If currently own a website, you would surely like to integrate a range of ecommerce functionalities within it. Due to too many overwhelming options, it can be a difficult task to choose the best ecommerce platform option.
In this discussion, we are going to highlight differences between Magento and WordPress helping you choose the right platform for your business. If you have used WordPress before, using Magento might appear to be a daunting task leaving you puzzled.
However, we also explain crucial business scenarios that gives Magento an edge in the game!
WordPress VS Magento Vs Shopify
When rubbed merely on the surface, both ecommerce Content Management System (CMS) look architecturally similar with same qualities like strong online support community, broad themes, SEO friendly appeal, and even customized themes.
Both CMS allow users to ask, modify, manage, or delete content, in the simplest way possible. However, the core difference lies in the fact that WP is more oriented towards content, while Magento serves specific purpose to ecommerce.
WordPress
Let us first analyze the world’s most popular CMS used by more than 60 million websites, constituting 17% of total websites existing on web. Even retail giant eBay who owns Magento, uses WordPress for its blog.
The reasons are obvious. WordPress is so user friendly and easy to embed that template customization and plug-in architecture help to suffice basic functionalities required by an ecommerce store, inducing online retailers across the globe to opt for WordPress.
Magento
Magento is very similar to WordPress, with the distinction of being recognized as the best ecommerce CMS built on open source technology. More than 2,35,000 online stores use Magento to feature global brands ranging from small businesses to large enterprises.
Magento interface facilitates a wide range of features like management tools, search engine optimization, marketing, mobile commerce, report generation, multi-store management, and other important functionalities crucial for Ecommerce operations. It’s not just eCommerce web design options but the end user functionality that becomes a decisive factor.
So, in essence it all boils down to the objective of your website.
Identify purpose behind your site
The range of purposes comprise of:
- If you are eyeing for a multi-vendor marketplace, WordPress is far from perfect, while Magento has the right kind of robust features to offer.
- Magento offers a range of product types with built-in accommodation activities. WordPress require additional plugins in the form of WP events, modules, WP contact form, etc. to achieve what you want.
- If you are selling a limited number of products, possibly below 500, you should go with WordPress as you can create a basic ecommerce store in WordPress without customizing advanced features. When aiming for products in thousands, it is wise to opt for Magento. Magento offers far more features that make handling large scale ecommerce store operations effortless and effective when compared to WordPress.
Conclusion
Magento is an efficient and convenient option, if you want to sell products online with your own ecommerce store. However, since it is complex to handle requiring professional expertise and investment, it is viable to opt for WordPress if your store is not large enough.
As WordPress continues to evolve with time, it will be interesting to see how it brings about new features and functionalities to score high on user management tools. If this really happens, WordPress is surely going to outperform Magento in ecommerce arena.
Having said all that, currently WordPress is an ideal Content Management System if you own a website or blog with not many things to sell. However, when it comes to setting up an ecommerce store online, Magento has a wide range of robust features and security options to offer, making it an ideal choice for an ecommerce CMS.