Although there are literally hundreds of different shopping
platforms for online ecommerce, Shopify and BigCommerce are typically
considered the two most popular Shopping Carts currently. When a business has a
WordPress CMS (Content Management System) we would consider WooCommerce as the
preferred solution for the Shopping Cart. This post will focus on the
differences between Shopify and WooCommerce specifically.
For getting a store online fast and easy, Shopify delivers.
It’s easy to use and you don’t have to worry about maintenance. However there
are down sides to consider, as you don’t own the site and the cost of hosting
and apps can get expensive over time. Although you can do a lot with Shopify
you’re more limited than you are with WooCommerce which scales for more
advanced functionality.
Which ecommerce
shopping cart is better?
Which would be better for you depends on what you want from
your site. Do you want a store only? Do you want to have a powerful blogging
platform? Do you want to own your site and have more control? Do you want to
not have to worry about site maintenance? It is beneficial having an informed
conversation so that you are aware of the options and restrictions each
solution offers.
If you want an online store that’s easy to deal with and
you’re willing to pay whatever it costs, Shopify is a recommended choice. It’s
simple to use, looks great, has excellent e-commerce features, and hosting and
maintenance are taken care of. Support is easy to get if you need it and you
can expand your store’s features and functions with a large selection of
add-ons. The blogging platform has very basic functionality. You can blog
there, but it really is weak at best. It can’t be expanded like a WordPress
site can and if you decide you want to move it, you will have to copy and paste
or use a plugin that requires lots of work setting up every single post. It’s a
good choice for just a store, but it’s not a good choice for a website, or a
blog that includes a store. For advanced SEO purposes, Shopify has its
limitations. It can be pricey, but the cost is clear and up front.
If you want to choose your own hosting company, have full
control over your website, and importantly own the site — and you don’t mind
the extra work of running a WordPress site, then WooCommerce the ecommerce
plugin on WordPress, is the clear choice. A WordPress site powered by WooCommerce
will be cheaper and give you more control. The WooCommerce plugin is free and
you can choose from literally thousands of themes, both free and premium, that
integrate nicely with WooCommerce. It can be added seamlessly to your current
WordPress site. Support for your site is not always that easy because it’s an
integration of several systems. If you want blogging to be a big part of your
site, then WordPress again is the clear winner. Even though the plugin is free,
extensions can cost money and you still have the expense of building, running
and maintaining a WordPress site, and the total cost is not so clear.
Considering Shopify
The Shopify dashboard is straightforward. There are ways to
see information about existing orders, product inventory, and customers.
If you think you will need a lot of third-party extensions,
check out competitor BigCommerce, instead. It has a higher price tag, but it
comes with more features out of the box and we have a lot of clients who have
been using this product successfully, so you may wind up saving money if you
plan to use a lot of advanced features in the long run with your online store.
Shopify offers free, attractive, and modern-looking themes
in eight different categories. If you want something more sophisticated, you
can visit the Shopify Theme Store, which has more than 100 free and premium
templates. Some premium templates are pretty expensive, so keep an eye on your
total monthly bill, and of course it is more if you were to have a custom theme
created.
Google Analytics
Both Shopify and WooCommerce integrates with Google
Analytics.
When it comes to performing shopping cart SEO (Search Engine
Optimisation); Magento, WooCommerce and Shopify are considered the best
shopping cart platforms:
SEO product tags
Optimise your product pages for search engines with product
specific meta tags, titles, and URL handles.
The nice part about Shopify is the ability to do POS (Point
of Sale) terminal on the iPad, as well as Facebook Shop. You can extend the
store with a range of third party apps.
Mobile commerce ready
Your online Shopify store includes a built-in mobile commerce
shopping cart. Your customers can browse and buy from your store using any
mobile phone or tablet.
Your own domain name
You can use your own domain name, or purchase one through
Shopify.
eCommerce Facebook
Stores
A particular benefit of Shopify, is their Facebook store
which turns your Facebook for business page into an ecommerce platform. Easily
display products, promote them on Facebook, and sell them to all your fans.
Note that WooCommerce on WordPress can be used via a
Facebook Canvas page with custom design and development integrating your
WooCommerce store into the Facebook Business page.
Social Media
integration
All Shopify websites include social media integration, such
as Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Similarly this can be
achieved with WordPress and WooCommerce.
Marketing your
Shopify store on Google Adwords - Google Product Listings
Businesses can sync their Shopify Store with the Google
Merchant Center, simply and easily using a direct, automatic API feed to keep
their product listings up-to-date.
Shopify directs customers away from the existing domain to
its own payment page (checkout.shopify.com) to process actual payments, which
may result in abandoned shopping carts if customers get confused about getting
redirected to an unknown site and don't want to proceed.
Shopify by default uses its own payment gateway 'Shopify
Payments', as well as PayPal Express Checkout. It can also integrate with 70
other payment gateways. Remember that PayPal also charges its own credit
card-transaction fees. If you use Shopify Payments, Shopify waives the
transaction fees.
SSL Secure shopping
cart
All Shopify credit card and transaction information is
protected by the same level of security used by banks: a 256-bit SSL
certificate.
Shopify also supports Google Wallet, alternative payment
systems such as Dwolla, BitPay, Coinbase, and GoCoin, as well as offline
payments such as check, money order, and bank deposits.
You can also set up the store to just authorise payments and
manually charge the card when ready.
Abandoned checkout
recovery
Recover lost sales on Shopify by automatically sending an
email to prospective customers with a link to their abandoned shopping carts,
encouraging them to complete their purchase. WooCommerce has a variety of
plugins that provide this same functionality on WordPress.
Offer free shipping
Improve your average order size by offering free shipping to
your customers. You can choose the price point at which free shipping applies.
Gift cards
Your customers are able to purchase a gift card for someone
from your store, or you can use gift cards as store credit.
Inventory management
Manage your entire inventory with Shopify. Track stock
counts, and automatically stop selling products when inventory runs out.
There is also integration of Shopify into a WordPress.com
site, but really they are stand-alone separate entities:
Accounting/CRM
integration
Integration can be done via OneSaas for both Shopify and
WooCommerce
In Summary
Shopify and WooCommerce are both great choices that serve
different purposes and audiences. Shopify is easy to use and maintenance is
taken care of, but it is more limited and gets expensive. WooCommerce is free
and flexible, and integrates easily into your WordPress site, which you are
completely responsible for. The best choice will depend on the needs of your
business.
Please note that Vorian Agency does not provide custom
development for Shopify, but will perform Shopify setup and configuration for
client projects. Vorian Agency provides full ecommerce integration and custom
development for WooCommerce solutions on WordPress.
Perth website design and development company Star 3 Media,
part of Vorian Agency, an integrated marketing agency located in Perth, Western
Australia. Provides a quick and cheap marketing solution for start-ups,
home-based, as well as small to medium businesses, to enable them to get online
fast with a new website at the fraction of the cost of traditional custom
website packages.
Our cost-effective budget website plans, with a low-cost
monthly price, enables your business to focus their marketing budget into the
online marketing activities that actually drive the Return On Investment
necessary to build your business, through creating brand awareness and targeted
marketing with SEO, PPC, eMarketing and Social Marketing options.
Get online right now with Perth website design company Star3 Media - Phone 1300 100 333 or email info@vorian.com.au
2015 Shopping Cart
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