Choosing between Shopify and WordPress with WooCommerce is one of the most common decisions businesses face when building an online store. The problem is that there isn’t a simple answer.
Both platforms are capable of running successful eCommerce websites, and both can scale to support large businesses. The right choice really comes down to what your website needs to do, the systems it needs to integrate with, how much customisation you need and where the business is heading.
At Clickk, we work through those requirements before recommending a platform. In some cases Shopify is the obvious choice. In others, WordPress and WooCommerce provide significantly more flexibility.
The short answer
If you’re building a relatively straightforward online store and eCommerce is the main purpose of the website, Shopify is often a great choice. If you need a highly customised website, more control over the front-end experience, complex functionality or eCommerce is only one component of a much larger website, WordPress and WooCommerce will often make more sense.
There are plenty of exceptions though, which is why we generally recommend choosing the platform around the requirements of the business rather than deciding on the technology first.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a hosted eCommerce platform designed specifically for selling products online. Hosting, security and much of the underlying technical infrastructure are managed by Shopify, which makes it relatively straightforward for businesses to get an online store up and running.
It has also built a huge ecosystem of apps, integrations, themes and eCommerce tools. For businesses that primarily need a reliable online store without a large amount of unusual functionality, Shopify has quickly become one of the standard options we consider.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an eCommerce platform built on WordPress. Rather than being a completely separate website platform, WooCommerce adds eCommerce functionality to WordPress, allowing businesses to combine an online store with the flexibility of a much broader content management system.
This becomes particularly useful when eCommerce isn’t the only thing the website needs to do. A business might need an online store alongside extensive service or informational content, online courses, memberships, custom integrations, complex forms, bookings, gated content or highly customised landing pages and user journeys.
Because WordPress and WooCommerce are open-source, developers generally have much greater flexibility to customise how the website looks and functions.
Shopify vs WooCommerce at a glance
There isn’t really an overall winner. Shopify is generally stronger when simplicity and eCommerce are the priority, while WooCommerce is generally stronger when flexibility and customisation are the priority.
For a straightforward eCommerce store selling a relatively simple range of products, we would often recommend Shopify. For a website where the online store is only one part of a broader digital platform, we would usually take a closer look at WooCommerce.
Which is easier to manage?
For most business owners, Shopify is probably the easier platform to manage day-to-day. Its administration area is built specifically around eCommerce and Shopify manages much of the technical infrastructure behind the scenes.
WordPress and WooCommerce can be more complex because there are generally more moving parts. However, usability also comes down to how the website has been built and how well the client has been trained.
We spend time training clients on their websites so they understand how to manage products, content and common website updates themselves. A well-built WooCommerce website shouldn’t require a developer every time somebody wants to change a heading or upload a new product.
Which gives you more design freedom?
This is one area where we generally favour WordPress and WooCommerce. Shopify websites are typically built within a theme and template structure. There is still significant design flexibility, particularly with custom development, but you’re working within Shopify’s ecosystem.
WordPress gives us considerably more freedom over the front end of the website. This becomes important when a business has very specific design requirements or when the website needs to provide a more customised user experience.
If the eCommerce store is only a small component of a much larger website, that flexibility can become particularly valuable.
Which is better for custom functionality?
For straightforward eCommerce functionality, Shopify is excellent. It handles products, payments, discounts, shipping, inventory and many of the features most online retailers need extremely well.
The decision becomes more complicated when a business needs functionality outside the normal eCommerce experience. For example, a website might need to combine eCommerce with online learning, highly customised user journeys, unusual product configurations, advanced integrations or functionality that is specific to the way the business operates.
In those situations, we will generally investigate WooCommerce first. It isn’t necessarily that Shopify can’t achieve the functionality. Shopify has an enormous app ecosystem and can also be customised by developers. The difference is that once requirements move a long way outside the platform’s core eCommerce purpose, WordPress can provide more freedom over how everything fits together.
What about integrations?
This is one of the first things we look at when recommending a platform. A business might already rely on a POS system, accounting software, CRM, ERP, warehouse or inventory software, shipping providers, marketing platforms, payment gateways or booking systems.
Sometimes the integrations a client requires can influence the platform decision before we’ve even started discussing design.
Square is a good example. WooCommerce has an official integration with Square, which can make it a strong option for businesses already using Square for payments or point of sale. Shopify has its own ecosystem around Shopify Payments and Shopify POS, while integrations with other systems may work differently or require third-party apps.
