WooCommerce vs AspDotNetStorefront

When starting a business online you have a lot of choices to make after the initial decisions of choosing a name, products to sell, profit margins, etc. For many businesses, choosing the ecommerce platform that they decide to operate on is one of the final steps taken, and is given little thought. In fact, business owners should do a lot research on what ecommerce platform they decide to use, because having the right platform can save your business lots of capital and labor hours.

There are so many ecommerce platforms to choose from, how does one go about knowing which one is best for their business? I have been researching the most popular ecommerce platforms on the market for a couple of months; and in this article we will be discussing the key differences and similarities between WooCommerce and AspDotNetStorefront ecommerce platforms. I will go over each platform’s major features and tools, customizability, and pricing.

Features and Tools

The features and tools available on an ecommerce platform are highly important to the success of your ecommerce business. If you want to maximize revenue, while also doing less tedious work, then you need to utilize the correct functions, on the correct ecommerce platform, for your needs.

WooCommerce and AspDotNetStorefront both offer SEO tools; however, the consensus is that AspDotNetStorefront does offer superior SEO capabilities.  Both platforms also offer numerous tools for medium and larger scale ecommerce businesses, like customer accounts, multi-channel selling, inventory management.

Some excellent tools included by WooCommerce, and not AspDotNetStorefront, are shipping calculators, a basic CRM system, WordPress integration, advanced plugins, and demographic reports.

AspDotNetStorefront also offers some amazing tools that WooCommerce doesn’t offer, such as multistore tracking, loyalty programs, email marketing, return management, order management, and PayPal integration.

Neither platform integrates an app store, which means that if you wish to have any additional applications added to your ecommerce website, you will need to contact specialized software developer; for instance, AspDotNetStorefront users can contact equaTEK.

Design

In terms of the level of customization available, AspDotNetStorefront is a huge step up from WooCommerce. Aside from the large number of templates WooCommerce offers, AspDotNetStorefront has much larger depth of customization for modules and website design, compared to WooCommmerce’s modules and overall site design.

Security/PCI

A big upside for AspDotNetStorefront is that it is PCI Certified, while WooCommerce is only PCI compliant. PCI compliant means that the platform has not completed or passed the PCI test administered by the PCI Council, however, the platform operator(s) believe that the site meets the criteria to pass. PCI Certification declares that the platform is secure against hackers and fraudulent online activity. Since AspDotNetStorefront is PCI Certified, it ensures that your business and your customers will be protected from illegal online activity.

Pricing

WooCommerce itself is a free platform to use, but most of the things you need to create a website do cost money, like a domain name, theme, tool usage, plugins, and feature activations. It’s estimated that a barebones WooCommerce website will cost about $10/month, while a WooCommerce ecommerce website with some basic features will cost about $210/year, and a highly functional WooCommerce site will cost over $1,000/year.

For AspDotNetStorefront the pricing structure is $180/month for full access, or a $5,500 one-time payment for the most up to date version with overhaul updates sometimes costing an additional fee. These two platforms have very different operating philosophies.

Which is Better?

Now that all of the facts have been laid out, let’s breakdown which platform I recommend for you.

If you are looking for a low-cost option, WooCommerce has the possibility of being that, as long as you are looking towards using a more minimalistic approach towards your ecommerce site. WooCommerce also makes a good place to start for a new ecommerce business; however, the price is lower because it lacks the product management systems that AspDotNetStorefront offers.

For anyone that does not consider themselves great at website creation or is not computer savvy, then I immediately recommend AspDotNetStorefront, as it is much simpler to setup the basic ecommerce operations and website design.

The tools and features available on AspDotNetStorefront allow ecommerce site owners to earn a larger and more committed client base, along with providing advanced advertising tools to generate more sales. The quantity of modules available on AspDotNetStorefront means that as the business grows users will have more time to work on other tasks while the modules do other work for you.

As mentioned, using AspDotNetStorefront is simple for the basic features of the platform; however, the more complex features can take months of patience, practice, and trial and error learning. That is why equaTEK creates a relationship with businesses looking toward that next step in ecommerce.

At equaTEK, we make designing a business’s next generation of website simple and easy to manage, as we do most of it for you. Our vast experience allows us to build an ecommerce website that makes an immediate impact on your business, with the properly functioning features and tools, to help you grow your business right away. If you are looking to take the next step in your ecommerce business contact us today.