E-commerce Explained: Shopify VS WooCommerce

#1. Fees

Let’s start with the question everyone wants to know the answer too, how much is it going to cost to sell on Shopify VS WooCommerce?

Let’s start with Shopify.

Shopify’s pricing plans range from ‘Basic Shopify’ ($29 p/month), #Shopify’ ($79 p/month) and ‘Advanced Shopify’ ($299 p/month).

Each of these pricing plans will offer you different features and complexity, depending on your business requirements and goals, you can find out more here

The credit card rates vary depending on the Shopify plan you choose and whether the transition is online, in person or through a third party payment provider

WooCommerce is a free plugin you can download onto your wordpress site, however, although the plugin is free, it can cost you anywhere between $5 – $100 per month, depending on factors such as hosting service, domain, themes etc.

Therefore, running an eCommerce store such as WooCommerce, will cost you the same amount – if not more, than Shopify.

WooCommerce Payments is free to install, and pricing starts from 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction

#2. Ease Of Use

When it comes to ease of use, Shopify takes the lead with it’s simple, easy to use drag and drop website builder and built-in hosting.

All you need to set-up your Shopify store is:

• A Shopify Account
• A Domain Name
• A Theme

The only downside to using Shopify is that you can only use the design and development tools provided by Shopify or add-ons available in their marketplace, so you are a little more limited compared to WooCommerce.

WooCommerce initially requires a bit more work than Shopify.

To set up your WooCommerce store you will need:

• A WordPress Account
• Install the WooCommerce Plugin onto your WordPress account
• Set up website hosting
• Find and install a theme
• Configure things such as payment gateways, tax calculations, and more (Although WooCommerce Services has made some of this simpler)

Though WooCommerce takes slightly longer to set up and get going, it offers you an unlimited amount of customization thanks to the 55,000+ WordPress plugins.

#3. Add-ons & Intergrations

Both Shopify and WooCommerce offer you a vast range free and paid, third-party add ons and integration features.

Shopify has around 3,000 apps to choose from and some of the top rated apps on Shopify are:

• Optin Monster – which is a conversion optimization software that helps get more email subscribers, reduce cart abandonment, and increase overall sales conversion.
• Trust pulse – which enables you to build trust with your website visitors by showing real-time activity other users have taken whilst on your site.
• Ahrefs – which provides a full suite of SEO tools to help you rank highly for relevant search terms.

WooCommerce gives you access to more than 55,000 free WoirdPress plugins and many other paid options, so you have a lot more variety when it comes to WooCommerce.

Some of the top rated WooCommerce plugins are:

• Constant Contact – which is an email marketing app that allows you to segment groups, follow up with customers and remind customers of their abandoned carts.
• Monster Insights – which allows you to connect you Google Analytics account to enable you to easily track E-commerce data within your WordPress account.
• Live Chat – which enables you to answer customers queries in real-time, thus improving conversion rates.