If you’re considering launching your own online shop, you’re likely exploring different eCommerce solutions. There are many alternatives available, two of which are Shopify and Joomla. Although both solutions allow the creation of an online business, these are different frameworks. Let’s dive deep into this Shopify comparison with Joomla review.
We hope that by the time we’re done we’ll help you understand the root of the matter, whether or not one is the perfect choice for you…
Joomla vs Shopify: About Shopify
In simple terms, Shopify is a SaaS that lets users design and create an online store with their comprehensive content management system. It is possible to host your entire website on Shopify and there’s no need to look for and buy your own website hosting.
Shopify also includes the ability to use a POS system, which allows you to sell at physical stores using Shopify’s point of sale application. The software syncs inventory between your offline and online selling points, enabling customers with the ability to manage and monitor your inventory through the Shopify dashboard. This is why Shopify is an ideal option for entrepreneurs who run both brick-and-mortar and online companies.
Joomla vs Shopify: About Joomla
Simply put, Joomla is an open source, free CMS that you can utilize to build and publish web-based content.
You can create your own blog, business site or intranet, community site and more. It doesn’t matter what the level of complexity of your web development venture Joomla’s framework can manage it.
Additionally, Joomla also boasts a web application framework called view-controller, that you can utilize in conjunction with Joomla’s CMS to create robust web-based applications.
Over the years, Joomla has accrued several distinctions, including The Best Free CMS from the CMS Critic People’s Choice Awards in 2020 and The Best Open Source Application in 2012 by the Infoworld Bossie Awards as well as 2nd second place Hall of Fame CMS in 2010 by the Packt Open Source Awards.
Joomla vs Shopify: Website Templates
A professional-looking template that you can work with can make the process easier in the realm of web design. With this to be in mind, lets look at how Joomla and Shopify can provide in this area:
Joomla
Technically speaking, Joomla does not offer an online template directory. However, a lot of third-party developers have designed Joomla themes that you can download and utilize Some are free as well as paid-for.
There isn’t an official screening procedure for these templates you’ll have to conduct your own research to determine the quality and customizability, as well as the cleanliness of the code, etc.
Shopify
However, Shopify offers users its own theme store with a wide range of themes to pick from. There are 10 free themes and 71 options that are paid for. All of them are mobile-friendly, have clear code and can be easy to customize by using Shopify’s web editor. You’ll be able to enjoy more customization flexibility if you have experience with Programming software “Liquid.”
Shopify vs Joomla: User-Friendliness and Ease of Use
In this section of our review, we’ll go over an in-depth review of how easy Joomla and Shopify can be used:
Joomla
The backend of Joomla is tidy, which makes the process of creating and publishing websites and blog entries fairly easy. Select an area, type in your content, then click publish.
However, to benefit from more advanced features, you’ll need the know-how to code your desired designs/functionality. In addition, you’ll need be prepared to study how to download, install, and utilize several Joomla extensions. Sometimes, these plugins are reported to be outdated and unstable. This is why it’s all the more crucial to study possible add-ons prior to downloading the plugins.
Shopify
However, Shopify is simpler to start with. You don’t require any technical knowledge to make the most of Shopify’s features that are available out-of-the-box. You just need to sign up for an account Shopify account and choose the plan that you prefer; then, you’re set to get going. The administrator area is extremely user-friendly.
If you’re brand new to the world of eCommerce, it’s high possibility that you won’t require any plugins at all at first. As you begin to expand and grow your company, there’s an abundance of additional add-ons that are that are available through Shopify’s app marketplace.
Shopify’s Core Features
As we’ve already mentioned the Shopify suite of built-in features is huge and we’ll not have the enough time to go through the entire range in this article.
However, there’s an excellent chance that you’re reading this article to determine the eCommerce service that’s right for you, we’ll concentrate on the Shopify storefront, marketing, and SEO capabilities:
To begin, there are more than 70 professionally designed and customizable themes to pick from, designed by internationally acclaimed designers, such as Happy Cog, Clear left, and Pixel Union. With Shopify’s user-friendly site editor, it’s simple to tweak the settings and design to bring your ideas to reality. In addition If you’ve got some programming skills, you can use Shopify’s HTML as well as CSS to adjust each aspect of your website.
Shopify also provides users with the ability to create a powerful blog engine. You can create, publish and categorize your posts. It is also possible to allow users to post comments to blog entries, invite discussion, and obviously, manage the comments. Shopify also offers a blog tool to make look books which can be particularly beneficial for fashion brands. brand.
You’ll also be happy to know that Shopify has an online shopping cart for mobile devices that lets customers to browse your store both on mobile and desktop devices as well.
In terms of SEO, Shopify supports plenty of the best search engine optimization practices. For example, you can modify meta titles and tags. Customers can also write reviews about products. Additionally, Shopify also generates a sitemap.xml of your items as well as web pages and blog posts. This makes it simpler for Google to search and rank your website in accordance with the information.
As a way of expanding your reach Shopify will also give customers the value of $100 in Google ads when you make a purchase of $25 through Google.
Additionally the majority of Shopify websites work with different social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. In particular on Facebook users can shop and buy products without leaving Facebook.
