In our last installment of Minneapolis Web Design, we offered our 4 quick on page optimization steps that every website manager should follow. If your goal is to be the top organic search result, these steps will help. If you missed this post, be sure to read Minneapolis Web Design: 4 quick on page optimization steps. 

WooCommerce and Magento are two of the most popular eCommerce platforms available today. Magento is a standalone product which is now owned by eBay. WooCommerce, now solely owned by Automattic (the creators & owners of WordPress), is a plugin for WordPress. Both eCommerce platforms have their fans and each have unique strengths and weaknesses, but which of these eCommerce options is right for you and your business? 

In this post we will explore the similarities and differences of each of these platforms as well as explore how you should decide which of these eCommerce platforms is right for you. Enjoy Minneapolis Web Design: WooCommerce vs Magento. Be sure to subscribe to our blog by filling out the subscribe form below and feel free to join conversation and comment on this blog! 

woocommerce vs magento

It's not about what platform is better. it's about what platform is best for your business. 

The Similarities

Both WooCommerce and Magento are open source eCommerce platforms meaning that the original code is available to anyone to build with or modify it to create a product that works specifically for them or their clients. One of the biggest reasons that both WooCommerce and Magento have such large communities is because open source platforms promote a community of users/developers that appreciate sharing. Developers join these communities and share their own versions of the open source software. These communities are amazing resources for business owners and users of both WooCommerce and Magento. In these communities you can find answers to common problems, best practices, new software upgrades, and workarounds for complex problems. 

WooCommerce and Magento are also similar in the fact that they are free to download and free to use... until you want to buy some of their premium extensions, plugins, and services that are needed for a more robust eCommerce offering. Some examples of extensions/plugins that cost money: shipping extensions, payment gateway extensions, email marketing extensions, etc. Both WooCommerce and Magento allow you to upload an unlimited amount of products and manage them efficiently and effectively which of course is important when building and managing an eCommerce store. 

One thing to keep in mind is that at their core, both WooCommerce and Magento are self-hosted eCommerce solutions. Magento is now starting to offer enterprise solutions but these new services are quite costly and do not offer the same customization options as if you were to host and build it yourself. 

The Differences

The Initial Setup: Obviously, when building an eCommerce store you want to avoid large obstacles and hurdles when you can. If you and/or your company is already a WordPress user, make it easy on yourself and use WooCommerce. WooCommerce is an easy to use, easy to install extension of WordPress. If you are already a proficient WordPress user, WooCommerce will be pretty easy to pick up. Plus, WooCommerce has a complete library of tutorial videos to help with the setup and advanced functionality. 

Magento's interface is quite user friendly as well and it also has a complete library of tutorial videos and documentation. It includes an installation wizard that makes installing Magento very simple. The big catch with Magento is that when you want to add advanced functionality and use advanced extensions, it usually requires the skills and expertise of a qualified Magento Developer.

Initial and recurring costs: As we covered earlier, initially both WooCommerce and Magento are free although Magento is now offering enterprise solutions that do cost $$$. Both eCommerce platforms are free to download and build with right out of the box yet, you will discover that there is a cost to offer your customers a superior shopping experience such as a robust range of payment options, shipping options, or the ability to customize products and services that you are selling. WooCommerce is very limited out of the box and it will most likely be necessary to purchase multiple extensions from the WooCommerce Store to complete your shop and the costs from these extensions can add up. Magento is no different and can be even more costly as there is a high probability that you will have to hire a Magento developer to install and setup advanced extensions. 

Another cost that needs to be considered is hosting. Both eCommerce platforms should be run on dedicated servers OR a hosted cloud solution so that your store does not run slowly and crash during peak usage times. I know I speak for everyone when I say, no one enjoys shopping on a slow website. There are few things more frustrating than a slow eCommerce shop. 

Don't forget to think long-term when budgeting for an eCommerce store. Of course there are going to be upfront costs, but there will also be long-term recurring costs as well as maintenance costs and possibly upgrade costs associated with possibly needing more server space, additional functionality and or new features. Also, make sure you ask your self "Do we need or will we need the additional features that Magento offers that WooCommerce doesn't in the near future OR will they be wasted on you?". If you may need the additional features that Magento offers, it most likely is worth making the investment in Magento right from the start. 

Features: Of course, with any eCommerce platform you will need the basic features such as a shopping cart and the ability to upload and display an unlimited amount of products and categorize them accordingly. You get these basic features with both Magento and WooCommerce but which of these platforms sets themselves apart when it comes to the ability to customize your shop and offer your customers a unique online shopping experience? 

Magento definitely takes the cake when it comes to customization. You are able to cross-sell, up-sell, and compare products. You can also implement discount codes as well as add advanced filter features that allow your users to navigate your products/services with ease and these are just a few of the many customization options available for Magento. Another additional feature which is really nifty is the ability to view more than one store all on the same account. This is a fantastic feature for creating localized versions of your store.

WooCommerce is beginning to add these advanced features, but it isn't as enterprise ready as Magento is at this point. WooCommerce is a bit more simple which at times is both a big strength and weakness of WooCommerce. 

Themes: One of the biggest reasons that WooCommerce and Magento are two of the most used eCommerce platforms in the world is how customizable each of them are. With hosted products such as Shopify, you simply don't get that flexibility. 

Right off of the bat there are thousands of free and premium themes to choose from for both WooCommerce and Magento. They all have different features, functionality, as well as look and feel and most of them come with demo content that you can simply download and install on your specific store. These free and premium themes are great options for start ups and new users that are just getting started and want to get something up quickly. 

KEEP IN MIND: One downside of using a free or Premium theme is that they are most likely used by hundreds, if not thousands of other store fronts  so the look and feel of your store may not be unique. To avoid using a boxed theme, you will most likely have to work with a WooCommerce/WordPress or Magento developer. 

What is right for your business? 

It's not really about which eCommerce platform is better. It is about what eCommerce platform is right for your business. While Magento tends to be popular with larger businesses and agencies who manage eCommerce sites on behalf of their clients, WooCommerce tends to be popular with small businesses that want to give a go at building out an eCommerce shop without the help of a developer. Magento is extremely scalable so it is perfect for businesses with big plans for their eCommerce shop or have existing successful online stores. Magento has a few more basic features and once it is installed by a developer, the extensions that are available are absolutely fantastic. The big catch with Magento: you will need a sizable available budget to set this kind of store up. 

WooCommerce is perfect for smaller sized businesses that don't have much development experience and are looking to get started quickly. It does a good job of selling your products and has the ability to grow with your business through the multitude of pay for extensions and plugins that are offered through the WooCommerce store. It is also the best solution if you are familiar with WordPress or already have a WordPress website. 

This choice is yours and in reality, with how fantastic both of these options are, you really can't go wrong... just make sure that you have the money and the patience available if you choose to go the Magento route. It can be a tedious, time consuming and costly process setting up a successful Magento eCommerce store. 

Thanks for reading our post Minneapolis Web Design: WooCommerce vs Magento! We hope this post helps you and your team determine what eCommerce platform is right for your business. Want to turn you website and or eCommerce shop into a lead generating sales machine? Download our eBook An Introduction to Growth-Driven Design by clicking the link below!