Choosing the right-ecommerce plugin for your business is the key factor in running your online store. . Each e-commerce plugin has different features, such as payment gateways, pricing capabilities, and compatibility with websites. The way you run your online store has a significant impact on your business structure.

Shopify and WooCommerce are two most popular options. If you’re comparing e-commerce plugins for your small business, you should understand what each plugin offers and how to manage them. By evaluating the different features, you can determine whether Shopify or WooCommerce is the best suit for you.

What is Shopify?

With Shopify, you can create an online store, accept payments, and manage your inventory, all from one place. You don’t have to worry about web hosting, security, caching, or anything else related to eCommerce with Shopify.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce plugin for the WordPress platform. By using it, you can create an online store using the most powerful content management system (CMS). In fact, WordPress powers 43% of all websites, and WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform. Using WooCommerce, you can easily add custom extensions and customize every aspect of your store.

Choosing Between Shopify and WooCommerce

It can be difficult to figure out which e-commerce option is best for you. There are several advanced features available with both services, including enterprise plans, premium themes, drop shipping capability, multi-channel marketing compatibility, real-time automation, scalability, and search engine optimization.

The following are top 3 features to consider when choosing between WooCommerce and Shopify.

SEO

With SEO, you can rank your website higher on Google search results. The importance of SEO in e-commerce cannot be overstated. Generally, the higher a page appears in Google for a search term, the more likely people are to interact with it. Ideally, this will lead to more sales.

There are SEO solutions available for both WordPress and Shopify stores. However, there is a slight difference in how they work.

WooCommerce works through your WordPress site, and WordPress has tons of useful SEO plug-ins for optimizing keywords, URL structure, back-end programming, and site architecture. WooCommerce helps with the different SEO strategies for your store.

Furthermore, Shopify has built-in SEO features such as an SSL certificate and SEO plug-ins that are simple to install and use. These plugins are ideal if you’re looking for a quick and reliable way to set up your ecommerce store with effective SEO performance. 

Source: Velocity Consultancy

User-friendly

Shopify is very user-friendly as it offers a smooth user experience and templates that let you start selling immediately. Due to these features, it is a good option for business owners who don’t have much time and energy to build a complete e-commerce store. There are plenty of settings in Shopify, such as pop-ups, discount codes, a Shopify mobile app store with advanced plugins.

In contrast, WooCommerce is more customizable and can be integrated into your WordPress store in more ways with other plug-ins, transaction fee options, SEO, CSS, and HTML. 

Due to WooCommerce’s higher level of customization, it is also more difficult to navigate and use. You need to be an advanced website developer to set up your e-commerce store. WooCommerce is a great choice if you’re comfortable with using different third-party apps and softwares to meet your needs.

Pricing

Shopify offers a range of pricing options, from Shopify Lite, Basic Shopify to Advanced Shopify (or also known as Shopify Plus). Shopify has different plans with different prices and features such as abandoned shopping cart notifications, free themes, drag-and-drop customization, and different payment options. Depending on your business’s requirements, you can pick one of these options.

In contrast, WooCommerce offers a greater degree of customization. Due to the way WordPress e-commerce sites are designed, you need to pay for domain hosting, security, and other fees. Experienced site administrators may find WooCommerce’s flexibility more appealing, especially if they require niche hosting, which refers to a type of web hosting tailored specifically for online stores with a specific focus or niche. In this type of hosting, you will get the tools, resources, and features you need to run an online store.

Conclusion

Determining the optimal choice between Shopify and WooCommerce depends on various factors, such as the availability of technical resources and the significant features required for your online business in Malaysia. Additionally, you may want to consider whether you prefer a readily made, template-based website or one customized and optimized to your liking.

In case you are unable to allocate time for website development, Benova can provide assistance. We provide web design template services for everyone to build a website of their dreams. Having any enquiries? Our team in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is here to assist!