The war between eCommerce platforms is not cold anymore, especially platforms such as WordPress, Magento, WooCommerce, etc. Today, it’s not just about developing an eCommerce store on any platform even if each one of them seems to be of a kind but that doesn’t mean you can choose any random and get done with it! You need to come up with a relevant solution that’s reliable and cost-effective. Of course, choosing the right eCommerce platform can be tricky, and difficult but it’s overall a doable job.
The following post focuses on Magento vs Woocommerce. WooCommerce offers scalability and flexibility, while Magento gives access to the most powerful tools that can be used to create a site. Both of these platforms offer the best functionalities to business leaders and this is why it’s difficult to choose between them. However, before we proceed further, let us focus on certain things to take into consideration before making a decision.
Aspects to Consider when looking for an eCommerce platform
- Reliability – One of the basic yet crucial aspects to take into consideration is high-end reliability. Can the data and information remain safe? After all, it’s not just about you but even your customer’s data safety must be considered in mind.
- High-performance – After high-end reliability comes to the performance of the developed app or website. Now you are not doing all this just for the sake of it. You need a website or an app that works seamlessly on any device whether it’s a tablet, computer device or mobile app. The popularity of your app highly depends on how smoothly the app is performing. For example, if your store fails to load in a span of 3 secs, you can expect your end users to switch to your competitors within no time.
- Scalability and Flexibility – Next aspect that must be taken into consideration is high-end scalability and flexibility. Is the store underlying hosting solutions? Do not try to avoid the scalability dilemma.
- Easy to use – Next aspect is whether the developed solution is easy to use or not. Do you think all the buttons and toggles are self-explanatory? Have you considered the front end and back end here? Can you WOW your end users?
- Personalization and customization – Lastly, comes personalization and customization. Of course, today nobody tends to enjoy the monotonous or tiring-looking store. Everyone wants a scoop of personalization and customization and so do your customers. So don’t ignore this aspect.
WooCommerce Vs Magento
WooCommerce and Magento are the two eCommerce platforms that have been gaining popularity like never before. Now can you choose between Captain America and Iron Man? Of course, not! It’s too tricky, similarly, choosing between WooCommerce and Magento is pretty tricky. However, by understanding the distinct advantages and disadvantages of both platforms, you can make a precise decision. So without further ado, let’s just begin!
Magento
When we talk about the eCommerce realm, Magento seems to be gaining momentum every now and then. Magento is one such eCommerce platform that is open source, comprises advanced SEO, high-end speed, multiple-integration, scalability and flexibility, third-party extensions and whatnot! Magento was launched around a decade ago, and today is considered as one of the most amazing open-source eCommerce platforms available in the industry.
And you know what Magento today is fully customizable, self-hosted and highly scalable. And maybe that’s the reason why businesses irrespective of their size tend to choose Magento over and over again for SMB or any other Enterprise brands.
Of course, there is no denying the fact that Magento is pretty known due to its amazing features and functionalities such as integrated checkout, global selling, business intelligence dashboards, B2B functionality, content staging and preview, customer loyalty tools, visual merchandising, instant purchase, catalog management, optimized shopping experience and whatnot! But further, I would like to mention a few more aspects that make Magento cut-above others.
#1 Mobile-optimized Magento Shops
One of the most amazing aspects of choosing Magento as your eCommerce platform is that you get solutions that are already mobile-friendly. Today it’s not just about developing an eCommerce store. You need to develop something that turns out to be the best of both worlds for mobile and desktop. Today, whether you like it or not, mobile commerce seems to have become a sure-shot norm to succeed.
A mobile-optimized eCommerce store is all you need to gain a competitive edge in a short span of time. Now since Magento already supports HTML5, you can feel rest assured of receiving the basic mobile shop. Try offering the best shopping experience right through their smart devices.
