CBD Websites Made Easy
Setting up a CBD store doesn’t need to be difficult.
Save yourself time and avoid mistakes. Contact us today to set up your eCommerce store selling CBD Oil. Before you start selling CBD online, it’s crucial to understand the key legal considerations and compliance requirements, including federal and state laws that govern the sale of hemp-derived CBD products.
As the CBD industry continues to grow, an increasing number of businesses are looking to get involved by selling CBD products online. However, before you can start selling, you need to select an eCommerce platform to use for your website. In this article, we’ll compare two of the most popular options: Shopify and WooCommerce. There’s no getting around it: CBD is officially everywhere you’re looking, especially online. CBD’s popularity has skyrocketed, transforming from a niche alternative health treatment to a worldwide craze. There is a wide array of revolutionary CBD products, ranging from lattes to makeup, bed sheets, pet treats, and even bath bombs. Choosing the right platform is essential for selling any type of CBD product online, as not all e-commerce solutions and payment gateways are compatible with CBD sales.
The industry’s growth shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Quite the contrary, CBD sales are expected to reach $80 billion by 2030. So, with that much money on the table, it’s no wonder that CBD sellers are popping up everywhere online. Where online exactly? On popular CMSs like Shopify or WooCommerce.
This article explores the ins and outs of starting your own CBD shop on either of these two CMSs.
Introduction to CBD Business Online
The CBD industry is booming, with more entrepreneurs and established brands looking to capitalise on the growing demand for CBD products. Selling CBD online offers significant opportunities, but it also comes with unique challenges due to the complex legal landscape and evolving regulations. For any CBD business aiming to succeed in the competitive CBD industry, understanding these legal requirements and choosing the right ecommerce platform is essential. The right ecommerce platform can streamline your operations, ensure compliance, and help you effectively sell CBD products online. In this article, we’ll break down the key considerations for launching a CBD business online and guide you in selecting the best ecommerce platform for your CBD sales, so you can confidently navigate the legal landscape and build a thriving CBD business.
Shopify For CBD Explained
Shopify is a content management system (CMS) that allows you to start, grow, and manage your own online business. It’s a subscription-based software that enables you to launch a fully functional ecommerce store for CBD, sell CBD on Shopify, and receive payments for your CBD products from anywhere in the world.
Now, Shopify makes it simple to enter the eCommerce world, even if you don’t have any experience selling online. The eCommerce platform enables you to easily manage products, inventory, payments, and shipping. You also don’t have to worry about the hassle of hosting, as the platform takes care of that. What’s more, Shopify even allows online sellers to use their own domain name and connect it to Shopify from their store’s admin or buy one through the platform if you don’t have one yet. Shopify also offers customizable templates that can be tailored to fit your CBD brand.
Simply put, Shopify makes it simple to start and manage your own online store and get your share from a thriving industry like CBD. No coding or development is needed, and there are many other pros. However, since CBD is considered part of high-risk industries, payment processing can be more complex, and high-risk payment processors are often required for CBD transactions on Shopify.
Pros for CBD sellers
- Launching your own online shop is easy. There’s no need to develop skills or seek help to get started with our CBD business, as Shopify’s subscription comes with web hosting, store themes, and easy-to-integrate features.
- Shopify plans are customised, allowing you to scale your plan as your CBD business grows.
- Compared to other ecommerce platforms, Shopify stands out for its ease of use and integrated features specifically designed for CBD sellers.
- CBD is linked to marijuana, which can make online sales a bit tricky. Yet, Shopify is based in Canada, which means it is not subject to US federal law.
Cons for CBD sellers
- At the Shopify store, you may experience some payment restrictions. Even if the eCommerce platform is cannabis-friendly, some of the Shopify payment gateways provided are not. This includes PayPal and Stripe. These restrictions are due to strict legal and regulatory requirements surrounding the sale of CBD.
- Selling CBD products on Shopify comes with specific transaction fees. The platform takes up to 2.9% of each sale you make and $0.30 per credit card transaction.
- The biggest con of using Shopify for your own CBD online store is that you’re not really in control of your site. The platform can close down any site at any time, and you may not even get a warning before. Plus, Shopify sellers are subject to the platform’s results and regulations.
