommerce is open-source. You can also modify it into a code without any limitations.	Shopify only allows drag and drop. It also has additional plugins included.
Hosting	WooCommerce doesn’t include hosting. You have to pay for it separately.	Shopify includes hosting within its plans.
Subdomains	WordPress sites can have an unlimited amount of subdomains.	In Shopify also, the subdomains are available in an unlimited amount.
Hosting	WooCommerce doesn’t include hosting. You have to pay for it separately.	Shopify includes hosting within its plans.
SSL	Users will need to find a plugin that meets their requirements.	When you buy a domain name through Shopify, you also get a TLS certificate. It makes transactions easier.
Coupon Creation	Users can create coupons for any products they sell in their store.	Users have a limit of creating up to 200000 unique discount codes for every store.
Accepted Payment Methods	WooCommerce has around 80 payment gateways available.	Shopify Payment is connected to the user’s bank account. A user can also select a third-party plugin if they are based in a country without Shopify Payment.
Monthly Reports	Reports in WooCommerce can also include sales data by date, category, and product. Users can export these reports via comma-separated values.	Users can take reports on Shopify regarding the product, its vendor, time, location, and various other things.
Storage Space	The storage space depends upon the size of the server.	Shopify offers an unlimited storage space.
Blogging	WooCommerce gives you the option to write and share blogs on your products.	Shopify offers you the option to share blogs but in a limited number.

These are some notable points that distinguish the usability of these major platforms. In the battle of WooCommerce Vs Shopify, if you want to learn more about these two platforms, read the full blog to know more.

What is WooCommerce?

This eCommerce platform is a plugin for WordPress. It is basically a WordPress website that has been converted into an online shop. It helps you manage your business activities, including:

1. Adding products or services.
2. Keeping Track of Orders.
3. Checking Stocks.
4. Setting up Payments.
5. Checking Shipments.

How WooCommerce Works?

This platform is basically a free plugin. It allows you to convert a WordPress website into an eCommerce store. It has all the functions that are fully compatible with the WordPress site. For that, you need to follow the steps given below:

1. Go to the WordPress dashboard on your screens.
2. Select the “Plugin” option.
3. Search for “WooCommerce.”
4. Download the plugin to your site on WordPress.

After following these processes, the setup wizard will help you out with the easy and quick process of building your eCommerce store.

Why WooCommerce is Becoming Popular?

Here are some of the greatest reasons why this eCommerce platform is growing more popular nowadays:

1. WooCommerce and its underlying WordPress software are free to use.
2. This platform is open source. Any user can gain access to it, audit, modify or extend the codes present in it.
3. WooCommerce is user-friendly on a regular basis. Any novice can use this platform to develop and launch their business.
4. Your WooCommerce site can be extended with the help of plugins. It allows you to add various kinds of functionality to your store. You don’t have to possess any technical knowledge to make such changes.
5. This platform can work on any device. It is also easy for smartphone users. The more these people buy products via smartphones, the more WooCommerce will serve them.
6. You can customize your store on WooCommerce as per your requirements. With the help of the “Themes” option, you can customize the looks of your store without requiring any technical know-how.
7. Despite being open-source, WooCommerce is secure. It is run by Automattic, WordPress’ parent company. It has all the resources that will help you secure your store.

Things That Can be Sold on WooCommerce

WooCommerce will allow you to sell anything you want. It is commonly used to sell physical products like jewelry and t-shirts. You can even sell digital products, charge for appointments, reservations, and many other services.

For example, if you booked a vacation rental near a beach, you could use this platform to allow people to rent your house and pay the booking fee.

Examples of Online Stores Using WooCommerce

1. Asheville Bee Charmer:

This website uses WooCommerce to sell various bee-derived products like candles, honey, and body care items to customers.

2. SockBox:

 

This website ships a lot of pairs of socks every month to customers in Canada and the US. It uses WooCommerce to do so. 

