Shopify vs. Other E-Commerce Platforms

Andrew Andreev

Author at ApiX-Drive

Reading time: ~9 min

What Is the Shopify Platform

• The service is suitable for selling physical and digital products, subscriptions, online booking services, gift cards, online courses and training, tours, event tickets, and much more.
• Entrepreneurs can easily and quickly create a full-fledged online store using the built-in drag-and-drop builder and a library with more than 100 theme templates (about 20% are free).
  
• Developing an online store on Shopify does not require any web design or programming skills. To create a layout, ready-made blocks are used, and design elements are configured in a convenient editor.
  
• The Shopify Magic module automatically generates text descriptions of products, eliminating the need for users to write them themselves. You just need to indicate the key characteristics of the product. AI algorithms will do the rest of the work.
  
• The platform provides a wide range of functions for promotion and marketing: audience segmentation, targeted advertising, campaign analysis and reporting, feedback monitoring. Plus, it gives you access to tools for audience engagement (Shopify Email and Shopify Inbox), content marketing, SEO, and more.
  
• Entrepreneurs can manage inventory in the Inventory section, add an unlimited number of contacts to the database, send forgotten cart reminders, and other types of notifications. The system supports several formats of promotional campaigns and discounts: for certain product categories, delivery, the number of items in an order, etc.
  
• Users have access to many widgets to expand the standard functions of the system, as well as over 6,000 integrations with third-party programs from different categories.
  

• Basic (for individual entrepreneurs) – $24 per month.
• Shopify (small business) – $69 per month.
  
• Advanced (for medium business) – $299 per month.
  
• Plus (for large businesses) – $2300 per month.
  

BigCommerce

• The platform allows users to manage multiple online stores through a single dashboard and add an unlimited number of products to their catalogs.
• Users can create and customize online store designs using a no-code drag-and-drop editor. Additionally, it can be integrated with WordPress.
  
• BigCommerce offers over 200 paid and free design templates that are fully responsive and easily customizable using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript tools. 
• Entrepreneurs have access to more than 70 types of discounts and promotions to boost sales.
• Built-in SEO tools, such as editing meta data and robots.txt, help increase website traffic.
  
• The catalog management module includes over 600 product parameters. Each parameter has a unique article number (SKU) for accounting automation. The bulk processing feature speeds up categorization. Moreover, the system allows users to add custom fields and upload up to 20 files for each product.
  
• A multilingual interface, support for over 100 currencies, and global and local payment services make it easy to create localized versions of online stores for different countries.
  

• Standard – $29 per month.
• Plus – $79 per month.
  
• Pro – $299 per month.
  
• Enterprise – the cost is calculated individually and is available upon request.

WooCommerce

• WooCommerce easily connects to any WordPress site, turning it into a full-fledged online store.
• The catalog contains about 100 design templates for e-commerce websites for different areas of business: electronics, digital technologies, fashion, beauty and health, games, sports, and so on. These include block-based, responsive, and free themes.
  
• Over 800 paid and free extensions are available to users. All of them are organized into thematic categories: payments, delivery, marketing, store management, customer service, merchandising and more.
  
• The Gutenberg block editor is one of the main advantages of this platform when comparing WooCommerce vs Shopify. It allows you to flexibly customize templates, carefully customizing each design element.
  
• A convenient admin panel allows you to add products to the catalog in a couple of clicks. The Product CSV Import Suite extension automates the bulk loading of product items.
  
• The platform supports different languages and currencies, tracking the geolocation of visitors and automatically loading a localized version of the site.
  
• Users can integrate their online store with a number of third-party platforms (Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop, Walmart) to automatically exchange data between them.
  

Shift4Shop

• The platform has a built-in CRM with a set of useful tools for interacting with customers and analyzing business indicators.
• Users have access to a solid library with more than 100 free templates for e-commerce on various topics: auto parts, electronics, accessories, garden, beauty and health, photography, jewelry, education, music, and so on.
  
• Each theme is mobile-friendly and easy to customize. Using a drag-and-drop editor or HTML editor, you can add or remove certain blocks, change colors, fonts, and other design elements.
  
• Shift4Shop allows you to add an unlimited number of products to the catalog. The service provides free hosting and the service of transferring an online store from a third-party platform. Additionally, users get access to APIs and domain registrations.
  
• Integrations with a number of third-party systems are supported, including Facebook, Google, AWeber, Mailchimp, and many others.
  

• monthly revenue from the sale of goods or services – at least $500;
• mandatory use of the Shift4Shop payment gateway, which charges a transaction fee.
  

PrestaShop

• The platform is open source. It provides maximum customization with free editing of program code, allowing you to flexibly adapt the design and UI of an online store to individual needs.
• The built-in marketplace provides over 3,000 design templates, as well as over 4,000 modules, training materials, and other content. Users have access to extensions for accepting payments, delivery, integration with social networks, setting up and managing stores, GDPR compliance, and more.
  
• PrestaShop integrates with over 200 payment providers, including PayPal, Stripe, Amazon Pay, and Square. In addition, the service has its own PrestaShop Checkout processing, support for bank transfers and checks.
  
• The platform ensures the security of online stores hosted on it by issuing them a free SSL certificate.
• Setting up meta tags for SEO is available.
  
• Entrepreneurs can stimulate sales using marketing tools: email marketing, free shipping, limited-time promotional offers, discounts, coupons, and so on.
  

OpenCart

• Entrepreneurs can manage multiple e-commerce sites through a single administrative panel. This is where data on sales, revenue, customers, and other business metrics are posted.
• The OpenCart marketplace contains more than 13,000 themes and extensions. This quantity allows you to choose the optimal design for a store of any subject, make its interface multilingual, and connect different payment and delivery methods.
  
• The widget catalog is conveniently sorted by thematic categories (themes, modules, reports, and so on). Users can view only paid or free extensions, filter them by date added, rating, price, or platform version.
  
• Collaboration tools give you the ability to add administrators, support staff, and other specialists. Supports management of rights and privileges for groups and individual users.
  
• Marketing features (discounts, coupons, promotional offers) will help increase sales, and the affiliate program will provide additional income.
  

• Bronze (1 CPU, 2GB) – $59 per month.
• Silver (2 CPU, 4GB) – $99 per month.
• Gold (4 CPU, 8GB) – $199 per month.
  

Conclusion

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