In a few years, Shopify (CMS) has carved out the lion's share of the eCommerce CMS market. It has become an essential reference. Any entrepreneur looking to build an eCommerce site quickly comes across the Shopify name. But that's not the only possible option for building your online store. There are many alternatives to Shopify, including few serious competitors. They are named PrestaShop, WooCommerce, Magento, or Wix. What are these solutions worth? Who are they for?
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When we start e-commerce, the first thing to determine, after choosing what type of product we are going to sell, is to know which CMS we are going to use to build our online store. A CMS, for "Content Manager System", is a platform that, like WordPress, allows you to create and manage an online site. Today, unless you go through dedicated service and opt for professional site creation, it is impossible for the common people to do without a CMS of this type.
The particularity of CMS dedicated to e-commerce is that they are, unsurprisingly, designed for online commerce, Dropshipping (e-commerce without stock), Print On Demand, etc. Among the various e-commerce CMS available, some of them stand out easily, this is the case of Shopify which remains, to this day, the e-commerce CMS most used by e-merchants and drop shippers.
We will see, however, that competition is significant in the CMS market and that Shopify is not the only serious alternative available to you. Before discussing the competitors at Shopify, let's see together why it dominates the market...
Shopify, the solution popular with e-merchants
What has probably contributed to the success of Shopify and what explains why this CMS is the one that is currently the most present on the web, is its ease of use. When you start in the world of e-commerce, if there is one thing that you hate, it is to be lost in the settings - do you want some of our showcase sites? Indeed, what an e-merchant is looking for when he starts his business, is to start his business, and not spend whole days setting up his site ... this could be a task that takes place over time when the young entrepreneur would then have established himself as a leader in his sector, and not at the start of the process.
The strong point of Shopify, however, is that it offers a lot of features, without complicating things. Thus, everyone finds their way there, whether you are a simple beginner in the world of e-commerce or an experienced e-merchant. With Shopify and its Oberlo app, dropshipping has never been easier. Dropshipping consists of doing e-commerce but without the stock part. When a customer places an order in our store, we just have to place the order with the supplier, and the supplier ships it directly to the customer.
The other strong point of Shopify is to provide users, and in particular beginners, with initiation guides in order to start developing their store at their own pace and by receiving good advice. Regarding the features of Shopify, there are therefore many, even if, as we said, they do not interfere with the overall understanding of how the CMS works. It is necessary to add to these features, the opportunity that you will have to import other applications and themes which will allow you, in the end, to extend the possibility of customizing the CMS.
So what should we remember from Shopify? First of all, because of its excellent handling, but also and above all for the speed of implementation of a website. Do not forget to mention that it is from the Shopify platform that you can also manage everything related to the hosting of your website or even SEO. This element is not to be taken lightly because it can greatly simplify things, especially when you are new to the industry.
All of these features make Shopify the most popular CMS today. In fact, reviews on Shopify are generally very positive.
But this dominant position is certainly not acquired by Shopify ad Vitam eternal, since the competition is raging. Among them, we find in particular Prestashop, WooCommerce, Magento, Wizishop, or Wix. Let's see in more detail the strengths and weaknesses of each of the CMS that we have just mentioned.
WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin more than a CMS
So, of course, WooCommerce is not a CMS as such, but the purpose is the same for those who use this tool, a tool which is therefore similar to a CMS but which remains a simple plugin or extension running under WordPress. It is therefore not very fair to compare WooCommerce with an e-commerce CMS such as Shopify because they do not play in the same court. However, we must resign ourselves to making this comparison given the growing number of users who use WooCommerce to manage their e-commerce services.
From the outset, we can say that WordPress regulars will find their accounts there since they are used to the benchmark CMS that is WordPress. So why the hell should they bother to look elsewhere if they can stay on their own CMS platform to build their showcase website? Of course, the other side of the coin is that WooCommerce will not give them as many possibilities in terms of personalization and implementation of said showcase site, in any case, not as much as can bring CMS that are 100% dedicated to e-commerce, such as the benchmark in the field Shopify.
The big advantage of WooCommerce is that it offers the opportunity to design a site that is both a showcase site and a content site. All this is favorable to the natural referencing of the site, which then has a better chance of appearing in the first pages of Google. WooCommerce can thus be optimized to convert well. WooCommerce is an inexpensive solution. However, choosing WooCommerce will not allow you to say that you then have an e-commerce site, strictly speaking. In addition, you will also have to put your hands in the dough to achieve a convincing result. It's for you to see …
Magento, a powerful but complex e-commerce CMS
Magento (open-source platform) CMS dedicated to e-commerce is therefore aimed above all at advanced people because it is a much more complex system to set up than Shopify, for example. For example, with Magento, you will have to take charge of the SSL certificate, a certificate that will allow your customers to pay for their purchases in complete security.
In addition, to personalize your site, the contribution of a third party will be necessary, unless you are yourself, which we doubt, a web developer. Magento, therefore, turns out to be an extremely powerful solution that is quite complex to implement. You can always try it. In this case, know that you will have access to a large supportive community.
Wix, a solution designed for beginners
Wix allows you to design both traditional websites and websites dedicated to e-commerce. This CMS is primarily intended for beginners. It goes without saying that companies will not resort to this CMS which remains an alternative solution, a solution which is, in our eyes, a little wobbly and limited.
Indeed, you will have to pay a monthly fee of 16.5 € to be able to create an online store, possibilities which will however remain limited compared to a CMS such as Shopify or WordPress.
So which e-commerce CMS to choose?
You are now armed to make your choice! The best e-commerce CMS will depend above all on your needs, your experience, and your means. Because you will understand that there is not an ideal solution for everyone. It is up to everyone to determine which is the best solution to adopt.
It is however true, and this is indisputable, that Shopify remains, to this day, a complete solution and particularly easy to set up. As for the other solutions, these will require further expertise. Make a good choice!
Author Bio
Name- Utkarsh Tiwari
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