Starting an e-commerce store means facing a lot of choices. One of them is the CMS on which your store will be based. Our agency supports many stores in their development, and we always take the time to understand your project to guide you towards the best choices.
Many CMS platforms allow you to set up an online store, and we shed light on two possibilities that come up very often: Magento and WordPress.
WordPress, the All-Round CMS
In its early days, WordPress was nothing more than a blogging platform. And then, the time passed, and this CMS platform has known many updates, thanks to a highly active community. Like Magento, WordPress is free and open-source.
There’s not much you can’t do with WordPress today, thanks to the thousands of plugins out there. You can create a forum, a social network, and, of course, turn it into e-commerce to sell your products online. WooCommerce is the best-known plugin on WordPress for creating an online store.
Magento, the Over Powering CMS for E-commerce
Magento is an e-commerce platform owned and developed by Adobe but which has remained free and open-source. The features offered are numerous and sometimes sophisticated, we can find & compare the products, promotions discount coupons, and we can manage multi-shops marketplace.
Everything that can be expected from an innovative online store is included in the basic version of Magento or installed quickly from the extension store. Many big brands rely on Magento: Nespresso, Ford, Nike, Christian Dior, Fred Perry, etc.
WordPress vs. Magento: Step by Step Comparison
WordPress vs. Magento: Ease of use
Since WordPress is not a full-blown eCommerce platform, installing plugins and widgets for building an eCommerce website is simple and easy. Its simple user interface makes the task more straightforward and more accessible for developers.
Compared to WordPress installation, installing the core Magento site is hard to learn for a non-technical person. The user must have basic knowledge of coding and development to build a website with Magento. However, once you have finished the setup process, the day-by-day operation becomes less complex & hassle-free. From product, customer, inventory to marketing, all are listed on the sidebar for seamless navigation.
WordPress vs. Magento: Security
If there is one weakness to be listed about WordPress, it would be security. WordPress is the most used CMS globally, and it tends to concentrate the efforts of hackers. But, many security plugins are available for a WordPress site that adds an extra layer of security and prevents your site from hacking and loopholes. Fortunately, technical solutions to effectively protect your WordPress installation exists.
On this side, Magento is a robust and very secure platform. You cannot be number one in e-commerce without ensuring this aspect! It minimizes the security risk by sending security updates timely to its users and thus keeps the data and user’s information more secured.
Magento vs. WordPress: Flexibility
When it comes to flexibility, nothing is like WordPress. It is a flexible platform that enables its users to include different add-on features to enhance the overall functionality. For example, the one-page checkout process, product catalog management, contact forms, live chat box, inventory are few essential features of the website.
On the other hand, Magento is not as versatile & flexible as like WordPress. Magento is mainly tailored for making advanced e-commerce websites. If you have some development experience and knowledge in PHP, then dealing with Magento will be more easygoing for you. It is an expert-level platform and is not recommended to use if you are a layman because of its level of intricacy and complexities.
WordPress vs. Magento: Plugins & Functions
A simple CMS and blogging platform, WordPress has recently launched some advanced plugins for making an effective eCommerce platform. One of the most popular and ideal WordPress eCommerce plugins is WooCommerce, an effective platform for building small to mid-size eCommerce websites. This is an open-source and free plugin for creating an e-commerce platform with around 5.7 million downloads. The plugin has seen incredible growth in the past few years because of its ease and advanced functionalities.
The installation & configuration is easy & straightforward. There is no need to have development knowledge to work on it because of its easy back-end management. You can customize the design & functionality of your website depending on your wants.
Magento is suitable for building highly effective & more flexible eCommerce sites. Like WordPress, it also enables you to customize the functions and designs of websites based on your needs and desires. Developing a website with Magento can be a bit expensive & there are lots of complexities involves in the customization of websites.
Magento is excellent if you have a lot of products to sell. If you have several thousand products on your online store, Magento won’t hesitate and will do the job with confidence.
WordPress vs. Magento: Cost & Pricing
If you focus on a marketplace or plan significant traffic, then Magento is the CMS for you! In addition, the sales analysis features and reports it offers will allow you to track the results of your business accurately. You will need an objective vision of your project to make the right choice of CMS, and we will be at your side for that.
If your budget is tight, your needs are modest, or you need to get your project up and running quickly, WordPress will be the ideal platform. However, don’t go it alone! An online store is a project that can hardly stand.
WordPress vs. Magento: Marketing and Content Management
When it comes to marketing and content management, WordPress is indeed better than Magento. In technical terms, WordPress is a very content-oriented platform because of its origins. If your e-commerce store relies on a big blog to attract new prospects, WordPress could be your ideal ally. The many existing plugins offer a multi-functional and flexible platform. WordPress is equipped to handle massive amounts of content and media. Magento has no inbuilt feature for blogging, meaning you’d have to use a custom extension to add a blog to your store.
WHICH CMS FOR YOUR E-COMMERCE?
Now that things are set, how do you make your choice? In fact, it all depends on your needs, your expectations, the number of items to sell, and your propensity to create content.
WordPress and Magento have some commonalities:
- Open Source,
- SEO friendly,
- Free,
- Customizable,
- Based on themes.
Our agency has started many e-businesses worldwide on WordPress, and we have always ensured the site’s loading speed and ensure full-proof security. It may be better to switch to WordPress if you don’t want to be burdened with too much maintenance. What is the point of going on a too technical platform if it is to increase maintenance costs?
But beyond all this data, it is your project that interests us! What are you passionate about, and what are your products? We will help guide you to choose the best suits your situation and the surest path to success. Contact us quickly; we can’t wait to work with you!
