Are you curious if Shopify is the best eCommerce platform for you? If you’re interested in creating an online store, selecting the correct eCommerce platform is important. a good eCommerce platform can allow you to easily style an expert eCommerce website, manage your online store, and sell products online.
in this Shopify review, we’ll reassess all of the Shopify professionals and cons therefore you’ll be able to decide if it’s the best option to use for creating your online store.
Let’s get started!
what’s Shopify?
Shopify is an eCommerce platform for online stores. Basically, what Shopify will is provide users a straightforward method to make an online store.
With their wide range of templates, you can give your online store a professional look in an instant, add your products, and begin selling. No need to understand anything about web design, HTML, or coding; it’s a perfect way for beginners to urge started with online selling.
With Shopify you can create any style of online store you want. So, you can sell any type of product you want, whether or not it’s clothing, kitchenware, electronics, toys, so on. you can also sell digital product on a Shopify web site such as eBooks, downloadable files, software, WordPress plugins, and more.
Plus, Shopify is a hosted solution, so means you don’t need to worry about buying web hosting or downloading any software. you furthermore may don’t have to manage the safety or performance of your online store, Shopify handles all of that for you. Basically, Shopify offers just about everything you wish to create an internet store right out of the box.
How Does Shopify Work?
Shopify is a cloud-based, SaaS (software as a service) eCommerce solution. this implies there’s no complicated software to install. All you’ve got to try to to is open your browser, head to the Shopify login page, and sign up to create and manage your online store. This conjointly means you can manage and grow your Shopify store from anywhere that has a web connection.
Before starting of course, you have to sign up with Shopify. Like several SaaS solutions, you pay a monthly fee to use the platform. however we’ll get additional into Shopify pricing later during this article.
As we antecedently mentioned, Shopify may be a hosted thuslution. So, you’ll be able to get we have a tendency to site name from Shopify and begin building your online store right away.
already have a WordPress web site but need to begin selling products? Don’t worry, you can simply integrate Shopify with WordPress so you can flip your current website into an online store.
check out our guide for our step-by-step directions on how to set up Shopify with WordPress.
How Popular is Shopify?
Shopify is one among the most popular eCommerce platforms on the market. Take a look at these Shopify statistics that prove it:
- There are over 999,000 currently live websites exploitation Shopify
- Shopify businesses round the world have revamped $100 billion in sales
- Shopify is the fourth preferred content management platform with 2.8% of market share
Pros of using Shopify
when selecting an eCommerce platform, you need to rigorously weigh the pros and cons. thus first, let’s take a look at the pros of using Shopify to produce and manage your own online store.
1. ease of Use
Shopify is designed with ease of use in mind. This eCommerce platform makes it easy for anyone, even complete beginners, to form an online store. In fact, Shopify claims it offers all of the options you need, with none of the hassle, that is pretty true.
because Shopify may be a hosted solution, it manages nearly everything for you. Shopify makes certain your online store is secure, mobile-friendly, and compatible with all browsers. Shopify also handles your web site speed and performance, backups, and more.
All of which help grow your business, provide a better looking experience for your customers, and keeps your information safe. this permits you to focus on making sales.
Plus, Shopify offers a drag and drop builder that makes it easy to customize your store and adding product to your store is simple.
You can also fulfill orders in one click, add automatic taxes based on your location, and more.
Shopify is designed to form the process of starting and running an online store super easy.
2. easy Customization with Shopify Themes
Your online store has to look nice if you wish individuals to shop for from you. Luckily, you’ll offer your online store an instant makeover with Shopify themes.
Shopify offers over seventy professional themes, some of them created by world-renowned designers. Plus, several of them are free!
In the Shopify Theme Store, you’ll find templates designed specifically for your needs. For instance, they provide themes based on industries corresponding to food and drink, fashion, art and photography, furniture, electronics, and more. They even have themes designed specifically for big or little inventories.
All of the themes are simply customizable so you can pick a theme and match it to your brand exactly by adding your own logo, colors, images, font, and more.
3. added Power with Shopify Apps
Another amazing thing about Shopify is Shopify Apps. The Shopify App Store is similar to Google Play for humanoid phones. you can select from variety of free and paid apps to feature extra power and options to your on-line store.
There are many thousands of apps to choose from including product reviews, email marketing, live chat, upsell recommendations, and more.
you can additionally add apps that permit you to sell your products across multiple platforms including Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and even a “Buy Button” that enables you to sell products on any website or web log or share checkout links.
You’re also able to use the API key of any addon to integrate it with Shopify. For instance, if you employ a lead generation tool like OptinMonster to grow your email list and scale back cart abandonment, you’ll use OptinMonster on your Shopify web site as well.
aside from apps, Shopify also has built-in promoting tools to assist you sell your product such as a blog, SEO tools, marketing dashboard reports, and more.
