Why You Should Use Shopify For Your eCommerce Business
Starting an eCommerce store can be an intimidating endeavor. Assuming you have plans for your industry, products, branding, marketing and operations lined up, a decision still has to be made on which platform to use for your eCommerce business. With many options on the market, researching and choosing the right one can be difficult to say the least.
With platforms like Magento, BigCommerce, Wix and Squarespace providing user experiences fit for some businesses, most eCommerce stores can narrow down their choice to the two largest players: Shopify and WooCommerce.
In this blog, we’ll explore a direct comparison of the two platforms in hopes of providing you with clarity on the choice between Shopify and WooCommerce.
What Is Important To Consider When Researching eCommerce Platforms?
Shopify and WooCommerce both have benefits and drawbacks. Though there are many factors to consider when weighing which eCommerce platform will work best for your online business, we will focus on 4 main aspects – cost, ease of use, integration, and scalability. Here are 4 reasons why you should switch to Shopify.
#1. Cost
In spite of WooCommerce being a free plugin for WordPress, Shopify wins the price battle when all the options are fully broken down.
WooCommerce is free to use, however users will need to buy separate hosting which can cost anywhere from $5 to $500+ per month depending on the store’s data needs. WooCommerce also has fewer built-in free features, requiring users to usually buy paid themes, paid plugins and potentially even hire developers for certain customizations.
Shopify has plans for up-and-coming stores all the way through enterprise level businesses. These plans range from $9 – $2,000+ per month, but offer fast, scalable hosting and immense resources provided by Shopify. Within the platform, users may have to pay for themes (Free – $200) and app integrations (Free – $50+ per month) but starting stores can easily flourish using the low-level plans and free themes and apps, allowing for an easy entry point for beginners.
One drawback is the added transaction fees for low-level accounts that use third-party payment providers. Shopify, however, does offer their own payment gateway which allows users to bypass the added transaction fee, as well as easily expand into a physical presence as well.
#2. Ease of Use
We have to give this round, again, to Shopify. The platform has transformed the way non-enterprise level businesses operate online. By giving all users access to easy-to-use dashboards, high-quality reporting, simple customizations and integrations with physical stores through the Shopify POS, Shopify allows users accustomed to more complicated platforms, like WooCommerce and Magento, to flourish at a lower cost.
Another problem solved by switching to Shopify is the issue of inventory. Shopify’s app, Oberlo, allows sellers to take advantage of dropshipping to boost profits. Dropshipping allows sellers to sell without holding inventory by utilizing manufacturer supplies directly. Oberlo allows sellers to sell all kinds of branded products without the risk of stale inventory, providing a boost to stores in any industry.
#3. Integrations
One of the most powerful features of Shopify are the high quality, reviewed apps that can take sellers’ stores to the next level. Unlike WooCommerce, Shopify has a wide variety of reviewed, approved third-party apps, taking power out of the hands of the platform and handing it over to a community of users and developers to find quality solutions to improve the platform and it’s users’ experiences.
These apps range from marketing to operations and finances, allowing users to integrate their stores with trusted apps like Quickbooks, Mailchimp and more. Shopify also has simple integrations with Google and Facebook, allowing store owners to more accurately analyze their marketing efforts. With social media usage at an all-time high, Shopify’s integrations with Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allow sellers to sell through those platforms seamlessly.
#4. Scalability
When starting an eCommerce store, some businesses don’t account for the scalability of the platform they are looking to use – this can lead to bloated stores, costly updates, and painful migrations. Luckily, Shopify solves the issue of scalability simply and effectively. As your store grows on Shopify the transaction fees decrease, providing your growing eCommerce store the extra margin to grow effectively.
Hosting is also rolled into the Shopify plans, meaning that as you grow, so does your ability to accommodate more and more customers. The only proof needed on the scalability of Shopify is the large number of big brands which use the platform – Budweiser, Sephora, Tesla, Oreos, and Allbirds – to name a few. This forward-thinking approach means that you will have fewer worries as an eCommerce store owner as you succeed and grow with Shopify on your side.
Conclusion
Why should you switch to Shopify? More importantly, why shouldn’t you switch to Shopify? After comparing the major eCommerce platforms it is clear that Shopify gives sellers the tools they need to succeed in the eCommerce space. Those are our 4 reasons why you should switch to Shopify.
Whether it’s an easy-to-use dashboard, access to easy reporting, low-cost plans, trusted integrations, simple scalability or any of the other great Shopify features, when considering your eCommerce options it is clear that you should switch to Shopify. If you need help with that process, we’d love to help you migrate your store or start a whole new one. Get started with Untitled today!
