In Part 1, we had studied about the fact of WordPress and Shopify usage on the market as well as what is Shopify, in this next part, we will provide you information about what is WordPress and when you should prioritize WordPress ( Shopify). Let’s start:

What is WordPress?

  • All-in-one website software. You can build any kind of website but you need to know a bit about technical setup in terms of installing the software, plugins, theme.
  • Require some certain web building skills such as coding or design
  • WordPress is free open source but to use it, you need web host and domain, it will be charge a fee, so you can start with WordPress at the cost about $5/ month – reasonable.
  • Great content management features.
  • There is a bank of themes available to choose, both free and paid.
  • Exceptional extension possibilities through plugins.
  • Direct support is not provided as Shopify but support community is so strong and helpful.

When Shopify is prioritized?

Shopify is suitable for everyone, we mean everyone includes even people who might not be the master of website building or coding skills, they still can create a complete awesome website by themselves. If you choose to work with Shopify, within a few minutes, your site is complete and can serve the first customer immediately. Shopify will be able to finish all boring aspect of the business such as inventory, taxes and shipping settings easily. Moreover, in terms of cost issue, Shopify is actually affordable solution, only $9/month. So, we can summarize when Shopify is prioritized as follow:

  • When you haven’t had any website before but you desire to launch a quality online store in the fastest way.
  • When you are not the master of design, coding, or website building but you still want to do by yourself, you do not want to hire developers to set for you.
  • When you integrate online store with offline on-location store.
  • In case you need an awesome e-commerce platform with access to customer support.

You sell physical products, digital downloads, services, or dropshipping, it doesn’t matter. Shopify can handle all regardless of the number of product is 1 or even 1000 pieces.

When WordPress is prioritized?

WordPress is a free open source but you need to install it on a web host yourself, configure and ultimately launch a website with it. Moreover, from the first start, WordPress is used mainly for blogging, so it does not include full set of ecommerce features and you need eCommerce plugins like Woocommerce. Besides, you also should integrate some plugins supporting for SEO, social media as well as brandable theme. So, in the nutshell, you should prioritize WordPress when:

  • You have had WordPress site already and the interface is not strange to you.
  • You have had WordPress site already and you do not want to invest any more funds in a new e-commerce platform to minimize cost.
  • You do not dare to experiment with source code
  • You can cope without any fast-reacting customer support.