Shopify vs Odoo 2024: The Complete Comparison

Shopify vs Odoo: Which platform is right for you? Both tools give you the resources you need to run and manage an online store.

However, there are some significant differences between them. First of all, while Shopify is an omnichannel commerce platform, Odoo is more of a business management toolkit, with ecommerce software included.

To help you make the right decision for your business needs, we took a closer look at the pros, cons, features, and pricing of both solutions, to bring you this comprehensive guide.

Let’s dive in.

Key Takeaways

• Shopify is a fantastic choice for business owners and entrepreneurs in search of flexible, beginner-friendly ecommerce software. It supports every type of business model, including dropshipping, has a range of valuable business management features and even features its own point of sale and payment processing solutions.
• Odoo is a great option for smaller startups in search of flexibility, as well as larger companies with complex requirements. The platform is packed with different modules to address a range of requirements. Plus, there are fantastic customization options available. Odoo’s wide range of apps make it a fantastic all-in-one option for business management.

How we Conducted the Research

For this comparison, we leveraged our years of experience using Shopify to develop custom stores for businesses, as well as our background in ecommerce growth consultancy.

We’ve used Shopify for many years, and accessed a demo version of Odoo so we could take a closer hands-on look at the features for ourselves. We also examined user reviews from a range of other customers.

Shopify vs Odoo: Pros and Cons

Shopify Pros and Cons

Odoo Pros and Cons

What is Shopify?

Shopify is one of the biggest and most popular ecommerce platforms in the world. The SaaS solution is used by millions of merchants worldwide, in more than 170 countries.

In fact, it powers around 10% of the ecommerce market in the United States.

Highly flexible, Shopify supports business leaders in operating virtually any kind of online store. You can use the platform to sell any kind of physical or digital product.

Plus, you can manage sales across a range of channels, from your own website to marketplace platforms, and social media channels.

There’s even a POS solution for in-person sales, called Shopify POS Go.

What Can You do with Shopify?

Shopify is a fantastic user-friendly platform packed with features for business owners. With Shopify, you can:

• Build a brand and website: Design your own free logo, and a comprehensive online store, with an included blog and SEO features, payment processing capabilities, customizable themes and templates, and integrated automation capabilities.
• Sell any product: With Shopify, companies can sell both physical and digital products, anywhere they choose. You can use add-ons to sell subscriptions, as well as POD and dropshipping products. There are even wholesale and B2B sales options.
• Sell across multiple channels: As an omnichannel sales platform, Shopify allows companies to sell a cross a range of channels. You can connect to marketplaces like Amazon, sell on social media platforms, and sell in-person with Shopify POS.
• Market your business: With built-in customer profiles and insights, Shopify makes promoting your business easy. There are integrated tools for email, social media, and chat-based marketing. Plus, you can access a range of add-on marketing integrations.
• Manage your business: Shopify makes it simple to run a comprehensive business, with tools for sales, order, and inventory management. There’s a fulfillment network and Shopify shipping for deliveries, as well as Shopify Capital for funding.
• Access insights: Shopify’s comprehensive analytical and reporting tools are excellent for business leaders. You can gain insights into your target audience, your top-selling products, and even tax and VAT information.

What is Odoo?

Odoo, or Odoo Ecommerce, is an open-source modular software solution. It started life as an ERP system, before evolving to become a comprehensive toolkit with more than 360 apps to choose from.

Odoo has more than 2 million users across 120 countries, and is packed with unique business features.

Whether you’re looking for help with product management, design, promotion and marketing, or shipping, Odoo has modules to suit every need.

You can even access built-in AI tools, accounting features, and project management tools.

What Can You Do with Odoo?

