Shopify VS. WooCommerce 2022 Which Is best for eCommerce?
Published on: December 2 2022 by Tatiana James
Shopify VS. WooCommerce 2022 Which Is best for eCommerce?
Table of Contents
Shopify VS. WooCommerce 2022 Which Is best for eCommerce?
startTime | durationTime | text |
00:00:00 | 00:00:05 | shopify or woocommerce which of these |
00:00:03 | 00:00:07 | platforms is going to be best for |
00:00:05 | 00:00:09 | building your ecommerce business |
00:00:07 | 00:00:11 | i'm tatiana and today i'm going to be |
00:00:09 | 00:00:14 | sharing with you my opinion based on my |
00:00:11 | 00:00:16 | own personal experience of using both |
00:00:14 | 00:00:18 | platforms i'll share with you the pros |
00:00:16 | 00:00:20 | and the cons and at the end of the video |
00:00:18 | 00:00:24 | i'll share with you the verdict which |
00:00:20 | 00:00:27 | one wins so let me start by showing you |
00:00:24 | 00:00:29 | a bit of the story of how i got |
00:00:27 | 00:00:31 | experience with both platforms so i |
00:00:29 | 00:00:34 | started selling on amazon and i wanted |
00:00:31 | 00:00:36 | to set up my own website because i |
00:00:34 | 00:00:38 | thought that it would allow me to appear |
00:00:36 | 00:00:40 | more professional if someone was |
00:00:38 | 00:00:42 | browsing my product on amazon and they |
00:00:40 | 00:00:45 | wanted to search for me they'd find my |
00:00:42 | 00:00:47 | website learn more about my products and |
00:00:45 | 00:00:49 | also have a way of contacting me |
00:00:47 | 00:00:52 | um i did not intend to sell products on |
00:00:49 | 00:00:54 | my website at that time fast forward |
00:00:52 | 00:00:56 | having more experience selling on amazon |
00:00:54 | 00:00:57 | the products doing really well |
00:00:56 | 00:00:59 | i realized that i don't want to have all |
00:00:57 | 00:01:02 | my eggs in one basket and exclusively |
00:00:59 | 00:01:04 | sell on amazon i also would like to sell |
00:01:02 | 00:01:06 | my own website create a new sales |
00:01:04 | 00:01:08 | channel and uh you know double my |
00:01:06 | 00:01:09 | revenue |
00:01:08 | 00:01:12 | so that's when i realized that i got to |
00:01:09 | 00:01:14 | start selling my own website but i |
00:01:12 | 00:01:17 | already had this wordpress website set |
00:01:14 | 00:01:21 | up now wordpress is great because it's |
00:01:17 | 00:01:22 | free to get started with it it's really |
00:01:21 | 00:01:27 | well known for bloggers i mean it really |
00:01:22 | 00:01:29 | started off as a blogging site and |
00:01:27 | 00:01:32 | in order for it to |
00:01:29 | 00:01:34 | be a shoppable website they have a |
00:01:32 | 00:01:37 | plug-in called woocommerce and so it's |
00:01:34 | 00:01:39 | easy to install this plug-in and then |
00:01:37 | 00:01:41 | it kind of changes your site so that it |
00:01:39 | 00:01:43 | can be an e-commerce store so i decided |
00:01:41 | 00:01:45 | to go forward with that since i already |
00:01:43 | 00:01:47 | set up the |
00:01:45 | 00:01:49 | the wordpress website and |
00:01:47 | 00:01:51 | that's when |
00:01:49 | 00:01:52 | i started to |
00:01:51 | 00:01:55 | have challenges |
00:01:52 | 00:01:57 | so i never really had a great experience |
00:01:55 | 00:01:59 | with uh woocommerce |
00:01:57 | 00:02:02 | from the moment that i started selling |
00:01:59 | 00:02:04 | products on my website there were always |
00:02:02 | 00:02:06 | challenges |
00:02:04 | 00:02:08 | especially issues with the checkout |
00:02:06 | 00:02:09 | process i would get emails from |
00:02:08 | 00:02:11 | customers saying that this isn't working |
00:02:09 | 00:02:14 | that's not working |
00:02:11 | 00:02:16 | and it would be really frustrating |
