Magento vs. Shopify: Which Is Best For Your E-commerce Store?

Published on: 11 June 2019 Last Updated on: 12 September 2024

The first quarter of 2019 has almost passed, and it has been predicted that 18% of the purchases will be made online by 2040. Further, 95% of the orders will be facilitated by e-commerce store.

Considering the above statistics, it comes as no surprise that the fate of your online business is dependent on how your website works. But did you know that all your website operations rely on the choice of your e-commerce platform?

Now, as the online store owners narrow down the choices, they are only left with two main platforms as the contenders- Magento and Shopify. While both platforms can create a one-of-kind e-commerce store, they differ in many areas.

To start with, Shopify works best for smaller businesses. On the flip side, Magento is aimed at enterprise businesses. This post is going will give you an in-depth insight on Magento and Shopify and help you decide which is an ideal platform for your e-commerce store.

Magento and Shopify in a Nutshell: e-commerce store

Magento:

Launched in 2007, Magento is a self-hosted e-commerce platform that powers a number of web stores. The platform is open source and comes with two versions including community (suitable for developers and small businesses) and enterprise edition (best suited for mid-sized and large e-commerce stores). The usage of the platform is free, but you’ll have to pay an amount for premium apps, themes, and hosting.

Irrespective of the price you have to pay, this platform is best known for its flexibility, ability to customize, and scalability.

Shopify:

Shopify is a hosted e-commerce platform that allows single-step order fulfillment and lets you set up a store with a custom domain and a theme.

This platform comes with an easy-to-use interface and is more for beginner developers. Moreover, it comes with a 14-day free trial, allows integration with over 70 payment gateways, and is available in almost every language.

Although there are numerous Shopify alternatives available across the web, what sets this platform apart from others is its ability to set up a dynamic store in no time. You will have to pay for the platform after the free trial, but the Shopify team takes care of all the technical tasks.

Magento and Shopify: What Numbers Say!

Description	Shopify	Magento
Number of Websites	600,000	250,000
Number of Extensions	2,400+	3,000+
Number of Themes	60 (external purchase is allowed)	12 (external purchase is allowed)

Now when you are aware of what these platforms are, here is a feature comparison of Magneto and Shopify.

1. Basic Functionality and Ease of Usage:

Both the e-commerce platforms have all the basic store functionalities that are easy to use and maintain.

But if we compare both the platforms, Shopify is a drag and drop website builder. Magento has a steep learning curve, and you will have to learn some technical terms to get through the e-commerce store development process.

With Shopify, the developer can add the products; customize the look and feel of your store and set up the payment process in no time. The best part is you can make the entire e-commerce store without any technical knowledge.

In Magento, you have to learn some code to develop an entire e-commerce store. Not to forget, they have comprehensive user guides that walk you step-by-step through various processes. They also have a forum from where you can learn some tricks of the trade.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When it comes to SEO, both have great search engine optimization capabilities. However, you’ll have to leverage extra plug-ins in the cases for both platforms. But in the case of Shopify, SEO features are automatically built into the website, even in the product pages.

3. Themes and Templates Availability:

In terms of themes and templates, both platforms offer highly-functional customization capabilities. They let you edit the raw code directly and give you full control over the design and appeal of your e-commerce store.

Coming to the differences, Shopify offers a wide variation of mobile-optimized themes. Although many of them are free, if you go for the paid ones, your store gets a professional look and gets equipped with great sales potential. You also get the option to add new pages, change the color palette, move or resize the elements, and integrate the social media feeds.

When it comes to Magento, it has 12 themes. Out of 12, 10 of them are fully responsive. This platform does have free themes, and the paid ones also start at just $1.

With this platform, you can also create your theme or template from scratch. You have the option to add a slide, newsletter, and animation to the website.

4. Inventory Management:

All Shopify plans allow unlimited products in the store. Magento also allows you to add or create an unlimited number of products on the website.

But Shopify is one step ahead in this point due to its integration with drop shipping inventory apps such as Oberlo. Further, in Magento, you have the risk of slowing down your website.

5. Hosting Features:

Your website’s performance, storage, security, and speed are dependent on the hosting you choose. Did you know that 40% of people will abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load? This will result in a loss of customers as well as revenue.

