Magento vs. Shopify: The Crucial Decision for Building an Online Store

We live in the digital world where buying and selling on the web has become a norm. If you are looking to take your physical store online, there are multiple ecommerce platforms to help you out. But, as a business owner you may face the paralyzing problem of too many choices. If you want to convert your brick and mortar store into an online one, you have to choose between the multiple ecommerce platforms such as Shopify and Magento.

Business is not only about making money but it is also about making the right expenses. You must consider the cost of the ecommerce platform and your budget before jumping on the bandwagon. Both the options are a preferred choice of majority of businessmen and website developers. As a businessman, selecting an ecommerce platform is a crucial decision that you have to make. Consider several different things before you select one.

Let’s Talk about Money!

Magento is free-open source software. Its community edition is free for you to use. It means if you opt for it, the only expense that you will have to face is the hosting of your online store which can be in the range of $5-$100. You can go for the premium Magento Enterprise Edition for $18,000 per year as well. It is the only way you can obtain vendor support. However, you can always enjoy community support from other developers and solve any doubt that you have. When you opt for Magento, do consider the cost of hiring a developer. If you choose it, you will have to pay transaction fees according to the payment gateway that you employ.

Shopify is a software-as-a-service (SASS) that you can take advantage of after paying money. There are multiple Shopify plans to help you make a choice. Even though, the most basic plan starts with $29 per month, you can choose the Shopify Lite plan for just $9 per month. Also, remember that the platform compels you to pay transaction fees if you do not use their payment gateway. But, the best thing about it is that it provides you with a 24*7 support to solve all your queries quickly.

The Matters of Marketing

Do you think that marketing is not even remotely related to choosing an ecommerce platform? Well, an ecommerce platform has a great impact on your marketing and SEO strategies. Shopify provides basic level options such as editable title tags and meta tags, canonical URL tags, search engine console tags, robot.txt and sitemap.xml files,etc.

On the other hand, Magento is a completely customizable solution that helps you to tweak your online store according to your strategies. You can optimize the webpages and edit meta tags easily. With Magento, SEO-friendly URLS, redirects, nofollow tag, canonical tags, Google sitemap and Google content APIs become simple and easy to manage.

Functionality is the Key

When it comes to functionality, both the ecommerce platforms excel in their own way. They are powerful to manage the day-to-day operations of your business. Shopify allows you to sell your products on social media platforms as well as offers you a PoS ( Point of Sale) option for your physical store. The company makes it easy for you to manage your physical store and your virtual one. You may face trouble in selling your products on Ebay, Amazon and various other similar online portals. Shopify doesn’t offer much options in that situation and you will have to depend on separate apps for it. Also, the template options are fewer than Magento.

Magento is ideal when you want to sell you products on multiple online portals. It enables you to expand your business to its full capacity. You can use several extensions and manage inventory database effectively. It makes personalized offers a reality for your customers. You can enjoy multiple built-in features such as coupons, promotional pricing, upselling, free shipping, etc. with the ecommerce platform.

The Conclusion: Who is the Winner?

If you own a small store and do not possess in-depth knowledge of PHP and coding, think Shopify because it is simple and user-friendly. With it, you can create a store within minutes and begin your online business immediately.

When you want complete customization, go with Magento. The open-source software provides greater flexibility and enables you to change anything you desire. It is ideal for businessmen who are looking for a comprehensive online solution for every single product that they provide to the customers. Magento is a bit technical but once you get the hang of it, it will become simple for you. And, you can always hire a Magento developer to help you with your online store. Get in touch with a reputed IT staffing firm who can understand your requirements and provide you with Magento developers and IT professionals quickly.

Do you want to give a boost to your business? When you want to start an online store, make a choice between Shopify and Magento. If you are confused, it is best to get in touch with an IT professional who can help you with IT decisions and make things simpler for you. Work with Optimal Infosystems, Iselin-based IT staffing company and get ready to hire the best IT professionals for building your online store.

I believe that a right person in the wrong place can be disastrous. We started Optimalinfosystems with the same belief in mind.