Shopify VS WordPress: Which is Better for eCommerce in 2023?

What is Shopify?

A web application called Shopify was created exclusively to help business owners create and run their own online stores. It offers a selection of templates (or "themes") that may be customized to match the unique branding needs of businesses and it enables the sale of both physical and digital goods.

You don't need any coding experience to utilise Shopify because one of its main goals is to allow users construct their own stores without any technical or design expertise. But, Shopify does let you alter the HTML and CSS of your website, so those that are proficient in coding will be able to further customise their stores.

Everything is handled on Shopify's servers since it is a "hosted" solution. As a result, you don't need to worry about purchasing web hosting or installing any software because everything you need to construct and maintain your store is supposedly provided for you "out of the box."

Shopify is a software as a service (SaaS) application, which means you must pay a monthly charge to utilise it rather than owning a copy of the programme. As Shopify is a web application, you can manage your online store from anywhere as long as you have access to the Internet and a web browser.

Take a look at the following stats:

• The Shopify platform is used by more than 4 million retailers.
• Around 3,200 apps are available in the Shopify App Store.
• The overall number of active Shopify stores increased by a stunning 201% between March 2020 and January 2022, reaching a startling 3.75 million in 2022.
• Throughout its 17 years of existence, Shopify has earned over $650 billion in sales, with projected total revenue of $5.6 billion in 2022.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an open source web development platform and content management system which enables users to quickly create websites, blogs, and applications. It is the most popular content management system and powers over 33% of all websites on the Internet. It comes with a wide range of features such as themes, widgets, plugins, and extensions to enhance performance, design, and functionality.

WordPress also includes tools for website maintenance, a built-in visual editor, search engine optimization capabilities, media management solutions and more. Thanks to its user-friendly interface and powerful features, WordPress is an excellent choice for creating websites of any size or complexity.

Take a look at the following stats:

• In the CMS market, WordPress holds a 60.8% market share.
• WordPress allows for the daily creation of 500+ sites.
• There are almost 55,000 plugins in the WordPress Plugin Directory.
• 22% of the top 1 million e-commerce websites in the world are powered by WooCommerce.

1, Payment Getaways

A payment gateway is required in order to facilitate transactions when selling online. The widely used payment processors are Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon Pay.

Over 100 payment gateways are effortlessly integrated with Shopify. It also has a gateway of its own, known as Shopify Payments, which streamlines the process of setting up and managing online payments.

You must configure your WooCommerce plugin's payment gateway in order to accept payments on WordPress. More than 75 payment gateways, including WooCommerce Payments, are integrated with the platform.

Both platforms offer great flexibility in this area, although WooCommerce's options might be more difficult to set up than Shopify's all-in-one solution.

2, Design and Themes

Shopify offers 64 premium themes for between $120 and $180 in addition to 8 free themes. Moreover, Theme Forest offers 1,200 Shopify themes created by independent developers.

Shopify's themes come with pre-built sales settings. These themes may be adjusted to fit any screen size because they are mobile-friendly and versatile. Also, using Shopify's theme editor is really easy. Hence, you may alter it to look exactly the way you want without needing to understand any code or technical jargon. Also, Shopify support is available 24/7 in case you have any issues.

WordPress offers more than 8,000 theme options, of which 50% have e-commerce features. To get WordPress themes to function the way you want, they often need a lot of tinkering and editing. As a result, to manage them yourself, you'll probably need to have some basic knowledge of coding or opt to hire dedicated developer.

It's also important to keep in mind that the majority of WordPress themes are created by outside developers, so if you need assistance, you'll need to contact the theme creator.

3, Plugins and Apps

Users add the capabilities they require using third-party apps on both Shopify and WordPress. Each platform has a separate app store. More than 6,000 apps are available in the Shopify App Store that you may utilise to increase the functionality of your website.

In contrast, WordPress offers more than 50,000 plugins.

Users of Shopify probably require fewer third-party apps than users of WordPress. This is true since the platform already supports e-commerce and handles the required programming, security, encryption, and technical maintenance.

Users of WordPress are more dependent on plugins to provide the functionalities they require. And if you can't code, managing many of these plugins can be challenging. Also, some plugins require technical tinkering to have them play along together because they don't function well together.

4, Customer Support

Support is crucial because e-commerce websites aren't the simplest things to create and maintain.

Luckily, Shopify offers unlimited phone, email, and chat customer support. Also, there are vast aid resources and lively forums.

WordPress is an open-source programme, thus it doesn't provide direct assistance. You must instead look for assistance on community forums, specialized websites, and YouTube. So, you'll probably need to pay for support from a specialized WordPress developer unless you're a seasoned web developer. However, the creators of the tool may be able to provide you with direct support for plugin-related problems.

5, Dropshipping

Dropshipping is the practise of making online sales of goods that are kept, packaged, and sent by a third-party vendor; this eliminates the need for you to buy inventory up front.

Several dropshipping apps, including AliExpress Dropshipping and print-on-demand dropshipping apps like Printful and Printify, are available through both Shopify and WordPress.

6, Apps for On-The-Go Management

Shopify has three apps to help you run your business while you're on the go: Shopify POS, Shopify, and Ping. The primary Shopify app gives you the ability to:

• Monitor and control orders
• Control collections and items
• Organize marketing initiatives
• Converse with clients
• Make reductions or discounts
• Observe retail performance
• Customize the theme of your website, and more

You may manage the content of your website with WordPress' mobile app. Also, you would be able to manage your business using the WooCommerce app.

Cons of Shopify

• Shopify's blogging capabilities are constrained in contrast to WordPress. Its blogging functions are not good, and its main concentration is online shopping.
• Similar to WordPress, purchasing for Shopify is not as simple as it first appears. App and plugin subscriptions add up over time, and not all themes are included in the price. Depending on the plan, additional fees of up to 2% may apply if you use third-party payment processors.
• The store and all associated data are permanently deleted when an ecommerce store on Shopify is terminated. Some data can be exported by users through CSV, but the majority will be lost. This makes transition process to a new platform incredibly challenging.

Cons of WordPress

• It can be bothersome how frequently and consistently WordPress has to be updated. Depending on the quantity of installed plugins, some users can anticipate updates almost daily.
• As one of the world's biggest website builders worldwide, WordPress has an incredibly huge target upon the back from cybercriminals. Furthermore, because of its dependency on third-party plugins, there are additional opportunities for malicious malware to infiltrate the system.
• On the surface, WordPress is free to use, and its paid editions are reasonably inexpensive. After having purchased web hosting, a theme, and the required plugins, users may be continuing to spend a lot more than predicted.