Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix – Online Store Builder
Competitive Analysis Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix
A competitive analysis of Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix allows evaluating the different features offered by these companies and helps to choose the best that matches your needs. I have compared the following features of these three platforms:
- Pricing
- General Features
- Web Features
- Store Features
- Marketing Features
- Support features
Pricing [ Shopify Vs Magento ]
For businesses that do not have a brick and mortar set-up, the costs related to setting up and running the online store may be the only cost that need to be taken care of. On the other hand, for those that have an offline shop, an online store is an additional cost. An ideal eCommerce platform is the one which offers maximum features at a reasonable price so that the businesses can run as a profitable venture at the earliest. Here I compare Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix in terms of the costs involved for setting up and running an online store
Shopify
| Plan Name | Basic | Shopify | Advanced |
| Price/Month | Rs. 2100.00* | Rs. 5800.00* | Rs. 21800.00* |
*Prices converted to INR from USD
Magento
| Plan Name | Community | Cloud | Enterprise |
| Price/Month | Free+ | Rs. 12,500.00* | Rs. 1,30,000.00* |
+ Development charges may be applicable *Prices converted to INR from USD
Shopnix
| Plan Name | Quicky | Starter | Pro | Premium |
| Price/Month | Rs. 1000.00 | Rs. 2000.00 | Rs. 5000.00 | Rs. 10,000.00 |
Shopnix – Online Store Builder
Online stores are the new way of shopping! Majority of the younger generation as well as numerous elderly individuals prefer online shopping as it saves time. Additionally, many products are available at a cheaper price than in the physical stores. Availability of smart phones which makes internet browsing easier also has lead to manifold increase in the number of online shoppers. This has lead to many shop owners opting to have an online store along with the offline sales. Numerous others are only operating an online store!
While this option seems to be highly lucrative, online stores do come with certain challenges. Foremost among them is the eCommerce model. While companies such as Magento offer an open source, free to use platform, several other companies such as Shopify and Shopnix offer a simple to use, ready platform for a fixed price. Let’s compare Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix in terms of the different features offered by these platforms and know which the best one for you is.
Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix
Outlook
There is one basic difference which separates Magento from other eCommerce platforms such as Shopify and Shopnix. Magento is an open to use software which is available freely and can be used by anyone to build an online store. On the other hand, eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Shopnix and others offer a ready-to-use store set-up for a fee. However, each option has its own pros and cons. Here I compare the features and offers of Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix. Let us first know some background of these companies before proceeding to their features.
| Company | Summary |
| Shopify | Shopify is based in Canada and it was founded in the year 2006. There are about 600,000 online stores in its kitty and is hence considered one of the leading eCommerce companies. The Shopify platform support both online and offline sales. |
| Magento | Magento was developed in California and was first released in 2008. It has become highly popular among small store owners as well as large enterprises. More than 250,000 stores are using this technology to run their stores. |
| Shopnix | Shopnix is a relatively newer eCommerce platform which was started in 2011 with over 600 stores. Shopnix is offering a low-cost, easy to maintain platform and is looking to create a niche for itself in the Indian market. One of the big players associated with Shopnix in India is Sapna Bookstores. |
The community option of Magento is available freely. However, you need to have basic understanding of the technology to tinker around with the available features. Some of the features such as inventory, hosting, payment gateway may need to be purchased separately. Further, you may need technological assistance to set it up.
General Features
Let’s now look at some of the general features offered by Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix.
| Features | Shopify
(Basic Shopify) |
Magento
(Community) |
Shopnix
(Starter Plan) |
| Number of products that can be added | Unlimited | Unlimited | 2500 |
| SMS per month | Not specified | Not specified | 500 |
| Payment gateway | Included | Available | Included |
| Free trial | Available | Not available | Available |
Magento and Shopify allow you to upload unlimited products on the store, while Shopnix allows you to upload about 2500 products (quite sufficient for a small business). Shopnix has an added feature of 500 SMS per month.
