If you are finding it difficult to choose between Magento and Shopify, don’t worry as you are not alone. Both these brands are two of the most famous and widely accepted e-commerce platforms.
Shopify is capable of simplifying the process of creating online stores of business whether it is a startup or a high-volume business. It works on the model of a monthly fee.
Magento on the other hand is an open-source platform that is similar to WordPress and is also free to install and use but the user will need to pay for additional services like web hosting, domain registration, etc. It is more suited for enterprise-level businesses that have their development team workforce or coding knowledge.
We have differentiated between Magento and Shopify on a certain basis below for you to decide which platform fits your needs.
Convenience
Selecting a platform that’s very difficult to use will affect the process to establish the e-commerce store according to our requirements and this can harm the image of the brand.
Shopify is an all-in-one package with drag and drops features that let you customize the store by organizing elements of the page according to your requirements.
Magento, on the other hand, is a little difficult to understand as it involves technical jargon and coding knowledge to create the store or else needs to rely on a web developer to create and manage the store.
Layout
The theme of the store acts as a base for the website store as this is what the consumers first see when they open the site and so the theme template needs to be selected accordingly to create a good impression and build up trust.
Shopify has a range of 10 free and 64 premium themes and all of its themes are mobile responsive and so it will look great on both devices. Shopify themes offer a lot of customization options such as new pages, color schemes, organizing elements, and much more, without any coding knowledge.
Some themes of Magento will require the help of a developer as it’s technical and also mostly its themes are slightly expensive compared to Shopify.
Business Development Tools
Ecommerce platforms require sales tools as they cannot function without one another. Let’s explore the features of both Shopify and Magento.
Some of the exciting features of Shopify are:
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Multi-Channel Selling
- Selling Digital Products
- Delivery Partners (USPS, DHL)
Magento has an inventory system with features such as bulk product import, multiple product options, revenue reports, and total visitor details. In terms of sales tools, Magento offers:
- Multi-Channel Selling
- Checkout Customization
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Discount Options (Percentage or Fixed)
Marketing Apps
To have a wide range of marketing tools is always useful for a business as it helps to connect with potential customers.
Shopify offers many marketing tools such as email campaign management through third-party networks with Segundo, Klaviyo, Constant Contact. Advertising and direct selling are also possible on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Shopify also provides sites in multiple languages to help products sell in multiple languages in different territories.
Magento on the other hand is dependent on its marketplace for its marketing tools as there are different extensions for different marketing support work that needs to be installed and for its integration, coding knowledge or help from a developer will be required.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO is necessary to gain more traffic on the store from search engine websites which leads to more customers and more revenue.
Magento edges Shopify in the SEO department. There are multiple in-built SEO feature options available such as SEO prompts and customizable URL options. For Shopify, a certain app or extension for any of the SEO-related features is needed.
Magento has a lot of built-in SEO features such as alt tags, customized URL’s and much more whereas in Shopify we need to rely on its Apps for SEO services
Price
The main difference between Magneto and Shopify is that Shopify is a hosted platform, while Magento is self-hosted. A hosted platform like Shopify takes care of all your hosting needs. All hosting costs are included within the monthly plan, with no additional expense required. Magento meanwhile is free to install, but you’ll need to pay for security, web hosting, domain, and so on.
Shopify has three packages to choose from, with fixed monthly rates. In contrast, the overall cost of Magento will depend on various factors.
It should be noted that Magento offers Enterprise packages for large-scale businesses. This price plan is specific to each business.
Magneto comes out useful for enterprises and businesses with complex and specific needs whereas Shopify is more for businesses who have simple e-commerce requirements. After weighing all the pros and cons, it depends on your business needs as to which one you should go for.
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