WooCommerce and Magento both are popular eCommerce platforms. While WooCommerce is used by 28% of the eCommerce owners, Magento is used by 7%.
If you are planning to have your own online store, choosing a platform is the first step towards the goal. But, it is really difficult to decide which one is perfect for you. And when you have to choose between WooCommerce and Magento, it is even more difficult. Here we have brought a detailed comparative analysis of these two major platforms. Go through the article, hope you will find answers to all your questions.
- What to look for in an eCommerce platform?
- What is different about Magento vs WooCommerce?
- Performance: Magento vs WooCommerce
- Security: Magento vs WooCommerce
- Product Management: Magento vs WooCommerce
- Payment Options: Magento vs WooCommerce
- Customization: Magento vs WooCommerce
- Pricing: Magento vs WooCommerce
- Which one is suitable for small businesses?
- The Winner Is…
What to look for in an eCommerce platform?
Reliability
When it comes to choosing an eCommerce platform, the first question is reliability. People worry about the security of data. In the case of managed eCommerce platforms, people may lose some valuable data if they forget to resubscribe to the services. Therefore, they look for a platform where there is no chance of data loss.
Performance
Performance is the next important thing. After the Florida Update by Google in 2019, no eCommerce store owner can neglect the performance aspect. If their store doesn’t load within 5 seconds, they should not operate it. Therefore, loading time is an important factor. People look for a platform which assures a fast loading time.
Scalability
Demand keeps changing every day. If you are an eCommerce shop owner depending on your products, the number of store visits will change from time to time. On some occasions, you will get heavy traffic while on some other your traffic may decrease. So, you need scalability to manage heavy traffic. An eCommerce platform that offers scalability is a better choice always.
Ease of use
No matter how advanced your eCommerce platform is if you can not use it properly, it is of no use. You need to see are the features well documented? Is the theme appealing to win the visitors? Will it increase traffic? And finally, will it increase the conversion rate? Based on that you need to finalize your platform.
Customization
If you are an online store runner, you need flexibility. The taste of people keeps changing and so does your requirement. You need to customize your store from time to time to meet the changing demands. So, you look for a platform that is easy to customize.
Payment methods
If your buyers get an easy payment option, your sell will increase. You must check before finalizing your eCommerce platform what are the payment options it provides. If it comes with integration with good payment services. It is a good choice for you.
Cost
Cost is the most important factor. Everything depends on your budget. For any purchase, the ideal condition is the maximum number of features at a minimum cost. You should make a list of your desired features. Then compare the cost of two or more options where you get those features. Finally, go for the purchase.
Security
The security of your eCommerce shop is your primary concern. You should make sure that your eCommerce platform does not have any vulnerability. You should also see whether the developers’ team is working regularly to update the platform for better security. Some simple identifications of platform security are SSL certification, PCI DSS Compliance, and two-factor authentication of all logins.
What is different about Magento vs WooCommerce?
Magento
Magento is a modern and professional eCommerce platform. It is extendible and open source. It is built using the Zend framework. It ensures seamless shipping everywhere. It is suitable for B2C, B2B, and mobile marketing. There is integration with amazon sales channels.
Key Features
- Built-in page builder
- Product recommendations
- Content staging and preview
- Customer segmentation & personalization
- Instant purchase
- Easy merchandising
- Business Intelligence
- Inventory Management
Price – Magento is a free platform. However, there are many premium plans available
For more details about Magento, you may go to https://magento.com/
Pros
- A high degree of flexibility
- A large community of users
- Mobile compatibility
- Scalability
- Many unique features that other platforms lack
Cons
- Few developers
- Time-consuming
- Not enough product support
- Needs technical knowledge to run
- One needs to pay for extensions
Is it good for beginners?
Magento is not very beginner-friendly. As it is an advanced platform, it needs some technical knowledge to use. However, it is well documented. Users may spend some time on learning and then use it.
In case you need any help with the Magento development, you can seek assistance from a professional Magento certified developer like HumCommerce, as they will make the process effective and quick for you. Right from auditing and optimizing the performance to providing Magento migrating services, there is nothing that HumCommerce cannot handle.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform. It is flexible and built on WordPress. It comes with configurable shipping options including flat rates and label printing. Users may integrate content and commerce across their sites via different blocks. They may also choose a design to suit their brand and industry. It is easy to customize and user-friendly.
Key features
- Unrestricted customization
- Built-in blogging
- Embed product, checkout on any page
- Unlimited images & galleries
- Product storing and filtering
- Sell product anytime and anywhere
- Import and export facility
Price – WooCommerce is a free platform. However, you need to pay for some additional extensions
For more details about WooCommerce, you may go to https://woocommerce.com/woocommerce-features/
Pros
- Free & Open Source
- Easily customizable
- Customer & store administrator accounts
- Optimal security
- Flexibility
- No technical knowledge required to run
Cons
- Not enough customer support
- Need to pay for extensions
Is it good for beginners?
