Shopify and WooCommerce are the world’s two most popular eCommerce platforms, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
Choosing the right eCommerce platform for your business is critical to your success as a business owner. In this post, we will make a comparison between Shopify and WooCommerce. The idea is to deconstruct their data so you can pick the best solution for your eCommerce business. But before we compare them, you must know what these platforms are. So, let’s start with their meanings.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is not a true ecommerce platform. It is a free WordPress plugin that converts your website into a fully functional ecommerce store. Your store will be up and running in no time if you install the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress website. WooCommerce, launched in 2011, swiftly gained traction in the ecommerce market. It is now the most popular ecommerce solution, with over 6.6 million customers. WooCommerce’s user-friendliness, robust functionality, and limitless customization choices account for the majority of its success. But most crucially, it enables you to run your online store using WordPress, the world’s most popular content management system.
WooCommerce is the most popular ecommerce platform, with over 6.6 million live WordPress websites using it. The ease of use, sophisticated functionality, and limitless customization choices have all contributed to the platform’s success.
What is Shopify?
Shopify, unlike WooCommerce, is not an open-source platform, but it includes many features that appeal to various demands. Shopify, launched in 2004, is an older platform than WooCommerce. This Canada-based platform has over 1 million merchants and, thanks to continuous updates, offers a variety of up-to-date services.
Shopify is not free and does not have a one-time price; instead, you pay a monthly subscription plus a commission on each transaction. The platform makes it simple to create an online store from the ground up, with a focus on beginners with little or no coding experience. If you do decide to customise your Shopify store, though, you may require some professional help. Shopify is a user-friendly platform that serves as the gold standard against which all other ecommerce platforms are measured.
Some Interesting Facts About WooCommerce
- 6,621,099 websites are currently live with WooCommerce.
- 77% of the top 1 million websites use WooCommerce.
- 7% of all the websites on the internet use the WooCommerce plugin
- There are over 1,300 WooCommerce themes on ThemeForest alone
- There are over 6,000 plugins for WooCommerce on the WordPress Plugin Directory.
WooCommerce Usage Statistics 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 |
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, now owns WooCommerce. This opens the door to a slew of interesting future developments, including the possibility of WooCommerce becoming available on WordPress.com. This will open up a whole new market for it, allowing it to expand its market share even further in 2022 and beyond.
Some Interesting Facts About Shopify
- Shopify achieved almost $1.5 billion in sales on Black Friday last year. This equated to 10,978 orders per minute and an $870,000 peak sales volume per minute.
- The Shopify App Store is used by 87 percent of merchants, with an average of 6 apps installed. The App Store has earned over $100 million in revenue.
- In its initial public offering, Shopify Inc. raised $131 million. It reached a market cap of $10 billion less than three years later, making it comparable in scale to Twitter Inc.
- Shopify has paid out more than $850,000 as bug bounty to over 300 ethical hackers for their assistance in resolving security vulnerabilities.
- Shopify Plus merchants have seen an average growth of 126 percent year over year.
Shopify Usage Statistics 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 |
Data Sourced from SimilarTech
WooCommerce vs Shopify Statistics
When it comes to launching an online store, there are a few things to keep in mind. These essential considerations will assist you in determining which platform is most suited to your requirements. These are the fundamental standards that any online store owners must take into account.
Depending on business requirements, you may wish to consider additional solutions such as shipping, inventory management, invoicing, taxes, dropshipping, and so forth. The purpose of this comparison is to show how Shopify and WooCommerce perform on these basic parameters and to determine which one is most suited to your needs.
| 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 |
Data Sourced from BuiltWith
Also, Read
- Essential Guide To Starting An Ecommerce Website!
- E-commerce Sites Lose 40% Of Shoppers Due To Load Time More Than 10 Seconds!
- Top 5 Free Magento Plugins
While both of these platforms are very easy to build with, you must take the help of a professional website designer or an agency to go into the right direction. You can even opt for a custom website design service to get your ecommerce platform ready without any hassle.
Final Word: Which Platform You Should Choose?
Both Shopify and WooCommerce are excellent systems for launching an online store. It all boils down to your individual goals and preferences. Shopify is much more user-friendly than WooCommerce. You do not need to install anything, and you can get started right away. It is easier to set up payments, and their pricing schemes are straightforward. Shopify’s drawback is that you do not have complete control over anything. Transaction fees, add-ons, and integrations can add up quickly. You can only upgrade to certain plans, and you cannot manage expenditures on a pay-as-you-go basis.
WooCommerce is free and open-source, giving you complete control over your website. Starting an online store with WooCommerce is much less expensive, especially with these WooCommerce hosting companies.
The disadvantage is that you will have to keep the program up to date. It does have a slight learning curve. Millions of newbies, on the other hand, are already using it, and they breeze through the learning curve. WooCommerce is the finest platform for you if you are seeking for a cost-effective solution and want complete control over your online business. Shopify is the better platform for you if you want something that is fully hassle-free and offers endless scalability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is WooCommerce good for ecommerce?
WooCommerce is the most popular and perhaps finest ecommerce plugin for WordPress. Its integration helps ecommerce websites rank higher in search engines. Because it is open-source, it can be customised in an infinite number of ways. When you use WordPress and WooCommerce together, you will have the backing of a large open-source community.
How is WooCommerce different from Shopify?
Shopify is a platform-as-a-service provider. They handle backups, security, and maintenance for your online store, as well as providing software and website hosting. WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a self-hosted eCommerce platform. You will need a WooCommerce hosting account as well as a domain name, and you will be in charge of your own online store. Both platforms make it simple to sell things online, accept payments using PCI-compliant third-party payment gateways, and keep track of inventories.
Can I convert WooCommerce to Shopify?
You may import your product and customer data from WooCommerce to Shopify using the Store Importer app. Before you can import your data into Shopify, you must first export it from WooCommerce.
Does WooCommerce take a percentage of sales?
Both WooCommerce and WordPress are open-source, free software. While this can result in significant savings, there are still certain fees associated with creating a new store when it comes to WooCommerce payments. There are no setup or monthly costs with WooCommerce Payments. Each transaction made with a credit or debit card issued in the United States costs you 2.9 percent plus $0.30. A 1% fee is added to cards issued outside of the United States.
{
“@context”: “http://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Is WooCommerce good for ecommerce?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “WooCommerce is the most popular and perhaps finest ecommerce plugin for WordPress. Its integration helps ecommerce websites rank higher in search engines. Because it is open-source, it can be customised in an infinite number of ways. When you use WordPress and WooCommerce together, you will have the backing of a large open-source community.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How is WooCommerce different from Shopify?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Shopify is a platform-as-a-service provider. They handle backups, security, and maintenance for your online store, as well as providing software and website hosting. WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a self-hosted eCommerce platform. You will need a WooCommerce hosting account as well as a domain name, and you will be in charge of your own online store. Both platforms make it simple to sell things online, accept payments using PCI-compliant third-party payment gateways, and keep track of inventories.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Can I convert WooCommerce to Shopify?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “You may import your product and customer data from WooCommerce to Shopify using the Store Importer app. Before you can import your data into Shopify, you must first export it from WooCommerce.”
}
},
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Does WooCommerce take a percentage of sales?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Both WooCommerce and WordPress are open-source, free software. While this can result in significant savings, there are still certain fees associated with creating a new store when it comes to WooCommerce payments. There are no setup or monthly costs with WooCommerce Payments. Each transaction made with a credit or debit card issued in the United States costs you 2.9 percent plus $0.30. A 1% fee is added to cards issued outside of the United States.”
}
}
]
}