As Shopify is a hosted platform, it takes care of your entire domain and hosting needs; offers you 24*7 support, and let you concentrate on your business.

Magento comes with two hosting options, including Open Source and Cloud. In Open Source hosting, you have to buy your domain and hosting. But in the case of Cloud, your e-commerce store is hosted and maintained by Magento.

Hosting

6. Payment Processing:

Shopify platform is already equipped with a payment processor, which is known by the name of Shopify Payments. If you use Shopify Payments for your e-commerce store, you won’t be charged any transaction fee. Moreover, it comes with the support of 60 external payment processors.

For Magento, you will have to download the extension of the payment processor that you want in your e-commerce store. You can look for these extensions in Magento’s marketplace. However, some factors that make Magento worth the consideration are international market coverage and support for multiple languages.

Summing Up:

When it comes to choosing an ideal e-commerce platform, there are lots of factors to consider including interface, scalability, number of themes, templates, speed, load time, cost, search engine optimization, and more.

Is Shopify worth it? If your considerations are ease of usage, availability of themes, not wanting to pay the transaction fee, and having the hosting and bandwidth taken care of, look no further than Shopify. It is user-friendly, has a payment processor, and comes with an array of themes to help you get started.

But if you are technically savvy and want to build an e-commerce store for a large enterprise, go for Magento. With this platform, you will also have to find your hosting provider, which can become expensive, as your business scale. Moreover, there is a chance that you might have to invest some time as well.

If you are still stuck on the decision, skim again through the comparison of features, weigh their pros and cons, and make the best choice for your business.

Read Also:

Content Rally

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

View all posts

Business To Business [B2B] Content Guide

In the realm of B2B showcasing, making convincing substance is basic to drawing in your crowd and driving business success. However, in the face of so many competing channels and messages, can you really ensure that your content stands out and connects with your target audience? Here are three essential tips that you have to know when it comes to developing a winning B2B content strategy. Know Your Audience Understanding your audience is the first step in creating effective B2B content. This means knowing their pain points, goals, and challenges in addition to their demographic and firmographic information. What keeps them up around evening time? What are their primary concerns? What might your item or administration do to tackle their concerns? Buyer personas research is one method for collecting this data. This entails conducting interviews with your ideal customers, evaluating the analytics on your website and social media, and researching insights and trends in the industry. You can tailor your content and messaging to meet the specific requirements and interests of your target audience by developing a comprehensive profile of them. Place Your Buyer at the Center of Your Messaging It is essential to place your audience at the center of your message once you know who they are. This means addressing their issues, goals, and challenges in detail and presenting your product or service as the answer they require. Instead of talking about the features of your company or product, talk about the benefits and outcomes your buyer will get from working with you. Create a messaging framework that emphasizes the most important ideas and points you want to convey in order to effectively accomplish this. This ought to incorporate your offer, exceptional selling focuses, and key advantages. Make sure that every piece of content you create adheres to this framework and speaks directly to the requirements and interests of your customers. Anchor Your Content Strategy in Thought Leadership Lastly, your content strategy needs to be anchored in thought leadership if you want to stand out in a crowded market. This means creating content that portrays your business as an industry expert and trusted advisor. Thought leadership content gives significant bits of knowledge, patterns, and viewpoints on industry points for your crowd. The first step in creating thought leadership content is to identify the most important topics and themes that your audience cares about. The next step is to create content that either enhances the current conversation or offers a novel point of view. Blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, webinars, and videos are all examples of this. By giving significant substance, you'll assemble trust and validity with your crowd, making them bound to think about your item or administration when the opportunity arrives. Getting Started with B2B Content All in all, an idea administration approach, a purchaser-driven informing structure, and an exhaustive perception of your main interest group are important for creating effective B2B content. You can create content that connects with your audience, inspires commitment, and ultimately supports your business results if you follow these guidelines. Read Also: Streamlining Video Content For Global Audiences With Professional Subtitling Services 10 Ways To Create Amazing Social Media Content For Your Insurance Agency Trends That Shaped The Content Marketing Industry In 2022

