eCommerce is in the air! The advent of internet and technology has offered unlimited opportunities to sellers and also helped reach the ‘cloud.’ eCommerce stores that are cloud-based have enabled sellers reach buyers from all over the world. Numerous businesses which were restricted to a brick and mortar store now don’t even need a physical store! With the number of players increasing in the eCommerce space, sellers are in for a treat. The competition helps cut down prices and makes online stores affordable to all. However, one should be careful not to compromise key requirements while setting up an online store. An ideal online store technology would be the one that provides most of the features at an affordable price without compromising the security (of data related to both buyer and seller). It is hence important to compare eCommerce platforms before selecting the one you want to go with. In this article, I compare Shopify, WooCommerce and Shopnix.

Shopify Vs WooCommerce Vs Shopnix

Outlook

The background information about the company’s founders, its location and the key influencers helps you understand about the company’s credibility, efficiency and also guess whether they are going to be there with you throughout your career. It would be difficult to keep changing the vendors frequently and hence it is important to choose the right one. Let us compare the basic information of Shopify Vs WooCommerce Vs Shopnix.

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis of Shopify Vs WooCommerce Vs Shopnix is required to evaluate the online store features offered by these companies. This is essential to choose the best platform which perfectly 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

There are different aspects that need to be taken care if while setting up an online store. As for all other businesses, there are costs related to setting up and running the online store. Apart from the domain name which needs to be renewed annually, there may be other periodic costs that need to be accounted. An ideal eCommerce platform offers maximum features at a reasonable price so that the businesses can run as a profitable venture at the earliest. Cheapest offer may not be the worst, while the highest charging platform may often be not the best. So, it is preferable to carefully evaluate all the features offered by different players before signing up. Here I compare Shopify Vs WooCommerce Vs Shopnix in terms of the costs involved for setting up and running an online store

Shopify

*Prices converted to INR from USD

WooCommerce

There is no cost involved for the store. However, costs related to hosting, domain name, SSL certification, payment gateways, themes (other than free themes), plug-ins (other than basic plug-ins), etc., are additional.

Shopnix

While Shopify and Shopnix give you a basic idea of the initial setup and running costs, WooCommerce does not provide a clear cut idea of the same. Several of its features are available as free (with limitations), while majority of the popular themes and plug-ins (which help smoother running of the store) need to be purchased or subscribed separately. Hence, it is difficult to identify the costs upfront.

General Features

Let’s now look at some of the general features offered by Shopify Vs WooCommerce Vs Shopnix.

WooCommerce does not specify about the SMSs that are available on a monthly basis and may need to be purchased separately. Shopnix allows you to upload about 2500 products (quite sufficient for a small business) while there is no limit to the products can be added on Shopify’s basic plan. Shopnix however, 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.

Shopnix offers free domain and SSL certification. This seems to be advantageous for those opting for Shopnix. WooCommerce offers limited number of themes, while the best ones need to be subscribed on an annual basis and may cost upto Rs. 8000 per year.

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 WooCommerce Vs Shopnix in terms of store features.

All the features being offered on WooCommerce need to be purchased (one time) or subscribed (annual renewal) separately. Therefore, although the initial cost may be almost zero, running costs may be much higher than Shopify or Shopnix. Additionally, there is no clear cut upfront idea about the overall costs involved in setting up an online store using WooCommerce. You may end up paying more rather than saving!

Marketing Features

Upselling the store 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.

Shopify has better offers in this aspect. As mentioned earlier, WooCommerce features need to be bought or subscribed separately. While some features may be freely available, many need to be bought for a hassle-free running of your store. This at times may be confusing.

Support Features

What do you do when you are stuck? Ask for help! eCommerce companies generally 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.

WooCommerce does not have a dedicated team to help you in on-boarding. However, they do offer support through blogs and community forums where you can discuss your issues and get solutions. However, it may often be time consuming and you may not find instant solutions to all your issues. 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

Shopnix seems to lead when comparing Shopify Vs WooCommerce Vs Shopnix. Although it does not have many stores in its kitty, the features offered by it and the support provided are highly promising. You get the best of the rest within an affordable price at Shopnix.