3. Deliciously Clean Eats:

This brand uses WooCommerce to create a menu that replicates a restaurant menu. This allows the customers to choose the meal they want and get it delivered.

Pros and Cons of WooCommerce:

Pros	Cons
It is free to use.	It only works with websites powered by WordPress.
Websites on this platform can be personalized as per your needs.	You need to pay for WordPress hosting.
Millions of themes are available.	You need to get it updated frequently.
Mobile-friendly	You should stay updated yourself.
Advanced SEO Options	No support is available for sites used on mobile phones.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a user-friendly eCommerce platform helpful for small businesses in building an online store. Through this online store, they can sell their products and services via a streamlined dashboard. Merchants using this platform can create a modern online store and sell on social media, seller marketplaces, other websites and blogs, and through emails and chat.

Shopify also allows in-person selling with the help of in-built Point-of-Sale(POS) for retail stores, market sales, pop-up shops, etc. 

Technically speaking, Shopify is a subscription-based software as a service platform for sales. It offers four standard plans for store subscriptions that starts from CA$ 38 per month. These plans offer support to a branded online store and a comprehensive variety of online and in-person selling tools.

Shopify also brings you a “Lite” plan that only costs CA$ 7 per month. Although it lacks an online store, this plan supports mobile POS sales and a buy button. These features help you sell your products on other websites, blogs, and via emails.

These plans have all the business management tools useful for you. Important tools like product sourcing, sales, and inventory, tracking, payment processing, shipping, customer accounts, marketing, and reporting, etc can be found in any of these plans. Furthermore, there are a lot of Shopify apps online that can help you easily expand your Shopify toolkit.

How Does This Platform Work?

Shopify centralizes your product and customer data and operational tasks in one system. This system connects to all your sales channels effortlessly. Once all the important things are in place, this platform makes it easy to explore and create new lines of products and sales channels.

Here’s how it works from the initial stages to sales management, step-by-step:

• Free Sign-up for 14 Days:

You can use Shopify for free for testing purposes. You won’t be asked for your credit card upfront.

• Connect Your Sales Channels:

While entering the account setup wizard, you can easily connect your initial sales channels that can be changed or expanded whenever you want. You can even connect your social media in the wizard if you are willing to sell your products through it.

• Enter Your Product Details or Find Items to Sell:

You need to enter the details of the product, including the images and pricing or source yourself or use Shopify’s Handshake wholesale network and dropship vendors. They will help you find items you want to sell.

• Setting up Payment Processing:

You can activate the payment function on Shopify with just one click to start accepting payments rapidly. You can also connect your own payment processor to your dashboard. This platform supports 100 plus payment processors.

• Setting Up Shipping Charges and Taxes:

In the settings panel, you need to set up your shipping methods and fees, along with the information on applicable sales tax.

• Setting Up the Online Store:

If you are planning to sell via your own branded store, you need to step your online store on Shopify. It has various plug-and-play themes that will need a little bit of setup and added content, which will make the website your own.

• Processing, Shipping and Tracking Orders:

The Shopify dashboard will help you manage everything after you start getting orders. By using the built-in tools in this platform, you can easily manage orders you ship yourself, and dropship products, and virtual items, such as music and ebook downloads. Shopify will email the order status and tracking of your shipment to your customers.

Once you set up your online shop, you are ready to explore this platform’s features like email marketing, abandoned car remarketing, and blogging, which will drive sales.

Pricing

Here’s a comprehensive pricing structure of Shopify’s subscription plan, which involves added payment processing fees, shipping labels, and further POS requirements:

Subscription Plan	Shopify	Shopify Basic	Advanced Shopify	Shopify Lite	Shopify Plus
Pricing	CA$99/month	$38/month	$389/month	CA$7/month	CA$2669/month

• Basic, Shopify, and Advanced Plans:

Each of these plans offers omnichannel sell-anywhere features, along with a full array of order, customer, and business management tools. As you explore the plans, you will find a pocket-friendly payment processing fee, huge discounts on shipping, and access to advanced tools for marketing, management, and reporting.

