Selling CBD Online – Shopify or WooCommerce?
The verdict is in: Shopify is out and WooCommerce is in!
What’s the best platform to sell CBD products on?
CBD sales reached £50 million last year (and that’s just in the UK!). The UK Cannabis Trades Association estimate that CBD use has doubled in the last 12 months and the number of people using CBD oil has reached 300,000.
Sound great? It is.
Our industry is booming and now’s the time to cash in. With 60% of all CBD sales now made online, you need to have a solid online presence to take your share of the market.
The major hurdle online CBD sellers run into is the number of regulations around selling the product. Running an online CBD shop has its own unique challenges – and many of these come down to which platform your website is built on.
Having problems with your CBD store? Let’s talk. Get your site sorted today, contact dijitul today.
Shopify Vs. WooCommerce
In the CBD world, it pretty much comes down to two main platform options – Shopify and WooCommerce. Here’s a quick guide to the benefits and drawbacks of both – and what’s best for CBD companies.
Shopify
- The Good
– Includes everything you need to start selling online
– Starts at £60/month - The Bad
– 1.9% charge on each transaction, plus 20p.
– Payment gateway integration choices are extremely limited
– Shopify add-ons are limited - The Ugly
– Shopify can shut you down at any time for violation of their terms (which they change, a lot)
– Shopify Payments will not accept CBD sellers
WooCommerce
- The Good
– You’re 100% in control of your website
– No forced shutdowns
– Huge choice in plugins, add ons and customisation
– Multiple payment gateways can be integrated - The Bad
– You have to buy your own hosting and maintenance - The Ugly
– You have to find a web developer/digital agency that you can trust to create a successful website for you (luckily, you’re in the right place with dijitul!)
One clear winner – WooCommerce
It doesn’t take a genius to see that Shopify isn’t CBD-friendly. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a great platform for selling run-of-the-mill stuff online – but CBD is an industry like no other.
WooCommerce is the best platform for selling CBD online by a long shot.
But for CBD sellers already on Shopify, how can they jump ship and get the most out of their online sales?
Need to migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce? We can help.
How to switch from Shopify to WooCommerce
Switching your website’s platform from Shopify to WooCommerce isn’t a simple task.
Depending on how your online store is set up dictates the level of effort needed to recreate it in WooCommerce.
If you only sell one product and have minimal pages, you can recreate your site in a short enough period. Sell thousands of products? You’re looking at a serious time commitment.
Switching your hosting, development, and maintenance over is well worth the short-term investment – you’ll see serious benefits going forward.
When you sell CBD on WooCommerce, you have full control over your online shop – there’s no threat of being taken offline or having your funds frozen (unlike Shopify).
Switching from Shopify to WooCommerce is the best choice for any CBD seller, manufacturer or distributor in the UK.
The dijitul team has a full online solution for the CBD industry
Specialising in CBD oil web design and digital marketing for CBD products, we’ve experienced first-hand the problems faced by companies trying to make their name in the industry.
CBD distributors, retailers and start-up companies are still fighting against a host of problems selling online. Here at dijitul, we have overcome these issues.
We have helped many CBD companies, just like you, tap into the lucrative world of selling CBD products online.