00:02:14 | 00:02:18 | because you know when something's not |
00:02:16 | 00:02:20 | working you aren't oftentimes the one |
00:02:18 | 00:02:23 | who catches it because you're not on |
00:02:20 | 00:02:25 | your website 24 7. oftentimes it's not |
00:02:23 | 00:02:27 | until a customer tells you and by that |
00:02:25 | 00:02:30 | point there's a lot of sales that you've |
00:02:27 | 00:02:32 | lost to a checkout process not working |
00:02:30 | 00:02:33 | so |
00:02:32 | 00:02:35 | i had to hire a developer to help me |
00:02:33 | 00:02:37 | with this because every time there was |
00:02:35 | 00:02:40 | an issue i didn't know how to fix it |
00:02:37 | 00:02:41 | what do i know about developing these |
00:02:40 | 00:02:44 | websites |
00:02:41 | 00:02:46 | and i needed it fixed fast so that ended |
00:02:44 | 00:02:49 | up being very costly to hire a developer |
00:02:46 | 00:02:52 | but he did help to resolve these |
00:02:49 | 00:02:54 | challenges when they came up |
00:02:52 | 00:02:56 | so it wasn't a great customer experience |
00:02:54 | 00:02:57 | and it wasn't a great experience for |
00:02:56 | 00:02:59 | myself as well |
00:02:57 | 00:03:02 | now i also notiked that it was hard to |
00:02:59 | 00:03:04 | kind of link the website with my |
00:03:02 | 00:03:06 | fulfillment center since i was |
00:03:04 | 00:03:07 | fulfilling the products on my website |
00:03:06 | 00:03:09 | with a third party fulfillment center |
00:03:07 | 00:03:12 | not with amazon |
00:03:09 | 00:03:14 | and they would link but |
00:03:12 | 00:03:16 | it wasn't really smooth like the |
00:03:14 | 00:03:18 | inventory wasn't |
00:03:16 | 00:03:19 | adding up on both sides |
00:03:18 | 00:03:22 | and |
00:03:19 | 00:03:23 | sometimes an order wouldn't cross over |
00:03:22 | 00:03:25 | and |
00:03:23 | 00:03:26 | you know i'd see the customers order on |
00:03:25 | 00:03:28 | on |
00:03:26 | 00:03:31 | woocommerce but i wouldn't see it on the |
00:03:28 | 00:03:33 | fulfillment side and so again there was |
00:03:31 | 00:03:35 | some it wasn't it wasn't a smooth |
00:03:33 | 00:03:37 | process and so it led for not the best |
00:03:35 | 00:03:39 | customer experience and a very |
00:03:37 | 00:03:42 | frustrating experience on my part and |
00:03:39 | 00:03:44 | then lastly i notiked that |
00:03:42 | 00:03:46 | it was just kind of a pain to change |
00:03:44 | 00:03:48 | things on the website if i wanted to |
00:03:46 | 00:03:50 | change the banner for example i remember |
00:03:48 | 00:03:53 | i couldn't figure out why is the size |
00:03:50 | 00:03:54 | not working you know it's supposed to be |
00:03:53 | 00:03:56 | these dimensions i have at these |
00:03:54 | 00:03:58 | dimensions and it still |
00:03:56 | 00:04:00 | doesn't look right i don't know if that |
00:03:58 | 00:04:01 | was a theme issue or if it was a me |
00:04:00 | 00:04:03 | issue |
00:04:01 | 00:04:05 | but you know little things like that if |
00:04:03 | 00:04:08 | i wanted to change things it just wasn't |
00:04:05 | 00:04:10 | very user friendly and so i never really |
00:04:08 | 00:04:11 | got to make the changes that i wanted in |
00:04:10 | 00:04:13 | the website |
00:04:11 | 00:04:16 | so that's when i realized that we need |
00:04:13 | 00:04:18 | to start changing things i gotta try |
00:04:16 | 00:04:21 | something new and that's where i decided |
00:04:18 | 00:04:25 | to open up a shopify store |
00:04:21 | 00:04:28 | so i did that and i did hire someone to |
00:04:25 | 00:04:30 | build the theme create a custom theme so |
00:04:28 | 00:04:32 | that it could you know be exactly how i |