WooCommerce For CBD Explained
WooCommerce is a great alternative to Shopify for creating and managing your own CBD online store. WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that enables sellers to transform their WordPress website into an e-commerce store, offering the same functionality as Shopify. More precisely, sellers get all the tools they need to sell their products from anywhere in the world and manage their brands.
Yet, there’s a big difference between having an online shop on Shopify and WordPress. More precisely, with WooCommerce, online shop owners have complete control of their websites. There’s no such thing as WooCommerce shutting your site down. Since WooCommerce is self-hosted, it is important to choose a reliable hosting provider to ensure optimal performance and security for your store.
WooCommerce functions as a set of open-source files, allowing it to be installed on various hosting platforms. WooCommerce also supports the sale of hemp-derived products, making it a suitable choice for CBD businesses. That’s one of the main reasons why WooCommerce is a full-featured Shopify alternative for setting up a CBD online store and beginning to sell.
Pros for CBD sellers
- There are no subscription fees. WordPress is free for everyone.
- WordPress allows you to use cannabis-friendly payment gateways, as a few offer plugins for WordPress.
- WordPress supports all sorts of plugins and themes that allow online store owners to customise the appearance of their CBD sites as they like. Plus, WordPress also offers the possibility to customise the functionality of a website or even create a custom theme for it from scratch. WooCommerce’s flexibility also allows for advanced seo optimization to improve your store’s visibility.
- WordPress offers a lot of flexibility through its code, plugin support, and themes. Sellers can continually update their websites to meet the evolving needs of their CBD online business.
Cons for CBD sellers
- Setting up an online shop on WordPress involves a few additional steps compared to setting it up on Shopify. Sellers need to: buy a domain, sign up for hosting, install a default WordPress version, buy a theme, install all sorts of plugins to handle promotion practices, install the WooCommerce plugin, and lastly, configure their eCommerce store from details to payment gateway integration and products.
- No support is offered for any of the items mentioned above. CBD sellers who want to sell on WordPress need a website designer to help them with all the technical parts of setting up their online shop.
- WordPress plugins and themes require frequent updates.
Payment Gateway Integration
Whether you decide to use Shopify or WooCommerce as your eCommerce shop platform, it’s time to figure out a crucial aspect: how will you accept payments?
CBD is classified as “high-risk,” so using popular payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe is not a good option. In fact, many CBD sellers had their accounts closed without notice or their funds frozen. Many payment processors restrict CBD transactions due to federal laws, which regulate the sale of hemp-derived products and create additional compliance requirements.
Recently, it has become easier to sell CBD products on Shopify, but sellers are required to use a payment gateway other than the platform’s default payment processor. Shopify’s default payment merchant is underwritten by Stripe, a US-based company that does not support the processing of CBD products. Most payment processors do not support marijuana derived CBD products due to legal concerns, so only hemp-derived CBD is typically allowed.
So, although Shopify supports stores that sell CBD products on the platform, the payment system still doesn’t support these products. To sell CBD on the eCommerce platform, you’ll need to use payment gateways from third-party payment processors. For WooCommerce, you’ll also need to use a third-party payment gateway processor, but the main benefit is that you’re in complete control of your website, so no one can shut it down for selling “high-risk” products.
What Makes WooCommerce Different From Shopify?
The primary difference between WooCommerce and Shopify is that WooCommerce is self-hosted, whereas Shopify is a hosted service. With WooCommerce, you must have a hosting account and a domain name and manage your online store yourself. With Shopify, on the other hand, all of this is taken care of for you by the service.
Additionally, WooCommerce is a bit more customizable than Shopify. This means that if you want to make changes to the design or functionality of your online store, you will likely be able to do so with WooCommerce, while this may not be as easy with Shopify. In general, both WooCommerce and Shopify make it simple for anyone to sell CBD products through an online store, accept payments, manage inventory, and more.
When considering legal aspects, it’s important to note that the legality of CBD often depends on whether it is derived from hemp or marijuana. CBD derived from hemp is federally legal if it meets certain THC limits, while CBD derived from marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Although some states allow marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, federal law still restricts marijuana-derived CBD.
