Share This: RSS
June 21, 2016

Magento vs WooCommerce vs Shopify

If you are planning to start an online store, one of the biggest decisions you will need to make is which ecommerce platform to use. With so many options available, it can be difficult to figure out which option best meets your needs. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the “best ecommerce platform” – each company offers different features and pricing, and the best choice will be based on your requirements, resources and preferences.

To help you make this decision, our web design and development team reviewed three favourite ecommerce platforms – Magento, WooCommerce, and Shopify – to see how they compare to each other.

Platform Market Share

Magento Community & Enterprise Magento logo

Who is Magento best suited for?

Magento is an enterprise level ecommerce platform designed for mid to large ecommerce initiatives. It is feature rich, highly customizable with powerful integration capabilities which makes it suitable for both B2C and B2B stores.

Magento Strengths

  • Extensive professional feature set
  • Structured for productivity and high volumes
  • Tested and scrutinized 3rd party plugin and extensions
  • Highly customizable to meet most B2B and B2C requirements
  • Powerful integration capabilities with ERP, accounting, CRM, etc.
  • Advanced omni-channel capabilities

Magento Weaknesses

There is no perfect ecommerce platform. Here is a list of some Magento challenges:
  • Implementation is more complex requiring more highly trained personnel
  • Higher development cost due to product complexity
  • Magento Community is supported by your developer or the Magento Community, not by Magento itself

Magento Pricing

  • Community license: free
  • Enterprise license: $22K+ USD yearly
  • Setup/Creation of ecommerce store commonly: 30K-200K
  • Dedicated hosting and management required: $300-$800/month
  • PCI Compliance: $750 yearly

Magento Other

  • Multilingual, multi-currency & multi-store/brand
  • Multi pricing and extensive B2B pricing levels
  • Global availability zones, elastic scalability and redundancy

Magento Enterprise Edition

  • Magento Enterprise Edition is geared towards merchants handling more products and volume
  • Improved on-site search and additional feature sets
  • Built-in visual merchandising and omni-channel
  • Dedicated Magento support is provided for Magento Enterprise

WooCommerce with WordPress WooCommerce logo

Who is WooCommerce best suited for?

WooCommerce is an open source plugin for WordPress which is designed for B2B and B2C businesses who want to sell their products or services online. Its biggest benefit is that it is highly customizable allowing it to handle most requirements of a small to mid-size ecommerce store.

WooCommerce Strengths

  • Large number of 3rd party plugins and extensions
  • Customizable to meet most companies needs
  • Highly effective for search engine optimization

WooCommerce Weaknesses

There is no perfect ecommerce platform. Here is a list of some WooCommerce restrictions:
  • Not ideal for handling complex products with large amount of variations
  • Security and maintenance updates are the business owners responsibility
  • Open source which means support is provided by your developer or the community

WooCommerce Pricing

  • Open source license to WordPress + WooCommerce: free
  • Premium design themes $60+
  • Apps free or monthly cost
  • Setup/Creation of ecommerce store commonly: $5-10k+
  • Self-hosted, shared or dedicated servers $20+ monthly
  • SSL certificate $150+ yearly
  • PCI compliance $750+ yearly

WooCommerce Other

  • Stable and secure with large installed base
  • If you use WordPress, you’ll find WooCommerce familiar
  • Highly customizable design, usability and functionality
  • Excellent for supporting a content strategy for developing an inbound marketing campaign
  • Support for advanced shipping options and cost effective payment processors

Shopify Shopify logo

Who is Shopify best suited for?

Shopify is an entry-level solution for small to mid-size B2C (business to consumer) businesses that are entering into ecommerce. If you are looking for easy setup and to minimize your startup costs then Shopify is good choice.

Shopify Strengths

  • Software as a Service (SAAS) application containing just about everything you would need to get started with a simple store, including ecommerce software, hosting, security, payment systems, POS, etc.
  • Theme designs allowing you to produce professional looking designs quickly and easily.
  • Extensive App library to further extend the functionality of Shopify and your online store.