00:04:30 | 00:04:35 | wanted it and it was a very |
00:04:32 | 00:04:38 | easy process to add the products and add |
00:04:35 | 00:04:42 | the variations and link my fulfillment |
00:04:38 | 00:04:45 | center that was a smooth process and |
00:04:42 | 00:04:47 | best of all i didn't have all these |
00:04:45 | 00:04:50 | issues at the checkout i went i wasn't |
00:04:47 | 00:04:52 | getting several emails from customers |
00:04:50 | 00:04:55 | saying that this is not working i wasn't |
00:04:52 | 00:04:57 | able to do this it wouldn't let me check |
00:04:55 | 00:05:00 | out and so i felt a great sense of |
00:04:57 | 00:05:01 | relief because everything was working as |
00:05:00 | 00:05:04 | it should |
00:05:01 | 00:05:06 | and also one thing with wordpress is i |
00:05:04 | 00:05:07 | found that plugins would always need to |
00:05:06 | 00:05:09 | be updated |
00:05:07 | 00:05:11 | and you know i'm not checking those |
00:05:09 | 00:05:12 | things all the time and if they don't |
00:05:11 | 00:05:14 | get updated then sometimes they don't |
00:05:12 | 00:05:16 | work and that's the same with shopify |
00:05:14 | 00:05:19 | but you can like automatikally update |
00:05:16 | 00:05:22 | them maybe you can with wordpress now |
00:05:19 | 00:05:24 | but um i just remember with shopify |
00:05:22 | 00:05:25 | everything was just easier |
00:05:24 | 00:05:29 | so |
00:05:25 | 00:05:31 | i definitely benefited from shopify |
00:05:29 | 00:05:33 | and i was really glad that i made that |
00:05:31 | 00:05:34 | transition i just wish that i had done |
00:05:33 | 00:05:37 | it sooner now i know you might be |
00:05:34 | 00:05:38 | thinking that shopify is clearly the |
00:05:37 | 00:05:40 | winner here |
00:05:38 | 00:05:41 | but wait till i share with you the pros |
00:05:40 | 00:05:44 | and the cons because there are |
00:05:41 | 00:05:47 | definitely more pros to woocommerce than |
00:05:44 | 00:05:49 | what i've shared so far and it depends |
00:05:47 | 00:05:52 | on what your personal outcome is what do |
00:05:49 | 00:05:54 | you plan to do with the site so stay |
00:05:52 | 00:05:56 | tuned for that but while we're on the |
00:05:54 | 00:05:58 | topic of e-commerce i have to take a |
00:05:56 | 00:06:01 | minute to shout out the partner of |
00:05:58 | 00:06:05 | today's video and that's cinder cinder |
00:06:01 | 00:06:07 | is an easy accounting software for |
00:06:05 | 00:06:09 | e-commerce and sales as a service |
00:06:07 | 00:06:11 | businesses and what i find really unique |
00:06:09 | 00:06:14 | about them and really helpful for |
00:06:11 | 00:06:16 | e-commerce business owners is that it'll |
00:06:14 | 00:06:19 | connect with multiple sales channels so |
00:06:16 | 00:06:22 | whether you're selling on shopify or |
00:06:19 | 00:06:24 | woocommerce or amazon ebay or etsy it |
00:06:22 | 00:06:27 | can connect to all of them and it can |
00:06:24 | 00:06:29 | also simultaneously connect to multiple |
00:06:27 | 00:06:32 | payment processors |
00:06:29 | 00:06:35 | think paypal stripe and more and so this |
00:06:32 | 00:06:38 | creates for a big ecosystem that really |
00:06:35 | 00:06:41 | allows you to organize your accounting |
00:06:38 | 00:06:43 | and you also get instant access to |
00:06:41 | 00:06:45 | analytiks and reports you can |
00:06:43 | 00:06:48 | automatikally download profit and loss |
00:06:45 | 00:06:50 | statements cash flow statements your |
00:06:48 | 00:06:53 | balance sheet and you can know what are |
00:06:50 | 00:06:55 | your best sellers across all of your |
00:06:53 | 00:06:58 | sales platforms now as a subscriber of |
00:06:55 | 00:06:59 | my channel you can get one month free of |
