When it comes to selling online, businesses are often faced with a choice straight from the off. WooCommerce vs Shopify – or sometimes Magento. Here at Make Do, we’re proud to be a WooCommerce agency. But why?
In this post we’ll be focusing on WooCommerce’s most popular competitor – Shopify. In the future, we might address Magento, but for now we’ll look at our chosen eCommerce platform, and how it stacks up against the only other system we’ve been known to recommend.
WooCommerce v Shopify
It’s time to put these two webstore systems to the test. It’s WooCommerce vs Shopify!
It’s time to put these two webstore systems to the test. It’s WooCommerce vs Shopify.
Visuals
One of the key factors in any eCommerce system is how the online shop works. A tacked-on web store that doesn’t match your business or your website’s existing branding or design aesthetic can put off potential customers and undermine your professional reputation.
Shopify relies mainly on pre-designed themes, which can be customised to fit your colour scheme. These themes can be changed quite significantly, but a Shopify eCommerce portal does have a distinct style which can be noticeable.
WooCommerce does have a selection of off-the-shelf pre-loaded themes, which can make life easier inexperienced developers. However, an experienced WordPress agency like Make Do can take full control, easily tweaking the custom theme built for your website and apply it to WooCommerce, creating a seamless shop front for your website.
- Advantage: WooCommerce
Features
Let’s get the obvious features out of the way first. Both allow you to sell products online. Both let you process payments online, and both help you to manage inventory and stock. When it comes to actually selling your products, this is a dead heat.
So let’s look at other features you may want to consider.
Many businesses wish to keep total ownership of their data. With Shopify, you need to hand over store and website data, while with WooCommerce you retain complete control.
Flexibility is also key. Shopify is a closed platform, meaning you’re limited in the scope of changes you can make to design and functionality, while WooCommerce is entirely open source, meaning you (or more likely, we) can make as many modifications as necessary.
So if you’re concerned about data ownership and require flexibility, there’s a clear winner when it comes to features too.
- Advantage: WooCommerce
WordPress Integration
We’re WordPress developers first and foremost, so we need to use a platform that seamlessly integrates with a WordPress web build.
And while Shopify does work well alongside WordPress, it’s still a case of combining two separate platforms in order to provide eCommerce functionality.
WooCommerce though, is built solely for use with a WordPress website. It’s not a standalone platform which requires compromise and tweaking to integrate with the sites we build – it’s a dedicated add-on for the WordPress platform. So when it comes to integration, there really is only one winner.
- Advantage: WooCommerce
So there you have it. For all of the reasons above, Make Do is and will stay a WooCommerce agency. We see the value in Shopify as a platform, and there are instances when it might be the best fit for your business, but in the majority of circumstances, where you’ve got the budget, we’ll recommend that you choose WooCommerce to sell your products online.
Need An Expert WooCommerce Team?
