WordPress vs Shopify: Which Is Best For Your Online Store?

Running an eCommerce company is not a piece of cake. Once you step into this industry, you come in direct competition with roughly 12-24 million eCommerce websites along with constant daily additions. However, it is also backed by profitable figures since it is estimated that 95% of the purchases will be expedited by eCommerce by 2040.

If you are planning to kickstart your online business, you must have come across WordPress and Shopify. While both the platforms are nothing less than titans in the eCommerce industry, they are applicable for different kinds of use-case scenarios.

For example, WordPress is better for people who already have a website. They shall be required to install plugins like WooCommerce to get started. On the other hand, Shopify is better for people who don’t have their business website yet.

But there is more to the story, and several other aspects are explained in the following article. Go through it thoroughly and choose the best eCommerce platform for your business.

WordPress: A Brief Introduction

In simple terms, WordPress is an open-source CMS that helps you create your website. It helps you micromanage every aspect of the website with a minimal technical background or programming knowledge.

Apart from other blogs, portfolios, forums, and social networks, WordPress offers a plethora of eCommerce options to prepare a fully-customizable online business.

You can use the same platform to sell products and post content about them. All you’ll need is the WooCommerce plugin that will help you set up your store in no time.

Since it is made with REST API, it is developer-friendly. You can design any kind of store- be it for physical or digital products, without any hassle. You can also understand your progress with the real-time stats provided in the WooCommerce mobile app.

Lastly, you can also facilitate payments for the products or subscriptions for newsletters with automated payments.

Talk about convenience, isn’t it?

Shopify: A Brief Introduction

Shopify is yet another effective commerce platform that lets you get the ground running as far as online stores are concerned.

You can use Shopify to sell physical as well as digital products. Be it clothes, needles, perfumes, audio, ebooks, or e-courses, you can sell it all on Shopify. Moreover, you can also sell memberships and ticketed experiences on Shopify.

In addition to that, the users can also benefit from Shopify POS (Point of Sale), which lets you sell in person. The POS software can be personalised to cater to your business, considering the apps, products, and discounts. It provides seamless transactions, payments, generation of purchase orders, unified analytics, etc.

Since Shopify is cloud-based and hosted, you get the liberty to operate it from any compatible device. This gives you the required flexibility to run your business from anywhere around the globe.

Pros and Cons of WordPress

To clearly understand the differences between WordPress and Shopify, it is crucial to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both eCommerce platforms.

Pros of WordPress

1. You can make your WordPress eCommerce website an extension of your brand’s personality by benefiting from an array of qualitative and professional-level themes available in WordPress.
2. You shall not face any security breach with WordPress due to its strong eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce and MarketPress.
3. It works as a one-stop solution for posting blogs as well as selling your products. You need not rely on any other platform for posting content.
4. You can make an additional income by enabling guest posting and partner advertising.
5. WordPress offers several plugins for social media and email marketing. You can choose your desired option from its third-party tools library.

Cons of WordPress

1. WordPress is free and yet not completely free. While you can get away with several free templates, you will have to spend money to get started with a professional eCommerce website on WordPress, considering the expenses for a domain, web hosting, plugins, maintenance, etc.
2. Basic knowledge about coding must be required to use WordPress for your eCommerce website. If not, you will have to hire WordPress developers, but that shouldn’t be difficult since there are several proficient WordPress developers in India.

Pros and Cons of Shopify

Now that we have covered the benefits and drawbacks of WordPress, it is time to jump to the same for Shopify.

Pros of Shopify

1. Shopify is a better platform, especially if you have no coding background. It is easier to set up with its user-friendly UI and fuss-free hosting.
2. Every plugin in Shopify is made to be mobile-friendly. This appeals greatly to all the audiences viewing and using the platform from their cell phones.
3. Even though WordPress is free initially, you’ll save more money with Shopify. This is due to their economical plans on top of a 14-day free trial.
4. Shopify’s customer service is unparalleled. You can resolve your issues via mail, phone, or live chat in no time.
5. You can benefit from in-person sales through Shopify POS. This includes local pickup, buying in store and shipping to customers, buying online and exchanging in store, local delivery, attached QR codes, and sending cart online.

Cons of Shopify

1. If not for Shopify Payments, you will have to incur additional charges for processing payments. It can range from 0.5% to 2%, depending on your selected monthly plan.
2. As compared to WordPress, you’ll get limited options for blogging and content-posting.

When Does WordPress Take the Prize?

As you can see, WordPress and Shopify are proficient in their ways, with their set of pros and cons. But how can you leverage that information in making a wise decision for your eCommerce business?

Well, we shall explain the best scenarios in which WordPress and Shopify work, respectively. That should make your job easier.

We shall start with WordPress.

Choose WordPress for eCommerce if:

• You are tech-savvy, and coding does not overwhelm you.
• You already have a WordPress website, and you want to convert it into an eCommerce platform.
• You want built-in payment gateways.
• You want to benefit from 100% customisation with over 59000 plugins and over 10000 themes.
• You do not mind trading off a complex setup process with more flexibility.
• You want to make the best use of the SEO components and plugins like Yoast for a better ranking on SERPs.
• You want to create blogs and content along with running an eCommerce site.

When Does Shopify Take the Prize?

Similarly, choose Shopify over WordPress if:

• You do not have a website as of yet, and you want to kickstart an eCommerce website from scratch.
• You want a smooth sailing experience in terms of setting up and running the eCommerce website without any coding knowledge or experience.
• You want to run an online as well as an offline store.
• You want an in-built assistant along with a mobile app and store management tools to stay on top of inventory, sales, and customers.
• You want to benefit from an excellent customer support system.
• You want to get started with fixed monthly plans without any varying costs.
• You do not want the hassle of constant updates since the updates in Shopify are automatic.

WordPress vs Shopify: Clear Winner

Choosing between WordPress and Shopify causes nothing less than a positive dilemma. It is a battle between two tenacious web-building platforms, the winner of which can only be decided after finding a balance between your purpose and convenience.

If we go by the numbers, 2.297 million websites use Shopify for their eCommerce business. At the same time, 6.8% of the top 1 million websites rely on WooCommerce for their online store.

While the numbers are promising for Shopify, WordPress definitely takes the lead due to the array of customisations provided in the form of plugins and themes. Moreover, it is all the more convenient for somebody to get started with their eCommerce business on WordPress if they already have a WordPress website.

In the end, it is all about convenience and customisation, both of which are offered by WordPress.

Time will tell the future of Shopify, but WordPress has and will prove to be a better player in terms of eCommerce websites.

Hence, if you want to see your eCommerce skyrocket and reach newer levels of success, we suggest choosing WordPress over Shopify. Even if you aren’t proficient in coding, you can simply hire WordPress developers in India. They are surely going to get your eCommerce up and running in no time!