00:06:58 | 00:07:02 | cinder by going to |
00:06:59 | 00:07:04 | tatianajames.com cinder or just clicking |
00:07:02 | 00:07:07 | the link in the description box below |
00:07:04 | 00:07:10 | and by entering your name and email in |
00:07:07 | 00:07:12 | that link that area you're going to |
00:07:10 | 00:07:15 | receive a really helpful pdf |
00:07:12 | 00:07:18 | downloadable document that is a |
00:07:15 | 00:07:20 | checklist which contains crucial metrics |
00:07:18 | 00:07:23 | that every e-commerce seller |
00:07:20 | 00:07:25 | needs to know and needs to calculate in |
00:07:23 | 00:07:27 | order to really know their numbers and |
00:07:25 | 00:07:28 | know their business so this is a free |
00:07:27 | 00:07:30 | pdf that you're going to be able to |
00:07:28 | 00:07:33 | download once you enter your name and |
00:07:30 | 00:07:35 | email at tatianajames.com |
00:07:33 | 00:07:36 | cinder or again just click the link in |
00:07:35 | 00:07:39 | the description box below all right so |
00:07:36 | 00:07:41 | let's move on to the pros and the cons |
00:07:39 | 00:07:43 | so let's start with woocommerce some of |
00:07:41 | 00:07:46 | the pros are that it's free it's |
00:07:43 | 00:07:48 | actually free to start a wordpress |
00:07:46 | 00:07:50 | website and you just need to get the |
00:07:48 | 00:07:53 | woocommerce plugin which is free but |
00:07:50 | 00:07:54 | what you do need to pay for is hosting |
00:07:53 | 00:07:56 | so you have to pay a little bit of money |
00:07:54 | 00:07:59 | for hosting but it's still going to end |
00:07:56 | 00:08:01 | up being cheaper than what you pay |
00:07:59 | 00:08:03 | for a shopify site |
00:08:01 | 00:08:06 | now the second benefit with e-commerce |
00:08:03 | 00:08:09 | is that it's fully customizable you |
00:08:06 | 00:08:10 | really can do anything with a wordpress |
00:08:09 | 00:08:14 | website |
00:08:10 | 00:08:15 | and so if you're not one to do html |
00:08:14 | 00:08:17 | coding you can always hire a developer |
00:08:15 | 00:08:20 | who can really just |
00:08:17 | 00:08:22 | make whatever you want you know whatever |
00:08:20 | 00:08:25 | kind of theme you want they can really |
00:08:22 | 00:08:26 | create something spectacular |
00:08:25 | 00:08:27 | there's just so much that you can do |
00:08:26 | 00:08:30 | with it |
00:08:27 | 00:08:32 | and another great bonus of |
00:08:30 | 00:08:34 | woocommerce is that it's really great |
00:08:32 | 00:08:37 | for bloggers and affiliate marketers |
00:08:34 | 00:08:40 | so if your intention is to write blog |
00:08:37 | 00:08:43 | posts and embed affiliate links in those |
00:08:40 | 00:08:45 | blog posts woocommerce might be a better |
00:08:43 | 00:08:47 | option for you because wordpress was |
00:08:45 | 00:08:48 | originally meant for bloggers and so |
00:08:47 | 00:08:50 | it's |
00:08:48 | 00:08:53 | you can create some really beautiful |
00:08:50 | 00:08:55 | blogs using it now let's tok about the |
00:08:53 | 00:08:56 | pros of shopify |
00:08:55 | 00:08:58 | so |
00:08:56 | 00:09:01 | i would say one pro is that there's |
00:08:58 | 00:09:03 | definitely a lot of apps and add-ons um |
00:09:01 | 00:09:04 | there are definitely apps and add-ons in |
00:09:03 | 00:09:07 | woocommerce but i think that there might |
00:09:04 | 00:09:08 | be more in shopify and i find that they |
00:09:07 | 00:09:10 | just |
00:09:08 | 00:09:12 | i don't know they just work better |
00:09:10 | 00:09:14 | they are just |
00:09:12 | 00:09:16 | more like |
00:09:14 | 00:09:19 | smooth working there's just fewer issues |
00:09:16 | 00:09:21 | that arise with these apps so i think |
00:09:19 | 00:09:23 | that's a big plus i think that another |
