Looking to take your eCommerce game to the next level, but feeling like you’re being held back by the eCommerce platform you chose when you were just getting started?
The coronavirus pandemic is changing the world as we know it, with businesses hit hard. As South Africans grapple with the burgeoning COVID19 pandemic, many are anxious about the future. While the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has indeed created unprecedented challenges for many industries, we’re here to remind you that it does not have to break your business.
In fact, NOW is the time to focus on your online presence and your eCommerce shop.
As you know, creating an eCommerce store has never been easier. Owing to the availability of two of the most celebrated eCommerce gladiators—Shopify and WooCommerce, even those with little technical know-how can now design and build an online store and start selling products.
How Shopify outperforms WooCommerce
But the software used to run your online business should make your life easier, not harder. You want software that’s simple to set up so you can build a kick-ass shop that loads fast and makes the purchasing process easy. The last thing you want is to be consistently troubleshooting when you could focus on sales. You want to sell, after all, that’s what your main goal is, right? If you’re thinking of moving over, here’s how Shopify outperforms WooCommerce.
- All-in-one eCommerce software—Although WooCommerce powers 22% of online stores and Shopify powers 17%, these two giants are widely different. Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce offering served up to you in white gloves—with everything you need to sell online ready to go, and WooCommerce runs on an open-source self-hosted platform. Whereas Shopify takes care of everything, self-hosting means users are responsible for the technical aspects of their site.
- Load time is super-fast—If your site isn’t fast, visitors will bounce, and you’ll lose potential sales—and this is where Shopify transcends. Loading fast on desktop and mobile, Shopify is the most competent eCommerce platform for speed. Whereas Shopify sites load in 1.3 seconds, WooCommerce sites load in around 3.4 seconds.
- FREE easy-to-use themes—Although Shopify offers less customization and design flexibility than WooCommerce, Shopify extends the broadest selection of FREE design themes that are more usable than the paid ones. This is extremely practical if you’re not tech-savvy.
- Easy integration with multiple selling channels—Right now, money matters, and for drop-shipping and multi-channel selling, Shopify is better. Unlike WooCommerce, almost every Shopify integration is FREE, offering plenty more opportunities either out-of-the-box or with a FREE app. You can also sync with other channels, like Facebook, Amazon, Google, and eBay. And it also integrates USPS and even WordPress.
- User-friendly interface—WooCommerce is an eCommerce software not for amateurs. While you must learn the basics before you can do anything, Shopify’s admin panel is simple, making it the best choice for the unskilled.
- 24/7 technical maintenance and support—Shopify users never have to deal with technical maintenance. Each Shopify store owner can contact support via mail, chat or ticket 24/7. Simply put, if you don’t want to bother about technical details, go for Shopify.
- Built-in analytics—Analytics is imperative for measuring performance and monitoring market response. When you migrate to Shopify, you will never have to worry about setting up analytics, as the platform has built-in analytics to track your sales and growth. You’ll be able to accumulate data on things like your best-selling products, traffic, abandoned carts, and more.
Ready to make the switch to Shopify?
Switching eCommerce platforms might seem like a big hurdle to overcome, as you’re probably worried about the many man-hours you will lose moving your products and customers from one platform to another. But hear us out: If you want to avoid the technical running of your store and would like to focus more on sales, Shopify is the best platform for you. And the best part is that moving your products, customers, and orders to Shopify is so much easier than you think.
How to migrate data from WooCommerce to Shopify?
If you want to migrate to Shopify, there are a few ways to do it. You can import your products and customer data manually, or you can use the Shopify automated migration tool that does all the work for you. There’s no risk of losing your data during the transition phase because once the import is complete, you will still have access to all your data in your existing platform.
With this tool, you can import your clients’ products and customer data into Shopify, fast, and securely. You can even get a free demo to confirm that it works, then use the pricing estimate tool to see what you can expect to pay for however many products, customers and orders you need to move over. There’s no need for any technical knowledge—connect the two platforms, and you’re ready to go.
Shopify is a superb platform, make no mistake about that—but to ensure the migration process runs smoothly, enlist the help of an experienced Website Design and Development Agency with an in-depth knowledge of Shopify.
At e-Commerce, we are a full-service branding and web design agency that specializes in building custom-designed eCommerce sites, and social media marketing and SEO. As experts in integrating sites with ‘off the shelf’ eCommerce services, we offer migration and consulting services to help you transition from WooCommerce to Shopify.
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