By Bogdan Rancea
I’m comparing two big tools for online businesses: Shopify and Odoo. Both have the essentials for e-commerce but are different.
Shopify is omnichannel commerce focused, a solution for online selling. Odoo is a business management tool with ecommerce capabilities.
I’ll go through the pros and cons, features and pricing of both to help you decide which one is best for your business.
Quick Verdict
When I’d Pick Shopify
Shopify is user friendly. I’d recommend for businesses that want a simple website or store setup. It’s good for those who want robust marketing tools and seamless integrations.
It has built in payment processing and sales management. Good for omnichannel selling and has many powerful apps.
When I’d Pick Odoo
I’d recommend Odoo for businesses that want lots of customization options. It’s good if you need HR and productivity tools.
Odoo has affordable solutions for basic business needs and is good for finance and accounting. I like its inventory management.
Quick summary:
- Shopify is for beginners and has flexibility for multiple business models.
- Has business management features and its own POS.
- Odoo has modular customization and is for small startups to large enterprises.
- Has many apps so it’s a full business management tool.
My Research
I used Shopify to build custom stores and consulted aver the years all the Shopify stores added in our ecommerce design gallery. For Odoo I used the demo to try out the features. I also read many user reviews to get a broader view of both platforms.
Shopify vs Odoo: Pros and Cons
Shopify’s Pros and Cons
Pros
- Shopify is great for omnichannel sales and multi-location support.
- I like its built in payment processing and app marketplace.
- User friendly for newbies to ecommerce.
- Employee and customer management tools are good and POS is excellent.
Cons
- Charges transaction and payment processing fees across all plans.
- Some apps and themes are expensive.
Odoo’s Pros and Cons
Pros
- Odoo is user friendly for beginners.
- I like its many business applications in one ecosystem.
- Has powerful inventory management and solutions for productivity and HR.
- Odoo is good for growing businesses.
Cons
- Lack of advanced customer loyalty features.
- No 24/7 support.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an ecommerce platform for millions of entrepreneurs worldwide. I found it’s very popular in the US where it accounts for about 10% of online sales.
It’s versatile, you can sell anything online, from physical products to digital products.
Shopify’s multi channel approach is one of its strengths. I can set up an online store and expand to marketplaces, social media and even brick and mortar locations with their point of sale system, Shopify POS Go.
What Can I Do With Shopify?
Shopify has a full ecommerce toolkit.
Here’s what I can do:
Create a Brand and Website:
- Design a free logo
- Build a custom store
- Set up a blog
- SEO
- Payment processing
- Choose from themes
- Automation
Sell Products:
- Physical and digital products
- Subscription based products
- Print on demand and dropshipping products
- Wholesale and B2B
Expand to Multiple Channels:
- Connect to marketplaces like Amazon
- Sell on social media
- Use Shopify POS for in person sales
Market My Business:
- Customer profiles and insights
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
- Chat with customers
Manage Operations:
- Sales and orders
- Inventory management
- Use Shopify’s fulfillment network
- Access Shopify Capital
Improve Store Performance:
- Review analytics
- Top selling products
- Customer behavior
- Tax and VAT
Shopify’s interface makes these easy to do even for newbies to ecommerce. I like how it has the essential features and flexibility to add more through integrations and apps.
What is Odoo?
Odoo is an open source software platform that grew from an ERP system to a full fledged toolkit. Now it has over 360 apps for businesses of all sizes.
With over 2 million users in 120 countries, Odoo is the go to solution for many business needs.
I like Odoo’s modularity. Whether you want to manage products, boost marketing or streamline shipping, there’s an Odoo module for that. It even has AI tools, accounting features and project management.
What Can I Do with Odoo?
Odoo is very versatile. Here are some areas where it excels:
Financial Management
- Accounting and invoicing
- Expense tracking
- E-signature
- Sales system with POS
- Subscription and rental product management
Website and Store
- Website builder
- Forum and blogging tools
- Ecommerce
- Online education
- Live chat
Inventory Control
- Purchase orders
- Maintenance tracking
- Manufacturing workflow
Service Business Tools
- Project management
- Appointment scheduling
- Field service
- Approval workflow
Human Resources
- Employee and recruitment
- Time off
- Performance appraisals
- Referral programs
- Fleet management
Marketing and Promotion
- Social media, email and SMS marketing
- Marketing automation
- Events
- Surveys
Odoo’s modularity allows businesses to pick and choose what they need and build a solution that grows with them. This is very useful for businesses that want to streamline their operations and efficiency across multiple departments.
