Shopify vs. Magento: Which Platform Should I Use?
You’re ready to build your business’s dream website, but one question is holding you up: Where should I make my site? With so many platforms available, it’s challenging to figure out which one is best for you.
As you research more, you find that some professionals recommend Shopify, while others say Magento is a great option. So, when looking at Shopify vs. Magento, which one is better? What are the pros and cons of each platform?
We’ll answer both those questions in this blog post. Keep reading to find out more!
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Shopify vs. Magento: Shopify pros
In the Shopify vs. Magento debate, let’s first look at the pros of using Shopify. There are numerous benefits of selecting Shopify as your website builder, including:
Theme options
When you’re debating between Shopify or Magento, you want to look at what they offer for building your site. The first area to examine is themes. If you’re going to use a website builder, you want to ensure they provide numerous theme options so you can build something that fits your business’s style.
With Shopify, you have access to over 70 professional and customizable ecommerce store themes.
Some of these themes are free, while others cost up to $180.
Shopify offers a diverse style of themes to make it easy for you to find the right one that captures your brand’s style.
Additionally, all Shopify themes are mobile-responsive. So, you won’t have to worry about making your site look good on smartphones or tablets — Shopify takes care of it.
Multi-channel selling
When you choose an online site builder, you want to choose one that will enable you to sell on multiple platforms. Your site isn’t the only place you’ll want to sell your products. There are dozens of other places you’ll want to offer your products.
With Shopify, you can sell your products on multiple platforms. Some marketplaces include:
- Amazon
- eBay
This multi-channel selling platform makes it easy for you to reach your customers where they shop.
User-friendly builder
If you don’t have experience creating a site, you want to find one that will make it easy for you to craft your dream website. Shopify offers a user-friendly site builder that’s simple to figure out even if you don’t have web design experience!
Shopify offers a drag-and-drop builder so you can position elements exactly where you want them. Having a drag-and-drop builder makes it easy for you to see your website how your audience will see it so you can adjust its design as necessary.
Additional features
When you’re choosing between Shopify or Magento, you want to look at the features you can get with each platform. With Shopify, you have access to their app store to add more functionality to your site. This app store makes it easy for you to build and customize your site for what you need.
Shopify offers dozens of different types of apps, from customer support to sales to ordering and shipping. These apps will help you create a more efficient site for both your customers and your business.
Ecommerce support
When you’re looking at Shopify vs. Magento, you want to look for ecommerce support. You want to choose a site builder made for ecommerce stores, so you get all the features you need to sell your products.
With Shopify, you get numerous ecommerce-focused functionalities that help you make selling products a breeze:
- Option to sell digital or physical products: Shopify allows you to sell both physical and digital products. Whether you sell t-shirts or audiobooks, you can host your products on this platform.
- Abandon cart recovery: When people shop on your site, some will abandon their shopping carts and not purchase. Shopify has a built-in abandon cart recovery option that makes it easy for you to draw these prospects back to your business.
- Partnerships with shippers: Figuring out how to ship your products can be a big hassle. With Shopify, though, you have connections to multiple shippers, from UPS to USPS to DHL.
Shopify vs. Magento: Magento pros
Next in the Magento vs. Shopify debate, we’ll look at the pros of using Magento.
Here are a few perks to building your site with Magento:
Freedom to design
With Magento, you have the freedom to design your site how you want it. Templates or platforms don’t restrict you. While Magento has template options, you can also build a custom design for your business.
Magento is a versatile option for people who want a custom website builder. Since it’s open-source, you have the freedom to design a site that’s fit for your business.
Large community of experts
If you’re debating between Shopify or Magento, one thing to look at is the community behind the platform. With Magento, you have a strong community of experts behind the platform. From developers to designers, you can ask questions and talk with people who can help you build the best site.
If you run into problems or don’t know how to do something, you can turn to the experts in these forums to help solve your issues.
Ecommerce support
Like Shopify, Magento offers excellent ecommerce support for your business. You get multiple ecommerce features that help you run a more efficient ecommerce store.
Some of these features include:
- Bulk product import: If you want to upload multiple products at once, you can do that with Magento. Magento makes it easy for you to pull product information from your database and upload it to your site.