• Shopify Lite:

It is a limited-feature plan that supports in-person POS sales and an online buy button useful for non-Shopify blogs, emails, and websites. However, it doesn’t offer features like online stores, social media connectivity, and marketplace channels for sellers, as found in other plans.

• Shopify Plus:

This plan offers corporate-level features that are suitable for sellers that have high-volume sales, multiple locations, and budgets around multi-million dollars. Users can negotiate the pricing, terms, and features of the plan as per the sales volume and the requirements of their businesses.

Payment Processing and Transaction Fees

You can use the built-in Shopify Payments option or connect your own payment processor to the platform. While using your own processor, Shopify will charge a transaction fee that will range from 0.5% to 2 % of the total charge of every sale you make online. However, the fee doesn’t apply if the user is using Shopify Payments.

This application supports in-person sales with the help of the platform’s mobile and retail store POS systems.

Things I Can Sell on Shopify

• Physical products shipped by business owners.
• Digital products like e-books, digital gift cards, and music files can be downloaded online.
• Dropship items that are shipped to customers directly via vendors.
• Goods and services that you can find in retail stores.
• Products and services sold in mobile locations.
• Services that are sold and managed via online systems.
• Memberships and subscription boxes are offered with automatic recurring payments.
• Tutorials, workshops, online courses, and webinars.
• Tickets and passes for local tours, events, and attractions.
• Formal wear, cameras, rental sports equipment, etc.
• Fundraisers and donations.

Places Where You Can Sell Using Shopify

• Shopify Online Store:

This platform has an eCommerce store that can help you build your brand and reach the target audience online.

• Social Media Platforms:

Shopify can be connected with your Facebook, Instagram, X(Formerly Twitter), and TikTok. This ensures smooth sales with the help of pinned and shoppable posts, and videos.

• Non-Shopify blogs and Websites:

Shopify offers a buy button that can be embedded to enable shopping on articles, reviews, and posts on other blogs and websites.

• Seller Marketplaces:

You can list your products and services on Walmart, Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and Lyst to connect with the audiences present there.

Other than these places, you can sell your products with the help of this platform on branded mobile applications, online chats and emails, wholesale buyers, and international marketplaces.

Pros and Cons of Shopify

Pros	Cons
Beginner-Friendly: Shopify is easy to use for beginners who want to build a good-looking online store and manage the overall processes.	Cost: If you are on a shoestring budget, you won’t be able to afford Shopify.
Pocket-Friendliness: The monthly fees are quite affordable for beginners. Shopify also offers competitive rates for high-level plans.	Transaction Fee: Without using Spotify Payments, you may end up paying a transaction fee on every sale you get via credit or debit cards.
Top-Notch Security: Shopify is a fully managed platform that will handle every technical detail for you.	Limited Themes: Themes available on this platform are basic. They require additional coding to add advanced features.
Smooth Sales: It offers POS features for mobile and retail stores that let you sell in-person anywhere.	Limited SEO Options: This platform has basic SEO options as compared to WordPress and other platforms.
Limitless Growth Potential: This platform is being used by some of the biggest global brands online. It is also ready to help you achieve sudden growth and sustain it.	Simple Blog Tools: As compared to WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace, the blog tools in this platform are quite basic.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Which is the Best eCommerce Platform?

If you are offering your services online, you need to know how various eCommerce platforms work. Shopify and WooCommerce are two popular eCommerce platforms where people build online stores and offer their services. 

All you need to do is to understand your target audience, the niche, the budget, and your goals. By understanding these aspects, you will be able to identify the right platform for your business.

If you want assistance while looking for these online business development platforms, consult our experts at Kinex Media. We have an experienced and knowledgeable team who will help you choose the right platform for your business needs. Get in touch with us now and take your first step into the world of eCommerce.