Odoo vs Shopify: Ecommerce Features
Payment Processing
Shopify has its own built in Shopify Payments gateway. This is included with every Shopify store and supports multiple payment methods.
I like how Shopify’s checkout process is streamlined and user friendly. Businesses can also link their preferred payment gateways like PayPal for extra flexibility.
Odoo doesn’t have its own payment system but integrates with many payment providers. It allows transactions via credit cards, debit cards and other methods.
Odoo has invoicing tools and subscription management. But it doesn’t have gift card creation which can impact customer loyalty.
Stock Control Systems
Shopify is great for inventory management for businesses of all sizes. I like its multi-location and multi-channel features for global scaling.
The interface is user friendly to monitor top selling products and get real time updates to prevent stockouts. It has demand forecasting tools for proactive inventory management.
Odoo matches Shopify with its inventory solutions. It has integrated warehouse management and real time stock level dashboards.
Odoo goes further with quality management and automated maintenance tracking features that require third party integrations in Shopify.
In-Store Sales
Both have robust point of sale (POS) systems for businesses with physical and online presence. Shopify POS Lite is included in most plans and syncs online and in-person sales.
It supports multiple payment options: cards, cash, contactless payments and mobile wallets.
Shopify has a mobile app for on the go sales and inventory tracking. The full Shopify POS supports omnichannel selling, staff management and integrates with marketing and loyalty tools.
Odoo has 2 POS options for retail and restaurants. Both have offline and online support, product filtering and loyalty programs.
Odoo’s POS has cross channel selling, flexible invoicing and employee management. It also has add-on modules for extra productivity, approval flows and team management.
SEO and Marketing
Shopify has great SEO and marketing features. I like the built in SEO capabilities to customize URLs, page titles, alt tags and meta descriptions.
Mobile responsive themes and fast loading pages are important for search rankings.
Shopify’s built in blogging tools make content marketing easy. I like the free email marketing for up to 10,000 emails per month.
Ability to create discounts and coupon codes can increase conversions.
I like Shopify’s cart abandonment recovery tools that automatically reach out to customers who didn’t complete purchase.
Seamless integration with social media and marketplace channels for extra visibility across multiple platforms.
Odoo has some SEO features too. I like that it can generate sitemaps automatically and allows to adjust meta tags and keywords. Blogging and forum creation are useful for content strategy.
Both have email marketing and social media integrations. Odoo has customizable email templates for lead nurturing and upselling for cart.
While Odoo has good offerings, I find Shopify’s marketing ecosystem more extensive. The many integrations and add-ons for Shopify gives it an edge in flexibility and scalability for marketing.
I think both have good marketing tools but Shopify’s more extensive approach makes it more suitable for businesses that want to grow and be visible.
Pricing and Costs
Shopify and Odoo have different pricing structures for different businesses.
Shopify has multiple pricing plans to suit:
Starter plan at $5/month
- 5% transaction fee
- No full website building capabilities
For more features:
- Basic Shopify: $39/month
- Shopify: $105/month
- Advanced Shopify: $399/month
- Shopify Plus: From $2300/month
These plans add more staff accounts, inventory locations and advanced features. Note that Shopify has payment processing fees and extra transaction fees for 3rd party payment gateways.
Odoo has a different approach, with a free plan for single app usage.
Their paid plans are:
- Standard: $31.10/month per user
- Custom: $46.70/month per user
Custom plan includes Odoo Studio, external API access and multi company management tools.
Both have extra costs for premium themes, apps and integrations. I recommend to consider your business requirements and budget carefully when choosing between the two.
Don’t forget to factor in payment processing fees and any add-ons to get the total cost.
Help When You Need It
Customer support can make or break your e-commerce experience. I found both Shopify and Odoo to be good but Shopify has a slight edge.
Shopify has 24/7 support across multiple channels. I can reach out via email, live chat or phone anytime day or night. This instant access to help is super helpful when I have urgent issues with my online store.
I like Shopify’s self-help resources too. Their website has tons of tutorials, blogs, FAQs and videos. These have been very helpful in learning e-commerce.
Odoo’s support is also good. They have helpdesk, forum and community solutions plus phone and email support.
While their support is not 24/7 like Shopify’s, I found their response time to be reasonable.
Both are user friendly so you don’t need constant support. But when I do need help, I know I can rely on either of them to get it done quickly and efficiently.
Odoo or Shopify?
I think both Odoo and Shopify are good ecommerce platforms with many features. Each has an intuitive interface and business management tools.
Shopify has a slight edge due to more features and integrations. But it ultimately depends on your needs and preferences.