4. scalability
Growing your online store is simple with Shopify. Since it’s so easy to start out a web store with Shopify and you don’t got to manage your website yourself, you’ll target growing your business and getting a lot of sales.
when the time comes that your business is growing and you would like more features, you can simply upgrade your Shopify plan.
As your traffic grows, Shopify can handle your uptime, speed optimization, performance, and more, accordingly. So, you won’t got to worry about hiring a team of developers to manage your web site for you.
Cons of using Shopify
as with any nice eCommerce platform, there are always a few cons you need to think about as well. Let’s take a glance at the cons of using Shopify to make an online store.
1. Shopify pricing
Shopify offers three main pricing set ups to decide on from. Basic Shopify that prices $29/month, the Shopify plan for $79/month, and Advanced Shopify which costs $299/month. All plans come with a domain name, SSL certificate, and web hosting for your eCommerce website.
They also provide a Shopify lite plan for $9.99/month that allows you to sell on Facebook and chat with your customers on Messenger, add a buy Button to any website or blog, and settle for mastercard payments. This answer is merely for obtain Button sellers though, and not for users who need to form a full eCommerce site.
when you started with the basic Shopify plan, you get two user accounts, the ability to feature unlimited products, 24/7 support, and more. you can see the full details of the options that come with every plan on Shopify’s website.
in comparison to different eCommerce common eCommerce solutions, Shopify could be a bit more costly. especially if you want to induce access to all or any of their options and lower Shopify dealing fees. For instance, if you choose to use WooCommerce and WordPress, the WooCommerce plugin itself is free and all you wish to acquire is eCommerce hosting which begins at just $6.95 with Bluehost.
Luckily, you’ll start fitting your online shop and use Shopify for 14 days without providing your mastercard information. this gives you an opportunity to do out Shopify and see if you like it, before paying for it.
2. Transaction Fees
When selecting an eCommerce platform, you don’t simply have to deem the monthly worth for using the service. you also have to consider platform group action fees and credit card fees as well.
Shopify has a default payment possibility called Shopify Payments, that is powered by Stripe. you can use Shopify Payments to just accept payments from your customers and it permits you to simply integrate other payment solutions.
With Shopify Payments, there are no transaction fees. though you do have to pay a basic credit card fee of 2.9% + 30 cents on each transaction. That fee will be lowered when you upgrade to a dearer plan.
but if you don’t want to use Shopify Payments and wish to instead use a third-party payment gateway such as PayPay, Shopify will charge you a further 2.0% group action fee on every transaction. That fee is in addition to the price that will already be subtracted by the third-party service you’re using on your site.
So, if you don’t use Shopify Payments with your Shopify site, it may cost you a lot of money. take care to check platform transaction fees and credit card fees of all eCommerce solutions before creating your final decision.
3. Moving Your Online Store is Difficult
Choosing the right eCommerce platform is so important. as a result of if you build your on-line store on a selected platform so attempt to move, most eCommerce platforms, together with Shopify, don’t build it easy.
after spending most time making your excellent eCommerce website, if you opt to go away Shopify, you’ll’t take it with you — it’s gone forever. the best you can do is export all of your product information.
As we mentioned, this is the case with most eCommerce platforms. So, take some time researching and choosing the best possibility for you so that you won’t regret your decision down the line.
Shopify Review: Is it the Best eCommerce Platform For You?
We hope you’re currently familiar with the pros and cons of using Shopify. But, let’s quickly recap the key points:
pros of using Shopify:
- Shopify is implausibly straightforward to use. you’ll be able to have your on-line store up and running in no time while not having any previous experience.
- With Shopify virtually each facet of your online store is managed for you including web hosting, SSL certificate, security, speed and performance, backups, and more.
- Shopify also offers endless customization with a good array of themes, apps, and integrations.
- Scaling your online store is easy with Shopify too. merely upgrade your decide to take your eCommerce web site to the next level.
Cons of using Shopify:
- Shopify could be a bit more expensive than another common eCommerce solutions. Plus, anytime you would like to urge additional features, you wish to upgrade your plan.
- You’ll have to pay dealing fees once using Shopify, which might reduce your profits.
- You don’t have full management of your online store and Shopify doesn’t make it straightforward for you to maneuver your online store to a replacement platform if you choose to create a switch.
Shopify is a nice possibility if you would like to quickly produce a scalable online store that desires no management on your end.
Get started with Shopify Today!
However, if you want full management of your eCommerce web site and wish to start out it at a lower cost, you might realize that a distinct eCommerce resolution is best for you.
we hope you enjoyed this Shopify review! If you’re wondering however Shopify stacks up against different eCommerce platforms, inspect our article on Shopify vs. WooCommerce.