More than just an ecommerce platform, Odoo is a powerful toolkit for business management, covering everything from HR to productivity tools. You can:

• Manage finances and sales: Access accounting, invoices, expense management, and even e-signature solutions in one place. Plus, Odoo has its own sales system, point of sale capabilities, and solutions for selling rental products and subscriptions.
• Build a website or store: Odoo’s convenient website builder makes it simple to design an engaging website, with integrated forum tools, blogging capabilities, and ecommerce. There are even tools for online educators, and built-in live chat capabilities.
• Manage inventory: Robust inventory management tools on Odoo make it simple to keep on top of your inventory. There are solutions for making purchase orders, tracking maintenance requirements, manufacturing workflows, and more.
• Sell services: For service-focused business owners, Odoo’s platform comes with modules for project management, scheduling, planning, appointment setting, and field service. You can set appointments, create approval workflows, and more.
• Manage human resources: HR tools in Odoo cover everything from employee and recruitment management, to time off, appraisals, referrals, and fleet management. There are even productivity tools to help keep your team members aligned wherever they are.
• Advertise and promote your business: Odoo’s marketing tools cover social media, email, and SMS marketing, as well as comprehensive marketing automation and event management. You can even create and send surveys to customers to collect direct feedback.

Odoo vs Shopify: Ecommerce Features

Since our focus at Ecommerce-Platforms.com is the ecommerce landscape, let’s start by looking at how Odoo and Shopify support online stores.

Both Shopify and Odoo include either features or modules for payment processing, inventory management, and point of sale solutions.

Payment Methods

When it comes to Payment Methods, Shopify definitely has an edge with its integrated Shopify Payments gateway.

This powerful solution comes included with every Shopify store, support multiple different kinds of payment methods with minimal friction.

Shopify’s state-of-the-art checkout solution simplifies the purchasing process for customers. What’s more, companies have the freedom to connect their own payment processors, like PayPal, to offer customers a wider range of payment solutions.

While Odoo doesn’t have its own payment processing system, it does integrate with a range of payment providers, allowing customers to make transactions using credit card, debit card, and various other options.

There are also invoicing tools for service providers.

Odoo also supports subscription management expense tracking, but it lacks options for creating gift cards, which could be an issue for companies trying to generate customer loyalty.

Inventory Management

Shopify’s robust inventory management capabilities are excellent for businesses of all sizes. There are multi-location and multi-channel inventory management options, making it easy to create a scalable global business.

Shopify also offers a user-friendly interface where you can keep track of your most popular products, and leverage real-time updates to prevent stockouts.

Demand forecasting tools help with proactive inventory management, while integration between the Shopify ecommerce platform and POS solution ensures you can keep track of consistent inventory numbers across all channels.

Odoo also offers some pretty impressive inventory management solutions. There are integrated warehouse management tools, and real-time dashboards for monitoring stock levels.

You can also integrate details for multiple vendors into your back-end environment, ensuring you can maintain a steady supply of goods.

Like Shopify, Odoo also has some great demand forecasting tools. However, it also offers quality management tools, and automated maintenance tracking.

You’ll need separate integrations with third-party solutions to access the same features on Shopify.

Point of Sale

For companies selling both online and in-person, both Odoo and Shopify offer some fantastic tools. Shopify POS Lite comes included with most Shopify plans, making it simple to synchronize online business data with in-person sales.

You can access a range of flexible payment options, including card, cash, and contactless payments, mobile wallets, and gift cards.

Plus, Shopify has its own mobile app, for tracking sales reports and inventory information on the move. The comprehensive Shopify POS solution supports omnichannel selling, staff management, product management, and even integrations with marketing and loyalty tools.

Similarly, Odoo offers excellent point of sale solutions integrated into the Odoo platform. There are two POS options to choose from, for retail companies and restaurants.

Both come with reliable offline and online support, product filtering, loyalty programs, and flexible payment terminals.

Like Shopify, Odoo offers cross-channel selling, flexible invoicing, integrated payment options, and employee management tools. Plus, you can leverage add-on modules to boost employee productivity, set up approval flows, and even recruit and manage new team members.

SEO and Marketing Features

From an SEO and marketing perspective, Shopify is difficult to beat. First, Shopify is designed to be SEO-friendly, with customizable URLs, page titles, alt tags, meta descriptions and more.

All themes are mobile responsive and fast-loading. Plus, you can even easily generate a site map. Plus, integrated blogging tools make it simple to invest in content marketing.

