Today's Shopify Woes

Shopify vs WooCommerce 2023 (Don't choose WRONG!)

Shopify versus WooCommerce: Which Platform is Better for Your Online Store?

To create a successful ecommerce website, you need a platform that helps you build your online store, add products, encrypt your customers’ data, manage orders, and most importantly, a platform that loads super duper fast. In this article, we will break down the pros and cons of Shopify versus WooCommerce, so by the end of it, you will know which platform works best for you.

Shopify:

What is Shopify? Shopify is an all-in-one platform that powers 21% of online stores on the internet. Shopify has all the tools and features to set up your online store in less than 24 hours. You can easily accept payments, manage inventory, all from a single platform. With Shopify, you don’t need any technical skills to manage things such as web hosting, security, caching, and so on.

How to Start with Shopify:

Here are the steps to create a Shopify store:

1. Get a 14-day trial from Shopify

2. Register a domain name

3. Create or import products (if you plan to do dropshipping, for example)

4. Choose a Shopify theme

5. Set up payment gateways and shipping

6. Drive traffic and start selling

WooCommerce:

What is WooCommerce? WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin built for WordPress. To use it, you first need to install WordPress, which is also free to use. WooCommerce is also the most popular e-commerce platform, powering 28% of online stores on the internet.

How to Start with WooCommerce:

If you don’t have a WordPress installation yet, here’s what you need to get started with WooCommerce:

1. Set up a domain in a web hosting server

2. Install WordPress

3. Install WooCommerce plugin

4. Choose a theme, install, and customize it

5. Set up WooCommerce features like payment gateways and shipping

6. Import or create products

7. Drive traffic and start selling

Cost of Using Shopify Versus WooCommerce:

With Shopify, you can sign up for a 14-day free trial, build your online store, and start selling using that free trial. When your trial expires, you need to upgrade to the basic plan which starts at $29 per month to $200 per month. Each plan includes an SSL certificate, web host, and a branded subdomain from Shopify, which is your store followed by myshopify.com. To use a custom domain, like yourstore.com, for example, you need to purchase a domain separately.

WooCommerce is free, but to use it, you need a hosting server, which will be the main cost to maintain your e-commerce website, a domain name, and an SSL certificate. Generally, a domain costs $14, SSL certificate costs $69, and web hosting costs around $7.99 per month. This is not cheap, especially when you’re just starting out. But thanks to hosting and reaches any official WordPress and WooCommerce recommended hosting provider, you can get a free domain, a free SSL certificate, and a huge discount on web hosting starting from $3.99 per month. So the cost of starting a basic WooCommerce store is extremely lower than Shopify.

Pros and Cons of Using Shopify Versus WooCommerce:

Here are the pros of using Shopify:

1. Shopify lets you build your online store quickly

2. Shopify is very easy to use

3. Shopify has multiple beautiful themes

4. Shopify will take care of hosting, updates, and security

5. Dropshipping is simple with Shopify

6. Shopify has great customer support

7. Shopify themes are mobile-friendly

Here are the cons of using Shopify:

1. You have some limitations to customize your Shopify store

2. You don’t have full control over your site

3. 3rd party premium apps can be a little bit expensive

4. The basic Shopify plan can be a little bit expensive for those who are just starting out because the basic plan starts at $29 per month

5. With Shopify, you have to pay transaction fees between 0.5% to 2% based on the subscription you choose

6. Shopify themes are great, but the premium ones are quite expensive

7. With Shopify, it’s a little bit difficult to rank on search engines like Google because Shopify was built from the ground for e-commerce

Here are the pros of using WooCommerce:

1. WooCommerce is free, and you don’t need to pay any transaction fees to use it

2. With WooCommerce, you have full control over your website

3. WordPress has a lot of free themes and plugins

4. WordPress has better blogging capabilities than Shopify

5. SEO features work better on WordPress, so it’s much easier to rank your pages on Google

6. WooCommerce has dropshipping capabilities

7. WooCommerce lets you sell physical products, digital products, services, and even subscriptions

Here are the cons of using WooCommerce:

1. WordPress has a long learning curve

2. WordPress costs can increase due to purchasing premium themes and plugins at the beginning, but at least you pay for them once, not monthly

3. With WooCommerce, you have to manage literally everything from hosting, backups, updates, plugins, and themes; otherwise, your website will go down

4. You have to take care of your security with extra plugins like WordFence; otherwise, many bad people will try to hack your online store

5. Hosting is the main cost to manage your e-commerce website, so you need to get a great hosting provider.

Which platform should you use to build your online store? It really depends on your needs because both platforms are great. If you want a platform that cares about hosting, security, backups, updates, and a platform that lets you build your online store quicker, then Shopify is the great option for you. Now, if you want to create an e-commerce website without investing a lot of money, build your store without limitations, have advanced blog capabilities to rank on Google, then WooCommerce powered by Hostinger is the great option for you. I personally use both for my clients’ e-commerce sites, and as a result, I do have a hookup with a link down below so you can use the link to try out both or get a discount.

Shopify Is In Big Trouble

- Shopify is about to lay off 1,000 employees, which is 10% of their workforce.

- This news has caused the stock to drop 15% in one day.

- The CEO, Toby Lutke, released a memo stating that they made the wrong bet fueled by the pandemic surge in online sales.

- This article aims to inform readers of the situation and provide an opinion on the matter.

The Situation:

- The pandemic caused an exponential boom in US e-commerce adoption, but now we're seeing a correction.