In the end, if you’re looking to boost your sales Shopify lets you create discount codes and even sell gift cards to attract traders to trade.
Joomla’s Core Features
We’ve now covered the top features offered by Shopify and features, let’s look at the following features of Joomla:
There are thousands of top-quality templates created by third-party developers. Many of which are completely free and have a graphic user interface (GUI). This allows you to alter the colors, fonts, layouts, and other features without writing one word of code.
Also, you have access to an WYSIWYG (What You see is what you get) editor. This kind of builder for websites allows you to edit and write text as well as images and even formatting. Furthermore there are a variety of pre-installed plugins that allow you to show recent posts, popular articles newsflashes, articles related to them and more. This makes Joomla a great option for bloggers!
Bloggers can organize their posts in tags and categories
Create an RSS feed from the content of your website and display the RSS feed that is external to your site. Visitors can also be provided with a search function to aid them in their navigation on your site.
Additionally, you can access the SEO and SEF features that are available out of the box. In particular, it lets you change metadata and optimize pages to include keywords. It also gives you the tools you require to develop transparent, consistent and useful sitemaps. According to reports, Joomla lets you easily redirect URLs as needed, and speeds the loading times of your site through caching.
Another of Joomla’s major attributes is that it’s multilingual In fact, it is able to support as many as 70 languages.
If you’re looking to make money from your Joomla website, you may include banners or other ads.
If you are a part of a smaller group, you can sign up several users and control the permissions of each. You can also communicate between administrators.
Lastly, if you want to extend Joomla’s functionality (and can’t/don’t want to code), there are over 8,000 extensions over on Joomla’s Extensions Directory – extensions.joomla.org. Therefore, you’re likely to find an add-on that will satisfy your needs!
Shopify and Joomla’s Pros and Cons
Now that we’ve covered all the basics, let’s take another take a look Shopify as well as Joomla’s cons and pros.
Shopify’s Pros:
- Shopify’s platform is simple to use.
- Shopify’s themes are gorgeous and mobile-friendly.
- You can also send abandoned cart-related campaigns to any plan. This is uncommon when compared to other platforms with similar pricing points.
- Shopify will automatically calculate US, Canadian, EU and UK tax rates.
- Shopify offers free, integrated email marketing capabilities which allows you to keep up to 2500 subscribers.
- The point-of-sale service offered by Shopify is quite extensive.
- It is easy to extend Shopify’s capabilities with the many plugins that are available
- If you’re using Shopify Payments You will not be charged any additional transaction costs.
- Shopify is compatible with a wide range of payment gateways that are third-party which include popular brands such as PayPal.
- You are able to test Shopify at no cost for 14 days.
Shopify’s Cons:
- Although you can design 100 different variations on a product, they are limited to three choices for the product that are i.e. dimensions, colors, etc.
- Only access is granted to professional reporting features when you sign up for Shopify’s higher priced plans.
- Shopify has stopped supporting an integrated Mailchimp integration.
- Although Shopify’s integrated email marketing feature is useful but it’s not a complete solution.
Joomla’s Pros:
- Joomla is an open-source platform that means you can edit and share your site’s code easily if you have the skills to code.
- Joomla is free to download and use.
- It is easy to create blog content posting a blog is more similar to creating a document with the traditional word processing program, rather than using an application for coding.
- There’s plenty of help for self-help available. The Joomla community forums online are quite active and, consequently they’ve spawned a wealth of instructional materials and tutorials for support.
- You are able to collaborate with other team members by giving users access to the system.
- Joomla is an open platform that supports multiple languages.
Joomla’s Cons:
- Joomla is a bit more challenging to education curve than Shopify. Frameworks that are open-source can be a bit of a double-edged sword in that means that getting operating and making your own designs takes some more technical knowledge.
- Some users have issues with compatibility with Joomla’s plugins.
- The best Joomla templates are available with cost.
- Joomla has no dedicated customer service team that you can reach them
Shopify’s Pricing
Let’s lastly, take an overview of the cost of Shopify cost:
Basic Shopify
At $29 per month is option is the best for those who want to start an entirely new eCommerce website , and also do a few sales in person.
Shopify
For $79 per month The Shopify plan is the best choice for businesses that want to expand their online and/or in-person business.
Advanced Shopify
This is where the cost increases significantly from $299 per month. In the end, this package is ideal for large enterprises that want to expand their operations with sophisticated functions for reporting.
Joomla’s Pricing
Joomla is accessible for download, and is free of charge to use. You’ll have to purchase your own website hosting as well as domain.
Joomla vs Shopify: Our Final Verdict
That’s it the results of the Joomla comparison with our Shopify comparison. In short, if don’t know how to code or have technical expertise, Shopify is a breeze to use, setup and begin the start of your eCommerce business. It’s also the most convenient option, as it is a great choice for beginners, small-sized businesses as well as those who want to expand and grow their business.
If, however, you’re a web developer searching for an open-source platform. In this situation, Joomla will provide you with the web development-friendly framework you’re looking to find.
Which (if one) among these options do you believe will best meet your requirements? Are you thinking of alternative options like WordPress or WooCommerce, Virtuemart, Wix, BigCommerce, Drupal, or Magento? Or, if you are, let us know everything you know about it in the comment box below!
