The decision on choosing an e-commerce platform is crucial for the success of any online store. Among the most popular solutions are Shopify and WooCommerce – both have unique features, but it’s impossible to ignore the drawbacks of Shopify, especially when compared to the flexibility and lower costs of WooCommerce. Let’s take a closer look at why WooCommerce may be a better choice for those who want to create an efficient and economical online store.
1. Initial cost and monthly fees – WooCommerce as a more budget-friendly option
Shopify is a closed platform, which means it’s sold as a ready-to-use product with a monthly subscription fee. Shopify offers various plans, but even the cheapest one involves regular payments that can quickly add up. Moreover, if you want to expand your online store with necessary features such as SEO, additional integrations, or email marketing, you often have to install paid plugins. Each plugin is associated with an additional monthly or annual cost.
In contrast, WooCommerce as a WordPress plugin is completely free, allowing you to avoid fixed payments. You can set up a store on affordable hosting and easily manage it for years without incurring costs related to subscriptions and paid extensions.
2. Flexibility and personalization – WooCommerce gives full control
Shopify, although easy to configure, limits the user’s ability to personalize. The entire infrastructure is controlled by Shopify, which means that changes to the code can be restricted, and customizing stores can be costly. To get some advanced features, you have to invest in expensive plugins, which means higher costs and limited control over your store.
WooCommerce, operating within WordPress, offers full flexibility in modifying and personalizing the store. The user has access to the source code, allowing for adjustments tailored to specific business needs. Additionally, there is a vast number of free and affordable plugins and themes that enable achieving functionality comparable to Shopify without the need to invest in additional, expensive apps.
3. Transaction fees in WooCommerce
One of the significant drawbacks of Shopify are transaction fees. Shopify charges commissions on every sale unless you decide to use their own payment system, Shopify Payments. This means that running a store on Shopify can generate additional costs, especially when the store starts generating more income.
WooCommerce gives full freedom in choosing payment gateways, and fees are only charged by selected gates (e.g., PayPal or Stripe). Thus, we avoid additional costs, and as a result, profits from each transaction remain more significantly in the owner’s pocket.
4. Performance – WooCommerce and cost-effective optimizations
Performance is a crucial aspect – it affects both SEO and user experience. Shopify, although offering solid solutions, can be slower, especially on a heavily loaded store with many products. To improve performance, Shopify often requires costly apps that streamline site functionality.
WooCommerce allows for optimization using a wide range of affordable or free tools. The user can independently decide which plugins are used for optimizing the site. For example, instead of paying for additional apps, an owner of a WooCommerce store can apply free solutions to increase page loading speed, which translates into better search engine results and higher customer satisfaction.
5. Hosting and data ownership – full control with WooCommerce
Shopify operates within its own infrastructure, meaning that all store data is stored on their servers. If you want to move your store to another platform, this can be complicated. Everything works under a license, which may pose difficulties in migrating data and archiving it.
In the case of WooCommerce, the store runs on any hosting chosen by the user, providing full control over store data and resources. The owner has access to the server, database, and all files, significantly simplifying migration, backups, and any changes they might want to make.
Conclusion – WooCommerce as an economical alternative for Shopify
WooCommerce is a platform that gives significant freedom in managing an online store, allowing for reducing costs related to hosting, plugins, and transaction fees. Shopify, although easier to use and more user-friendly for beginners, can be costly, especially for a dynamically growing store.
If you’re wondering which platform is better for you or how to optimize the costs of running your online store, feel free to contact us. We are specialists in building stores on WooCommerce and would be happy to help find solutions tailored to your needs – so that your store runs efficiently, affordably, and generates expected profits.