Now I am pretty sure you must have come across the term headless in the Magento development realm. Headless is quite popular in regards to offering an amazing mobile experience. In fact, combining these headless with omnichannel experiences can offer you the best possible outcome. Whether you want to create PWAs or a web shop, it’s totally up to you! However, whatever solution you tend to offer, your customers will thoroughly seem to enjoy it.
#2 Keeps on updating
The next amazing aspect that must be taken into consideration about Magento is that the eCommerce platform keeps on updating by itself. One of the most intimidating aspects offered by Magento is that it features product alert notification that assists well in communicating with the end clients. As the name implies, here clients easily receive notifications regarding all the latest available features and functionalities as soon as they roll out! For example, offering awareness regarding products, especially the ones in which they are highly interested.
#3 User-generated Content
Another interesting benefit offered by Magento is that it enables businesses to develop user-generated content. Everything right from testimonials to reviews and ratings can be taken care of here easily. This user-generated content is pretty important for a site. Have you ever wondered why? Well, these types of content enable end-users to trust the site more and more! Also, if you think hard from the end user’s point of view, they definitely trust websites featuring such content as they are telling the truth and not bluffing.
In addition to user-generated content, Magento-based platforms are extremely efficient. They don’t just grab the attention of the end-user but load web pages in the shortest amount of time. Magento is one such solution that collects relevant data and enables you to cache data offering you to ensure that you succeed well in the eCommerce space.
Of course, I can go on and on when it comes to Magento such as it’s an open-source platform, a large and active community of developers, a vivid range of payment and shopping cart options, chat, customer relation management, easy PCI Compliance, best analytical modules and what not! Now we have discussed Magento. It’s time to focus on WooCommerce and see what this one has got!
WooCommerce
Apart from Magento, another interesting option to develop your eCommerce store is WooCommerce. Did you know that WooCommerce powers more than 25% of eCommerce stores and continues to grow in regards to its popularity in regards to being flexible and beginner-friendly?
In fact, those who have already used WooCommerce find it pretty easy and affordable to sell any product online with secured payment transactions, amazing inventory management, and sorting all the taxes seamlessly. Speaking of which, WooCommerce is pretty much seamless with WordPress. Wondering why? Well, back then it was invented by Mark Forrester, Magnus Jepson, and Adii Pienaar.
Launched in 2011, today WooCommerce seems to have been widely used due to its amazing bunch of benefits and advantages.
#1 High-end flexibility
One of the obvious advantages offered by WooCommerce is that it offers an amazing range of flexibility. Any type of product can be sold by using the WooCommerce platform. Right from couches to hair extensions, novels, comics, Amazon affiliates, invitations to webinars, training sessions and whatnot!
#2 A plethora of Unique and Intimidating designs
Another interesting reason that makes WooCommerce a cut above is that here you are bound to receive hundreds and thousands of unique-looking themes, which can be either paid or free via the WordPress theme store. In fact, even if you are using WooCommerce, you can seamlessly switch back and forth and make relevant changes to the overall appearance of the website.
#3 High-security
Today security breaches have become one of the most common yet crucial aspects that must be taken into consideration, no matter what! It may quite interest you to know that the WooCommerce development team successfully collaborates with a different bunch of security enthusiasts to come up with amazing solutions and ways to safeguard the site information from the bad guys. As the eCommerce store owner, all you have to do is keep tabs on the security of the store by simply doing a single click. And everything else can be well-taken care of.
Much like Magento, even WooCommerce offers several other amazing advantages such as SEO optimization, information analytics, extensive bunch of features and functionalities, cost-effective solutions and whatnot!
Which one to Pick? Magento Vs WooCommerce
It’s time to make a decision! Well, if you are a new user, WooCommerce can turn out to be an ideal choice to consider especially if you have been familiar with WordPress. And if you are a techie who requires advanced eCommerce solutions, then look no further than Magento. I hope you find the post worth the read. If so, feel free to share it with your peers and help us in spreading the word.