The two most well-known eCommerce platforms in the world are Shopify and WooCommerce, each of which has pros and drawbacks. Your success as a business owner depends on selecting the ideal eCommerce platform for your enterprise. In this article, we shall contrast Shopify vs. WooCommerce. The idea is to dissect their data to choose the most acceptable option for your eCommerce business. However, you must be familiar with these platforms before we can compare them. So let’s start by discussing what they signify.
What exactly is Woocommerce?
WooCommerce is not an eCommerce platform in the traditional sense. It is a free WordPress plugin that turns your website into an eCommerce store. If you install the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress website, your store will be up and running in no time.
WooCommerce, released in 2011, quickly gained traction in the eCommerce business. With over 6.6 million customers, it is now the most popular eCommerce solution. Most of WooCommerce’s success can be attributed to its user-friendliness, comprehensive functionality, and endless customization options. Most importantly, it allows you to run your online store with WordPress, the world’s most popular content management system.
With over 6.6 million live WordPress websites using it, WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform. The platform’s popularity has been attributed to its ease of use, innovative functionality, and endless customization options.
What is Shopify?
While Shopify is not an open-source platform like WooCommerce, it has several features that cater to various needs. Compared to WooCommerce, Shopify is an older platform, debuting in 2004. This Canadian platform boasts over a million merchants and provides a wide range of current services due to ongoing improvements.
Instead of being free or having a one-time cost, Shopify requires a monthly subscription fee and a commission on each sale. The platform, which caters to beginners with little to no coding skills, makes it straightforward to build an online business from the bottom up.
But if you choose to customize your Shopify store, you might need expert assistance. The user-friendly platform Shopify is the benchmark by which all other e-commerce systems are assessed.
Some Interesting WooCommerce Facts
- There are presently 6,621,099 websites using WooCommerce.
- WooCommerce is used by 77 percent of the top 1 million websites.
- On ThemeForest alone, there are more than 1,300 WooCommerce themes.
- On the WordPress Plugin Directory, there are over 6,000 plugins for WooCommerce.
Statistics on WooCommerce’s Use by Country
| Country | Websites |
| United States | 183,257 |
| United Kingdom | 52,394 |
| Italy | 42,501 |
| Germany | 38,628 |
| France | 38,068 |
| Spain | 33,104 |
| Australia | 30,194 |
| Canada | 29,222 |
| Netherlands | 28,125 |
| India | 28,122 |
| Rest of the World | 461,144 |
WooCommerce is currently owned by Automattic, the business that runs WordPress.com. This paves the way for a ton of intriguing new developments in the future, including WooCommerce maybe being made available on WordPress.com. This will allow it to enter a new market and increase its market share through 2022 and beyond.
Some Interesting Shopify Facts
- Last year’s Black Friday sales for Shopify totaled approximately $1.5 billion. This translated into 10,978 orders every minute and a peak sales volume of $870,000 each minute.
- With an average of 6 applications installed, 87 percent of retailers use the Shopify App Store.
- Over $100 million in sales have been made on the App Store. Shopify Inc. raised $131 million in its initial public offering. Less than three years later, it reached a market cap of $10 billion, making it equivalent to Twitter Inc.
- Over 300 ethical hackers received more than $850,000 in bug bounties from Shopify in exchange for their help identifying and fixing security flaws.
- Shopify Plus businesses have grown on average by 126% since last year.
