When you are ready to take your website to the next level by implementing e-commerce, there are a few options for doing so.
These choices are likely going to depend on a number of personal and subjective issues that make choosing a blanket best option for everyone almost impossible.
Both WordPress and Magento offer their own unique options for e-commerce. The differences and similarities may surprise you.
In this article, we will attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of each platform, show you the user rate, and give some of the pros and cons that each may have. This will be an objective look at WordPress Vs Magento to see which is best for your new e-commerce website.
WordPress Vs Magento (Which is Best for E-Commerce + Pros and Cons)
User Base for WordPress Vs Magento Over Time
Have you ever been on a website and wondered what platform they use? In many cases, you can scroll all the way to the bottom of the webpage, and there you may find something about the platform they use. However, this is not always true. So, who utilizes WordPress? Magento? Let’s look at the numbers.
WordPress:
- WordPress is utilized by an impressive nearly 60,000,000 websites
- Over 500 new websites are built using WordPress EVERYDAY
- WordPress is used by nearly 15% of the world’s top 100 websites
- WordPress’ WooCommerce their dedicated e-commerce plugin powers nearly 30% of all e-commerce sites worldwide
Magento:
- Magento was acquired by Adobe in 2018, and this is expected to boost Magento’s web presence
- Magento is used by over 1,500,000 websites
- Magento is powering 12% of e-commerce sites worldwide, second only to WordPress’ WooCommerce
- Over 1/10th of Magento sites are based in the US
- Users have doubled since August of 2018
These numbers may give some a headache, don’t worry this evaluation is going to be about much more than the numbers. There are some advantages to both WordPress and Magento, as well as a few disadvantages to each. These and any differences will be discussed in more detail.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a content management software that allows individuals (and businesses) to create professional websites. WordPress utilizes several customizable themes and plugins to make a website unique.
For e-commerce, most WordPress ran websites utilize the WooCommerce plugin to add purchase options to their existing WordPress site. WooCommerce is not a standalone platform but used as part of a WordPress built site.
WordPress is available to anyone that wants to build a website, with a few restrictions regarding content. For example, free WordPress websites that are not hosted on another platform cannot add the WooCommerce plugin or any way that makes income to their site. Additionally, free WordPress sites cannot contain any adult content or risk violating their terms of service.
The types of websites that can be built using WordPress is nearly endless. In addition to e-commerce sites, WordPress is the premier blogging platform, allowing the simple website and content management via an easy to use administrative backend.
For novice users, WordPress offers tons of free and paid to learn opportunities to learn how to build a website, understanding search engine optimization, and many other topics.
WordPress provides users with regular updates to both the WordPress.com free site and WordPress.org self-hosted sites that utilize WordPress content management software. Finally, WordPress offers instant publishing abilities thanks in part to their easy to use import/export options, allowing users to quickly move any existing website to WordPress with only a few clicks.
If you are after a web host for your new web host, then you should definitely check out my best UK WordPress web hosting guide where I cover the 3 providers recommended by WordPress themselves.
E-commerce sites that use WordPress include:
- Clickbank
- BookRiot
- Non-e-commerce sites including:
- The Walt Disney Company
- AMC’s The Walking Dead
- The New Yorker
What is Magento?
Magento is an open source e-commerce based website platform. Unlike other platforms that may offer e-commerce options, Magento is specifically designed for e-commerce.
Magento users get the benefit of building a fast and convenient dedicated e-commerce site. In addition to their dedication to providing the best e-commerce platform, Magento offers many other tools, including easy to use inventory management, marketing, and search engine optimization.
Magento’s fully customizable platform allows users to scale their business quickly. Whether you sell only a couple of products or thousands, Magento interface remains an easy to use solution that can grow as your store grows.
Magento is designed for the most novice website owners to benefit from the work and research of website engineers. Thanks to Magento’s massive online community, users that run into issues have access to seasoned developers and engineers to answer any questions they may have.
Magento is available in two versions. The free version, community edition is available for small e-commerce sites that want basic functions such as categories, coupons, and other simple to use options. There is also limited access to some of Magento’s premium features like relational connections and upselling.
