Why WordPress is better than Shopify for Drop shipping Websites

Ever since the launch of e-commerce platforms that allowed individuals to build their own e-commerce shopping cart stores without needing the help of a web developer, the debate has been raging about which is the better platform to use to build an online store.

It has become far easier for e-commerce retailers to create their stores and all that has been made possible by platforms such as WordPress and Shopify.

Irrespective of this, there has been a continuous debate on which platform is better either Shopify or WordPress for building  profitable Drop Shipping websites.

Both platforms are extremely popular platforms for managing E-commerce type websites by providing a variety of features that can help people in successful drop shipping. The point of conflict in which to choose as both platforms have distinctive features.

In this article, we will be discussing the benefits, advantages & disadvantages of using WordPress vs those of Shopify. We will also be looking at look at why (in our humble opinion) WordPress is a better choice than Shopify.

The focus for this article will be on the main aspects of both platforms and the main differences so that you can select the better option.

Shopify vs wordpress which is better for drop shipping

What is the Major Difference between Shopify and WordPress?

Shopify is s web-based ecommerce shopping cart application that has been specifically designed with those people who aim to build an online store in mind. It comes with customized templates and a range of themes for the users to be able to choose from. The available themes are intended to meet the requirements of their brand and enhance the image of the brand.

People who have some coding skills can manage and customize their stores by themselves. However, it is not too tough for people who don’t have coding skills or technical knowledge because it is specially designed for these people.

Shopify is used as a hosted software tool which means you need to pay a recurring monthly fee in order to use the platform and keep your website and files online.

Shopify is a ecommerce platform that is for online stores only, so you cannot use it for blogging like you can with WordPress.

When it comes to WordPress, things are a bit different because there are two kinds of WordPress that include Hosted WordPress and Self-Hosted WordPress. WordPress.com has hosted software and WordPress.org is self-hosted software.

The self-hosted version of WP is far more advanced and designed for people who have some technical skills. With this version, you can create your online store just like Shopify. WordPress is highly suggested for the users who want to have complete authority over the customization of the website, and who have a designated budget for this purpose.

Most of the websites, you see over the internet are the result and contribution of WordPress. Side by side, Shopify is also used as a major platform with quite a high number of users.

The main difference that creates disparity is the availability of all tools at Shopify to start its own platform for e-commerce. WordPress is not specifically designed for e-commerce but you can install certain plugins and can start selling.

Shopify vs wordpress, which is best for drop shippers

Shopify vs WordPress: the Advantages and Disadvantages of both

Advantages of Shopify

• With Shopify, you do not need to be a master of website coding techniques or web development.
• This platform is designed primarily for e-commerce trading, and so features much of what you need to be able to sell goods or services online.
• With Shopify, you do not need to pay for separate website hosting, as it is a hosted solution. Hosting is included in the monthly price that you pay.
• The set up time can be fast because a lot of the ‘donkey’ work has already been done for you.
• Shopify can offer you several extras too such as powerful built in payment processors as well as added security.

Disadvantages of Shopify

• You have to pay a recurring monthly fee to use Shopify. That is EVERY MONTH for the lifetime of your store. These fees can soon add up!
• There is a bit of discomfort when it comes to changing the theme of the website because if you do so, you would be asked to change the content too or reformat that.
• On the surface level, Shopify seems easy to use but it is not as easy as it is suggested by some users.
• You will always be restricted in terms of the amount of control you can ultimately have over the code of your website. Because it is hosted on the Shopify eco system, they can never give you full and inhibited access to the core code that powers not just your store, but the websites of every customer on their eco system.

Advantages of WordPress

• It is open source and part of the “GNU Public License” – This just means that the creators of wordpress allow you to edit the software as you see fit and to cater to your own specific requirements without the threat of legal action for tampering with copyrighted code. This was pure genius by the creators of WP and has led to so many exciting & powerful softwares, websites and plug in being created for the WP community.
• WordPress is completely FREE for all users to be able to download and use straight away.
• WordPress allows more freedom over your website compared to Shopify when it comes to customization and themes, this is because you as the websites owner will have full access to all code and files of your ecommerce store. So if you are not a website developer, you can always hire a code who should be able to make just about anything happen in your website that you should want /  need to. There is a whole range for users to build websites as per demand.
• WordPress has a new editor that makes it easy to use and edit the content areas of your website by yourself.
• Although WordPress has not much a high ratio of users because of web development technicalities, there are so many resources and experts available online for WordPress that you would be able to easily get help from if you needed it.
• As a software it features an extensive range of Plugins that add additional functionality

Disadvantages of WordPress

• To be able to get the advantage of customization and all other available features, you need to have the knowledge of web development, and other technical skills.
• The use of one of the more fancy Page builders can be beyond the budget of some WP users.
• With WordPress, you also need to take care of other things by yourself, such as web hosting, security and additional development – not to mention a domain of your name.
• WordPress can be quite a steep learning curve. There is so many different things that are available for WordPress from so many different sellers, that it can inevitably seem overwhelming at times.