Guaranteed Ways Video Marketing Will Help Your Business Grow

Unless you have been living under a rock or a remote island, you will know that video marketing is an important part of every modern business. So, it shouldn’t be shocking that video marketing has become a rage in the market. You should expect that online users will cross the 2 billion marks in the next few months. Did you know that YouTube hosts 1 billion unique visitors every month. This means the popularity of video marketing is not hidden from anyone in the world. With several social networks having launched the video ads, the responses have compelled other business owners to join the bandwagon. It is expected that more than 75% of internet traffic will be filled with videos in the next year. As a modern business owner, if you haven’t adhered to the idea of relying on video marketing, you’re not modern and certainly not going in the right direction. Here, we will guide you through a few ways video marketing can expand your business audience: 1. Present Your Product Make a concise video to let your audience know about the product or service you have to offer. Just like there is a difference between reading a science chapter and attending it in class, the audience develops a better understanding of the product when they have somebody tell them about it. Make sure to educate them about the benefits of your product or service. If you make a good quality video with information about the audience’s interest, you will quickly witness an increase in the number of visitors. We suggest you use a teleprompter, which will make your video more professional. Furthermore, as they flock to your website, most of them might convert into customers quickly. 2. Offer Instructions In today’s time, customers love to sift through video tutorials because they guide them in detail about using the product. For example, If you debut with “How to use this shampoo” or ‘How to unbox this phone,” customers will quickly get inclined towards viewing it. This way, you will not only win the customer’s trust but will also satisfy them quickly. Not to mention, customer loyalty is a very important factor in today’s world, so you must strive for it. 3. Explain Why You Stand Out Let’s take a simple example to elaborate on this concept. If your company is about to launch a new shampoo, you should know that there are hundreds of shampoo options out there already. To impress the customers, you will have to tell them about how your offering is different from the other. Unless you don’t have something valuable to offer, customers will not trust your brand. Visit Soflostudio.com to get a professionally developed video for your video tutorial. Only a top-notch video shooting firm will sift you through the right way to promote your product. 4. Equipping the Video with Special Content is a Good Idea A modern customer is not only concerned about the core product but also expects the company to value them. So, do you have anything else valuable for the new clients? Adding plenty of informational articles on the main website is not going to have a strong impact as strong impact as a video message will. For instance, if you want the customers to know about what goes on behind the scenes in the manufacturing of your product, you can shoot a 3-minute video and give them short glimpses. 5. Explain Your Story Instead of filling the landing page of your website with an abundance of content, it is best to let the customers know about it through a video message. In fact, most people ignore the “About Us” section because it is too dull. Record a video with the chairman of the company, and don’t forget to include glimpses of the journeys of veteran employees in the company. Explaining the founding story of the company will have a strong impact on the minds of the customers. 6. Explain the Vision and Mission of the Company Every stakeholder of the business is interested in knowing about the short-term and long-term goals of the business. This is because stakeholders must stay in touch with the company for a certain time. Only if they are in coherence with the goals of your firm will they decide to stick to it. This is why explaining the vision and mission of the company through a short video can make a difference to the reputation of your company. 7. Video Marketing is the Need of the Hour In simple words, video marketing is not an option but the need of the hour. As soon as a new product or service is launched in the market, customers flock to YouTube, and the social media pages of the business to find video messages. If you don’t rely on video marketing, your competitors will stand out to the customers. Secondly, you need to realize that video marketing is cheap and can save on the costs of traditional advertising. Starting your Digital Marketing Journey? Why you Should Focus on Digital Marketing Digital marketing is not a fad. It’s the new spine of business success in this era and beyond. If you’re wondering where to begin, here’s your cue. Billions of users are online daily, and you shouldn’t just want to create an online space; you need engagement for your business. Here’s why digital marketing should be your first focus as you launch out. 1. Reach a Wider Audience The internet is global, and so is your audience. Unlike traditional marketing, which often limits you geographically, digital marketing allows you to reach people anywhere in the world. Whether it’s through social media, search engines, or email marketing, the potential for audience growth is massive. Think of your product getting discovered by someone on the other side of the globe; that’s digital marketing. 2. Cost-Effective Advertising Traditional marketing methods like TV commercials or print ads can be expensive, especially for small businesses. Digital marketing, on the other hand, offers a variety of affordable options. With tools like social media advertising and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, you can reach thousands of potential customers without spending a fortune. Plus, you can set your budget and adjust it as needed so you don’t overspend. 3. Measurable Results Digital marketing is probably the most measurable form of marketing. We can see, in real-time, what is working and what isn’t, and we can refine our strategies accordingly. How many people are visiting your site? Did you make sales this week? How long do they stay on your site? What were the reasons people returned a product? With online analytics, you can even measure specific goals you want to achieve for your website or blog (i.e., analyze conversions using built-in tools on platforms like Facebook Ad Manager or Google Analytics). In other words, digital marketing will help you understand how your potential buyer base behaves and uses technology to make informed decisions. Final Thoughts The world of digital marketing may seem daunting, but the reality is that digital marketing is an essential component of any successful business in today’s world. You don’t have to do everything at once. Start with a few key tactics and build from there. The most important thing is to begin. Your future customers are already looking for your product or service online. The question is, will they be able to find you? Read Also: Movavi Video Suite Review: A Comprehensive Tool to Create Videos 8 Powerful Reasons You Need To Use Video Marketing Top Ways Video Marketing Will Help Your Business Grow How To Execute An Effective Video Marketing Campaign

