Why to Prefer Magento over WordPress for an Ecommerce Website?

When it comes to run a Website then our first choice is to employ a Content Management System, but the question left which one to use. The most famous CMSs, nowadays, are WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and Magento. We are not here to compare them but we have to discuss which one to use for an Ecommerce Website: WordPress or Magento. You will ask why only these two we have selected. Because WordPress is the most easy-to-use Content Management System, whereas, Magento is especially crafted for ecommerce and online stores. Let us compare both and find out which one is the best for an online ecommerce platform.

Easiness

Indeed WordPress is the easiest CMS the human beings can get till today. However, Magento has theme-based structure, which provides a clear division between different elements like layouts, skins, and templates. Users may take time to become familiar with Magento, but once known it will be easy to use Magento but not much easier like WordPress. Easiness is the first factor where WordPress scores more than Magento. If online store Administrator does not understand technical terms then his/her first experience will be same for both WordPress and Magento.

Customization

WordPress is an open-source blogging tool and allows 100% customization. On the contrary, Magento is open-source only because it is available for free. The developers can develop themes and extensions to add-on the default functionality of Magento. You are free to customize the Magento themes and modules after purchasing their developers license, if applicable.

Whereas, the open source nature of WordPress allows developers to tailor it according to their need. They can run News Portal, Online Magazine, Knowledge Base, Library, File Management Portal, Ecommerce or other projects on WordPress. Open-Source is the other point where WordPress wins, still Magento rocks because you have to build an ecommerce platform on it and not any other Website. The Blog Extension in MagentoConnect allows to run a blog with your online store.

Shopping Cart

WordPress can be tailored to create any type of Website even an ecommerce one. However, you have to install the themes and plugins for this work. These plugins are mostly developed by third-parties and are compatible to the targeted versions only. If third-party leaves the continuous development then it may not work with your Website when you upgrade it to latest standard or version. WordPress does not have inbuilt shopping cart. Open-source carts are available but their feature-set is limited, whereas paid ones are much expensive. On the contrary, Magento has an effective, easy-to-use, and customizable shopping cart. From ecommerce point of view, the basic things like PayPal and Shopping Cart should come pre-installed with selected CMS.

PayPal Integration

You have to install a plugin in WordPress and configure it to integrate the PayPal into it. If the targeted plugin is outdated then it will become a tedious job to integrate PayPal. Magento comes pre-installed and configured with PayPal Payment Gateway. You just have to enter the API Name, Username, Key, and email address used to create PayPal ID.

Googlizing

Google is the lord when it comes to search engine and Website add-ons. Everyone optimizes his/her Website as per the search engine giant and uses its tools like Google Analytics. In WordPress, you have to install a plugin to integrate to use the Google’s ecommerce tools such as Google Analytics, Google Base, Google Checkout, and Google Sitemap. Whereas, Magento comes preinstalled with these extensions and you just have to configure them. the human beings can get till today. However, Magento has theme-based structure, which provides a clear division between different elements like layouts, skins, and templates. Users may take time to become familiar with Magento, but once known it will be easy to use Magento but not much easier like WordPress. Easiness is the first factor where WordPress scores more than Magento. If online store Administrator does not understand technical terms then his/her first experience will be same for both WordPress and Magento.

Search Engine Optimization

Again you have to install the SEO plugins to perform an effective Search Engine Optimization in WordPress. Whereas Magento comes preinstalled with the SEO options like

• creating sitemap,
• auto submission of sitemaps to search engines,
• allowing/disallowing mod_rewrite,
• URLs suffix & prefix,
• canonical link META tags,

Newsletter Subscription Service

You have to integrate Feedburner, MailChimp, Google FriendConnect or any other service in WordPress to start the Newsletter Subscription Service. On the other hand, Magento comes preinstalled with Newsletter Section.

Payment Methods

You can integrate one or two plugins in to WordPress for including a shopping cart and payment gateway. However, you have to install multiple plugins in order to integrate following things in WordPress:

• Credit Cards from major services like American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, JCB, Maestro, Solo, and others
• Checkout through Checks and Money Orders
• Authorize.net

Yes, Magento comes preinstalled with above options.

Multiple Stores

You can run multiple Websites with the single installation of WordPress; however, converting each one to store needs you to separately install themes and plugins for every need. Magento allows you running multiple online stores with different themes. Yes, you have to install a theme for each store but it will save you from installing the extensions for advanced or basic functions like shopping cart, payment gateway, PayPal, Google Ecommerce tools etc.

Development

Both Magento and WordPress are being continuously developed. The default nature of WordPress is blogging and then it targets other fields. Therefore, WordPress is primarily being developed as a CMS for different usage whereas Magento is continuously being developed as an ecommerce platform. First point where WordPress scores: it allows you to create the child theme of a parent to save the customizations, but there is no such option in Magento.

Second point: you should have good knowledge of PHP, HTML, CSS, and JS to modify an existing WordPress Theme to meet the requirements. On the contrary, you should know XML and SOAP with above platforms.

Security

WordPress is based on Apache, MySQL, and PHP. Its source code is available online for easy customization and further development. One can track the loopholes and work out to target a WordPress Website.

On the contrary, Magento is based on Zend Framework which in turn is based on Apache. The inbuilt security and robustness of Zend Framework make Magento more secure that is why eBay have acquired it.

Cache Management

You have to install optimization and cache management plugins like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache. However, Magento comes preinstalled with Cache Management feature.

Other Important APIs

Following are the necessary APIs or features for an Ecommerce Website:

• Polls to know user opinion
• Reviews to allow visitors enter their views about the product and rate them
• Zero Subtotal Checkout
• Purchase Order
• Add to Wishlist (Not to shopping cart)
• Credit Card Validation
• Tax Calculator
• PDF Print Outs
• Shipping Settings and Methods
• Currency Setup
• Contacts
• Reports and Inventory

You have to install one plugin for each need in the WordPress, whereas Magento comes as one stop solution for above items.

Conclusion

Magento is the preferred first choice to create an ecommerce Website without any doubt. However, you can only consider WordPress when the Webmaster needs a much simplified backend dashboard or he/she is used to with WordPress. We invite our readers to provide their valuable feedback and share their experience with Magento in running their Ecommerce Websites through comments.