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With so many options out there, it can be difficult to make a decision on which eCommerce platform you should use. At times, it may feel overwhelming for someone who has never used WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, or Wix before. A lot can ride on this decision, as an online entrepreneur, you not only want to sell your products but have a great online presence and in the end, make a profit.
In this article, we will look at:
- Overview of WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix
- Pros and Cons of each platform
- What are the costs involved for each eCommerce platform
- Conclusion
Overview of WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix
WooCommerce
WooCommere is a free, open-source eCommerce, plugin for a Content Mangement System (CMS) called WordPress. This plugin makes it seemless and easy to create an online store in minutes. A company called Automattic developed WooCommerce in in later part of 2011. As of 2020, WordPress currently dominates around 35% of all websites in the world. Not only is it well supported and documented, but comes with countless settings, plugins, extensions and different themes options. On that note, you can't go wrong with choosing WooCommerce as your preferred eCommerce platform.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a private American company offering a great drag and drop feature for building website as well as offering web hosting. This plaform comes with awesome looking themes and pre-designed templates. Squarespace is also great for people who do not understand web design and web developement or who want to work with code.
Shopify
Founded in 2006, Shopify has become on the the most popular eCommerce platform solutions out there today. This Canadian company offers a great platform for users wanting a small eCommerce store online with tons of built-in features and templates to choose from without having to code. Fun fact, Shopify started as a small eCoomerce solution to sell snowboards onlnie.
Wix
This easy to use cloud-based eCommerce solution started in Israel, 2006. Wix allows users to easily create stunning websites with their online drag and drop tools.
Pros and Cons of each platform
WooCommerce
Pros:
- Completly free to start with
- Open source
- Well supported and documented
- Flexible
- Scalable
- 100% customisable
- Powerful
- Creates eCommerce pages for you
- Countless payment gateways and payment options to choose from
Cons:
- Some plugins / extentions you need to pay for
- Plugins can slow site down
- Setting up some plugins can be a bit tricky
- Can be difficult for people who are not tech-savvy or newbies to use
- Need to keep website updated / maintained
Squarespace
Pros:
- Online support
- Plenty tempaltes and design to choose from
- Great for smaller eCommerce websites
- Fairly easy to use
- Blogging feature
- Mobile Apps
Cons:
- Costs money just to start an online store
- Charges a fee for every transaction made
- Limited to what standard features can offer
- Page speed can be slow
- Not suitable for large websites
- Ease of use of the web editor
Shopify
Pros:
- Cloud-based so you dont need to update or maintain your website.
- Easy- to use and setup
- Plenty of designs and tempaltes to choose from
- Flexible
- Scalable
- 24/7 support
- You can add unlimited amount of products
- Provide web hosting
Cons:
- Costs money just to start an online store
- Charges a fee for every transaction made
- Limited to what standard features can offer
Wix
Pros:
- Automatic backup of the website
- Easy to use and setup
- Plenty of designs and tempaltes to choose from
- Flexible
- Ability to add animations easily
Cons:
- Costs money just to start an online store
- Templates are difficult to change
- Page speedand loading times
WooCommerce
- Free
- $10 - $20 / month - web hosting
- * plugins are either free or have paid versions
Squarespace
- $16 / month - Personal
- $26 / month - Business
- $30 / month - Basic Commerce
- $46 / month - Advanced Commerce
Shopify
- $29 / month - Basic Shopify
- $79 / month - Shopify
- $299 / month - Advanced Shopify
Wix
- $4 / month - Connect Domain
- $8 / month - Combo
- $12 / month - Unlimited
- $24 / month - VIP
Conclusion
Personally, if I had to choose one, WooCommerce comes out at the top. It is an absolute beast of a monster platform. It comes kitted out with tons of features and customisations. If you can think it, WooCommerce will have a plugin for it. Plus, a big draw-card for me is it's free to start.
Share your comments and thought below. I would love to hear what your options are.
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