I dug into these two articles from the Independent website to see what eCommerce platforms they were running “Christmas Gift Guide: 100 Irish brands to shop local this festive season” and ” 100 Irish brands to shop local this festive season”
My reason for this was that I was interested from a business perspective on what eCommerce platforms Irish businesses were choosing.
For instance 8-9 years ago Magento was a hugely popular platform that I built several eCommerce sites on and of all the sites below only 2-3 now use this platform.
For nearly 7-8 years I have built sites using the WordPress/WooCommerce combination and this has the largest footprint of eCommerce sites on the Grange portfolio.
During the pandemic and the growth in eCommerce fuelled largely by the LEO eCommerce Online Voucher scheme many customers were explicitly asking for Shopify.
So I learnt how to design and build using Shopify, I now recommend it more and more and am working on a large B2B site for an existing WooCommerce client as it fits his needs more than WooCommerce (which does it awkwardly with a mix of plugins)
How I Analysed the Sites
What I didn’t wasn’t exactly rocket science. In nearly all cases I went to the site used the “View Source” option from the browser and doing this I can tell in 9 times out of 10 what eCommerce platform it is from the code used. That is why I am great fun at parties. When I wasn’t immediately obvious I popped the URL into builtwith.com which confirmed my suspicions or showed another technology.. In some cases neither option worked so I just put a note in and moved on
What Does it Show
The technology breakdown was as follows
- Shopify – 29
- WordPress – Woocommerce – 24
- WIX – 2
- Squarespace – 1
- Magento 1
- Not Clear – 4 – as in I couldn’t quickly see from their source what eCommerce platform they were running.
What to Read Into the Results
For you a potential eCommerce user
Now this may indicate that there is only a small gap between Shopify and WooCommerce but it looked to me like the older sites were running WooCommerce and the newer ones Shopify (as in newer builds). So Shopify is in the ascent and I don’t see that changing at all.
I won’t dig into the advantages or disadvantages of either platform except to say for someone who isn’t technical it is far easier to create a Shopify website without a website developer than WooCommerce. This is one of Shopify’s unique selling points.
For unique designs and custom code Shopify is like any other platform and you need help if you have unique needs. Shopify as a company is going through explosive growth and investment and I suspect that in 2-3 more years people will equate Shopify with eCommerce like we equate Google with search now.
For a Website Development Company
It is clear from this that the path I have taken in working more and more with the platform is the way to go. Shopify is an excellent eCommerce platform with a huge ecosystem of apps and add ons that make it far more powerful than WooCommerce or even Magento (which is barely used below). For a larger company looking to integrate with EPOS and integrated stock control it is the way to go over WooCommerce.
eCommerce Sites Analysis
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- We Make Good, Dublin www.WeMakeGood.ie – Shopify
- Mimi + Martha, Limerick www.MimiandMartha.com – Shopify
- The Wilds Café & Lifestyle Store, Wexford www.TheWilds.ie – Shopify
- Cushendale Woolen Mills, Kilkenny www.Cushendale.ie – WordPress -WooCommerce
- Drumgreenagh Craft and Design Store, Galway www.Drumgreenagh.com – Shopify
- Superfolk, Mayo www.Superfolk.com – Squarespace
- Damn Fine Print, Dublin www.DamnFinePrint.com – Shopify
- Finders Keepers, Waterford www.Finderskeepersthestore.ie – WordPress -WooCommerce
- Article, Dublin www.Article.ie – Shopify
- Wild Side Sports, Cork www.wildsidesports.ie – Shopify
- Surfdock, Dublin www.surfdock.com – Shopify
- Gym+Coffee, Dublin www.gympluscoffee.com – Shopify
- Leyo Yoga, Galway www.leyoyoga.com – Shopify
- Powercut Clothing, Dublin www.powercutclothing.com – Shopify
- Cúltec, Offaly www.cultec.ie – Not clear
- McSport, Dublin www.mcsport.ie – Shopify
- West Ireland Bikeshop, Galway www.westirelandbikeshop.ie – WordPress -WooCommerce
- The Kind, Dublin www.thekind.co – Shopify
- DUO Ireland, Limerick www.duoireland.com – Shopify
- Gill Books, Dublin www.gillbooks.ie – Not clear
- Siopa Údar, Meath www.siopaudar.ie – WordPress -WooCommerce
- Tramp Press, Dublin www.tramppress.com – WordPress -WooCommerce
- Little Island Books, Dublin www.littleisland.ie – WordPress -WooCommerce
- De Burca Rare Books, Dublin www.deburcararebooks.com – WordPress -WooCommerce
- John’s Bookshop, Westmeath www.johnsbookshop.com – Not Clear
- Ulysses Rare Books, Dublin www.rarebooks.ie Not Clear
- Kennys Bookshop, Galway www.kennys.ie – Magento
- Quay Books, Limerick www.quaybooksstore.com – Shopify
- Stable of Ireland, Dublin www.stableofireland.com – Shopify
- a o i f e, Kildare www.aoifelifestyle.com – WordPress Woocommerce
- Orca Board, Dublin www.orcaboard.ie – Wix
- MacBees, Kerry www.macbees.ie – Shopify
- Terra Firma, Co Mayo www.terrafirmaireland.com – WordPress WooCommerce
- Earth’s Edge, Co Dublin www.earths-edge.com – WordPress Woocommerce
- Zipit, Co Cork, Dublin & Roscommon www.zipit.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Rachel’s Irish Adventures, Co Mayo – www.rachelsirishadventures.com – WordPress Woocommerce
- The Irish Experience, Co Wexford www.theirishexperience.com – WordPress Woocommerce
- Pat Falvey Adventures, Co Kerry www.patfalvey.com – WordPress Woocommerce
- Go with the Flow, Co Carlow gowiththeflow.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Calvey’s Achill Mountain Lamb, Mayo calveysachillmountainlamb.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Ardkeen Stores, Waterford www.ardkeen.com – Shopify
- Mr Bells, Cork mrbells.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Sheridan’s Cheesemongers, Meath sheridanscheesemongers.com – WordPress Woocommerce
- Lir Chocolates, Meath www.lirchocolates.com – Shopify
- The Virgin Mary Bar, Dublin thevirginmarybar.com – Shopify
- Killahora Orchards, Cork www.killahoraorchards.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Grace Diamonds by Gráinne Seoige, Galway gracediamonds.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Edge Only, Dublin edgeonly.com – Shopify
- Chupi Jewellery, Dublin www.chupi.com – Shopify
- Hartmanns, Galway hartmanns.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Cogs the Brain Shop, Dublin cogsthebrainshop.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Rooms for Rascals, Kildare roomsforrascals.ie – Shopify
- World Of Wonder Toys, Kerry worldofwondertoys.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Hopscotch, Mayo www.hopscotchkids.ie – Shopify
- Nunaïa, Tipperary nunaia.com – Shopify
- Voya, Sligo www.voya.ie – Shopify
- Stories Parfums, Down storiesparfums.com – Shopify
- Byrne’s, Wexford www.byrnesonline.ie – WordPress Woocommerce
- Nimble Fingers, Dublin nimblefingers.ie – Shopify
- Bannon Jewellers, Wicklow www.bannonjewellers.ie – Shopify
