It’s the first question we get asked, and the wrong answer is expensive: a store built on the wrong platform almost always ends up being rebuilt within eighteen months. There is no “best” platform. There’s the one that fits the way you sell, your volumes, and the team that will run the site day to day.
Here is the framework we use with our clients.
Start with the payment question
In Tunisia, a large share of online orders is still paid for on delivery. If that’s your case, this constraint outweighs everything else.
Converty was designed for it. Cash on delivery is built in, and the platform connects directly to delivery companies so you can track parcels from the same dashboard. For a seller coming from Facebook or Instagram who handles orders by phone, it’s the shortest path.
Shopify handles cash on delivery without trouble. However, Shopify Payments is not available in Tunisia: for card payments you need a local gateway (Konnect, Flouci, Paymee…) through an app or integration, with its own fees.
WooCommerce does both, provided you install and maintain the right plugins. Almost every Tunisian gateway offers a WordPress extension.
Real costs, not just the subscription
Comparing list prices isn’t enough. What matters is the total cost over two years.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Converty | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software | Monthly subscription in US dollars | Free | Free up to a sales threshold, then a commission |
| Hosting | Included | Your responsibility | Included |
| Extensions | Paid apps, often billed monthly | Free plugins or annual licences | Built-in features, narrower choice |
| Maintenance | Low | Regular (updates, security, backups) | Low |
Two traps come up often. On Shopify, the bill climbs with apps: five or six apps at a few dollars a month end up costing more than the subscription. On WooCommerce, the software is free but maintenance is not. A WordPress site that isn’t updated becomes a target.
For Converty, check the pricing model when you sign up. At the time of writing, the platform advertises a free tier up to a certain sales volume, then a small commission. The exact threshold varies between pages of their site.
Search engine optimisation
If Google is going to become a major acquisition channel, the platform matters.
WooCommerce gives the most freedom: URL structure, editorial content, structured data, internal linking. It’s the best choice when a blog and buying guides are part of the strategy.
Shopify does very well on the technical basics (speed, sitemap, canonical tags) but imposes certain structures, such as /products/ and /collections/ in URLs. For most stores, that’s not a problem. For a very large catalogue with many filters, it needs serious attention.
Converty is built first and foremost to convert traffic coming from social media and advertising. A Converty store can be optimised for search, but you have fewer levers than with the other two.
Who will run the site?
This is the question most often forgotten. A powerful platform that nobody on the team knows how to use loses more sales than it wins.
- A small team with no technical profile that wants to add products and track orders: Converty or Shopify.
- A marketing team that publishes content every week: WooCommerce or Shopify.
- Specific needs (B2B, customer-specific pricing, configurators, integration with an ERP such as Sage): WooCommerce, or Shopify with an integration budget.
Our recommendation, case by case
You’re starting out, you sell mainly through Facebook and Instagram, and your customers pay on delivery. Converty. You’ll be online fast, with no fixed costs, and logistics will follow.
You’re an established brand with a well-managed catalogue, and you want a reliable site without dealing with the technical side. Shopify. It’s the choice of several of our retail clients, especially when the brand also targets customers outside Tunisia.
Content and SEO are at the heart of your acquisition, or you have custom requirements. WooCommerce, provided you budget for a maintenance contract.
Torn between two platforms? That’s usually a sign that a piece of data is missing: your real volumes, your share of cash-on-delivery orders, or the time your team can spend on the site. That’s exactly what we measure during an audit, before recommending anything.
What if you’re already on the “wrong” platform?
Switching platforms is doable without losing your traffic, as long as the redirects are prepared before going live. We detail the method in our article on redesigning a site without losing search rankings.