Magento Vs. WooCommerce: What Is The Best Platform To Set Up An Online Store?

Today we are going to talk about two of the most used Electronic Commerce platforms worldwide according to the analysis « Global eCommerce Technology Distribution » by Builtwith for the configuration of an online store: WooCommerce and Magento. Each of them has specific functionalities that will be better or worse depending on the type of store we want to set up. But what is the best platform to set up an online store?

• Learning Curve: As you can see in the previous comparison, WooCommerce’s learning curve is relatively low, which means that its users take less time to get hold of it. This, in part, is since it offers fewer configuration options than other more complete platforms such as Magento. The learning curve of Magento, on the other hand, is higher due to the complexity of managing its functionalities.
• Installation / Configuration: The fact that the installation of WooCommerce is simple is due, among other things, to the fact that it is a WordPress plugin, so if we already have a website developed in WordPress, it is only a matter of expanding its functionality including electronic commerce with a simple click and at any time as long as, as we said, the website has been designed in WordPress. On the other hand, if we had a website and we wanted, over time, to install an online store in Magento, we would have to, one of two: change the complete configuration of our website to carry out the integration or design another website with electronic commerce independent of the that we already have. In addition to this, the Magento installation, although it has been simplified in more recent versions, entails greater complexity due to the possible errors that may arise during it.
• Catalog: WooCommerce is a perfect platform for those SMEs that want to start an online business. This does not mean that it does not support a large volume of products to be sold, but rather that it allows simplifying the management of the online store, as well as the possible variations for the products. Magento, in turn, allows you to create more complex products and requires keeping track of billing and customers, making it ideal for larger stores.

(WooCommerce also allows you to keep track of billing, among many other functionalities in a similar way to Magento, but not natively, but we must install extra plugins to acquire these functionalities). On the other hand, Magento allows you to manage several stores from the same administration panel.

• Personalization: Personalization is easier, in general, in WooCommerce, since the development of the store interface is based on WordPress. Through the installation of different plugins or extensions, you can create bundles, manage the bill, etc. In general, however, although Magento customization is more complex, it supports the implementation of more specific functionalities of electronic commerce such as those related to Marketing strategies, promotional codes, temporary offers, and products related to which the client is watching.
• SEO: In terms of positioning, both platforms work very well in the entire hierarchy of categories, tags, and attributes.
• CMS: The Content Management System (CMS) is another of the characteristics in which WooCommerce is a winner. Thus, the user can handle it more easily than on other platforms such as Magento in which, although the management itself is not complex, it is moderate.
• Internationalization: Magento is the most complete in terms of internationalization, starting with WooCommerce not being multi-language (although plugins can be installed to make it so), and Magento is natively so. In general, Magento is a better platform when it comes to Marketing and sales actions in different countries.
• Payment method: Both Magento and WooCommerce have integrated and free payment gateways such as Paypal. Both also admit payment by transfer and cash on delivery, payment by checks, etc. However, for card payments, in both cases, we must install complementary modules.
• Developer Community: One of the most significant advantages of WooCommerce, on the other hand, is that when working on WordPress, it has the support of a wide community of developers. Another is that Automattic (the company behind WordPress), has acquired the developer of the WooCommerce plugin, which, a priori, guarantees better and better integration.
• Security: The main advantage of Magento is that it is a gateway that is specially designed for electronic commerce. And another of its favorable points is that it is a robust system that provides greater security when managing functionalities. In general, Magento offers more functionality for security than WooCommerce.
• Price: Magento is available in two versions, Community and Enterprise (which is paid, but offers many more features). In turn, the optional plugins or extensions offered by WooCommerce are cheaper than those available in Magento. Merchants developed with Magento, meanwhile, will always be more expensive since this platform will require, as a rule, a more powerful server, and its development is more complex.

Also Read: Digital Marketing Trends In 2021

So How Do We Decide Which Is The Best Platform To Set Up An Online Store?

Ideally, look at the previous comparisons taking into account the following factors:

• Structure and customization of our online store.
• Catalog complexity. How many products will you have on your website? It is not the same to manage 100 references than 20,000.
• Are we going to connect the store with an ERP?
• Do we need to manage suppliers and invoices from the store itself?
• What budget do we have?
• How many concurrent users do we estimate we will have? It is not the same to manage 5 users at the same time as 200.
• Is it an international project with sales in more than one country, with different prices and multi-language?

Once we have answered these questions, we are a little closer to determining which is the best platform for us. But the best thing is to always ask experts for advice, and that’s where we come in as a Marketing agency that works with both WooCommerce and Magento.

Also Read: The eCommerce Trends For 2021 According To Shopify