We help you decide between Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom online store.
Shopify and WooCommerce are the most popular eCommerce tools on the Internet with good reason. They both have pros and cons, or you could say they are designed to solve different problems. And sometimes you just need something more custom that goes beyond (or beneath) the functionality of these off-the-shelf tools.
If you are running an online store now but want help with the technical aspects of redesigning and building your store you’ve come to the right place.
If you are running an online store now but want help writing a marketing plan, store content, and /or creating your social media, we can also help you there.
We have extensive experience with these eCommerce options and many more. When you work with us we begin by helping you decide which solution is the best fit for your company.
Shopify
We have run our own Shopify shop, and we appreciate Shopify for its ease of use. In fact, ease of use is what Shopify is most known for.
The full service includes web hosting as well as security, performance, and backups. It also includes a payment processor and inventory tools. Along with eCommerce features, Shopify can host your entire website including a blog and other special features.
The Shopify platform has a lot of free themes for you to select from and they guide you through adding products. You use their drag and drop tools to set things up the way you want.
Because Shopify is a system, it is the case that your control is somewhat limited without getting into complicated coding. Some of our clients have grown frustrated when they’ve wanted to add a feature that wasn’t available through Shopify or a plugin (and didn’t want to pay for a completely custom solution). However, it works well for many businesses as the designs are very polished and there are plenty of features available to start and grow your online store.
The downside to Shopify is cost, and that’s not just my opinion. This is something we have heard from clients over the years. The startup and monthly cost for Shopify itself is very reasonable, but you may find your store needs add-ons — and each one has a monthly cost which can add up quickly.
Shopify is a great platform for those starting out who don’t have a lot of technical skills. It’s also great for a growing eCommerce business because you don’t have to add a technical person to the staff. At the same time there are plenty of larger corporate businesses on the platform. So yes, it can be a good option regardless of your business size or rate of growth.
We can help you with your Shopify Store
- Configure Shopify Settings
- Add site branding and support pages
- Configure site/store design
- Customize category and product pages
- Set up product categories, options, and features
- Help identify, install, and configure store add-ons
- Consult and configure payment options
- Configure custom check-out fields
- Configure discount and coupons
- Custom coding and features if needed
WooCommerce on WordPress
Our own store, RavenFoxCapes.com is built and runs on WooCommerce software. Because WooCommerce runs on WordPress this can also include a complete website.
WooCommerce is kind of the reverse of Shopify. Where Shopify is easy to use, WooCommerce generally requires more technical skills. And where Shopify can get expensive, the cost of WooCommerce can be quite low.
You will pay an annual fee for WooCommerce and hosting, but you aren’t paying monthly fees as with Shopify. Thus the cost is lower for most businesses and a lot of the additional functionality is available as free plugins.
Not only is cost generally lower on WooCommerce, but flexibility is almost unlimited when it comes to customizations. You have full control over how your site looks design-wise. With over 50,000+ WordPress plugins available you can add any kind of functionality you want, often for free or for a small annual fee, and WordPress’ modular architecture means virtually any feature can be added by a skilled developer (such as Full Orbit Web and Marketing).
WooCommerce isn’t a service, which means you or your developer needs to install the WooCommerce plugin, manage updates, keep backups, and make sure your site is secure. You also will need to sign up for a merchant account with a service like Stripe, in order to take payments.
The main downside of WooCommerce is that you or your team will need some basic technical skills to deal with updates.
If you are looking to migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce – or wish to redesign your WooCommerce store – call us, we’d be delighted to discuss the project.
We can help you with your WooCommerce Store
- License and install WooCommerce plugin
- Add site branding and support pages
- Configure site/store design
- Customize category and product pages
- Set up product categories, options, and features
- Consult and configure sales tax options
- Consult and configure shipping options
- Consult and configure payment options
- Consult, install, and configure feature add-ons
- Configure discount and coupons
- Custom coding and features if needed
Custom Programming
We have also built custom shops for clients that are all fresh code. Custom sites are a fit if your store needs functionality or integration that you can’t get with Shopify or WooCommerce. You don’t want to go this direction unless necessary as building from scratch is more expensive and time consuming, but sometimes it’s the best solution.
With more than 25 years in the industry, we have built very complex stores from the ground up and fairly simple ones as well. Give us a call if you wish to have a consultation on this option. We can help you decide if a custom store makes sense for your company.
We can program your custom store
Great when your business does not fit easily into a standard shopping-cart type of store.
- Carefully develop list of features and functions
- Configure periodic payments, micropayments, and more
- Design and program custom reports or data exports
- Create custom administrative tools to make it as easy as possible to manage your store
- Program automatic emails and/or text messages