Several factors must be considered when determining which platform is best for you, based on your specific needs and requirements.
What are your options?
Earning money from your online CBD products can be challenging on both Shopify and WooCommerce. Yet, don’t despair. You can use a very viable payment solution to get paid: Viva Wallet.
The leading CBD-oil-friendly payment gateway for selling CBD products is Viva Wallet, and you can use it whether you set up your online CBD store on Shopify or WooCommerce:
Using Viva Wallet on Shopify
If you’ve decided to start your own Shopify CBD store, Viva Wallet can be the payment gateway solution you’ve been looking for. One of the key benefits of using Shopify and Viva Wallet as a CBD payment processor is the recent partnership with PayPal, which allows CBD sellers to integrate PayPal through Viva Wallet for their Shopify CBD stores. Yet, this option isn’t available for WooCommerce stores.
All you have to do is enable PayPal as the payment option by linking your PayPal account with your Viva Wallet account. Remember that all customer CBD transaction payments using this option will be deposited to the PayPal account, not the Viva Wallet account.
Using Viva Wallet on WooCommerce
CBD stores on WooCommerce can also utilise Viva Wallet as a payment gateway solution to receive payment for their products. The partnership between WooCommerce and Viva Wallet has resulted in an extension that enables CBD merchants to accept payments instantly. Unlike Shopify, you are yet to be able to connect to PayPal, you can, however, set up a subscription model for accepting payments. You cannot do this if you use Shopify.
To set up subscriptions, you must purchase the ‘WooCommerce Subscription plugin to enable this feature.
6 Things to Consider When Selecting an eCommerce Platform
While Shopify and WordPress are both excellent platforms for selling CBD products online, there are important distinctions to consider when deciding which one to use. When you want to customise the design of your own new CBD store website, both cost more, but WordPress offers several CBD Oil website templates.
1. Cost
Both Shopify and WordPress are great platforms, but they do come with different price tags. Shopify is expensive to get started, but it offers more features and is generally easier to use. You can use WordPress for free, but you will need to pay for hosting and any additional features or themes you wish to use.
2. Ease of Use
Shopify is more user-friendly than WordPress, especially for those unfamiliar with coding or website design. However, WordPress has many plugins and themes that can make it easy to customise your website without needing any coding knowledge.
3. Features
Shopify has more features than WordPress, including built-in payment processing, shipping calculators, and a wide range of themes, plugins, and templates to choose from. WordPress has some features that Shopify lacks, such as the ability to create custom post types and taxonomies.
4. Customisation
Both Shopify and WordPress allow for a high level of customisation, but Shopify is a bit easier to use if you want to change the look and feel of your website. With WordPress, you will need some coding knowledge to make changes to your site.
5. SEO
Both platforms are suitable for SEO, but Shopify may have an edge because it was specifically designed for eCommerce websites. Ensure that you conduct thorough research and utilise the most relevant keywords when setting up your website, allowing you to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
6. Support
If you encounter problems with your CBD website, both Shopify and WordPress offer support options. With Shopify, you can contact their customer service team via phone or email. WordPress, on the other hand, provides support through its forums and extensive documentation.
CBD Online Store Success Factors
Achieving success with your online CBD store goes beyond simply listing products for sale. First, it’s crucial to select a robust ecommerce platform that not only supports the sale of CBD products but also offers the tools you need for inventory management, payment processing, and efficient shipping. Compliance is another cornerstone—CBD businesses must stay up-to-date with federal and state laws to ensure every sale of CBD is legal and above board. A visually appealing, user-friendly website built with intuitive design tools and optimised for search engines (SEO) will help attract and retain customers in a crowded market. Additionally, forging strong partnerships with reputable suppliers ensures your CBD products meet industry standards for quality and safety. Ultimately, delivering exceptional customer service at every touchpoint will distinguish your online CBD business, fostering trust and encouraging repeat business as your CBD store expands.
Is Shopify more SEO friendly than WooCommerce?
While both Shopify and WooCommerce are popular eCommerce platforms, there may be some advantages to using Shopify over WooCommerce. For one, Shopify is built on the WordPress platform, which is known for its high level of SEO compatibility.
