WooCommerce is a great option because it has a really good ecosystem built with it, and it can withstand lots of traffic. It does take a bit of time to narrow down what option to consider, and what gives you the best possible option. That being said, you always want to focus on delivering the ultimate focus on what works great for your business. Sometimes, WooCommerce just doesn’t seem a good fit. But what do you need to focus on? Here’s what you want to know!
Why you might need an alternative to WooCommerce?
The thing you need to understand with WooCommerce is that it won’t always be the ideal option for you to keep in mind. But if you do it right and study the pros and cons of most of these tools, the outcome can be very impressive. We highly recommend approaching this accordingly, and in the end, that can help immensely.
When WooCommerce is not the best fit
WooCommerce can be very good for some use cases. But it’s clear that it also has its downsides. For example, if you want a whole in one hosted solutions, WooCommerce is not exactly the best fit. And on top of that, if your site experiences slow performance, then this is definitely not ideal for you. The same thing is valid if you’re looking to have enterprise-level capabilities and lots of products on the site. Also, WooCommerce needs familiarity with WordPress and web technologies. Not having that can lead to plugin conflicts, customization and setup issues, so it can be challenging for someone new to it.
Common pain points store owners experience with WooCommerce
Upon talking with WooCommerce store owners, there are certain issues that pop up more often than not. It’s important to learn more about these potential problems and ensure that you are handling them in a way that’s effective and professional.
- Sometimes, WooCommerce can have a plugin overload and it can also bring in various compatibility issues. The more plugins you use, the more challenging things can be.
- Also, there are scaling issues. WooCommerce is more suitable for smaller ecommerce websites. If you don’t sell a lot of items, WooCommerce is ok. But as you grow, other solutions become much better.
- Security concerns arise because WooCommerce is self-hosted, so you will need to handle patches and security updates.
- Maintenance becomes a burden, because you have to manage your WooCommerce core, along with plugins, updates, security and backups.
- Technical complexity deters some people from using WooCommerce. Not everyone knows how to add it, adapt and customize it.
The best WooCommerce options to consider
When it comes to WooCommerce alternative, you want a set of features that’s professional, easy to adapt to your needs and highly professional. We believe that WooCommerce delivers great value, but there are better options sometimes, depending on your needs.
Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce compared
| Platform | Pros | Cons |
| Shopify | It’s a fully hosted solutionIt’s also very user-friendly, since it relies on drag and dropVery good documentation and supportStellar integration with lots of appsImproved scalability | There are monthly fees, which can make it rather expensiveYou don’t have as many customization optionsTransaction fees are expensive, unless you use their Shopify Payments system |
| Magento | It’s a very flexible and rather customizable solutionYou can easily scale it, in case you need to have a very large store.They have a powerful third party ecosystem you can useThere are multi-store, B2B as well as global commerce solutions | The learning curve is on the steep sideYou need lots of technical knowledge and server resourcesMaintaining it can be expensive |
| BigCommerce | It’s fully-featured, you don’t really need extensionsThey offer great multi-channel selling featuresYou get access to performance and SEO toolsSecurity and uptime are very good | Theme customization is less flexible when compared to WooCommerce. You have API limits for the lower plansThe app marketplace is not that vast |
Which platform is the best fit for your business goals?
Each one of the platforms has a certain target audience. However, it’s important to narrow down what solution is ideal and where you are getting the best value. If you want simplicity, BigCommerce or Shopify are better. Magento is an improvement if you want a large website with tons of items to sell. WooCommerce is cheaper upfront, but it does have some hidden costs.
In the end, you have to take into account all the pros and cons related to this. Not only do you want a great-performing solution, but you do want to have the best possible experience and value. Using this to your advantage will help a lot, and it will make it easier to pick the right option. Don’t rush, study all these platforms, and then you can pick the right one to fit your requirements!