7 Tips For Effective B2b Graphic Design

In B2B graphic design each pixel and hue plays a crucial role in sculpting your brand's digital presence. The color palette that characterizes your site and the intricately connected web pages from the tapestry of web design, transcends mere aesthetics to become a strategic fusion of creative expression and practical functionality. To outsource graphic design projects in Australia business-to-business transactions, the need for impeccable graphic design has never been more crucial. It's not just about having a visually appealing website; it's about crafting an immersive brand experience that resonates with your target audience. This is where outsourcing graphic design projects becomes a strategic move. By tapping into the expertise of professionals, you can elevate your brand aesthetics, ensuring that every visual element aligns seamlessly with your business goals. Navigating the realm of advertising presents a multifaceted challenge. The process involves more than just conceptualizing ideas; it extends to the intricate stages of creation, followed by vigilant performance analysis and necessary adjustments. Each phase is interconnected, requiring a delicate balance to ensure optimal outcomes. From the initial spark of ideation to the ongoing scrutiny of performance metrics, managing ads demands a comprehensive approach that acknowledges the complexities inherent in every step of the advertising journey. Up Your B2B Graphic Design Game With These Tips Understand Your Audience Dive deep into the psyche of your B2B audience. What resonates with them? Tailor your graphic design to speak their language, addressing their pain points and aspirations. A design that connects on a personal level is more likely to leave a lasting impression. Simplify Complexity B2B often involves intricate concepts. Transform complexity into clarity through design. Use visuals to simplify intricate information, making it easily digestible. A clean and straightforward design not only looks appealing but also ensures your message is crystal clear. Consistent Branding Maintain a cohesive visual identity across all platforms. Consistency fosters brand recognition and trust. From color schemes to typography, ensure that your design elements align seamlessly with your brand guidelines. A unified appearance reinforces your brand's professionalism. Prioritize Readability In the B2B realm, content is king. Ensure your designs prioritize readability. Choose fonts wisely, mind the contrast, and structure content in a way that guides the reader effortlessly. A visually appealing design is futile if it hinders the communication of essential information. Embrace White Space Don’t fear the emptiness. White space is a powerful design element that directs attention and enhances readability. Allow your visuals room to breathe, ensuring that your key messages stand out amidst the visual noise. Mobile-Friendly Design B2B professionals are often on the go. Optimize your graphic design for mobile devices to ensure that your audience can access crucial information anytime, anywhere. Responsive design is not just a trend; it's a necessity in the B2B landscape. Summary: As per Brandripe, remember that your visuals are more than mere images—they're storytellers. Beyond facts and figures, a compelling narrative weaved into your design adds a layer of depth, fostering connections that transcend the transactional. Read Also : How Personal Branding Online Can Help Your Job Search Why Every Business Needs Digital Marketing Building A Brand For Your Small Business

Magento vs. Shopify: Which Is Best For Your E-commerce Store?

Magento and Shopify in a Nutshell: e-commerce store