In 2021, e-commerce sales topped $870 billion in the US alone. If you’re ready to launch your own online store, you might be deciding between two e-commerce giants: WooCommerce and Shopify. We’ve got a breakdown of each and tips on how to decide which one is right for you.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin that integrates with WordPress. This means that it doesn’t function on its own, but can take a WordPress site and turn it into an online store.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a hosted e-commerce platform. As such, it functions as an ‘all-in-one’ solution, coming with pretty much everything you need to start an online store, including a domain name, hosting, and security certificates.
Unlike WooCommerce, Shopify is closed, meaning you can choose a template and drag and drop features, but you can’t create your store from scratch.
Set Up & Ease of Use
One of the biggest differences between the two platforms is the initial setup involved.
With Shopify, you’ll select your plan and then start designing your store. Sure, you have to make choices about things like your payment provider and shipping settings, but Shopify will walk you through every decision you need to include.
Setting up with WooCommerce requires much more initial effort if you don’t already have a WordPress site. When you’re starting from ground zero, you’ll first need to create your WordPress website, which includes securing your domain name, signing up for hosting, installing WordPress, and installing your WordPress theme. After you do all that, then you can set up your WooCommerce plugin and start designing your store. (Or join the Palm Tree Club and we’ll take care of the setup for you!)
Once your WooCommerce store is set up– however– adding products requires the same level of effort as Shopify.
Who has the edge? Shopify
Templates/Themes
When you’re setting up your Shopify store, you’ll be able to choose from more than 100 pre-made templates and themes, including a handful of free options. Good news if you don’t want to deal with any coding, but bad news if you’re looking to stand out from the crowd.
WooCommerce does offer three free themes and 50 paid themes (which are billed annually), but unlike Shopify, you’re not required to use one of them. You can find thousands of themes available for purchase from web designers or, if you have the experience, you can code it yourself, making tweaks until it’s exactly the way you want it.
Who has the edge? WooCommerce
Mobile Optimization and Design
The majority of Shopify’s themes are mobile responsive, so your store will be optimized for any screen without extra work on your part.
As long as you choose a WordPress theme that’s mobile responsive, your WooCommerce store will display beautifully on any device.
Who has the edge? It’s a tie– just be sure to choose a theme that is mobile responsive.
SEO
With its WordPress integration, WooCommerce has access to several SEO plugins, such as Yoast and SEOPress. You also have the ability to edit meta descriptions, alt tags, and URLs.
Shopify allows you to control basic SEO information– aspects like descriptions and titles– and you can choose from SEO plugins in the app store to improve your search results. You can also add rich snippets to your store, but be ready to do a little coding or use an app. Unfortunately, there’s no way to customize any Shopify URL.
Who has the edge? WooCommerce
Plugins, Apps, and Extensions– Oh my!
You can choose from several thousand Shopify plugins and apps in the Shopify app store, including hundreds of free options.
Remember that WooCommerce runs on WordPress? That means that you have access to more than 58,000 plugins designed for WordPress, plus hundreds of extensions created specifically for e-commerce.
Who has the edge? WooCommerce
Analytics
Within the Shopify Analytics Dashboard you’ll find data about sales, customer acquisition, profit margin, website visitor behavior, and marketing. Some of these reports are only available within the pricier plans, however.
With WooCommerce Analytics, you can see sales trends, inventory trends, and customer and sales data. You can also install Google Analytics for more insight about your audience, acquisition, shopper behavior, and conversions.
Who has the edge? Both provide valuable data about your online store, but WooCommerce provides more data for free.
Sales Features
With both platforms you can—
- sell physical and digital products and services.
- send abandoned cart emails (Shopify does this automatically, WooCommerce requires the use of a plugin).
- allow shoppers to checkout as a guest or create an account.
- upload an unlimited number of products.
Who has the edge? Both offer features that make it easy to boost your sales.
Help and Support
Shopify provides three channels for customer support:
- Community forums consist of almost a million merchants and partners who can participate in chat board-like problem solving
- The help center has documentation for most anticipated issues
- 24/7 personalized support lets you chat or send an email
Since WooCommerce is a plug-in, not an all-in-one platform, they don’t offer access to an official support team like Shopify does. However, there are still several ways to get help when you run into an issue.
- A designated Slack channel where you can chat with developers
- Access to a ‘WooExpert’– vetted agencies that are available to help you in designing your website or working through tech issues
- Extensive documentation that walks you through almost every issue you can encounter
In addition, some WooCommerce hosting providers– like Bluehost and SteGround– will offer 24/7 support.
Who has the edge? Shopify
Pricing
Shopify offers three packages at varying price points:
- Basic is $29/month
- Shopify is $79/month
- Advanced is $299/month
Shopify also has two other solutions that fall at extreme ends of the budget: the Starter plan for $5/month and ShopifyPlus, which starts at $2,000/month.
WooCommerce is a free plugin, but it requires a WordPress website to work, so you’ll need to pay for hosting and a domain name, plus possible extras like the cost of the theme you choose.
Who has the edge? When you compare the basic costs associated with each, you’re likely to find that they come out almost the same.
Payment Options
Both platforms allow the use of several payment gateways.
To accept credit cards on Shopify, you can use a third-party provider like PayPal, Amazon Payments, and Afterpay. In countries including the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, you can also use Shopify payments.
WooCommerce Payments is the only payment gateway that’s fully integrated with WooCommerce. You can also choose from extensions such as Stripe, PayPal, Afterpay, and Square. PalPal and Stripe are offered at no cost, but other gateways may charge an annual fee.
Who has the edge? It’s a tie– they both do the job well.
Which one is best?
Deciding which platform is best comes down to which one best meets your needs. If you’re interested in launching an online store with as little effort as possible, Shopify is the way to go. If you want to offer a unique e-commerce experience, then the open-source nature of WooCommerce will allow almost endless creative freedom.
And if you decide to go the WooCommerce route, be sure to check out our WooCommerce designs.
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