WooCommerce vs Shopify: Best Ecommerce builder in 2020

Best Ecommerce builder in 2020 – WooCommerce vs Shopify

E-Commerce has become the most popular business in recent times and is growing significantly in the global market. It is transforming the way business is done in India. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF (https://www.ibef.org/industry/eCommerce.aspx), India is the fastest-growing ECommerce market and is expected to grow at approximately 1200 % by 2026. The Indian ECommerce market is projected to reach US$ 84 billion by 2021. 

As a smart business owner, you might have already decided to take your business online. But the thought of building an online store for your business can be pretty scary and confusing if you don’t know how to build a website or make it work. Fortunately, we have eCommerce website builders that simplify the process of creating an online store for your business. They help you build an amazing website with everything you need for your online store that will get you selling in no time. 

Read more on: Why is it the right time to create an online store?

When it comes to choosing the best eCommerce website builder in 2020, there are two big names you might want to consider- WooCommerce and Shopify. Choosing the right eCommerce website builder that fits your needs is crucial for your success. This article will take you through a detailed comparison of WooCommerce vs Shopify.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform built exclusively for WordPress. It offers deep integration with the world’s best content management system and publishing tools to run an online store.

Shopify

Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce website builder that comes with everything you need to set up and run your online store. Shopify saves you from the hassle of hosting externally as it hosts and manages your online store for you.

WooCommerce vs Shopify:

1. Design and theme options- WooCommerce vs Shopify

WooCommerce: 

WooCommerce has an entry theme called Storefront that comes with a clean and simple layout that has all the basic features you need for an online store. You can select other free and paid WooCommerce themes for your online store. You can also select any standard WordPress theme in the market and still can make it work together with WooCommerce. Since its open-source, there are tons of developers who sell unique themes for all sorts of business.

Shopify:

Shopify comes with around 100 themes for you to choose from. Most of these themes are free and you can also buy premium themes to customize the look and feel of your site. As a beginner, you can easily customize your website to suit your needs. All these themes are mobile responsive and have a variety of different colouring options.

2. Plugins and marketing tools- WooCommerce vs Shopify

WooCommerce:

Since WooCommerce is an open-source platform, you have more than 55,000 free plugins and many paid plugins to choose from. You can add any extra functionality to your website without any limitations. You have several marketing tools, SEO plugins to help grow your business. Integration with payment gateway is also simple in WooCommerce.

Shopify:

Shopify comes with a powerful API and an App Store where you can buy add-ons for your Shopify store. They are usually created by third-party services and have their own pricing. Shopify also supports marketing tools, SEO and payment gateway integration. Furthermore, it has multichannel selling that enables you to integrate your store with Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and Pinterest.  

3. Scalability- WooCommerce vs Shopify

WooCommerce:

With WooCommerce, you are responsible for maintaining updates, backups, and security of your websites. This means you have full control of your website and can scale your WooCommerce store to your needs.

Shopify:

Shopify handles all the technical parts of your store and so you don’t have full access to the raw data and it takes care of everything including backups, updates, and security. If you want to scale your business, you can simply upgrade your Shopify plans.

4. Ease of use- WooCommerce vs Shopify

WooCommerce:

WooCommerce supports WordPress page builders like Divi that are very easy to work with. You also have amazing flexibility when it comes to customization. But it comes with a steep learning curve and requires more hands-on management.

Shopify:

Shopify is the best eCommerce website builder for beginners. As soon as you sign up with Shopify, all you need to do is pick up a design theme for your website and it takes you through all the other features. But the customization you can do here is limited when compared to WooCommerce.

5. Support options- WooCommerce vs Shopify

WooCommerce:

Since WooCommerce is open-source software, it doesn’t have a dedicated support team, but you can literally get hundreds of helping hands from WooCommerce users and experts in the support forums whenever you need it. The official WooCommerce site also has documentation, tutorials, and guides that you can follow. 

Shopify:

Shopify provides 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, email, and Twitter. It also offers extensive documentation, guides, video tutorials, and a knowledge base for the users, so you don’t have to worry if you need any clarity or facing any issues.

6. Cost of using and pricing

WooCommerce:

WooCommerce is free of cost but you need to spend on hosting, domain name and security. If you want any paid WordPress themes and premium plugins to customize your online store, you have to spend on that too. In addition to this, the payment gateway that you have integrated with your website may charge a certain amount of fee for every transaction.

Shopify:

Shopify has set pricing. The packages range from $29 to $299 per month. It includes domain name, security, and web hosting. However, you still have to pay for premium add-ons. If you use third-party payment gateways, Shopify will charge you a 0.5% to 2% fee for all the transactions in addition to the fee charged by the payment gateways. Shopify also has its own Shopify payment solutions that charge a fee of up to 2.9% + 30 cents for all transactions.

What is the best eCommerce website builder in 2020?

Both Shopify and WooCommerce are powerful eCommerce website builders that have a combined user base of over 2 million users. It all comes down to your personal needs and preferences when you’re choosing the best eCommerce website for building your online store in 2020. 

If you have very little knowledge about coding, website design, and need an easy platform to build your online store, Shopify might be the one you’re looking for. You can set it up easily and it has a fixed pricing plan. If you want to build a fully customized online store on a strict budget with complete control over it and don’t mind putting some effort into the process, WooCommerce is the most powerful eCommerce website builder you can get your hands on.