The online world is crowded with a variety of platforms ready to get you the right website. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to choose the right platform for your website. Of the various platforms, WooCommerce and, Magento are being considered highly favorable by most experts. Here’s an insight on both these platforms and, which one is useful where.
WooCommerce: Advantages vs. Disadvantages
WooCommerce is an open source platform that holds its base on WordPress. As it is a platform that hosts using WordPress, the minimum hosting requirements are pretty similar to that of WordPress. Thus, it’s economical to host a website created using WooCommerce. It is a freemium business model wherein the basic version of this platform is available for free while the upgraded version is paid. You can add as many products as you want and, line up your products categorically using this platform. Moreover you are allowed to host a blog using this platform. A tailor made website is possible using this platform. It does give you themes to use for your website but they are all very limited.
As mentioned earlier, this platform hosts on WordPress so, you really don’t need complex settings to run your WooCommerce site. It is comparatively easy to install and run a website using WooCommerce. It is a simple WordPress set up that you may have to follow here. It is easy to use and, you don’t need developers to create your website thus saving developmental costs.
A feature unique to WooCommerce is the affiliate feature. If you are selling affiliate products, this is the perfect platform for you. You can enlist the affiliate products as your own and sell them on this website. Of course, if you have a large online store, this is not really meant for you. But, this platform is kind of ideal for small businesses or stores. As this platform is based on WordPress, the numerous plugins made available with WordPress are at your disposal through this platform too. In fact, you can integrate 3rd party plugins using this platform. The network support made available is also good in this case. You can always look up to support for major errors and, the minor errors can be fixed by you if you have enough knowledge of coding.
Another feature in WooCommerce that might interest you is the product rating feature wherein users can enter their views and reviews about select products. This has layered navigation but is not as advanced as Magento features it. The selling tools available in WooCommerce are similar to that in Magento where you can cross sell, pin it up sell and, also offer discounts.
Magento: Advantages vs. Disadvantages
Magento is a bit of a complex tool that is dedicated towards e-commerce websites. If you are running a large, medium or small store that has a long list of complexities, Magento serves you the best. It is specially oriented towards e-commerce business. Here, the hosting requirements are major as it is wholly dedicated towards e-commerce. Also, the set up and installation are complex features. You would need to hire a professional Magento developer in case you wish to create a website. A layman may not be able to derive the right pleasure out of Magento.
You don’t need to edit CSV files instead translate your front end while browsing it. You can create incredible shopping experience using the various store views available with Magento thus, giving your customers undeniably beautiful experience. Various selling tools are available with Magento along with a layered navigation which allows you to specify various criteria to define your products. The themes available with Magento are unlike any platform. Magento is dedicated to e-commerce websites and, this is a major advantage. Though complex, it creates websites that can hold infinite products and, their varieties in one go. There’s no room for manual here.
Who Wins
The winner of this interesting online battle would be both the platforms. As has been said earlier, this winner of the battle depends on the usage of the platform. If you are planning to set a small shop that needs nothing more than basics including very basic SEO, then your choice should be WooCommerce. But, if you are planning to setup a major store and, need to service complexities then you should go for Magento. Either ways the choice depends on what your website is all about.