Zunaira Omar and Kamran Shamim offer an expert perspective on our e-commerce Shopify podcast series, and discuss one of the most critical decisions for businesses today: “Shopify vs WordPress for E-commerce: To Do or Not to Do”.
Picking an e-commerce site for a business is not as simple as it seems. With so many options in hand, it’s common for businesses to face the Shopify vs WordPress dilemma. One solution that always seems to come on top of the other is Shopify. In the past couple of years, the trend has been noticed that business owners, especially small-medium enterprises, have increasingly adopted Shopify to automate their operations. So we will explore some of Shopify’s distinguishing features in this blog, such as its minimal prices, excellent customer support, flexibility, and scalability.
Ease of Use: Why Shopify Outshines WordPress
When comparing Shopify vs WordPress, Shopify stands out for its simplicity. The ease of managing a business online is a critical factor that every business owner needs. Shopify is built with the intention of convenience to all its users and can be set up in a few hours. Even though a popular content management system (CMS) like WordPress is widely used and accepted, but its users have to buy additional plugins and themes which makes the setup quite tedious.
Shopify vs WordPress: Pricing
One major factor in the Shopify vs WordPress decision is pricing. When opening an online store, it is obvious that the cost will influence one’s decision. Shopify has a simpler package with fixed monthly charges which helps the businesses in budgeting for their expenses. On the contrary, WordPress may appear to be less expensive at first, however, considering the need for additional premium plugins and themes, expensive hosting, and regular upkeep, it becomes very costly.
“Many people hesitate because Shopify has monthly fees. However, the basic tier costs only about $20 per month. Importantly, this is the only fee. You’re not paying for [any monthly]development or hosting. Considering these savings and the included marketing analytics and email marketing tools, Shopify’s ROI is significantly higher.”Zunaira | 29:35
As an example, if Shopify costs $100, WordPress would cost $130 -$140 if we include development, maintenance, and hosting costs. In addition, the custom-built websites are more expensive, it costs around $300-$400 for these built on platforms like Magento. Therefore, in terms of cost vs functionality, Shopify ideally suits the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Customer Support: The Shopify Advantage
The customer support provided by Shopify helps business owners avoid unnecessary complications that come their way, especially for those who do not have any technical skills. Shopify is known to offer round-the-clock customer support via live chats and phone options. This holds particular significance within the context of the fast-paced world of e-commerce. Everyone knows downtime for longer periods can turn into lost sales.
In contrast, it can be argued that WordPress does not have a centralized customer support feature. As this is an open-source platform users have to depend on the community forums or each support team for that particular plugin or theme they have bought. Since they are not integrated it may result in poor and inconsistent support for customers trying to use a number of third-party services.
Time to Market: How Shopify Speeds Up Launches
When comparing Shopify vs WordPress, Shopify allows businesses to launch their stores much faster. The time to market is also incomparable with that of WordPress or personalized approaches. For example, a Shopify-oriented shop could be ready to go live within a month, while the same shop made using WordPress would require almost two months, and custom designs would take up to three months.
“As far as the service delivery is concerned Shopify is on the next level as compared to any other platform that you compare in terms of e-commerce.”-Kamran | 41:01
This saves the companies on the development time which means they can earn revenue in less time after launching the business. Shopify’s ease of use, pre-built themes, and integrated functionality allow entrepreneurs to focus on growing their businesses rather than getting bogged down by technical hurdles.
Scalability: Why Shopify is Built for Growth
As businesses grow, so do their e-commerce needs. In the Shopify vs WordPress debate, Shopify is the clear winner when it comes to scalability. Shopify is designed to support growth without any hassle. No matter if you are a small business witnessing a seasonal spike or a large business running a promotional campaign, the structure of Shopify is designed to scale alongside your business.
With built-in payment methods and shipping gateways integrated in Shopify along with inventory management and marketing tools, there is no need to fear outgrowing your platform. WordPress on the other hand might be efficient when demand is low but will require customization as demand increases to make it work, this drives up complexity and cost over time.
Wrap Up:
Choosing the right platform for your e-commerce business is an important decision indeed. Shopify stands out as the ideal solution for small to medium-sized businesses due to its ease of use, cost-effectiveness, excellent customer support, and scalability.
Check out our case study of a client who shifted from a customized website to Shopify for their online bakery.