The premium, enterprise edition offers users a wide variety of options tailor to fit their specific e-commerce needs. Larger or fast-growing e-commerce sites can enjoy the benefits of exclusive expert advice and a fully customizable online store.
E-commerce sites that use Magento include:
- Victoria Beckham
- Christian Louboutin
- Nike
- Ford
- Birchbox
Pros of Using WordPress for E-Commerce:
As with any software, hardware or platform, there are bound to advantageous options, as well as some shortcomings. The pros and cons that some have encountered using WordPress and the necessary plugins to build and run an e-commerce site include some of the following:
- Easy to customize – WordPress is one of the easiest platforms for superior customization. Even sites using identical themes and plugins can appear significantly different.
- Geared for Small Business – WordPress is great for a small business just starting in e-commerce, or individuals currently using WordPress for content management that wan to add e-commerce to their existing site.
- Potential Cost Savings – With a huge number of free themes and plugin options, a WordPress e-commerce site can be live for mere pennies a day.
- Integrated Regular Updates – WordPress is updated on a consistent basis
- Widely Used Platform – Almost everyone is familiar with WordPress in some way, even if they do not realize they have used it.
Cons of Using WordPress for E-Commerce:
- Lack of Support for E-Commerce – unfortunately since e-commerce is not the number one priority of WordPress, the support for issues related to e-commerce tends to be a bit lackluster
- Requires Plugin for E-Commerce
- WooCommerce – the best e-commerce plugin for WordPress, and the most widely utilized
- EDD (Easy Digital Downloads) – an e-commerce plugin specifically designed to handle solely digital content
- BigCommerce – a separately hosted e-commerce plugin
- Decreased Security – This likely stem from the lack of focus on e-commerce, however, there have been a number of security issues associated with e-commerce on WordPress.
- Outsourced Themes – any time theme or any type of development can come from multiple sources there is a tendency for problems when they interact. Although most themes available for WordPress have e-commerce capabilities via additional plugins, that does not ensure they will work seamlessly.
Pros of Using Magento for E-Commerce
While Magento may be quite different from WordPress in their primary focus, it still has pros and cons that should be considered before jumping in. Some of these are listed here:
- Flexible – The options of customization are nearly unlimited. You can design your e-commerce store from the ground up or utilize a number of themes and templates.
- Community Support – Magento has amassed a huge connected community that is ready to jump in to help most other users. Though you need to remember they are not all professionals.
- Available Features – Magento has fully customizable features built right in, no need to learn complicated coding
- Mobile Responsive – Every Magento e-commerce site is completely responsive.
Cons of Using Magento for E-Commerce
- Cost – While there is a free version of Magento, it is extremely limiting, so eventually, you will likely want to convert to the paid version, which can be quite costly, especially for smaller volume businesses
- Time-Consuming – Magento is not an ‘Out of the Box’ e-commerce site. Building it requires dedicated time and attention that may be overwhelming or impossible for some.
- Lack of Expert Support – The smaller nature of Magento means there are very few true experts that can help you if you run into a problem. You are left at the mercy of the community forums in most cases
- Hosting Complications – Magento is specifically designed for larger e-commerce sites that typically require dedicated servers this means that hosting fees will be extremely high. That is if you are even able to find a hosting company willing to take you on.
How to Choose the E-Commerce Tools for Your Needs
There you have it, now time to decide. It may be easier said than done, however, it is important to make the decision only after weighing what you truly need you from your e-commerce platform. Therefore, it is important to keep these things in mind when you are trying to decide.
For more information on getting started with web hosting, you can see my guide on the top UK ranked web hosting companies to help you get started in the right direction.
What are your goals for your business in the future? Knowing where you would like your store to be in a year, 5 years, or even 10 years, can help determine the best platform for your e-commerce store.
What type and how many products do you intend to include? Some platforms work better for smaller product lines, and there are specific platforms for digital and other types of content.
How much flexibility do you require? You need to understand how much you want to be able to customize your site.