WooCommerce VS Shopify: A Personal, Informed, Succinct Opinion
A showdown between two e-commerce giants. But who comes out on top?
These days, you can find everything you need online with just a few keystrokes. E-commerce platforms make it easy to order items, movies, and even food from your laptop or mobile device. E-commerce platforms make life easier for customers, and they also make it easier for new businesses to get started. And if you want to create an online store in 2021, WooCommerce and Shopify are 2 platforms you will surely come across.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that makes it easy for you to create an online store, accept payments, and manage your inventory all from a single platform without ever worrying about the technical aspects of managing a website such as web hosting, security, caching, etc.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin built for WordPress. It allows you to leverage the most powerful content management system (CMS) and use it to run an online store. Because of the open-source nature, you can customize every aspect of your store and easily build custom extensions.
There you have it: Ease of use and scalibility are the two differentiating factors
Want a fast and straightforward launch? Go with Shopify
Want limitless customisation and scalability? Go with WooCommerce
I would be selling these two powerful platforms short if I stop here. So here is a head-to-head review, weighing the following factors (based on my experience):
- Budget
- Ease of use
- Payment Methods
- Integrations
- Scalability
Bottom Line
There is no one perfect e-commerce platform, just the solution that will work best for your business. With WooCommerce and Shopify there are a handful of other solid platforms you should also look into, like Magento, BigCommerce, and Wix. As you’re considering your options, cost, scalability, and mobile responsiveness are some of the biggest things you should look for.
P.S. This is the e-shop I have built with Woocommerce. The one powered by Shopify is in the final stages and should be launched in a few week's time. Watch this space!
