Which Shop System is the Best?

Clearly.
It always depends.

Online stores are a small science in themselves. At the same time, it’s not witchcraft to set up a perfectly functioning online store. As always (in life), the framework conditions are decisive as to which solution really covers one’s own needs best. Of course, this is also the case when choosing the best shop system: essential Shopify, WooComerce, and Magento offerings to choose from (in addition to custom-programmed solutions). DeSight Studio clearly summarizes the pros (+) and cons (-) of these providers for you.

Shopify
Shopify is a closed system hosted on its own servers, unlike WooCommerce and Magento’s open systems. Due to this isolation, the shop applications run very stably, and individual adjustments do not cause the entire system to falter. As a kind of “island solution,” Shopify can afford to charge a monthly fee for this service plus a revenue share.

All payment providers are on board out of the box. As a shop owner, you do not have to worry about their implementation.

Shopify is at the same time so simple that even beginners know how to use it, but also so versatile that store professionals can get the most out of the possibilities.

Since Shopify is a closed system, the software and platform’s security and maintenance are entirely up to the Shopify operators. This takes a lot of responsibility away from you as a store owner!

Shopify retains up to 2% commission for each order placed via the online shop. This can be very expensive for a very successful online shop and can be a criterion for exclusion.

Shopify is a pure shop system. If you want to run a blog with a store function, you either have to install two systems on your platform (link them together) or rely on another storage solution.

The Shopify workflow is largely predefined. Changes to this process are not planned. Individual shops that deviate from the standard require somewhat more elaborate workarounds via additional apps and plugins.

With Shopify, you opt for a closed system that, unlike the open systems of WooCommerce and Magento, is hosted on its own servers.

WooCommerce
Anyone who works with their own blog or website in the WordPress environment is well served with WooCommerce. Because WooCommerce can be optimally integrated into the WordPress world as a plugin – and is considered the most successful shop system for these applications today.

Unique store themes have been developed for WooCommerce, such as “TWenty-Nineteen” and “Stormfront” so that users can use the full potential of your online shop.

WooCommerce is flexibly adaptable to many product divisions, such as tickets, digital products, physical products, sales items in protected member areas, and external products in affiliate marketing (like Amazon).

The shop scope can be scaled quickly and easily and integrated almost seamlessly into the WordPress content management system (CMS).

The focus of WooCommerce is clearly on the USA. Legal certainty in Germany (keyword: invoice and delivery bill) and the European market can only be established by installing the (free) WordPress plugin Germanized or the premium plugin German Market.

Various plugins also make the store environment a bit (technically) insecure. Updates should not be installed just like that but tested in advance in a secure environment because the “patchwork” can lead to internal problems.

WooCommerce has an extremely broad community – in English. If you are looking for solutions in German only, you won’t always find them.

As a professional open source solution, Magento also offers a wide range of customization options for individualizing your own online shop.

Magento
With Magento, you choose one of the best mature shop systems currently on the market. Magento also offers a wide range of customization options for individualizing your own online shop as a professional open-source solution. Magento has somewhat higher hardware requirements and entry hurdles around training and maintenance due to its bandwidth and complexity.

Magento is almost infinitely scalable. When the offer grows, Magento grows smoothly with it. Thanks to the modular structure, further processing steps can also be integrated in a technically stable way.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is purely a tool already installed in Magento. Thus, the products can be optimized directly for search engines, facilitating finding and selling.

Multilingualism and multishop capability are also no problem. Magento offers the (ambitious) use all the possibilities to use the web to sell his products.

The high hardware requirements show that Magento is not really aimed at small shop operators but rather sees itself as an enterprise solution.

This is also directly reflected in higher server costs for hosting.

Due to the versatility, the complexity increases. Magento requires profound PHP knowledge and know-how in the area of development frameworks. The maintenance effort of the online shop increases as a result.

What suits you and your company?
As already mentioned initially, the choice of the appropriate online shop system depends on the environment and the products and services to be sold. As an online agency, DeSight Studio guarantees professional hosting and servicing for all (these) standard shop systems. However, which of these solutions best suits you, your products, and your (digital) business environment should be analyzed individually. And that’s exactly what we are the right contact for!

DeSight Studio GmbH | Wolfgang Zdimal

Journalist and professional copywriter Wolfgang Zdimal wrote this article on behalf of DeSight Studio GmbH and published by DeSight Studio GmbH. Wolfgang Zdimal, who manages his business from Vienna, Austria, has more than 20 years of professional experience and writes for the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, BAWAG P.S.K. Bank or just for DeSight Studio GmbH.