Author: 4HK, Digital Marketing Agency

 

The Verdict

 

There are a lot of eCommerce platforms out there, but today we will focus on the three most popular: Shopify, Wix, and Woocommerce. 

 

We’ll be comparing them based on 4 criteria - ease of use, design & SEO performance & load time. 

 

For those who want the hard and fast verdict, look no further than the comparison table below (open the image in a new tab to read it more easily!):

 

Source: 4HK

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Ease of Use 

Source: Shopify

 

Especially for new users, the set-up procedures and guides on Shopify and Wix are the easiest to follow. 

 

They’ve designed the set-up procedures as simple steps, so you can build your eCommerce sites quickly and easily. 

 

In comparison, WooComerce has a very involved set of set-up procedures, possibly even needing some coding expertise to properly build the website & set-up the domain name. 

 

It’s time-consuming and complex, so you should expect to set aside a week or so to complete it.

 

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Design

Source: Wix

 

It’s important for a site to be attractive, easy to navigate, and match your brand image. Of the three platforms, Shopify offers the fewest free themes. 

 

You’ll need to spend a few extra bucks if you want to use other sleek themes with extra features. 

 

On the flip side, WooCommerce offers 1000 free themes in addition to plug-ins you can pick and choose from. That said, they are often less ‘modern’ looking compared to their counterparts. 

 

Wix offers the most freedom in terms of creativity - you can pick from hundreds of templates, themes, all of which are further customisable to fit your needs (and imagination!) 

 

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SEO Performance

Source: Shopify

 

One of the most important considerations for choosing the right eCommerce platform is its SEO performance. 

 

Both Shopify and Wix offer the fundamentals in shaping your site’s SEO, but there is very little wiggle room for editing. 

 

In comparison, WooCommerce is connected to WordPress, and therefore lets you use a wide variety of plugins & other tools to help your website excel in SEO ranking. Many of these plugins are free to use. 

 

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Load Time

Source: Semrush

 

The load time of a website is pivotal in determining traffic volume, which in turn directly affects customer retention.

 

Based on Google’s recommendations, it is best to limit your site’s loading time to 1 - 3 seconds. The longer it takes to load, the more likely a potential customer will bounce (ie. leave your website before it’s fully loaded). 

 

Of the three platforms, Shopify is the only one that fulfils Google’s recommendations at 1.3 seconds. 

 

Both Wix and WooCommerce exceed the 3-second mart, at 3.2 and 3.4 seconds respectively. 

 

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In Summary

If you’re a beginner with little to no technical background, Wix and Shopify are your best bets. 

 

More specifically, if you’re looking to showcase your artistic side, Wix offers the widest breadth to flex your creativity in terms of website design. 

 

If you’re looking to develop a website with an advanced SEO setup, along with all the necessary tools, then WooCommerce should be your go-to. 

 

That said, considering that page load times plays a huge role in how well your site ranks on Google, Shopify gains some major points there.

 

Note: this article has been edited for length and clarity 

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4HK - for Hong Kong is an experiential agency that provides digital marketing services and consultations for our clients. 

 

With a proven reputation in the industry, they aim to grow together with our clients through data and innovation. 4HK focuses on solving our client’s problems and performance & creative solutions. 

 

Keep up with them on Twitter, Linkedin, or visit their website to learn more about their services! 

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