Learn Why Your Online Store Should Not Run on WordPress

Your eCommerce platform choice strongly affects your business

Shift4Shop

VS.

wordpress
Shift4Shop features
wordpress features

Shift4Shop's specialized eCommerce tools vs.
stripped-down WordPress online stores

Shift4Shop: A Dedicated Online Store Builder. WordPress: A Blogging Platform Reliant on Plugins.

WordPress is one of the most popular website platforms in the world. While its primary feature is a set of blogging tools, users can also create regular website pages. WordPress has thousands of themes and plugins available to customize the look and function of a site. Of course, since WordPress is so popular and versatile, people often choose it when opening an online store for the first time. Unfortunately, this is where it starts to fail. Real success in eCommerce requires a large set of purpose-built tools that fully integrate with each other and with the platform the site is built on, and WordPress doesn't have that advantage — instead, its eCommerce features are spread across hundreds of third-party plugins that don't always work well with each other.

wp-laptop

Unlike WordPress, Shift4Shop was created solely for eCommerce websites and comes with hundreds of built-in features for building an online store and selling to customers everywhere. With Shift4Shop, you'll never have to page through thousands of plugins to hunt for one that will do what you need without breaking anything else. A blogging module is included so you can still keep your customers informed without sacrificing your online store's potential by sticking to WordPress. As your business grows, Shift4Shop grows with you, supporting all levels of business far above what a WordPress-based online store can accomplish. Sell online, in person, and everywhere with the ultimate online store builder.

Shift4Shop vs. WordPress features for eCommerce comparison

Integrated, cutting-edge toolset for selling vs. unreliable, incompatible plugins

sad iconCrucial eCommerce features

WordPress is a blogging platform first, and everything else is secondary. To get the features you need to support a growing business, you'll need to find a shopping cart plugin, analytics plugins, accounting plugins, and so on — all of which are developed by third parties that could disappear at any time, crippling your online store. You'll have to spend days choosing the plugins that work well and are compatible with each other. But Shift4Shop brings all the most-needed eCommerce tools together right out of the box, and offers far more selling power than WordPress ever could.

sad iconOnline store design made to sell

WordPress may have a huge theme selection, but you'll run into the same problems you do with plugins: which themes are compatible with the plugins you need to use? Which include extra features? Can your favorite theme even be used with the online store plugins you've installed? It's extremely common for WordPress users to need to backtrack, replacing themes and plugins when an incompatibility suddenly wreaks havoc. With Shift4Shop, store design is much easier: choose from a large and growing selection of free store templates that work for you and for your customers.

sad icon

"I wanted to use WordPress for my online store because it looked easy, and I'm not that tech-knowledgeable. I installed a popular eCommerce plugin and it seemed fine. But I didn't even know what features I was missing out on, I've never sold online before, so I wasn't aware of the missing pieces. Every time I found out about a feature I wanted, I had to search for plugins for hours and I had no idea which to use. Waste of energy! Just use something like Shift4Shop where all the eCommerce stuff is included. It has a blog too!"

– Ex-WordPress User

sad iconHosting and security

WordPress is free software, which is another reason why so many people gravitate to it. But when it comes to website creation software, "free" often has hidden meanings. If you use WordPress, you'll need your own web hosting where you can install the software, and you'll need an SSL certificate, both of which carry fees. You'll also need to choose powerful hosting that can withstand the traffic your store gets, or risk your website going down during its busiest shopping periods. But with Shift4Shop, your hosting, software updates, and security are all taken care of behind the scenes. All you need to do is build your store and run your business, and our free plan really is free — it's all included and powered by Shift4 Payments.

Grow your business with a scalable solution

Shift4Shop gives you room to grow without struggling

Shift4Shop: Built to accept tons of products and traffic

Shift4Shop logo

Shift4Shop's infrastructure has the strength to support as many products as you need, and as many visitors as you can get, without your store slowing down or even going offline at a crucial time.

WordPress: Slows down with many products or visitors

wp logo

The resilience of your WordPress site depends on both your hosting and the plugins you use. Even with a high-powered web host, WordPress stores simply can't handle a large number of products.

Consistent experience vs. Unpredictable setup

Shift4Shop: Organized, dependable eCommerce website builder

checkmark

Build and manage every aspect of your eCommerce business in Shift4Shop's dashboard, from web design to inventory tracking to returns and customer interaction. Everything you need is included in an intuitive, understandable layout.

WordPress: Confusing and inconsistent settings

cross

Most WordPress plugins, and even some themes, have their own setting panels that can be completely different from the layout you're used to working with — and you may not even know a plugin won't work until after it's installed.

Enterprise-level features available for all businesses

Shift4Shop offers the most advanced features in the industry

  • No limits
  • Optimized admin panel
  • PCI-certified security
  • 99.9% guaranteed uptime
  • Social and mobile commerce
  • Built-in search engine optimization
  • Responsive and mobile-ready
  • Real-time shipping
  • Built-in payment processing via Shift4
  • No transaction fees
  • Large selection of optimized themes
  • Free unlimited plan powered by Shift4
  • 24/7/365 live support
  • Store theme and layout editors
grow

Thousands worldwide choose Shift4Shop

See what our clients have to say about us