Shopify and WooCommerce are among the most popular platforms in the eCommerce industry. In fact, WordPress stores powered by WooCommerce, the most popular shopping cart plugin available for WordPress, account for 39% (1.5 million) of all online stores.
The main difference between these two platforms is the way their infrastructures are built. WordPress is an open-source platform while Shopify is an all-in-one solution.
The Pros & Cons of WordPress as an eCommerce Platform
There are many advantages and disadvantages to using an open-source platform for eCommerce. Here are the pros and cons of this platform in regards to WordPress.
Pros
- More flexibility.
- More control over your store.
- More room for growth.
- More support for content management.
Cons
- Requires more steps to set up.
- Requires more maintenance on your part.
- Less support.
WordPress is a content management system, and WooCommerce by WooThemes is a plugin you install inside of WordPress. It is not a hosting company, therefore, you’re required to purchase and set up a domain and web server elsewhere.
The payoff is that you have more control over your store as well as your business in general. You have full control over what payment gateways you use, how your store looks and how it operates.
If your server is slow or you have dispute with your web host, all you have to do is purchase a new server elsewhere and move your installation there. If you experience any issues with a payment gateway, such as PayPal, you’ll have a number of other gateways to choose from.
Shopify has been known to place holds on accounts that prevent store owners from accepting payments and receiving payouts. There is nothing these store owners can do beyond contacting the service’s customer service department. This is because your business operates on rented property when you choose to run your store with Shopify.
The Pros & Cons of Shopify as an All-in-One Platform
Having more control over your own business is important, but there are many store owners who do just fine and even prefer Shopify’s all-in-one approach.
Pros
- Easier to set up.
- 24/7 support.
- Hosting, domain, theme and extensions all available under one roof.
Cons
- Less control over your business.
- Designs can be limiting.
- Content management is less intuitive.
Shopify appeals to many small businesses and startups due to the fact that it offers everything you need to get your store up and running at an affordable price. This includes hosting, your domain, the theme you use and any free extensions you need.
Setting up an eCommerce store with Shopify is definitely a lot more straightforward for novices, and you’ll even have access to support 24/7 as well as a variety of different support options whereas WordPress’ biggest eCommerce platform, WooCommerce, only offers a forum/ticket support system during set hours Monday-Friday.
Price
WooCommerce is free right out of the box whereas Shopify costs $29/month at minimum, but pricing for these two platforms is a lot more complex than that.
WooCommerce
- WooCommerce: Free.
- Hosting: As little as $29/month for an WordPress Optimized host: WPEngine.
- Payment Gateways: PayPal, Stripe, PayPal Powered by Braintree, Amazon Payments and others available for free. Extra payment gateways, such as Authorize.net, available for $79/year.
- Themes: Storefront by WooThemes is free as are many other themes. Premium themes are also available through third-party markets and developers. Many cost around $59.
- Extensions: Many extensions are available for free while most premium extensions cost $79/year. They range from as low as $29.00 to as much as $249.
- SSL Certificate:s This depends on your host. Some hosts offer free SSL certificates while others require you to purchase a certificate elsewhere.
Shopify
- Plan: $29/month minimum.
- Hosting: Included.
- Payment Gateways: Shopify Payments Powered by Stripe comes with every plan. Over 70 payment gateways are also available, but they’ll cost you 2.0% per transaction.
- Themes: Free themes available through ⦁ Shopify Themes. Most premium themes cost around $150.
- Apps: Many apps are available for free through the ⦁ Shopify App Store. Premium prices vary greatly, though many cost $19/month or more.
- SSL Certificates: Free.
How WooCommerce Improved WordPress eCommerce in 2016
With over 17 million downloads and over 1 million active installs, WooCommerce has become WordPress’ most popular eCommerce plugin. Its success has allowed it to jam pack a number of different features into its free version and even more in premium extensions.
WooCommerce Connect
WooThemes introduced WooCommerce Connect in 2016. The system is still new, but it represents where WooCommerce is heading. The current system requires you to install extensions, copy and paste API keys, and use specific versions of WooCommerce core to bring certain options to your store.
WooCommerce Connect allows you to add these features to your store through the WooCommerce dashboard regardless of what version of the plugin you’re using, and you won’t need to use API keys or install extensions. The first version of this system supports real-time shipping rates from USPS for customers based within the United States.
Storefront Powerpack
WooThemes released Storefront Powerpack in 2016. Storefront Powerpack is a premium extension for the developer’s free Storefront theme. This extension brings an entirely new menu system to the live editor of Storefront. It essentially allows you to customize nearly every aspect of your homepage without touching a single line of code.
Shipping Zones
WooCommerce 2.6 brought the power of shipping zones to store owners. Now, you can define zones and assign zone-specific shipping methods and rates. Zones can be postal codes, specific states, regions, countries or even entire continents.
What this changes on the frontend is how customers use your store. When they checkout, they’ll only see the shipping methods and rates you’ve assigned to their zones.
More Benefits for Developers
The release of WordPress 4.4 in 2015 brought the REST API to WordPress core. WooThemes implemented the REST API in WooCommerce back in February 2014, however, it is now migrating over to WP REST API to align itself with WordPress core. The end result is intended to make the API simpler, easier to use and more lightweight.
The release of WooCommerce 2.5 back in January also brought support for WP-CLI, a tool that lets developers alter their stores from the command line.
2016 also brought a couple new APIs:
- Shipping API
- Payment Tokens API
Finally, WooCommerce 2.6 brought AJAX to cart page operations, including updating item quantities, removing cart items, applying coupons and updating shipping options.
Improvements to the My Account Page
WooCommerce added tabs to the My Account page in WooCommerce 2.6. This makes it easier for customers to manage their orders and add/delete details to their accounts. Any payment extensions you have, such as WooCommerce Subscriptions and WooCommerce Bookings, will appear on this page as well to allow customers to manage their subscriptions and bookings.
Final Thoughts
Shopify is a powerful eCommerce platform that’s incredibly easy to use, but between the introduction of WooCommerce Connect and more and more UX features being added to every new release, WooCommerce is rapidly becoming the dominant platform by combining ease of use with an open-source platform you have more control over.
If you still feel overwhelmed by the slight learning curve WordPress and WooCommerce have, you might be better suited for Shopify. However, WooThemes is working hard to make WooCommerce as easy to use as possible right out of the box, ensuring there’s no need to choose between flexibility and simplicity.
