WordPress vs. Magento: Which is Better for Creating an Online Store?

Choosing the proper CMS platform is a crucial step in converting a website into an online store or creating one from scratch. There are two platforms that come to mind when it comes to creating interactive, beautiful and rich-featured websites: WordPress and Magento. They are both wonderful platform in their own way, they are both SEO and they are both open source frameworks that will help you incorporate e-commerce functionalities to grow your business across the digital landscape.

Having said this, there are some key differences that set these two platforms apart from each other. Since it is difficult to determine which option is most suitable for setting up your online store, we will compare the two platforms so you can make an informed decision.

Definition

WordPress is a terrific content management system that incorporates tons of various themes, plugins and built-in tools that let you create almost anything i.e. portfolio, personal blog, e-portal or an e-commerce website. It is very reliable with lots of features, an intuitive interface. It is very customizable, which allows people to create and customize websites without having to write any code.  

More than 70 million websites are currently using WordPress and, in terms of e-commerce, it offers a wide array of plugins such as WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads to help you incorporate e-commerce enabled features into your site with only a few clicks.

On the other hand, Magento is a full-fledged e-commerce development platform that comes loaded with a wide array of e-commerce features to help build a professional online store from scratch. Around 150,000 websites are using this platform, leveraging its rich features to create quality and interactive online stores.

Magento incorporates both top-quality customization and functionality support that enable such popular features as a shopping cart, one-page checkout, multi-store management, product catalogue and many more.

Ease of Usage

One of the main WordPress selling points is its intuitive and simple user interface. It is one of the easiest CMS platforms that comes with lots of user-friendly e-commerce plugins to help you create, modify and customize your online store to generate more leads. Also, if you are not tech savvy, WordPress is a better choice for creating, editing and deleting posts and pages and, overall, it is a more simple to use platform for creating and customizing various elements of your online store.

Running a core Magento site is difficult and, if you are a beginner, you are likely to encounter a lot of problems in terms of managing multiple product categories, the checkout process, product pages and other elements. In order to make the development process easier, it is best to hire a reliable Magento developer to build a successful web store without having you do the lion’s share.

Flexibility

In terms of flexibility, WordPress is clearly better. It offers a wide assortment of both free and premium plugins that allow you to convert a simple website into a full online store. You can extend the functionalities of the online store to include core e-commerce features such as event listings, inventory, product catalogue management, live chat, and many other features to provide your customers with a hassle-free shopping experience.

In addition to all of the e-commerce plugins, WordPress offers vital plugins such as social media integration, speed optimization, caching, SEO and others. Also, you will be able to integrate safe and secure payment systems such as PayPal and Google Checkout. And if you need website development services, our team is here to help.

Even though WordPress has a variety of features for all kinds of purposes, Magento focuses mainly on e-commerce. Since it is a core e-commerce platform, it boasts only e-commerce related extensions. Even with all of the limitations regarding its flexibility, Magento’s out-of-the-box capabilities and core features will give you the ability to create an online store and stands out of the crowd.

You can use the most powerful extensions to enhance the functionalities of your online store, organize the product catalog, provide special offers and create a responsive mobile-friendly design.

Security

Security is one of the top concerns for online store owners and, WordPress loses to Magento in this regard. Since it is one of the most popular CMS platforms, it is more vulnerable to hacking attacks and adding too many plugins could make your site even more vulnerable. Before deciding on any third party plugin, be sure to really do your homework because it could have some insecure code that could destroy the security of your website.

Magento is known for robust security of its features. Since it offers a limited collection of extensions, you do not need to worry about possible security loopholes that exist in WordPress. A secure online store can help you build trust with your customers, so make sure to install only the necessary extensions if you want to keep your site away from security threats.

Choosing the proper platform depends on your ultimate goal. If you are creating an online store for digital products, then WordPress is a better choice for you because you do not need to integrate any difficult delivery options, shipping arrangements order tracking etc. You can simply install Easy Digital Download to easily sell your product.

If you are building a multi-vendor marketplace, where you are selling hundreds and thousands of products and services online, you will need a more dedicated platform like Magento. It has all of the functions and features to help you set up your online store from scratch.