WOOCOMMERCE (WORDPRESS)
A recent research compiled by Builtwith, found more than 39% of all the online stores trading worldwide are powered by WooCommerce. On a global scale, that makes WooCommerce the number one choice for online stores.
WooCommerce is a free and open source WordPress plugin that provides an ultimate solution for all your e-commerce businesses.
The reasons why this platform is so popular is its approach to being convenient and flexible. You can use any of the various additional plugins and themes; some are free; to allow you to customise your online store in any way you like. You are encouraged to add any extra feature you need. There is countless useful WooCommerce plugins that cover various aspects of your online store (pricing and checkout, integration with payment systems, design, etc.). It means that you are free to choose any additional features for your business and to make your store a truly unique destination.
When you have installed and activated the WooCommerce plugin, you are instantly provided with full setup instructions. You choose and set the main basic parameters for your store. As soon as this process is completed, you can start adding products to your store, uploading product images and descriptions, setting prices, and also installing any additional plugins you consider necessary.
The WooCommerce Main Benefits are:
Your customer experience | The positive ability to be able for you to give all your customers, a friendly user experience every time they visit your site or Blog. This can lead to more sales, comments & feedback. For Bloggers & writers are there are the Integrated Social Features which will encourage your customers/users to share your product over their social profiles. |
Security concerns | WooCommerce is protected by Wordpress a secure platform which powers more than 22% of the Internet. Security bugs are patched immediately, and security updates are transmitted worldwide before responsible disclosure of such bugs. This allows WooCommerce to be updated on a regular basis, which addresses any security concerns arising.
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Measured Performance | Analytical tools to allow you to keep a record of all your important site statistics. It has the ability to track your customer’s behaviour. It can predict trends, & analyze your marketing efforts accurately & comprehensively. |
SHOPIFY
Shopify is a high profile software platform that can form the underpinnings of your e-commerce site. This allows you to combine impressive tools and an intuitive interface to enable your business to create a unique digital storefront. It offers you an easy step by step approach to your website build. It also enables you to add products easily and whenever you wish. It will handle all your valuable transactions and host your site on a reliable infrastructure. You can relax in the knowledge that the comprehensive security features will protect you and your customers, in other words; your data and sales can be carried out safely every time with no hidden costs.
Included in your Set Monthly Fee & Transaction Fees
Are the following Features & Tools:
Marketing Features | Mailing Lists, SEO Tools, Affiliated Programs, Facebook, Customer Reward Programs, CRM, Social Media Integration. |
Product Tools | Unlimited Number of products, Shipping Tools, Product Image Optimization. |
Inventory Tools | Inventory Imports, Automated Returns, Bulk Order Processing, Abandon Cart Report. |
Safety Features | SSL Certificate (HTTPS), Fraud Protection, PCI Compliant, Hacking Protection. |
Customer Support | FAQ, Knowledge Base, Video Tutorials, Personal Agent who are there to assist you, guide you and be effective at resolving issues. |
Payment Options | PayPal, Google Wallet & All Major Cards. |
Shopify VS WooCommerce
Each one has multiple strengths and each can be the perfect solution for you to build your eCommerce site. Factors to take into consideration when deciding are:
Your choice will depend on what you want out of your ecommerce site. With Shopify, you can sell all sorts of products, including physical items, digital downloads, drop shipped products, and even services. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you can integrate it with your Shopify store thanks to their Point-Of-Sale devices.
Shopify is also perfect if you are new to e-commerce or someone who want a turn-key solution.
WooCommerce is perfect if you who instead want full control over your ecommerce site and you also want the power of WordPress to be behind your business. Over 74 million sites depend on the WordPress platform to host their blogs, sell their products or just write their daily musings for the world to see.
Deciding factors to consider when choosing Shopify:
You want a hands-off approach, where you can just sign up and have an eCommerce store launched as a result of it.
At the same time, you want a highly optimised solution that’s in no way worse than the competition.
You wish to have a reliable and fast-responding support team at your disposal, just in case you have any questions.
You don’t want to worry about any of the technical details of your eCommerce platform. You just want it to work as expected, and be accessible to all customers and on all devices (mobile and desktop).
Deciding factors to consider when choosing WooCommerce:
You want to be the one in full control of your eCommerce site.
You wish to have access to thousands of site designs and plugins that will enable you to extend the functionality of your site.
You have a small investment budget to start and want the freedom to do everything on your own.
Shopify powers over 600,000 businesses worldwide. Whereas, WooCommerce claims to be the web’s “most popular e-commerce platform”.
So now if you’re trying to choose between WooCommerce and Shopify, how do you know which one is better?
It’s not about which one is better. They’re both powerful, but different. Each has very powerful options if you’re looking to sell online. But the bottom line is: which one is right for you will depend on your personal circumstances, needs and vision.
Shopify takes care of the technical maintenance of running a store for you. What’s more, you can relax as your store grows because you know it won’t crash under the increased traffic and sales volume. Shopify is a scalable e-commerce platform because it can deal with any growth your store experiences.
Woocommerce gives you limitless customisation as an open-source platform. This means the customisation possibilities with a platform like WooCommerce are inexhaustible. You can create a store with real personality. Little wonder that WooCommerce calls itself “the world’s most customisable e-commerce platform”. Specifically, design themes, are stylish, these mobile-responsive WordPress themes exist for WooCommerce. There’s a huge selection to choose from and because WordPress themes work with WooCommerce stores, your design options are never-ending.
With powerful SEO and your access to WordPress blogging infrastructure and the ability to delve deep and edit your own store’s metadata means WooCommerce gives you everything, you need to harness the power of Search Engine Optimization and dominate those Google rankings.
If you’re starting out for the first time then a more intuitive platform like Shopify is a good option. If you’re undecided, remember, you can take Shopify for a test drive before you spend your hard-earned money!