Shopify vs WordPress: Which is the easiest to use?

When it comes to the difference in terms of the using each platform, Coding is a major difference. If you do not know even the basics of code, you do not need to worry, Shopify can handle that, and allows you to customize your website.

However, to get a start off over Shopify, you first need to tell your current revenue, or are you a seller or not? From there you get getaway to the dashboard.

With WordPress, it is not easy to start, you need to know about coding, and this is the only solution to start. For the purpose of making your website ready for online selling, you need to install a plugin such as Woo Commerce, only then your website is good to go for selling. Like Shopify, WordPress too has a dashboard to manage and customize things as you want and make your platform suitable for selling.

With WordPress, adding products is quite simple, the tough part is customization and here things get tricky. So, if you want to avoid any rush, the solution is to learn all the tricks and techniques or hire a developer for that purpose which can cost you much.

Shopify vs WordPress: Ecommerce Tools

For an e-commerce website, the most important thing is the tools. These tools help in the marketing and ultimate selling of your product. Shopify has its own features and tools in that regard. On the other hand, WordPress relies on a third party for the availability of tools and features required for e-commerce business.

Shopify has many e-commerce tools along with marketing features, you can avail of the advanced features by paying an extra sum for them.

• Shopify has the feature of cart recovery. It has the ability to send emails  to customers who may have previously visited your website, and then left with items in their shopping cart.
• Shopify offers the service of creating new and unique codes that can also be used for marketing.
• With this, you can sell the products not only on the website but can directly link it to other major platforms like Facebook, Amazon, Instagram, etc.

WordPress Tools

To begin with, WordPress does not have any e-commerce features and tools. The support is provided by third-party plugins. For WordPress, there are more than 50,000 plugins available and the user can choose from this wide range. WordPress relies on these plugins so that users can get the desired features and tools. However, you need to be able to understand coding so that you can work and put together different plugins because not all plugins work better when put together so there is a need of having the technical knowledge to manage this.

Shopify vs WordPress when it comes to Drop Shipping

There comes the point of conflict, however, both platforms offer different apps for drop shipping. Drop shipping is an important aspect of online business. When it comes to choosing between Shopify and WordPress with regard to Drop shipping, WordPress is always preferred by people because it allows you to have a budget so that you can organize things easily without getting worried about the budget getting out of control.

If you are a web developer who is an expert in every field of techniques, you should go for WordPress because with that you can control every aspect of your website. With this, you would be responsible for everything, but you can also optimize your website and content. With WordPress, you need to be attentive because the main software, themes, and plugins have different times of getting updates and can happen anytime so you need to be active. It is better to use a host for maintenance that also offers one-click installation.

Shopify Vs WordPress, the Conclusion…

There is no doubt that both platforms are more than capable of doing the job when it comes to allowing entrepreneurs to sell their products online. However, the question was, which platform is most suitable for Drop shipping?

If you want to grow your business and build resources, you need to go for WordPress. Because this platform has the solutions to all queries so that you can start a business with the lowest possible capital investment. With Shopify, you would have to spend so much time and money on things like maintenance, hosting, and security which can be beneficial in many regards because Shopify expect customers to take care of all of these things. It is no doubt that with WordPress, you do not need to worry about technical things but you can instead just work on the optimization of your website and content.

WordPress, on the other hand, is built for both beginners and professionals. Nevertheless, it is used by professionals.

WordPress is our preferred choice when it comes to building profitable  drop shipping websites. The mere fact that it is 100% FREE, is expandable thanks to things like themes and Plugins and wordpress even has it’s own dedicated community who could happily talk all things WordPress 24/7 really does (in our opinion) make WordPress the best solution for online Dropping website building in 2022 and beyond.

The users of WordPress are greater in number as compared to Shopify, because of technicalities, coding, and involvement of third-party for e-commerce. But once you get to know the knack of WordPress, there is no going back.

The feature of holding all the matters of website and designing it as per your taste and trend is one reason of popularity among developers. Although it does not offer direct support like Shopify to connect with other platforms, once you get used to it, you find sources to connect.