Neither approach is necessarily better. It comes down to understanding the systems a business currently uses and making sure the website fits into that ecosystem rather than creating additional problems.
Which is better for SEO?
From a basic SEO perspective, both platforms are capable of performing well. We wouldn’t recommend choosing WordPress over Shopify simply because someone has told you that WordPress “ranks better”.
Good SEO depends on far more than the platform. Content, website architecture, technical performance, backlinks, search intent and how well individual pages are optimised will all have a much greater impact.
Where WordPress can have an advantage is flexibility. SEO strategies often evolve, and you might decide that a landing page needs completely different content above the fold, additional FAQs or accordions, new content sections, supporting landing pages or entirely new page structures.
Those types of changes are generally easier for us to make within WordPress. So the difference isn’t necessarily the SEO functionality itself, but how easily the website can be adapted around an evolving SEO strategy.
Which is easier to maintain?
Shopify has a clear advantage when it comes to underlying maintenance. Because it is a hosted platform, Shopify takes care of much of the infrastructure, platform updates and security behind the scenes.
With WordPress, the website needs to be actively maintained. This includes WordPress and plugin updates, backups, hosting, security, performance monitoring and compatibility testing.
For businesses that want the platform itself to be as hands-off as possible, Shopify can therefore be very attractive. The trade-off is that you’re operating within Shopify’s ecosystem. With WordPress and WooCommerce you take on more responsibility, but you also gain greater control.
What about ownership and control?
This is an important difference that doesn’t always get discussed. WordPress and WooCommerce are open-source platforms, which gives businesses significant control over their website, hosting environment and underlying technology.
Shopify is a proprietary hosted platform. That makes it incredibly convenient, but it also means your store operates within Shopify’s ecosystem, pricing structure and platform rules.
For many businesses, that isn’t a problem at all. In fact, it’s part of Shopify’s appeal. But for organisations that want greater control over their digital infrastructure or expect the website to become increasingly customised over time, it is worth considering.
Which platform scales better?
Both Shopify and WooCommerce can handle large eCommerce businesses, so we wouldn’t describe Shopify as being only for small businesses or WooCommerce as being only for large businesses. They simply scale differently.
Shopify manages much of the underlying infrastructure for you. As your business grows and your requirements become more advanced, you may move through different Shopify plans or eventually into Shopify Plus.
WooCommerce doesn’t have the same platform tiers. Instead, scaling tends to involve improving the infrastructure around the website, including hosting, performance, architecture and development. This gives businesses significant flexibility as they grow, but it also means having the right technical expertise behind the website becomes increasingly important.
A good example: Fighter World
Fighter World is a useful example of how we approach the decision. The website isn’t primarily an eCommerce store. Its main role is to promote the attraction, provide information to visitors and help people understand what Fighter World offers.
There is an online store, but eCommerce is only one part of a much larger website. For a project like that, WordPress and WooCommerce make a lot of sense because we can build the broader website experience around the organisation’s primary goals while still providing eCommerce functionality where it’s needed.
That’s quite different to a business whose entire website exists primarily to sell products online.
When would we recommend Shopify?
We would generally lean towards Shopify when eCommerce is the primary purpose of the website, the product offering is relatively straightforward and there aren’t significant custom functionality or design requirements.
It’s also a strong option when Shopify integrates well with the systems the business already uses and the client wants a streamlined eCommerce administration experience.
For example, if a business came to us wanting to sell 30 products online with a straightforward purchasing journey and no unusual design or integration requirements, Shopify would likely be one of our first recommendations.
When would we recommend WooCommerce?
We would generally investigate WooCommerce when the website requires a high level of customisation, eCommerce is only one part of a larger website or the business needs complex functionality outside the normal online store experience.
It can also be a strong option when particular integrations, content requirements, landing page flexibility or unusual purchasing journeys are important. This is particularly common for larger corporate websites, membership platforms, education websites and organisations where the website needs to perform several different functions.
So, which should you choose?
There isn’t a universal winner between Shopify and WooCommerce. A straightforward eCommerce business might be better served by Shopify, while a highly customised website with eCommerce functionality might be better suited to WordPress and WooCommerce.
The decision should ultimately be based on your specific requirements. Before recommending a platform, we look at what the website needs to do today, the integrations it needs, how the business expects to grow and what you may need from the website in the future.
If you’re deciding between Shopify and WooCommerce, talk to the Clickk team. We can help you work through the requirements and determine which platform makes the most sense for your business.