Web Features
These features determine how the product is displayed, the page outlook and how safe your website will be. SSL certification is needed for categorising your website as a safe site.
| Features | Shopify
(Basic Shopify) |
Magento
(Community) |
Shopnix
(Starter Plan) |
| Themes | 100+ themes | 100+ | 100+ themes |
| Domain & email | To be purchased | To be purchased | Free domain + 2 emails |
| SSL certification | Included | Not included | Included |
Compared to Shopify and Magento, Shopnix offers free domain and SSL certification. This seems to be advantageous for those opting for Shopnix.
Store Features
An online store is dependent on these features for the daily running. You need to be able to list the products (and their variants in terms of size, color etc), store the data of your buyers (such as the products ordered, shipping address, email details), manage orders and update the order status. Let’s compare Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix in terms of store features.
| Features | Shopify
(Basic Shopify) |
Magento
(Community) |
Shopnix
(Starter Plan) |
| Catalog & product management | Available | Available | Offered |
| Abandoned cart reminder | Available | Not available | Available |
| Product variants | Available | Available | Can configure the products to have multiple options (eg. Color, size, weight) |
| Customer & order management | Available | Available | Available |
| Bulk product additions | Available | Not available | Available |
| Product notification & preorders | Not specified | Available | Available |
| Product order & stock reports | Available | Available | Available |
| Discounts & coupons | Available | Available | Available |
| Integration with marketplaces | Available | Not available | Not offered currently |
| Courier tracking | Available | Available | Available |
| Wishlist | Not specified | Not available | Available |
| Integrated courier service | Available | Not available | Assistance provided for tying up with a courier provider of choice |
Magento fares OK in these aspects, while Shopify leads.
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Marketing Features
Upselling your products and featuring it across the internet is quite important as your buyers may not be aware of your existence (especially if you are new business). Therefore, the marketing features play a key role in promoting your business.
| Features | Shopify
(Basic Shopify) |
Magento
(Community) |
Shopnix
(Starter Plan) |
| Automated SEO | Available | Available | Available |
| Newsletters & testimonials | Not specified | Not available | Offered |
| Product rating and reviews | Available | Not available | Not available |
| Email marketing | Available | Not available | Not specified |
| Social network integration | Not Available | Not available | Available |
The marketing features for Magento may need to be developed separately or integrated with some third-party providers. Shopify has better offers in this aspect.
Support Features
What do you do when you are stuck? Ask for help! All eCommerce platforms have support teams which help in setting up and running your online store. Let’s compare the type of support offered by these 3 companies.
| Features | Shopify
(Basic Shopify) |
Magento
(Community) |
Shopnix
(Starter Plan) |
| On-boarding assistance | Available | Not available | Available |
| Email and phone support | Available | Not available (blogs and support forums available) | Available |
| Personal account manager | Not available | Not available (blogs and support forums available) | Not available |
Magento boasts of a very strong support network through their blogs and support forums, where numerous users solve the queries raised by Magento users. Shopify and Shopnix on the other hand have a dedicated team that helps in on-boarding as well as are available over email and phone to answer your queries.
Final Verdict
When comparing Shopify Vs Magento Vs Shopnix, Magento clearly seems to be the leader as it is a free technology. However, this may be the best option for tech-savvy entrepreneurs who are able to understand the nuances of coding. One may not be able to harness all the features of Magento without spending a lot of time understanding its basic set up. Additionally, this needs periodic tweaking to add newer features. This may be cumbersome for those who are not internet or tech savvy. Shopify and Shopnix seem to be better options as they offer readymade platforms that can be easily customized.
Ready-to-use platforms are easier to handle for individuals who are not tech-savvy. These platforms offer ready to use templates which can be easily adapted to ones requirements. Shopify users may need additional assistance to use the store to its full potential (which can add up to your basic costs). Further, several apps which make it easier to run the store may need to be purchased. Shopnix seems to be a better bet when all these aspects are compared. A simple store at an affordable price is offered by Shopnix and may be the best option for those who want to start their online store at a smaller scale and are not tech-savvy.
