eCommerce Usability: Shopify Vs. Magento By: Jenna Erickson, Codal Inc
Shopify and Magento are both systems that allow you to operate and manage an ecommerce website. They are both extremely well known, and they both work wonders while some online stores prefer to use Shopify, and some prefer to use Magento.
Product Features When it comes to product features, both Shopify and Magento allow you to load products and photos, manage orders, manage inventory, and complete a sales cycle. However, Magento offers a stronger system for discounting and marketing promotions, and has better starter features, as Shopify comes with lighter features. While some merchants want as many starter features as possible, some prefer Shopify because a lighter software means that it can be more efficient, the website will be faster, and there will be less ways to mess something up in the backend. Although Shopify may be ‘lighter’, there are more than enough features to keep your website on par.
Web Design It’s undeniable that Shopify offers stellar templates, and best of all, they are free. Not only are they free, but they are very easy to use for someone with no technical background. They are great for small businesses that are on limited budgets and cannot hire a full team of designers and technical architects. While Magento also offers free themes, the design is barely comparable to what Shopify offers for free. Comparing next to each other, the Magento themes can often be dull and less creative.
Integrations Both Shopify and Magento are flooded with both free, and paid integrations and addon’s. Surely, whether you’re looking for an extension to boost your website’s SEO, or you need shipping support, you won’t have trouble while looking for an extension. Since Shopify comes less immersed with features, you may have no other option than to purchase an extension. Some of the extensions you may be forced to purchase, come free as a standard feature in the Magento platform. For an example, the ability to set up onepage checkout is a feature that must be purchased on Shopify, but comes out of the box with Magento.
Payment Processing Shopify integrates with over 70 different payment processors, including the widely used Braintree, and PayPal. With 70 different payment processors, you will probably be able to use your current processor, and if not, it won’t be difficult to find a new one. Magento also integrates with many processors, but it offers onepage checkout for free, in which Shopify does not offer. This is an important feature, and can make the difference between a customer abandoning the cart, and the customer making a large purchase.
Conclusion Some of the major differences between Shopify and Magento are their accessibility and design capabilities. The ease of use for each platform differs; Shopify is easier to use, but once you get over the implementation and learning curve of Magento, it also becomes easier to use. Magento is sometimes ideal for midsize to large businesses because of its scalability and out of the box features. However, if you're a small to midsize company, and looking for a userfriendly shopping cart with an outstanding design, than Shopify may be a better fit for your eCommerce website. About The Author: This Article was written by Codal’s Writer. Codal is a full stack Application Development and UX Design Agency with a focus on blending an Agile and Lean innovation process with the latest emerging technologies.
Codal Inc UX Design & Apps Development Agency www.codal.com