Trying to decide which is the best option for adding an ecommerce function into your website can be complicated. Looking online for support may be more confusing than helpful with each of the main players keen to convince you that they are the best.
The words to keep in mind when considering an ecommerce solution, or any development of your website, are ‘flexibility’ and ‘scalability’. WordPress is a powerful content management system. Using plugins to add functions to your existing website means that your site will evolve with your business.
An ecommerce plugin that handles inventory management, order administration, marketing, customer accounts, shopping carts, and checkout is just one of 55,000 plugins that can be added, and many of them are free. This means that you can integrate a shopping experience into an existing website or create one that draws potential customers in with engaging content in the form of blogs, videos, and information.
Shopify is a purebred ecommerce platform. It does not aim to provide a fully featured website, focusing on providing a Content Management System (CMS) designed around the requirements of commerce. But websites in 2023 are rarely exclusively sales portals; they offer rich content and key customer information.
WordPress offers the flexibility of a more fully featured CMS, allowing bespoke development and extension of the website’s capabilities over time. Wix is an online platform that allows you to build a website with pre-set features using a range of templates. Its ease of use attracts those who are new to websites. As your business evolves however your vision may outgrow the templates and restrictions of the built-in functionality.
This is especially true of eCommerce where you are restricted to their own Wix Stores service. So, the flexibility and scalability that we decided were key requirements of an eCommerce website are hard to manage using Shopify or Wix.
Another key benefit of using WordPress is that you always own the site and most importantly the domain name, rather than using one with the extension myshopify.com – although there are packages available in Shopify that offer a bespoke domain name too.
A domain name reflecting your business brand is a highly effective marketing tool and better reflects the branding of your business. It also means that if you want to move to an alternative platform then your clients will have to use a new address to reach your shop.
As a website builder rather than a CMS, Wix-based websites are restricted to the features and functions Wix provides. With WordPress you can take a personal domain and work with any WordPress developer without the need to rebuild your website around a new platform.
WordPress also has the edge when looking at the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) of your site. Shopify has a basic SEO function built in, but WordPress is recognised as the most flexible platform for optimising your website.
At Soto we have been developing bespoke WordPress websites since 2009. We work with WordPress precisely because it’s scalable and flexible. It allows our clients’ websites to grow with their business, and not have restrictions put on them by templated websites with limited functionality.
Our aim is to become a valuable, collaborative partner in your business; supporting your online presence as your business develops.
If you have any questions about this post, or if you’d like to speak about your vision for your website, please get in touch.
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