If you are planning to sell services or products online, then picking up the right e-commerce platform for your business is the pre-requisite. You will find plenty of e-commerce site-building options but the majority of people are using tools like Magento and Shopify.
These two are the most popular platforms that are used by thousands of companies belonging to a different niche. Both Shopify and Magento platforms have plenty of features and customization possibilities buy you need to compare some key parameters to pick one that meets your business requirements in the best way.
Let’s get started:
1- Overview
Magneto: Magento e-commerce platform was launched in 2008 having 3000 plugins /add-ons.
- It is having 350,000 estimated users with 14 themes, and it is free of cost.
- The revenue generated by Magento was 40 Billion, and it is having unlimited products. It supports more than 90 payment gateway.
Shopify: Shopify e-commerce platform was launched in 2006 and it is having 2300 plus plugin/add-ons.
- It is paid, having estimated users 500,000 with 63 official themes.
- The number of themes is unlimited and Shopify generated a revenue of more than 101 Billion. This platform supports more than 70 payment gateways.
2- Ease of Use
This is one of the important factors to look. Taking your physical store to the online world should be hassle-free. To turn your online store into reality, you need to contact a competent Boston web development agency. These agencies have experts who will tell you about the best platform according to your business requirement.
Shopify e-commerce website is having a smooth UI that will make it easy for the new users due to drag and drop style website builder. Moreover, its online customization is easy and if you are planning to set up the online store instantly, then this is the right choice. Addition of things like custom images, setting up a payment system, and adding a product is very easy.
Magento is having a steeper learning curve. To get the most out of the software, you should have some coding and technical skills. You need to get in touch with the highly experienced and professional Magento web development agency.
3- Add-Ons, Extension, and Apps
After setting up your e-commerce store, you will have to expand its functionality. This is the point where numerous apps come into action. Thanks to Shopify and Magento, both come with extensive app stores and you can find various types of Magento add-ons, Shopify add-ons, and apps.
These can be compared to the apps you will use on your mobile device regularly. You can use the add-ons to augment the payment system, adding multilingual capabilities, enhancing site security, and much more. To get all these functionalities in your e-commerce website, you need to design your website accordingly. Hire Boston web design agency to make your website functional and attractive at the same time.
Shopify app store is having 240 paid and free apps and Shopify web developers are aware of the fact that they may require coding snippets. You can add them by few clicks. On the other hand, Magento is having a wide array of paid and free apps. It is having more than 3000 such apps. You can add them with few clicks and you don’t even need any coding knowledge for that. Remember that in app-department Magento is having an edge because you can add complex functionalities through apps to your online stores.
4- Payment Options
It is very important for an e-commerce website to have a robust and simplified payment system. Without having multiple payment systems, in your online stores, you are at risk of losing a major chunk of your targeted customers. Due to this, you need to check, how many online payment systems or channels are supported by an e-commerce platform selected by you for your business.
Shopify and Magento will let you integrate a wide range of online payment systems for a website. Shopify is having a Shopify Payments. It is a dedicated and integrated payment processor. The setup is very simple and you can add popular and widely used payment modes by using it. In addition to this, Shopify payment is more preferable as it will not require a transaction fee. This fee is charged when you use the third party online payment gateways. Shopify supports 100 plus external payment processors that include PayPal and AmazonPay. So here customers are having plenty of online payment options.
Magento’s Marketplace is the option to use for setting up online payment methods. This is not as simple as using or setting up a payment system in Shopify but it is not tedious as well. Furthermore, Magento platform features include support for top and popular payment processor like PayPal, AmazonPay. If you access the marketplace of the Magento, then you get 148 payment integration apps. In terms of setting up an online system, Shopify wins the race. But one of the redeeming aspects of Magento is that it offers payment processors supporting multiple languages.
5- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
When you are going to connect with online e-commerce site development agency, then you need to check their experience in SEO. If proper SEO tactics are not deployed, then your e-commerce site will not get an expected number of visitors, prospective buyers, and better revenue. So, picking up the right e-commerce website builder with an easy SEO deployment method will make sense.
As a matter of fact, both Magento and Shopify will offer near functionalities in SEO. The store made in both tools is mostly search-engine friendly. Furthermore, Magento’s CMS and Shopify editor provide Shopify SEO app and Magento SEO plugin respectively to let you customize SEO measures for your website.
In the Magento’s Marketplace and Shopify APP store you will get plenty of apps to further expand your SEO features. You need to check SEO errors, website speed, and much more. For your information, Magento offers more than 250 SEO apps but they are having a high price. Moreover, if you are having with your SEO practices, then you should connect with professional SEO experts to get satisfactory results.
6- Expense
Cost factor can’t be overlooked when you are searching for e-commerce development services. The primary difference between Magento and Shopify is that one is free and other is hosted respectively.
In Shopify, the cost involved is monthly apart from a few initial costs. Every Shopify plan will offer a free SSL certificate, unlimited storage, 24/7 support, and Fraud Analysis. The high price plans will give you more features.
Magento makes you choose a hosting plan at the beginning. You need to choose monthly bandwidth and careful analysis is required. You have to buy a domain from a company and Magento app can be paid at times.
Keeping all this in view, the Shopify make analysis and planning much easier and streamlined as compared to Magento.
Conclusion
Which is better Shopify or Magento? Hope now you are having an answer to this question. With all this in mind, if you are still looking to build your e-commerce website, then you need to consult with custom web developers to get your work done. The skilled developers will devise a plan to build a website that will be beneficial for your business.