WooCommerce is a good choice for beginners. It requires no coding knowledge to run it. It comes with exclusive documentations. There are many tutorials. Anybody, even without any experience in eCommerce can manage to run it after going through the tutorials.
Performance: Magento vs WooCommerce
Loading time is a crucial factor. If your site takes long to load, people will switch to some other channel. So, you need a fast loading time to hold back your customers.
When it comes to performance, it is difficult to make comparisons. Each online store will behave in a different way. It is irrespective of platforms. As it is not just the platform that sets the loading speed. Several other factors also have their own influence on speed. Two major factors are the content delivery network (CDN) and image optimization. So, the loading speed depends more on you than the eCommerce platform.
Security: Magento vs WooCommerce
No matter what your purpose is, security is of prime importance. When it comes to eCommerce, customers want their private information and payment details to be protected. You need to give that assurance. You too need to protect your data.
Magento and WooCommerce both offer you good security with their addons. But, no platform can assure absolute security.
22 WooCommerce Security Tips For Beginners
However, Magento offers dedicated security patches to its users. But, there is a drawback. It is not easy to use. You need some technical knowledge to run these features. Anyway, if you are experienced in eCommerce and tech-savvy, Magento is your option.
Product Management: Magento vs WooCommerce
Product management is on your list of top priorities if you are an eCommerce store runner. You always look for an ideal platform for product management.
WooCommerce offers you a satisfactory level of product management. It applies to both physical and digital products. Setting up a new product is simple if you are familiar with WordPress. You can also extend the functionality of your store using addons.
On the other hand, Magento offers several features for store protection. It supports product reviews, wishlist, and grouped items. There are also features for advanced pricing rules and product personalization. It is clearly an advantage but difficult to use.
Payment Options: Magento vs WooCommerce
WooCommerce supports multiple payment services. Users may install payment options with just a single click. Store owners can integrate with PayPal, Visa & Master Cards, Google Pay, Alipay, and Amazon Payment. If users don’t want any third-party plugin for a payment option, WooCommrece has its own payment system.
Magento also supports numerous payment extensions. It supports PayPal, Authorize.net, cash on delivery, bank transfers, and also purchase orders. Users may set their own shipping charges while setting up their stores. They may automate shipping calculations. It has a range of third party payment extensions available in the market.
Customization: Magento vs WooCommerce
WooCommerce is easily customizable. Anybody can change the theme through the “Editor” tab. All they have to do is to go to Appearance -> Editor. After that, they can edit the theme code. Anybody, with minimum coding knowledge, can edit it easily.
Customizing Magento is a little difficult compared to WooCommerce. It is not a beginner-friendly platform. First of all, you have to put your theme in the Magento folder. After the theme is set up, you have to go to Content-> Design -> Theme to enable it. It needs a sufficient amount of coding knowledge to manage Magento.
Pricing: Magento vs WooCommerce
While choosing an eCommerce platform, the final thing is the budget. Everything else depends on how much it permits. No matter how advanced the features are, if not affordable then no question of consideration.
WooCommerce is a completely free platform. Whereas Magento offers community free services. There are many premium plans available. Magento premium plans are quite expensive. On the other hand, these plans are accessible only through a chat with their sales team. So, WooCommerce offers a comparatively cheaper platform.
Which one is suitable for small businesses?
WooCommerce is a completely free platform. Magento has many expensive premium plans. For small businesses, budget is a big issue. Their affordability is limited. Their needs are also simple in most of the cases. Magento comes with advanced professional features. But, Magento has a free version as well, called community service. It is a very simple platform. So, for small businesses, WooCommerce is undoubtedly the ideal platform. But they can also go for the free service of Magento. However, WooCommerce has more free addons available in the market.
The Winner Is…
Magento or WooCommerce which one is better is a difficult question. Both platforms come with their unique features. They are made to cater to the different needs of the users. Neither of them can satisfy all the requirements of eCommerce store owners. Each has its own limitations.
Apparently, WooCommerce may seem a better option. The reasons are, it is free and easy to use. But, we must not forget that Magento comes with lots of advanced professional features.
Here is a comparison between the core features of both the platforms –
Features | WooCommerce | Magento |
Price | Free | Freemium |
Customization | Easy | Needs coding knowledge |
Hosting | Easy | Needs dedicated hosting services |
Security | Provides good security | Assures advanced security |
Beginner-friendly | Yes | No |
Having a look at the above table, we may come to the conclusion that WooCommerce is an ideal choice for beginners and small businesses. But, for professionals, Magento is a better choice.
Hope we could provide you with some valuable information. If you found it useful, don’t forget to share it with your friends.