Shopify or Magento

When it comes to the big decision between Shopify or Magento, which eCommerce platform is the one for you?

The world is about to go online spending crazy. Every year the Christmas build-up brings digital chaos. So, if your business isn’t online right now, you’re about to miss out on all of the eCommerce fun. So what will it be, Shopify or Magento?

As shoppers flock to their favourite online stores and the ones who have the best deals, you want your eCommerce site to stand out from the crowd. So, here’s the question you should be thinking, ‘what’s the right platform for me?’ If you type that question into Google, the likelihood is you’ll find countless people who say Shopify and a similar amount who say Magento.

As two of the most significant players in the eCommerce world, it’s understandable why their names will pop up time and time again. Let’s make it a little easier with a comparison between the two.

Usability

What better place to start than the basic usability of the two rival platforms?

Shopify is pretty much a one-stop eCommerce shop; it’s relatively self-explanatory and has all the power for a monthly fee to support both startups in their infancy and high-volume big name brands too.

Magento is an open-source, downloadable platform where you have to pay for your hosting, security, and app add ons. With Magento, you’ll need a lot more expertise and some coding background if you’re really going to get a smooth running eCommerce site. Or, of course, you could hire a web design agency.

Basic pros and cons

Without getting overly ‘techy’ and throwing heaps of jargon at you whilst you look as confused as a parent trying to understand TikTok, let’s offer some basic pros and cons of Shopify or Magento.

Shopify Pros: Shopify comes with lots of mobile optimised themes in its basic package. Meaning you’ll be able to tweak something that already works to make it suit your brand and needs. Shopify also has thousands of apps that you can integrate within your theme to create a fully operational eCommerce website. Finally, Shopify also offers the ability for multichannel selling, so pushing your products across Facebook, eBay, Amazon, etc couldn’t be easier.

Shopify Cons: If you allow yourself to go a little crazy with the additional paid applications, building a Shopify website can quickly get expensive. Also, unless you integrate Shopify payments within your website, the platform enforces its own fees, which is a thumbs down, but hey, we understand.

Magento Pros: With Magento, there is an obscene amount of flexibility; if you know how to code, this platform is a playground. Meaning, your website can look however you want it to look; no dream is too large. The platform itself is suited to the largest companies or any that have their own web design and development teams. Finally, there are a whole lot of users in the Magento community, you’ll find the perfect answer to your seemingly impossible question every single time.

Magento Cons: Firstly, one of the biggest cons of Magento is that it can be hard to find a host that will support your website. There are a few out there, but not as many as most other open-source platforms. Secondly, Magento isn’t for beginners; therefore, if you have no coding or development knowledge, we would put the coding for dummies book down and forget about Magento for now. Or, hire a web design agency, trust us, this is the best decision for you and your essential online presence.

Themes

OK, so your theme is more important than you might think. Everything from the way your product is presented to your site’s usability dictates how successful your eCommerce venture is likely to be. To break this down in the most simplified way, Shopify offers ten free themes on the basic package with an additional 60+ available for between $0-$350.

In comparison, Magento offers ready to use themes that don’t require expertise for around $100 and expert malleable custom themes for between $600 and $20,000+.

Shopify has more themes and cheaper themes than Magento, and you don’t have to be a pro to make them look great.

Tools for selling

So you’ve got an eCommerce website, you are going to want to sell stuff. Well, when it comes to sales tools, Shopify is the dominant eCommerce platform. It has a much vaster range of tools and built-in options like multichannel selling for free. In comparison, Magento only offers this option within a number of paid add-ons.

Marketing extras

Another process you are definitely going to want to consider is marketing. The two best ways to market to your potential clientele through your eCommerce site are email marketing and social media marketing.

When it comes to comparing both platforms for their marketing ability, Shopify offers social media marketing as a built-in extra. In contrast, it’s something that needs to be paid for within Magento. Both platforms rely on additional extras for any email marketing help, so it’s a dead heat on that one.

Shopify or Magento with Create8

eCommerce websites are a fine art and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Understanding not only what will look best but also how your clients/customers are going to navigate their way through your website takes careful planning and consideration.

At Create8, we get our teeth stuck into eCommerce projects. Building bespoke, super functional, and of course, enjoyable sites is what we do. There really is no job too big or small for us; we put all of our expertise and technical skill into every project to make sure that every time we see your website, we get as excited as you do.

So, that being said, if anything you have read in this blog has interested you. Or, if you’ve decided to listen to one of our many hints, follow the link below and get in touch with us today. We are excited to hear from you.

Take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:

Magento prices from https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/comparisons/magento-vs-shopify/