1. Market Share
With over 3,500 current sites built and an overall 28th position in the ranking, Salesforce definitely outstrips Shopware whose site score is twice as few and the ranking position is only 48th. This domination is especially conspicuous if it goes about the top 100K sites, where there is a five-fold prevalence of Salesforce over Shopware (0.492% vs 0.015% respectively). However, the recent market share history of Salesforce Commerce Cloud vs Shopware exposes the superiority of the latter testifying to the palpable nascent tendency of users starting to prefer Shopware.
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2. Categories of Websites
Both platforms are suitable for businesses of all sizes – from small to large, yet statistics display a clear-cut distribution of sites related to various fields. Thus, arts and entertainment, lifestyles, sports, and e-commerce sites’ creators prefer Salesforce while developers of sites dealing with vehicles, food & drink, health, home & garden, and computer electronics opt for Shopware.
3. Geography and Linguistics
In this aspect, Salesforce reigns supreme since it is the leading platform in over 110 countries while Shopware prevails in five countries only with Germany topping the tally. Such a difference in scope accounts for the gamut of languages supported by each platform. If Shopware allows building products only in English and German, Salesforce “is fluent” in six languages besides English (French, Spanish, Italian, and others) but signally not German!
4. Tools to Integrate with
Each platform integrates with a definite range of tools. For Salesforce, this list includes PayPal, ShipStation, GoToWebinar, PieSync, OneSaaS, and half a dozen other names. Shopware’s integration record is twice as short and contains Mailchimp, PAYMILL, and SagePay among others.
5. Devices to Be Used on
Due to the flexibility of both platforms, they can be operated from any gadget whose software framework is Windows, Linux, and Mac, yet Salesforce is more universal encompassing Android and iOS-based devices as well.
6. List of Features
According to FinancesOnline, the inventory of features each platform possesses is 4.5 times longer for Salesforce in comparison to the one for Shopware. Being extendable through plugins, the latter can provide users with product and customer streams, shopping worlds presets, manufacturer support, storytelling and digital publishing feature, and – notably – free initial installation.
Salesforce definitely calls the shots in this aspect since it can boast of social integrations and in-store extensions, multi-site and content management, multi-account and contract ordering, localization and guided navigation, real-time dashboards and reports, SEO and AI-powered personalization, and – most importantly – Commerce Cloud Endless Aisle.
7. Available Support
It is important to know that once you have opted for a platform you won’t be left all adrift in case any issues crop up. Shopware takes care of such situations providing their clients with email and phone support, but Salesforce goes even further by adding to it live support, training, and even tickets.
8. Pricing Policies
You have been probably scrolling down the list to see this item first because it is the crucial issue for money-strapped enterprises in the times of financial dearth. Well, each platform has its own approach to price-setting.
Salesforce has various pricing plans for its editions ranging from $25 per month for Salesforce Essentials to $300 per month for Lightning Unlimited. However, the potential users of Salesforce Commerce Cloud can never know in advance what they will have to splurge on since the price for it is available on request only. The experts of IDAP find it rather annoying because any shopper must be aware of the product price before taking in from the shelf and carrying it to the cash register.
By contrast, Shopware adheres to a different approach. First of all, its pricing policies are transparent which is essential for comfortable user experience. Second of all, Shopware products are available at a one-time fee which allows using them indefinitely having paid only once. One more pleasant news form Shopware is that the basic community version of it is free. More advanced platforms of the brand (Professional and Professional Plus versions) will cost you €1,295 and €5,995 respectively.
Yet our experts’ tip is to opt for Shopware Enterprise. It has numerous features in stock that you can choose from and the amount you pay depends on the number of features you select. This flexible scheme is very convenient for small businesses since their owners know better what they expect from an e-commerce platform and wish to fork out for only what they use.
- Important Pre-Choice Considerations
If you are ready to opt for either platform after reading through this guide, well, don’t be so hasty. Before making your ultimate choice you should consider the following issues.
- The nature of your business. The size of your company, the merchandise it deals in, the anticipated daily number of transactions, the budget you have for investing in the software – all of these are instrumental in helping you to decide on a definite platform whose characteristics will be a perfect fit for you.
- The vision of your future development. You should have a digital roadmap that will outline a couple of years’ perspective including extension plans, scaling up your business, reaching out for new markets, and so on.
If you haven’t come up with one yet and aren’t sure what your mid-term and long-term objectives are, Shopware as an open-source platform is a great choice.
- Further website improvement. As a rule, the ideas on it come after your e-store has already been launched. You may discover that you need more custom development, third-party modules, or multiple payment gateways in addition to the features you have. If your current platform can’t provide those, consider migration which is not that complicated in the case of Shopware.
- A reliable developer. You might be a commercial whiz, but are you sure you can handle all IT aspects of your business adequately? In this highly specific field, it is wise to hire seasoned brains. IDAP with its dedicated team possesses skills and expertise to offer professional advice, tackle any software solution, and provide reliable follow-up support of the projects.
- Conclusion
In the insecure pandemic-ravaged world, your e-commerce company (especially if it is a small one) may be called lucky if it has managed to hold its ground suffering few financial setbacks. Yet, even if this is your case, implementing cost-saving measures concerning software you employ is a prudent practice so most enterprises in the field try to make sure they get their value at the most adequate price.
With this aim in view, clinging to huge and cumbrous platforms with lots of features you never make use of is a bad call. By opting for Shopware, you will get a robust innovative platform with an interesting approach and compact functionality that has a huge community of users and developers ready to lend a helping hand in refining it.