Statistics on Shopify’s Use by Country
| Country | Websites |
| United States | 183,224 |
| United Kingdom | 35,306 |
| Canada | 27,927 |
| Australia | 25,627 |
| Germany | 16,004 |
| India | 14,708 |
| France | 13,928 |
| Japan | 10,054 |
| Italy | 8,643 |
| New Zealand | 6,703 |
| Rest of the World | 135,665 |
Stats comparing Shopify and WooCommerce
There are a few considerations to make while opening an online store. Which platform is best for your needs will depend on these crucial factors, which you can determine. These are the fundamental requirements that all proprietors of internet stores must meet. Depending on your company’s needs, you might want to consider extra options for things like shipping, inventory control, billing, taxes, dropshipping, and so on. This comparison aims to highlight how Shopify and WooCommerce stack up against these fundamental standards so you can decide which one best meets your requirements.
| Particulars | WooCommerce | Shopify |
| Number of Users | 6,600,000+ | 3,900,000+ |
| Number of Themes | Unlimited (free and paid) | 60+ (free and paid) |
| Installation Difficulty | Intermediate | Very easy |
| Blog | Yes | Yes, but limited |
| Mobile Version | Depends on the theme | Yes |
| Email Newsletters | Yes, but with a plugin | Yes |
| HTML Compatibility | Yes | Yes |
| Help and Support | Very active community (forums and blogs), variable support from themes and plugins editors | Phone, chat, email, documentation, forum |
| SEO | Yes | Yes |
| Product Editor | WordPress Editor/Blocks | WordPress-type editor |
| Storage Space | Depends on server size | Unlimited |
| CSV Catalog Import | Yes | Yes |
| Payment Gateways | Yes | Yes |
| Offline Payments Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Marketplaces Connection | Yes | Yes |
| Catalog Size | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory Management | Yes | Yes |
| Trial Version | No | 14-day trial |
| Sales Commissions | No | From 0.5% to 2% |
| Pricing | WooCommerce is a free plugin | Shopify Lite: Rs990/mo Basic Shopify: Rs2,200/mo Shopify: Rs5,990/mo Advanced Shopify: Rs22,680/mo |
Last Word: Which Platform Should You Pick?
The platforms Shopify and WooCommerce are both great for starting an online store. Everything comes down to your personal preferences and ambitions. Compared to WooCommerce, Shopify is far more user-friendly. Nothing needs to be installed, and you may start working straight away. Their pricing structures are simple to understand, and payments are simpler to set up. The disadvantage with Shopify is that you don’t have total control over anything. Transaction costs, extras, and integrations can soon add up. Only select plans can be upgraded, and pay-as-you-go spending is not an option.
Thanks to WooCommerce, which is open-source and free, you have total control over your website. With these WooCommerce hosting providers, launching an online store is far less expensive.
The drawback is that you’ll need to maintain the application current. There is a slight learning curve. On the other hand, millions of beginners are already using it, and they quickly overcome the learning curve. If you’re looking for a cost-effective solution and want total control over your online business, WooCommerce is the best platform for you. If you want a completely hassle-free platform that allows limitless scalability, Shopify is the superior choice.
Questions and Answers
Is WooCommerce suited for online shopping?
The most well-liked and best e-commerce plugin for WordPress is WooCommerce. Ecommerce websites benefit from better search engine rankings thanks to their integration. Woocommerce can customize it in unlimited ways because it is open-source. A sizable open-source community will support you when you combine WordPress and WooCommerce.
What distinguishes WooCommerce from Shopify?
Shopify offers platforms as a service. They also provide software and website hosting and take care of backups, security, and maintenance for your online store. On the other side, WooCommerce is a self-hosted eCommerce platform. You will be in charge of running your online store, and you will need a WooCommerce hosting account and a domain name. Both platforms make it easy to sell goods online, collect payments using third-party payment gateways that are PCI compliant, and manage inventories.
Can I switch from Shopify to WooCommerce?
Using the Store Importer tool, you can transfer your customer and product information from WooCommerce to Shopify. You must export your data from WooCommerce before importing it into Shopify.
Is a portion of sales taken by WooCommerce?
WordPress and WooCommerce are both open-source, cost-free programs. Even though this can save you a lot of money, some costs are still involved in setting up a new store for WooCommerce payments. With WooCommerce Payments, there are no setup or ongoing fees. You pay 2.9 percent + $0.30 for any transaction made with a credit or debit card issued in the US. Cards issued outside of the US have an additional 1% cost.