00:09:21 | 00:09:24 | plus is that it integrates with almost |
00:09:23 | 00:09:26 | anything |
00:09:24 | 00:09:29 | so if you need to integrate it you know |
00:09:26 | 00:09:32 | your shopify store with any kind of |
00:09:29 | 00:09:34 | sales channel um any kind of like really |
00:09:32 | 00:09:37 | anything it can pretty much integrate |
00:09:34 | 00:09:39 | with everything i know that's broad but |
00:09:37 | 00:09:41 | it's because it really is broad like |
00:09:39 | 00:09:43 | shopify is able to integrate with most |
00:09:41 | 00:09:46 | softwares |
00:09:43 | 00:09:48 | now it's also great for customer support |
00:09:46 | 00:09:50 | so if you do have challenges then you |
00:09:48 | 00:09:52 | know you can always reach out to their |
00:09:50 | 00:09:54 | customer support and i find that they do |
00:09:52 | 00:09:57 | have good customer support i my |
00:09:54 | 00:09:59 | experience has been that woocommerce um |
00:09:57 | 00:10:00 | does not have the best customer support |
00:09:59 | 00:10:02 | so |
00:10:00 | 00:10:03 | from that standpoint i feel like it is |
00:10:02 | 00:10:05 | more of a positive on the side of |
00:10:03 | 00:10:06 | shopify |
00:10:05 | 00:10:08 | and i would say the final one and the |
00:10:06 | 00:10:10 | most important is that it's more |
00:10:08 | 00:10:12 | reliable for e-commerce sellers |
00:10:10 | 00:10:15 | so if you don't plan on you know just |
00:10:12 | 00:10:16 | exclusively blogging |
00:10:15 | 00:10:18 | or doing affiliate marketing if you |
00:10:16 | 00:10:19 | actually plan to sell products on your |
00:10:18 | 00:10:21 | own website |
00:10:19 | 00:10:23 | then i feel like |
00:10:21 | 00:10:26 | you're just going to have a lot fewer |
00:10:23 | 00:10:28 | headaches by using shopify i think that |
00:10:26 | 00:10:30 | you know that's what they were built for |
00:10:28 | 00:10:30 | they were built for e-commerce and it |
00:10:30 | 00:10:34 | shows |
00:10:30 | 00:10:37 | now let's tok about some of the cons of |
00:10:34 | 00:10:38 | shopify so one is it's more expensive so |
00:10:37 | 00:10:40 | if you just want to get started and you |
00:10:38 | 00:10:42 | really you know |
00:10:40 | 00:10:44 | you don't want to spend too much money |
00:10:42 | 00:10:47 | then maybe wordpress and woocommerce |
00:10:44 | 00:10:50 | might be a better option for you |
00:10:47 | 00:10:52 | i do have some discount codes that i can |
00:10:50 | 00:10:54 | link for you guys in the description |
00:10:52 | 00:10:56 | they are going to give you a discount if |
00:10:54 | 00:10:59 | you want to try shopify but it is going |
00:10:56 | 00:11:00 | to end up being more expensive than the |
00:10:59 | 00:11:03 | alternative |
00:11:00 | 00:11:06 | another con is that the apps on shopify |
00:11:03 | 00:11:08 | can be quite pricey so if you do want to |
00:11:06 | 00:11:10 | have a bunch of apps they can get |
00:11:08 | 00:11:13 | expensive some of them are hundreds of |
00:11:10 | 00:11:14 | dollars every month and it can add up |
00:11:13 | 00:11:16 | and you end up wanting to use a lot of |
00:11:14 | 00:11:19 | apps when you're on shopify there's like |
00:11:16 | 00:11:20 | an app for everything so |
00:11:19 | 00:11:22 | it can add up |
00:11:20 | 00:11:24 | and then i would also say that with |
00:11:22 | 00:11:26 | shopify you know they do have their own |
00:11:24 | 00:11:29 | payment gateway so if you want to use |
00:11:26 | 00:11:31 | shopify payments that's not a problem |
00:11:29 | 00:11:33 | but if you want to use a third-party |
00:11:31 | 00:11:36 | payments gateway then you're going to |
