Ecommerce is your primary source of revenue. You need an online store that offers top-notch customer service 24 hours a days, comprehensive ecommerce features that scale with your store, and an easy drag-and-drop website builder. Shopify offers all this and more. Simply put, they are an expert in ecommerce. Continue reading to find out what Shopify is all about and to discover if Shopify is right for you.
Compare Shopify with the Best Ecommerce Website Builders
Many consider Shopify the gold standard. It’s trusted by thousands of ecommerce companies, and we are no exception. We tested and compared a dozen ecommerce platforms, and found that it is the best option for those who want to have peace of mind knowing that there is a 24/7 support team available. There are cheaper options. Yes. Are there simpler and more user-friendly tools? Absolutely. Shopify’s customer support is unmatched. There are four ways to contact them and they offer the best tutorials and guides we have ever seen.
You may be better off looking for something simpler, more user-friendly, or less expensive than a concierge-level service. To learn more about our scoring system, where it makes sense to invest and a detailed review of the top ecommerce builders available , please visit .
Shopify: The Good And The Bad
The Good
Discounts for Shopify Customers: To build stronger customer relationships and improve ecommerce marketing, Shopify customers can offer discounts to their customers. Shopify users can promote products, create automatic discounts, or make discount codes.
After a product is added to the customer’s shopping basket, they can create an automatic discount trigger. Customers can view the original price by setting up sales for specific products. This helps customers convert and ensures they get a great deal.
Users can either set a fixed price or a percentage to create a manual discount. Variables such as the minimum order amount, how many times the code can used, which product collections it applies to and the validity period can affect the effectiveness of a discount code.
Sales Channels: Shopify can also be used to sell products. Shopify’s Sales Channels feature lets users download outside sales channels. You can sell products through third-party channels such as Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Messenger, Amazon, Facebook and Messenger. These channels can also be integrated into Shopify’s App Store.
Shopify Point of Sale uses physical hardware and computer technology to combine storefronts with online shops. Shopify Plus’s wholesale channel can be a great choice for businesses that sell to other businesses. Third-party websites can be transformed instantly by users using the “Buy Button”.
Experts Marketplace: Shopify allows users to hire freelancers and third-party agencies to help them run their business. Any user can use the Expert Marketplace to get help with troubleshooting, brand, content writing, marketing, and store setup. The Expert Marketplace helps business owners to relieve stress by outsourcing activities that they don’t want to do.
Additional Support: Customer support is crucial when you have an online shop. A store that isn’t working properly may not be able to sell products. Shopify offers four options for support if a user has any questions. Shopify agents are available 24 hours a day via chat, phone, email, and Twitter. This makes it possible to resolve user problems quickly and efficiently.
Shopify offers excellent customer service and a knowledge base, FAQ page and help forum. Users can interact with each other and find creative solutions to common problems through the help forum. Shopify’s help centre educates users via video tutorials, descriptions and ecommerce definitions.
Shopify offers different product types: Shopify provides different features and settings depending upon whether a user sells a physical or digital product. Drop shipping can be set up, managed shipping and fulfilled orders for physical products. When selling digitally, users can either distribute products via a downloadable link (or by email).
Shopify customers have many payment options, including PayPal, Amazon Pay and Apple Pay. Shop Pay makes it easier to check out by allowing customers to enter their shipping and payment information. This will make it much quicker to complete another purchase.
Shopify customers can choose from a variety of third-party payment options. When using an external payment provider, customers will be redirected on an outside website. If the user is using a direct payment provider, however, customers will be redirected to an external website. Shopify Payments is an alternative to paying fees.
Analytics and Reporting: Shopify reports let users see important information about sales, marketing, or customers. The analytical tools allow users to track business activity and gain critical insights into customers. Shopify users have full visibility into their business performance with data about total business growth as well as daily website traffic.
Abandoned cart Recovery: Abandoned Cart recovery is a great way to drip on customers who are procrastinating or distracted while shopping online. This feature allows customers to be retargeted via email if they leave anything in their shopping cart. This feature can be automated and set up to send at specific times.
The Bad
Total Monthly Cost: While Shopify’s pricing is competitive with other ecommerce platforms, it is not the most affordable. Shopify’s monthly subscription does not cover everything. Users will be charged extra fees if they choose to pay through a third party payment processor rather than Shopify Payments. App and plugin monthly costs add up.
The difficulty of a transition: If a Shopify user wants to move their online shop to a new platform they will face a difficult transition. Shopify permanently deletes all online store data after an account has been closed. Instead of helping users switch to a different platform, Shopify locks them in and makes it difficult to move. This is a common problem with ecommerce platforms, but it is something you should consider.
Weak Blogging Capabilities.Shopify doesn’t value content marketing as highly as some users might like. Content marketing is essential because it increases organic traffic, educates customers and enhances social proof. It also helps brands grow. Although Shopify does offer a blogging option, it is very basic. We would love to see Shopify improve on this feature going forward.
