Time to replatform? Shopify vs Magento.
The debate around the advantages of Shopify over Magento is a constant one. Shopify's year on year growth gains massive momentum. The truth is that there is no 'best platform' for your business. Each commerce business has it's own characteristics and traditions that may or may not suit your needs. However, in our experience, there are distinct advantages in replatforming to Shopify.
The illustration below shows the growth of the 'Shopify' search term over the past 5 years on Google. Interest in the platform is growing worldwide.
The improvement in conversions, ease of daily use and customer support have dramatic effects when the switch is made. In the last 24 months we've migrated users from Amazon, eBay, Prestashop, Zen Cart & Wordpress. Leaving all technical advantages aside, the relief and delight felt by business owners is astounding - sometimes this benefit is neither mentioned or measured.
Simply put. Shopify is less stressful. In fact it's enjoyable.
This Shopify v's Magento debate is now more relevant. Magento has announced that it will stop supporting Magento 1.x in Q3 of 2018. That means Magento will no longer offer support or upgrades for Magento 1.x. Current customers have no option but to upgrade to Magento 2.x. This requires a new theme build and substantial investment. So it's an ideal time to consider replatforming to Shopify.
Let's discuss 3 simple but important features of Shopify which make sense of migrating to Shopify.
1. Free hosting & Automatic updates
Hosting is a hassle. Hosting admin panels remain painful to navigate. It's expensive and if your store is growing steadily you'll need to keep an eye on your bandwidth and hosting plan. Shopify has no hosting fees. It's all included in the monthly charge. That means your entire e-commerce backend is managed by a single login. Magento requires hosting and in some cases this is a headache. It's the responsibility of the store owner to configure this. Not with Shopify.
Because Shopify is a cloud solution, it is updating automatically with no store owner intervention required. No patches are required, server updates or hosting adjustments.
2. PCI compliance and security
Shopify is PCI compliant. Payment Card Industry compliance ensures your customer data is secure and safe. Each store has an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) included.
A subscription to Shopify outsources the worry of site security and customer data integrity. Another headache busy store owners don't have to worry about.
3. Shopify Apps Store
The Shopify Apps Store is an online marketplace of apps to enhance and add value to your Shopify store. With apps you can 'bolt on' simple and quick improvements to your store without the need for a developer - in most cases. Most stores run with at least 5 additional Shopify applications. Many add value to the store but many also plug into existing business systems like XERO for accounting or fulfillment partners such as DHL or UPS.
Ultimately they all have the same effect of boosting sales, improving your e-commerce operations and making the business of running a store easier and less hassle.
The full list of reasons to migrate is a long one but even at a quick glance, Shopify is streets ahead.
Keith Matthews
Founder, Milk Bottle Labs
Tara Building, Tara Street, Dublin 2