00:11:33 | 00:11:39 | have to pay a fee to do that whereas |
00:11:36 | 00:11:42 | with woocommerce that's not a problem |
00:11:39 | 00:11:44 | you can use stripe or paypal you know |
00:11:42 | 00:11:46 | there's always going to be fees but |
00:11:44 | 00:11:48 | there's extra fee with shopify if you're |
00:11:46 | 00:11:50 | not using their payment gateway |
00:11:48 | 00:11:51 | now let's tok about the cons for |
00:11:50 | 00:11:54 | woocommerce |
00:11:51 | 00:11:55 | so first i would say that |
00:11:54 | 00:11:56 | just the tiknical issues that can |
00:11:55 | 00:11:58 | happen |
00:11:56 | 00:12:00 | you know you might |
00:11:58 | 00:12:03 | start with a woocommerce site because |
00:12:00 | 00:12:04 | it's cheaper than shopify but then you |
00:12:03 | 00:12:07 | might find yourself having to hire a |
00:12:04 | 00:12:09 | developer in an emergency situation |
00:12:07 | 00:12:10 | where your checkout page isn't working |
00:12:09 | 00:12:13 | or something |
00:12:10 | 00:12:15 | fundamental in your website is not |
00:12:13 | 00:12:19 | working and you have to now |
00:12:15 | 00:12:22 | hire an expert to resolve it and so |
00:12:19 | 00:12:23 | that's not fun and it ends up being very |
00:12:22 | 00:12:25 | costly |
00:12:23 | 00:12:27 | another con is that there's fewer |
00:12:25 | 00:12:30 | integrations so i think that shopify |
00:12:27 | 00:12:31 | really excels in this category those are |
00:12:30 | 00:12:34 | the pros and cons based on my own |
00:12:31 | 00:12:36 | experience so the verdict is in and |
00:12:34 | 00:12:39 | shopify does win |
00:12:36 | 00:12:40 | not really a surprise there |
00:12:39 | 00:12:42 | but bottom line if you're going to be |
00:12:40 | 00:12:45 | selling products on your own website my |
00:12:42 | 00:12:47 | suggestion is to go with shopify if you |
00:12:45 | 00:12:49 | don't plan to sell products on your own |
00:12:47 | 00:12:50 | website if you're just going to do |
00:12:49 | 00:12:52 | affiliate marketing and link people to |
00:12:50 | 00:12:54 | other websites or if you're going to be |
00:12:52 | 00:12:56 | selling on amazon |
00:12:54 | 00:12:58 | then go for the woocommerce option it's |
00:12:56 | 00:13:01 | going to be cheaper and it's going to be |
00:12:58 | 00:13:03 | cheaper to maintain as well and you |
00:13:01 | 00:13:04 | don't have to worry about the tiknical |
00:13:03 | 00:13:06 | issues that can arise by selling |
00:13:04 | 00:13:07 | products on the website because you |
00:13:06 | 00:13:10 | won't be doing any of that |
00:13:07 | 00:13:12 | so that's my opinion and |
00:13:10 | 00:13:14 | you know it is my opinion and it is |
00:13:12 | 00:13:15 | based on my own experience so let me |
00:13:14 | 00:13:18 | know in the comments below have you |
00:13:15 | 00:13:19 | tried both platforms which one are you |
00:13:18 | 00:13:22 | using right now |
00:13:19 | 00:13:24 | what are the pros and cons of using it |
00:13:22 | 00:13:26 | and are you happy with your decision if |
00:13:24 | 00:13:28 | you're using shopify if you're using |
00:13:26 | 00:13:30 | woocommerce are you happy with it i |
00:13:28 | 00:13:32 | would love to know |
00:13:30 | 00:13:34 | it's been a while since i've been on |
00:13:32 | 00:13:37 | woocommerce so they might have made some |
00:13:34 | 00:13:38 | updates since then that i'm not aware of |
00:13:37 | 00:13:39 | but |
00:13:38 | 00:13:41 | yeah let me know in the comment section |
00:13:39 | 00:13:43 | below so thank you guys for watching i |
00:13:41 | 00:13:45 | hope you enjoyed this |
00:13:43 | 00:13:49 | give me a thumbs up if you did and i'll |
00:13:45 | 00:13:49 | see you guys in my next video |