- Abandon cart recovery: Like Shopify, Magento offers you the ability to drive customers back to your site with an abandon cart email strategy. It makes it easy for you to recover lost customers and turn them into sales for your business.
- Checkout customization: With Magento, you can customize your checkout process to make it a breeze for your customers. It’s an excellent way for you to keep people buying your products and from abandoning their carts.
Multiple payment options
If you’re wondering if you should choose Magento or Shopify, another essential factor to keep in mind is the payment options. When customers check out on your site, you want to ensure you can offer them different payment options.
With Magento, you have dozens of payment options you can offer your shoppers. From PayPal to Stripe to Amazon Pay, you can integrate multiple payment options to make it easy for your customers to check out on your ecommerce site.
Shopify vs. Magento: Shopify cons
While Shopify and Magento each have their positives, there are drawbacks to each platform.
Here are a few cons to using Shopify as your ecommerce website builder:
Fees
One of the most significant drawbacks to Shopify is the fees.
When you look at Magento vs. Shopify, you’ll find that Shopify has multiple expenses, including:
Site building fees
With Shopify, you’ll have to pay some money to build your site.
First, you’ll have to invest money in a template for your website unless you choose a free template. These templates can cost up to $180, depending on what you pick.
Additionally, you must pay fees for adding apps to your site. While Shopify does offer some free apps, other apps will cost money depending on which app it is.
On top of that, you’ll have the monthly costs of maintaining your site, which can range from $29-$299 per month.
Transaction fees
In addition to the fees for building and maintaining your site, you’ll also pay fees for transactions. Every time someone purchases from your site, you’ll pay additional fees. This fee will depend on the payment option shoppers use and the plan you have from Shopify.
The fees include:
- Online credit card fees
- In-person credit card fees
- Third-party payment fees
Platform restrictions
When you look at Magento vs. Shopify, you’ll also find that Shopify has more platform restrictions. Magento is open-source, which means you have the creative freedom to construct your site. Shopify, on the other hand, relies on templates, which allows for less freedom.
Shopify may not be the best option for your ecommerce business if you are looking for something with more customization.
Shopify vs. Magento: Magento cons
Like Shopify, Magento has some drawbacks too.
Here are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind about Magento:
Requires coding
The biggest drawback of Magento is that it requires coding. If you don’t have experience with building a site, this factor is a tremendous drawback. Even though Magento offers templates, you still need to know how to code or hire a developer to create your site.
If you don’t have a web development team at your office, you’ll have to hire an outside developer. If you don’t have the budget for hiring a developer, you’re going to have to learn how to program, or you won’t be able to use Magento.
Additional site fees
When you craft a site with Magento, you’re starting from scratch, so you must pay the fees associated with building a site.
One of the fees is paying for a theme. If you take one of Magento’s themes, it can be a more affordable option, but if you want to build a custom theme, it can require thousands of dollars to create.
On top of the design, you have additional yearly fees:
- Website hosting: $24-$10,000
- Site security: Up to $1,500
- Domain name: Up to $12
Essentially, you have all the fees of building a website, plus the expenses of Magento. These costs can add up as you develop your site.
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Shopify vs. Magento: Which one is best?
After looking at the Shopify vs. Magento comparison, you can see each platform’s pros and cons. Now that you have all this information, you’re wondering which is better: Magento or Shopify?
Choose Shopify if you:
- Want a user-friendly site builder
- Want to sell your products on multiple channels
- Want to access ecommerce apps to improve the shopping experience
Choose Magento if you:
- Want to build a custom site from scratch
- Want access to multiple payment options
- Want access to design and development experts
An alternative to Shopify or Magento: WebFX
After looking at Magento vs. Shopify, you may find that neither platform is a good fit for your business. So, what can you do instead? As an alternative option, you can partner with a web design company like WebFX.
By partnering with WebFX, you’ll get a team of 250 web design and marketing experts working on your campaign. Instead of trying to build your site on your own through Magento or Shopify, you can rely on our award-winning team of designers and developers to craft a website that drives results.
In the past five years, we’ve driven over $2.4 billion in sales and over 6.3 million leads for our clients. You can count on our experience and expertise to help you craft a beautiful website for your ecommerce company.
If you’re ready to build your dream website, contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our web design services!
The post Shopify vs. Magento: Which Platform Should I Use? appeared first on WebFX Blog.