WooCommerce vs. OsCommerce

Many companies are looking to extend their services with an ecommerce platform, and many people are looking to create a new business with online sales. Whether you are working to expand your sales, or starting from scratch, it is important to select the right ecommerce platform for your needs. There are many platforms out there, all offering different benefits. Here, we’ll explore WooCommerce vs. osCommerce.

Ease of Installation

WooCommerce: If you know and use WordPress, WooCommerce will be particularly easy for you to install. It is a plugin for the WordPress platform, installed the same as any other plugin. A wizard will guide you through the install, which takes all of five minutes. For those who do not already know or use WordPress, the only added complication is having to set up a WordPress site as well. OsCommerce: OsCommerce has to be downloaded from the platform’s site, then uploaded to a web server. It is all done online and fairly easy to install. So long as you have PHP and MySQL installed on your site, you can run osCommerce.

Ease of Use

WooCommerce: Of all the ecommerce platforms, WooCommerce is one of the most intuitive and easy to use. Its functionality comes from plugins and extensions that expand its capabilities, but even the basic platform itself has a lot of features like default currency settings, geo-location support, automatic tax calculations, and more, making it easy to run the store. OsCommerce: OsCommerce has many of the options and settings of the most commonly used ecommerce platforms. Its interface, however, is fairly simple, and outdated compared to many. The functionality is there, but users will have to expend more of their time setting up the system, maintaining it, and updating it.

Search Engine Friendly

WooCommerce: WooCommerce provides SEO features through plugins and extensions allowing for customizing product names, URLs, meta tags, and descriptions with SEO keywords. It is intuitive and easy to use, especially for people already familiar with WordPress SEO plugins. OsCommerce: Using the wide variety of add-ons, users can make osCommerce SEO-friendly.

Integration Ecosystem

WooCommerce: WooCommerce works with web-based devices, and iPhone/iPad. The flexibility of the platform allows for integration with many services including FreshBooks, Stripe, PayPal, Amazon Payments, FedEx, USPS and UPS. OsCommerce: OsCommerce integrates with Windows, Linux, Mac, and web-based devices, along with several services including Amazon, PayPal, eBay, WordPress, MailChimp, and Stamps.com.

Cost to Maintain

WooCommerce: The WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is free. Additional costs will apply through the need for commercial plugins and extensions, paid for on a yearly basis. For some users, a paid theme will be needed, adding an additional cost. Hosting fees, and payment processing fees, must also be considered in the overall cost to maintain. OsCommerce: Similarly, OsCommerce is free itself, but requires numerous other expenditures for full functionality. At the very least, users need to add in a cost for hosting, and for a domain name. While paid extensions and theming is not necessary, depending on what users may require, most people will have to spend some money on these items for the functionality they desire.

Customizability

WooCommerce: Because of its nature as a WordPress plugin, WooCommerce is incredibly customizable. It’s easy for beginners and advanced users to set up to their expectations. The ability to download any plugin or extension opens up the doors to creating a shop that is entirely customized, without having to do a lot of legwork. OsCommerce: With roughly 7,000 free add-ons and a user base that is taking full advantage of the open source nature of osCommerce, it is easily customizable, and easy to find add-ons that help users accomplish all they want to do.

Hosted vs. Self-Hosted

Both of these ecommerce platforms require hosting, which adds to the costs of installation and maintenance. However, choosing one’s host does allow for a higher degree of control than using a hosted platform.

Target Market

WooCommerce: This ecommerce platform is ideal for small to medium sized businesses, and can target essentially any customer base with its customizability. OsCommerce: OsCommerce easily targets customers with email and newsletter support and the ability to use multiple currencies. For business owners, it is ideal for those just starting out, or people running smaller businesses, as the platform can become slow and buggy as the database gets larger to accommodate a higher number of products.

	WooCommerce	OsCommerce
Easy of Installation	Practically installs itself, with a setup wizard handling most of the work. 5/5	Web-based installation following a download from the osCommerce website. 4/5
Ease of Use	Very easy to use for beginners, without holding advanced users back. 5/5	Easy to use but a very simplistic and somewhat outdated interface may cause problems for more advanced users. Requires more time to keep updated and maintained. 3/5
Search Engine Friendly	Extremely SEO-friendly! 5/5	Extremely SEO-friendly! 5/5
Integration Ecosystem	Easy integration with a vast variety of service providers, including several mailing systems. 4/5	Integrates with a very wide variety of services and platforms including the most popular ones. Open source ecommerce platform ensures users are continually adding to integration capabilities. 5/5
Cost to Maintain	Cost varies depending on what users want to spend; initial plugin is free. 3/5	Free platform; many free add-ons but some functionality will cost more, along with hosting and domain fees. 4/5
Customizability	Highly customizable, limited only by a users’ skills and budget. 5/5	Highly customizable with open source platform users dedicated to adding onto customization options. 5/5
Hosted vs. Self-Hosted	Self-hosted — more work, but more freedom.	Hosted through Drupal Commerce; less work but less freedom.
Target Market	Subscription services, social media targeting, and other custom plugins work to target customers.	Good for smaller businesses and makes customer outreach simple, but the platform starts to creak with higher inventory levels.

Tags: Ecommerce • WooCommerce