Shopify Pricing and Other Options
There are five pricing options for Shopify. Basic Shopify is the starter plan and costs $29 per monthly. Shopify’s regular plan is for businesses that have one store and costs $79 per monthly. Advanced Shopify costs $299 per Month and is designed to grow businesses with multiple stores.
Shopify Plus is designed for large businesses and starts at $2,000 per monthly. Shopify Lite costs only $9 per month. Shopify charges a small fee for third-party processing. You can test Shopify for free for 14 days before you sign up for Shopify.
Shopify is a top product in its field, and it charges accordingly. Although it is more expensive than Squarespace and Wix, it offers similar pricing to BigCommerce or Shift4Shop. Shopify offers a competitive price for an ecommerce website builder that is high-quality.
Basic Shopify
Basic Shopify is the best option for those who are new to ecommerce. Each account is granted two Shopify administrators. This allows users to create an ecommerce site and blog, and allow them to sell unlimited products.
Shopify’s sales channels enable users to sell via social media or online marketplaces. The Locations feature allows users to assign inventory to up four warehouses, retail shops, or pop-ups. You can get discounts up to 77% on shipping from USPS, UPS or DHL Express.
Additional features include manual order creation, discount codes, gift cards, SSL certificates, abandoned cart recovery, and free SSL certificates. It allows users to print shipping labels and fraud analysis. When using a third party payment provider, a 2% charge will be charged.
Global business users have the option to sell in 133 currencies. Users can adjust prices to ensure consistency in pricing. Basic Shopify allows users to sell in up five languages
Basic Shopify is an excellent starting point for newbies in ecommerce. It includes all the necessary features, including an ecommerce website and unlimited products.
Shopify
Shopify’s next plan, simply called “Shopify”, is for businesses with only one retail store. This plan includes everything in Basic Shopify, plus professional reports and USPS Priority Mail cubic pricing.
You can have five administrators instead of two and assign inventory to as many as five locations. You can get up to 88% off shipping via USPS, UPS and DHL Express. Third-party payment providers pay 1% less.
Shopify allows users to create country-specific domains for international business. This ensures that international SEO is optimized. You can also adjust the percentage change to increase or decrease product prices in different countries.
Shopify is more expensive than Basic Shopify. It isn’t significantly different, except for a few extra features and lower third-party payments fees. Shopify could make its second plan stand out from Basic Shopify, but we think it could be better.
Advanced Shopify
Advanced Shopify is designed for businesses that have more than two retail outlets. This package includes Shopify, advanced report building, third party calculated shipping rates and custom international pricing per product.
Third-party payment processing fees are reduced to 0.5%, and the limit of Shopify admins is raised to 15. It allows inventory assignment up to eight locations.
Advanced Shopify costs more than Shopify or Basic Shopify. The advanced shopify allows for more admins and can be customized to price each international product. Before you decide whether the higher price for an advanced plan is worth it, evaluate your business needs.
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is a great option for large businesses that require enterprise-level solutions. Shopify Plus is used by more than 10,000 brands, including Heinz and Staples. It can take up to one year for some ecommerce platforms to be converted to Shopify Plus, but it takes less than four months to switch to Shopify Plus.
Shopify Plus’s Shop Pay allows for up to 60% quicker check-out times, and up to 18% more conversion rates. When customers visit product pages, it uses 3D media and modern technology such as video, AR, and 3D media. Shopify Plus offers powerful integration and automation tools that create an easier ecommerce experience.
Shopify Plus is a great platform and can be managed by a smaller team than other platforms. Shopify Plus users report high satisfaction and ease-of-use, which sets it apart from other Shopify plans.
Shopify Lite
Shopify Lite is available for people who have a website and for merchants who want to sell in person. It comes with marketing tips and podcasts as well as 24/7 customer support and automatic syncing between sales channels. It does not permit users to create an online store, unlike Shopify’s other plans.
Shopify Lite allows users to instantly transform an existing website into a store online. You can do this by simply adding a Shopify Buy Button on your website to add the item. It also includes a Point of Sale (POS) app, which allows in-person merchants to accept payments from Android or iOS devices. It allows users to send invoices directly and create custom, phone and wholesale orders.
Other features include financial reporting and order management, customer profiles as well as email carts, gift certificates, split-bill, inventory in-store, and custom discounts. This plan costs only $9 per month and is a great way for you to take advantage of Shopify’s features even if your goal is to create an online store. Shopify Lite stands out because Shopify Lite is not comparable to other plans.
Shopify POS
Although Shopify’s Point-of-Sale system (POS) is not its primary plan, it’s still worth mentioning. This system is ideal for ecommerce stores with physical locations. Shopify POS provides store owners with a mobile barcode scanner, cash drawers and a receipt printer. It also includes a mobile application that allows users to connect their physical location with their online store.
Shopify POS Lite comes free with all Shopify Plans. It comes with a 1-year warranty on the hardware and can accept popular payment methods like Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Visa. Shopify POS Pro is available by adding $89 per location to an existing plan. The two-year warranty on hardware and the omnichannel selling capabilities are included.