- Shopify may have overhired during the pandemic, leading to the layoff of 1,000 employees.

- Some investors are taking advantage of the bear market and buying Shopify stock at a lower price.

- Dollar cost averaging is a strategy to invest in companies little by little, especially during bear market times, with the hope of seeing a big return someday.

Opinion:

- While the news is troubling and scary, Shopify is not going anywhere.

- Shopify is constantly making the right moves, such as their recent partnership with YouTube.

- The layoff may have been necessary, as not everyone may have been carrying their weight on the team.

- The chart shows a steady upward trend, despite the correction.

- The CEO, Toby Lutke, has a vision that investors should trust.

- The one negative point is that Shopify changed their dollar a month deal deadline, which may be seen as a marketing tactic.

- The news of Shopify's layoff of 1,000 employees is major and troubling.

- However, investors should not panic and take advantage of the bear market by buying Shopify stock at a lower price.

- Shopify is still making the right moves and has a CEO with a vision to trust.

- It is important to stay informed and be mindful of marketing tactics.

The Problem With Shopify Dropshipping

In this video, Ari discusses some of the biggest issues he sees with Shopify drop shipping and how to fix or prevent them. He shares his personal experiences and offers solutions to common problems.

Issues with Shopify Drop Shipping:

- High shipping prices due to holiday demand and Chinese New Year

- Bad customer feedback ratings

- Bad customer service

- Bad product reviews

- Facebook ad bans

- PayPal holds

Solutions:

- Use a sourcing agent to provide a better customer experience, more control, and faster shipping.

- Use the Aliexpress Drop Shipping Center to find products with good ratings and a decent amount of orders.

- Make sure products can be shipped from the country you will be selling in.

- Order products to yourself to test quality and ship some to influencers for content.

- Build a solid foundation for your business to reduce problems and increase profitability.

Starting a Shopify drop shipping business can be profitable if done correctly. By following the steps outlined in this video, you can avoid common issues and build a solid foundation for your business. Remember to focus on customer satisfaction and product quality to increase profitability in the long run.

THE BIG PROBLEM WITH SHOPIFY - Why SHOP Stock Is Crashing

In this article, we will be discussing the recent Shopify Q4 results and the issues that have come up. While on the surface, Shopify's performance in 2021 looked fine, there are some major concerns for shareholders that we will be exploring. Let's dive in.

Key Points:

- Total revenue in Q4 was $1.38 billion, up 41% from Q4 2020.

- Merchant solutions revenue broke one billion dollars, up 47% year on year and growing fast.

- Gross profit grew 37%, almost as much as revenue.

- Operating income was $14 million, only 1% of total revenue, after previously growing profitability.

- Shopify's costs are growing at a faster rate than revenue.

- Sales and marketing costs in Q4 went up 78%, compared to only a 40% increase in revenue.

- The average cost per pixel for acquiring customers is increasing.

- Each cohort takes approximately four years before making a profit.

- Shopify is planning to increase costs even further.

While Shopify's revenue numbers look good on the surface, the company is facing major cost problems. Their costs are increasing at a faster rate than revenue, and their break-even point for acquiring customers could increase from four years to six to eight years. Shareholders should be concerned about the company's future profitability, especially given that Shopify is planning to increase costs even further.

How To Test Orders For Shopify Store - Checkout Troubleshoot

Launching a store is an exciting venture, but it is important to test and do a test order before going live. Troubleshooting and doing test orders is crucial to avoid wasting money and time on issues that could have been easily fixed. In this article, we will show you how to do a test payment on Shopify.

Steps to Do a Test Payment on Shopify:

1. Go to Settings and click on Payments

2. Click on Manage and enable test mode

3. Find an item and add it to the cart

4. Go to checkout and troubleshoot any issues

5. Put in a test card to check if the payment process works

6. Turn off test mode after the test is complete

Testing and doing a test order is essential to ensure that your store is functioning properly before launching it. Troubleshooting any issues and using test mode to simulate a payment process can save you time and money in the long run. With these steps, you can confidently launch your store and start making sales.

Why your Shopify store gets no sales | You MUST avoid these mistakes

Why is your Shopify store not getting sales and how can you fix that? Let's find out. In this article, we will review a few stores made by some YouTube subscribers and members of a Discord community to tell you everything they have done right and wrong so you can improve and get more sales, increase your conversion rates and grow your business.

In this article, we will analyze different Shopify stores and provide feedback on how to improve them to increase sales and customer engagement.

Store Reviews:

1. Cart the Outlet:

- The logo and store name are not unique and do not give a sense of brand identity.

- The product title is too long and should be shortened for better mobile optimization.

- Avoid using wasted space by replacing in-stock notifications with benefit statements.

- Add visual content to balance the text and improve customer engagement.

- Remove unnecessary elements such as Share, Tweet, and Pin It.

- Edit reviews to be more persuasive and add images to gain credibility.

2. Aqua Speaker Magic:

- The store name is misleading and confusing.

- The add-to-cart button is not visible due to a white background.

- The product description lacks a clear explanation of how the product works and its benefits.

- Remove unnecessary elements such as Ask a question and Sale Timer.

- Improve the quality of reviews by adding relevant text and images.

3. Or Fly:

- The add-to-cart button is not visible due to a white background.

- The price is too low and needs to be marked up to acquire customers through Facebook ads.

- Avoid using misleading statements such as Cure terrible anxiety and focus on the benefits of the product.

- Use