If you feel that WooCommerce functionality does not meet your evolving online business requirements, you can consider Shopify as a worthy alternative to replatform. This article aims to help you figure out the main strengths and weaknesses of both platforms and also provide you with a guide on how to perform the migration without spending too much time and effort.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. In-depth Comparison
Basic Principles and Numbers
Statistics show that in 2019, WooCommerce powers about 22% of worldwide websites. But Shopify, with its 21%, is not lagging behind.
When it comes to WooCommerce vs. Shopify, both platforms have all the required functionality to manage a full-featured online store. To be more specific, Shopify has better templates, add-ons, and apps; is easier to use and generally integrates better. There are a lot of other advantages associated with Shopify, but these are the main reason why its popularity has grown drastically over the last five years.
At the same time, WooCommerce is free and customizable, but do not get too excited, there are traps and pitfalls as well. Keep reading to know more.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. Ease of Use
With Shopify, there’s no need to be a tech-savvy person to get your store set up. You need to sign-up for a free 14-day trial, and your online store will be ready within a couple of hours. Note that it’s completely risk-free. After the trial period, you can purchase one of the three Shopify’s plans — Basic, Main, or Advanced.
To launch the WooCommerce site, not only WP experience is required, but also a hosting provider and a domain.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. Themes and Design
Shopify provides customers with 8 free templates. They are modern-looking, easy to manage, and receive constant updates. So, if your budget is tight — it’s an ideal option. Also, as an alternative, the company has plenty of premium themes, ranging from 140 to 180 USD. They will make your site look even more exquisite.
WooCommerce, on the other hand, offers only a couple of free themes. They are very limited and look a bit rustic. However, there’s a large selection of paid themes that would meet all the customer’s needs. But remember, their customization requires excellent technical skills and much time.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. Multilingual Stores
If you want to expand your business, set up an international store in multiple languages, and sell products to other countries or even continents, Shopify and WooCommerce have all the necessary functionality to perform this task. Both shopping carts are equipped with required plugins — Langify for Shopify and WPML for WooCommerce. The only slight difference between them is that with WPML, you will be able to sell products in multiple currencies. Both plugins are paid ones.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. Security
The safety of an online store is essential for every merchant. Shopify has integrated security and two-factor authentication, so there’s no need to spend money on hosting providers. All of Shopify’s systems are monitored for unauthorized access. On the contrary, WP provides customers with basic security, e.g., plugins Google Authenticator, Login LockDown, iThemes Security, etc. Thus, the site owner is responsible for installing security updates.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. SEO
SEO is crucial for attracting customers to your store. It needs to be competitive. Every merchant knows that “Google only loves you when everyone loves you first.” So it’s essential to choose a platform that is favoured by Google. Shopify itself has all the necessary SEO features like customizable page titles, meta descriptions, site maps, and alt tags for images. Shopify stores have logical coding and fast page loading speed.
WooCommerce, on the other hand, doesn’t provide any SEO features. Plugins do all the job. Yoast SEO is amongst the most popular ones. But, unfortunately, this plugin won’t allow you to optimize the site 100%.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. Support
Shopify provides clients with the best 24/7 support ever. You will get an answer to any of your questions via live chat, email, or phone. With WooCommerce, it’s a bit different. All the questions will be answered only after the purchase of a product. Otherwise, everything needs to be figured out on your own.
WooCommerce vs. Shopify. Pricing
When it comes to pricing, WooCommerce and Shopify have quite different models. Shopify’s pricing is set and ranges from $29 to $299 per month. Whereas, WooCommerce is a free WP plugin, but in order to start selling on-line you will need a lot of add-ons (e.g., domain, separate hosting, SSL Certificate and all the extensions). It’s important to mention that all of the abovementioned is already included in Shopify’s plans.
How to Migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify Effortlessly
If you wish to expand your online business beyond its current possibilities and are ready to invest money, but not time, Shopify is your ideal solution.
Needless to say that the migration process can be complicated and time-consuming task that most merchants try to avoid. So if you are ready to take a meaningful step forward and change your platform for more advanced one, there are 3 possible scenarios to choose from. You can either do it yourself manually by exporting/importing product data into the file. But keep in mind that these actions require special technical background and knowledge of scripts. Also, you can seek the help of a professional who will do everything for you. But usually hiring a developer will cost you a significant amount of money. Alternatively, it is possible to ease the process with the help of automated services like Cart2Cart. This kind of migration allows you to move products, categories, customers, orders, coupons, etc. without additional efforts. And the best thing about it is that it will be completed relatively fast, depending on the size of data, and will not affect your store performance.
WooCommerce to Shopify migration with the help of Cart2Cart service consists of a few steps and doesn’t require any technical skills. There is no need to download any additional software; migration itself is secure and fast. Also, Cart2Cart service offers a free Demo Migration (so you could take a look at your new store and assess the performance of the service) and professional support.
So, to migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify, you have to:
Prepare your stores for migration
Find your current WooCommerce credentials, register a Shopify account and make your store available online.
Choose your Source and Target stores
To proceed, you have to select source and target platforms, provide their URLs, and download connection bridge files to the root folders.
Select data to be transferred
Additionally, you can choose other desired migration options to make your WooCommerce to Shopify migration even more seamless. Cart2Cart can also map currencies and order statuses.
Run a free Demo
It won’t take much time, but will allow you to transfer data in just 30 minutes. You can transfer a limited number of entities to check the accuracy of transition.
Perform Full Migration
If you are satisfied with the result of the demo migration, you can proceed with the full migration. Cart2Cart Migration Estimator will help you estimate the full price of a certain migration. Please note that the price of migration depends on the number of migrated entities.
If you are still hesitant about whether or not to start the migration, remember that the money spent on your online business is never spent in vain. So, go ahead and launch your online dream store with Shopify.