Outside of search engine optimization capabilities, Shopify has its own built-in email marketing solution, with free solutions for up to 10,000 emails per month.

You can also create discounts and coupon codes to increase your chances of conversions, and automatically reach out to consumers who abandon their carts before making a purchase.

Shopify also seamlessly integrates with social media and marketplace channels, to give business owners more visibility in the online world. As an added bonus, you can integrate Shopify with virtually any marketing app or software you can think of.

Similarly, Odoo has some built-in capabilities for SEO, such as the option to automatically generate a site map, and adjust meta tags, and keywords.

You can create your own Odoo blog or forum, and design email mailing lists. Plus, there are connector tools for social media, and CRMs, so you can connect with customers across multiple channels, using personalized outreach.

Odoo also offers access to customizable email templates for lead nurturing, upselling solutions for your shopping cart, and marketplace integrations.

While the two platforms are very similar, Shopify is a little more comprehensive, with more advanced integrations and add-ons.

Pricing Plans and Fees

Both Shopify and Odoo have various plans and fees to consider. Shopify’s plans start at $5 per month for the Starter plan, with transaction fees of 5%.

However, this plan doesn’t include access to the comprehensive website building tools on the Shopify platform.

More advanced options include:

• Basic Shopify: $39 per month with all the website building, marketing, and business management tools beginners need, 2 staff accounts, and 1,000 inventory locations.
• Shopify: $105 per month with all the features of Basic Shopify, plus 5 staff accounts, advanced reporting, and additional sales channels.
• Advanced Shopify: $399 per month for the features of Shopify, plus custom reports, and 15 staff accounts, as well as extra shipping discounts.
• Shopify Plus: Starting at $2300 per month for enterprise-level solutions, granular customization, unique integrations, and more flexibility.

Shopify also charges payment processing fees, as well as transaction fees if you choose to use a third-party payment processor, such as PayPal.

There may also be additional fees to pay for premium themes, as well as certain apps and integrations.

Odoo offers a free plan for beginners, though it only includes access to a single app. The Standard plan starts at $31.10 per month per user, with access to all of the Odoo apps.

Alternatively, there’s a Custom plan for $46.70 per month per user, which includes Odoo Studio, external API options, and access to multi-company management solutions.

Once again, there may be payment processing fees to consider, as well as extra fees for any external apps and integrations you want to use alongside Odoo.

Customer Support

The Winner: Shopify has a slight edge over Odoo for customer management and support. It offers live chat, which isn’t available from Odoo, as well as 24/7 customer service.

When running an ecommerce website, there’s always a chance you’re going to need some extra support. While both Odoo and Shopify offer exceptional ease of use, they also provide access to support for beginners in the online world.

Shopify provides 24/7 customer support through email, live chat, and phone (in some regions).

They also have a huge range of self-help resources available on their website, such as tutorials, blogs, FAQs, and videos, to help you get started with your new store.

Similarly, Odoo provides excellent customer support through its own helpdesk, forum, and community solutions, as well as phone, and email options.

Though Odoo covers most of the same channels as Shopify for customer service, they don’t offer round-the-clock support. This means you might need to wait a little longer for a response to your questions.

The Final Verdict: Odoo or Shopify?

Both Odoo and Shopify are impressive tools, offering access to all kinds of functionality for running an ecommerce website and online business.

Both offer access to a convenient user interface, excellent extensibility, and great business management capabilities.

However, we think Shopify has an edge overall, thanks to it’s broader range of features and powerful integrations.

When to Use Shopify

We recommend Shopify to companies looking for:

• A straightforward and easy-to-use website or store builder
• Excellent marketing tools and integrations
• Built-in payment processing and sales management
• Omnichannel selling capabilities
• Access to hundreds of robust integrations

When to use Odoo

We’d recommend Odoo to companies that want:

• Extensive modular customization options
• Comprehensive HR and productivity tools
• Affordable options for basic business needs
• Excellent finance and accounting tools
• Great inventory management options

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