This means you can easily create custom pages and posts for your website, which can help improve your search engine rankings. Though Shopify offers a wide range of features that can help you to streamline your business process, including multilingual support, Shopify CBD payment processors, automatic shipping calculations, and configurable checkout processes.
WooCommerce also offers many appealing features, including an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, user profiles with role-based permission management, import/export capabilities for PST files (or any other file format), automated marketing campaigns via email or social media channels, and more. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference regarding which eCommerce platform best suits your needs.
CBD Sales and Marketing Strategies
Standing out in the competitive CBD market requires a strategic approach to sales and marketing. Content marketing is a powerful tool by creating informative and engaging CBD-related content, you can educate your target audience about the benefits and uses of your CBD products, building trust and authority in the process. Leveraging social media platforms and collaborating with influencers can help you reach new customers and boost brand awareness. Optimising your online store for search engine results pages (SERPs) is essential for driving organic traffic and increasing visibility. Additionally, implementing email marketing campaigns and customer loyalty programs can nurture relationships with existing customers, encouraging repeat purchases and long-term loyalty. By combining these strategies, CBD businesses can effectively promote their products and thrive in a competitive market.
But Which is Better?
Both Shopify and WooCommerce offer a range of features that can help you set up and run your business. But when it comes to ease of use, Shopify may be the better option. It is widely accepted among merchants and praised for its intuitive design and user-friendly interface. Additionally, Shopify offers more customisation options than WooCommerce, which means you have greater control over your website’s appearance and function.
WooCommerce also has a broader array of plugins that can enhance your site’s functionality. So, suppose one feature is lacking, or you need to make an extensive modification to your website. In that case, WooCommerce should be your first choice, as a compatible plugin is likely to be available on the market.
Ultimately, it is essential to choose a platform that best meets your needs before investing any time or money into it.
CBD Business Tips and Best Practices
Running a successful CBD business online means staying proactive and informed. Start by sourcing your inventory from a reputable supplier who provides high-quality, hemp-derived CBD products that comply with all relevant laws. Transparency is key clearly label your CBD products and provide detailed information about ingredients, potency, and sourcing. To ensure smooth payment processing, set up multiple payment gateways, as not all payment processors support transactions involving CBD. This approach helps protect your business from disruptions and offers customers more payment options. Implement robust security measures to safeguard customer data and maintain a high level of trust. Finally, keep a close eye on changes in federal and state regulations, as well as industry best practices, to ensure your CBD business remains compliant and competitive in a rapidly evolving market.
Can You Sell CBD On Shopify?
Before you start selling CBD products on Shopify, you must ensure that CBD is legal to sell in your state.
You can do it by checking the state laws for CBD. Some states have fully embraced CBD, establishing clear legal frameworks and comprehensive regulations for its sale and distribution. If CBD is legal to sell in your state, you must ensure that you follow the regulations for selling CBD online products. You can find these regulations by checking the state laws for CBD and the FDA’s guidelines for CBD products.
If you do not follow the regulations for selling CBD products, you could get in trouble with the law. Additionally, it is essential to source your products from a reliable supplier to ensure compliance with all relevant legal and quality standards.
Future of CBD E-commerce
The outlook for CBD e-commerce is promising, with the global market for CBD products projected to grow substantially in the years to come. As more states adopt CBD and the industry becomes increasingly mainstream, demand for CBD products online is expected to continue growing. To stay ahead, CBD businesses must prioritise innovation investing in advanced technology, robust marketing features, and creative strategies to reach new audiences and foster customer loyalty. The future will also see the rise of specialised niches, such as CBD-infused skincare and wellness supplements, catering to diverse consumer needs. By remaining adaptable, focusing on customer experience, and keeping pace with industry trends, CBD businesses can position themselves for long-term success and capitalise on the ever-growing demand for CBD products online.
Wrapping Up
While both Shopify and WordPress are great options for selling your CBD products online, there are specific differences between the two you should consider before deciding which one is right for your online business.
While Shopify offers a simpler alternative to starting an online store (Technically speaking), WordPress doesn’t have additional fees and provides more cannabis-friendly payment gateway options.