Shopify Weaknesses

There is no ecommerce platform that does it all. Here is a list of some of Shopify’s restrictions:
  • Checkout process is not customizable
  • Website data not 100% controllable by the ecommerce business owner
  • Limited customizability due to SAAS
  • Limited content management system
  • Experienced developer required to modify and customize the store

Shopify Pricing

  • Store pricing from $29 - $299/month
  • 2.4% - 2.9% +.30 cents per transaction for credit cards
  • Free or purchased premium themes
  • Apps free or monthly cost
  • No additional hosting costs

Shopify Other

  • Dedicated support team
  • Mobile commerce ready
  • Unlimited bandwidth and daily backups included
  • Website, shopping cart, payments and inventory included
  • Large Shopify vetted App store for additional functionality
  • Security, SSL, PCI compliance and platform upgrades handled by Shopify

Talk to an ecommerce specialist today

Our experienced team of ecommerce specialists can help you achieve online sales and marketing objectives with custom-fitted ecommerce solutions. We’ll find the ecommerce package that’s right for you and provide the tools, training and support to take your online business to the next level. Click here to learn more.

Here are 9 things to look for when choosing a web design company.

Prev article Next article
Share This: RSS

What People Are Saying About Us

What People Are Saying About Us

I absolutely love the new website, congratulations. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with you in the future.  Great job.

- Cloverdale Paint -

This is amazing and thank you again for all of your great work, we love it!

- Mr. Lube -

The site looks fantastic and is a piece to be proud of. Your team worked well with our management team. We would recommend Graphically Speaking in building a quality site.

- Squamish Terminals -

Bottom line... I would not hesitate to endorse Graphically Speaking, without reservation.

- Thomas FX Group Inc. -

Thank you so much, we are so happy with the design, and you nailed it first time. We wanted you to know we are really thrilled.

- PainPro -

You have completely impressed me with the depth of the work.

- Bezdan -

On behalf of the Webtech team, we want to say thank you for your efforts in the launch of our new website, and for helping us meet our rushed deadline.

- Webtech -

Graphically Speaking provides an expertise that never failed to impress. Their skillful team provided a level of direction that was both disciplined and creative. A very tough combination to find when collaborating in today's world.

- British Columbia Pharmacy Association -

Your team has provided us with excellent support in the areas of website strategy, design, and search engine optimization, usability testing and general ongoing project management.

- The Jim Pattison Auto Group -

I want to express my thanks for the amazing work you and your team put in.

- Absolute Software -

I am pleased with the design, UI and insights from the usability testing that has allowed us to develop an award-winning website. Job well done.

- City of Richmond -

I wanted to reach out to you to let you know how happy we are with the results of the work your team has done on our new website. Your team has helped improve our site while supporting us during this process.

- IABC Calgary -

I want to thank you for the custom development of our Product Information Management system. Well done to the architects, programmers, account, and project managers.

- Cloverdale Paint -

The new website is definitely a success. Once again, I would like to thank you and Graphically Speaking for helping us out.

- EasyPark -

You, and the teams behind you really do such amazing work and truly boost the capabilities of our team here at Canfor. Thanks for all your work!

- Canfor -

Some of Our Credentials

  • Microsoft Gold
    Application
    Development
    Partner
  • Google
    Agency
    Partner
  • Adobe Magento
    Agency
    Partner
  • Shopify
    Certified
    Partner
  • Progress Sitefinity
    Medallion
    Elite Partner
  • Project
    Management
    Professional
    PMP Certified
  • Certified UX & UI
    Specialists
  • Certified
    Usability
    Analyst
  • WEBSITE DESIGN
    & DIGITAL MARKETING

Graphically Speaking

#840 - 1140 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6E 4G1

Call us 604.682.5500
Toll Free 1.877.875.4337
© 2023 Graphically Speaking Services Inc.
All right reserved.
The BC Public Service (Graphically Speaking) acknowledges the territories of First Nations around B.C. and is grateful to carry out our work on these lands. We acknowledge the rights, interests, priorities, and concerns of all indigenous Peoples – First Nations, Metis, and Inuit – respecting and acknowledging their distinct cultures, histories, rights, laws, and governments.