Those who want to create their own store often wonder what to choose, WooCommerce or Shopify. And today we will figure it out.
1. Ease of use
Obviously, one of the easiest solutions for building a complete online store is Shopify. And that’s because they walk you through the entire setup from the moment you create your account. This is why so many migrate to shopify.
WooCommerce is pretty easy to set up too. Although, you will need to do a few things first, like install or update WordPress on your website, and then install the plugin. Let’s not mislead you if you haven’t done this before, it can get a little confusing, especially in design.
Category Winner: Clearly Shopify is a more affordable tool without knowledge
2. Templates and flexibility
Essentially, templates (or themes) are your virtual showcase. You will be interested to know that Shopify has its own template store with over 180 different designs. Many are paid, but others are free. Most of them can be customized and changed without touching a single line of code.
WooCommerce doesn’t have a template store of its own, but you can buy them on other pages. There are an impressive number of WooCommerce templates with prices ranging from $ 29- $ 64. There are also free templates, but no support. You can also create your own online store with Elementor.
Winner: Shopify for simplicity. Woocommerce needs a professional if you want to design and display Elementor Pro (if you need something custom).
3. Payment options
This is probably one of the most difficult and important things in an online store. Shopify offers you two options, but they can be a little tricky, so let us explain. The first thing to do is accept PayPal express payment as soon as you create your Shopify store.
The best way to accept credit card payments is through Shopify Payments, as if you are using an external payment processor Shopify will charge additional fees BUT this service is currently only available in certain countries (such as the US, UK, or Australia).
This means that if your company is located elsewhere (e.g. Mexico), you will have to use a so-called “payment gateway,” that is, a service provided by third parties. These gateways are different in every country and their rates also vary a lot, so it is quite difficult to tell you which one is best for you, you need to do a little research.
Likewise, WooCommerce offers extensions to include various payment gateways. Adding PayPal and paying with credit cards with Stripe is free.
In conclusion, both services offer a good selection of payment options. But you have to take into account quite a few factors related to the country you are in and how much you want to spend on additional fees in order to be able to collect all the money your customers are willing to send you.
Winner: WooCommerce will be in this round.
5. Client registration and payment page
Both services offer customers the ability to register to process their payments.
Plus, both Shopify and WooCommerce can be easily configured to automatically send emails to customers who haven’t completed their purchase (abandoned cart recovery feature). It’s included by default with all Shopify plans, and with WooCommerce you’ll have to use one of the many plugins, some of which are free.
Shopify, thanks to shopify speed optimization, offers a fast checkout system that lets you skip the cart and go directly to the checkout page, but you’ll need to add a few lines of code to implement it.
This direct payment option is also available for select WooCommerce templates.
It’s a draw here.
6. Setting up shipping costs and logistic integration
Both Shopify and WooCommerce allow you to add shipping costs calculated based on different parameters (if the delivery is local or international, if it’s urgent, etc.). So far, something pretty standard.
But if you would like more details, you can also include a real-time shipping estimate. This is a very accurate calculation, depending on the day your logistic operator picks up the package (including USPS, FedEx, UPS and many others). But first, a little warning: to do this with WooCommerce, you need a payment plugin (which is also quite expensive).
In the case of Shopify, you’ll need at least an advanced Shopify plan to enable third-party shipping calculation.
Drop shipping companies are likely to be interested in using Shopify as it is already connected to Amazon, Rakuten, and Shipwire, among others.
WooCommerce doesn’t have dropshipping built in, but you can always install a “plugin for a plugin” and if you’re willing to pay a little more, there are endless solutions available on the market.
Which one is better is up to you. Someone will like one option, while others will suit the other. Much depends on your needs and tastes.
