Excited to share our 5th and final e-commerce platform breakdown in our e-commerce series. Today we are touching on the pros and cons of using Shopify. To see our breakdowns of the other platforms so far, click on the links below.

Creating a Succesful Etsy Shop
Squarespace E-commerce Review
WooCommerce Review 2015
Big Cartel E-Commerce Review 2015

Shopify has become our go-to e-commerce platform we now use it for all of our ecommerce clients. Be sure to check out our Amplify Shopify course to learn how to make your shopify course more profitable.

[twitter url=”https://twitter.com/OctoberInk” quote=”@Shopify is the bomb, and here’s why. “]

FUNCTIONALITIES & FEATURES

Here is a full list of all the features Shopify offers. They are well equipped, satisfying all small business needs. Below we dive into the features we appreciate most.

DESIGN

We love Shopify’s clean and customizable themes. Shopify offers over 100+ theme templates that are great to start from when setting up your e-commerce shop on a budget. Some are even free! And then majority are already mobile friendly, and setup to change colors, fonts, images, etc. easily in your Shopify dashboard.

Modern and Simple Dashboard

The majority of our client’s have no issues learning the backend of their shop and managing and updating products and page text. We also love the overview of analytics you can view quickly so you can track sales and performance.

APP STORE

With 100’s of apps in their App Store, you are able to add functionalities and features that might normally cost you bookoo bucks ( some of the apps are even free ). For example, a newsletter pop-up, cart recovery, shipping integrations, and so much more. More are being added and developed all of the time. This allows us to help cater the the functionalities to each of our clients. The apps are reviewed which help make decisions on which ones to use.

PRICING

Shopify offers competitive pricing and packages for the tiniest of shops to large shops with lots of skus. They also has their own payment processor Shopify Payments which is easy to setup and connect to your bank account, and also has competitive transaction fees.

Here’s a rundown of their pricing for selling online.

Here’s what they offer for when using their Sell in Person plan on your mobile device.

 

HOSTING

Shopify boasts secure, unlimited e-commerce hosting for your shop. Shopify is a hosted platform, which means their pricing and packages not only include the software, but also hosting on their servers.We have yet to have a client who has experienced downtime while using Shopify. Another bonus? Shopify performs software updates for you. No having to worry about updating plugins and software.

SELL IN-STORE AND ONLINE

If you have a Brick and Mortar shop or sell in-person at pop-up shops, trade shows, ect., Shopify is a great option for you. Shopify’s POS system and card reader create a seamless integration with your online shop’s payments and inventory. You can run your business from your phone, laptop, or point of sale. All your data in one place? Yes please!

Cons

Shopify does offer a blogging engine, but it is more simple and harder to customize than wordpress. Also, if you already have a wordpress site and only want to offer a few products, it might not make sense to setup a whole new url and hosting on shopify and pay the extra monthly fees. In those cases, sometimes a simple wordpress e-commerce plugin can work for you.

REAL SHOP OWNER FEEDBACK

We love customizing sites for clients in Shopify, and have used it quite a bit. We asked a few of our Clients who use Shopify to share their uncensored opinions on the platform. Take a look below.

LEVERT BEAUTY

Ana, the owner of LeVert Beauty, came to us a year ago with her business idea, and now is featured in Allure and Brit+Co. Her online company sells skincare and beauty products that are void of harmful chemicals and contaminants. Needless to say, she’s rockin it.

 

LITTLE UNICORN

Little Unicorn came to us to customize and set up an Ecommerce Shop. Their beautiful baby products offer the modern day mom fresh blanket and diaper bag designs. We need to get our hands on some of these goods this fall for our babes!

 

GAME OF LOVE

Monica is a blogger turned business woman who manufactured a popular DIY game from her blog. We helped with some of the branding, customizing up her Shopify shop and all her packaging & print material. Her “Game of Love” is a fun, non-kinky game to play with your significant other to help you reconnect and feel in love again. She launched 60 days ago and is blowing up in sales already. So proud of her!

These ladies were nice enough to share their insight on their personal experience with Shopify. Here it is…

Pros:

LEVERT BEAUTY

– One of my favorite things about Shopify is they constantly update their backend to enhance our e-commerce needs.
– They provide businesses with analytics and reports on products, particular timelines, popularity my prices and/or amounts, and they provide insight into which product launches gained most attention or which products are getting added the cart most.
– Their customer service is exceptional and easy to access given the phone, iChat or email all hours.

LITTLE UNICORN

– The value of using Shopify is amazing you really get a lot of bang for your buck. Some features we like at Little Unicorn is the easy checkout, the design options you get and how customizable the designs are. We also like how easy it is to make discount codes, it really is perfect for a new company.

GAME OF LOVE

-Simple, user-friendly interface.
-Dashboard provides at a glance overview of the store- I tend to find this really helpful for just a quick check in.
-The abundance of apps available in the app store that are compatible and add to my customer’s experience.
-The ability to customize so many different styles and make my site look completely custom (Thanks to October Ink!!)

Cons:

LEVERT BEAUTY

-While they have an abundance of “Apps” there’s been a time or two where we’ve had to go without an idea because we aren’t able to put it into fruition due to the app not yet existing on their backend.

LITTLE UNICORN

– It is harder to change an order and mark as a gift but their are apps on Shopify for that, and really they are just little things. We also think that the reports tab could be beefed up a bit, but you can still export reports that you want. All the problems are fixable and quite small.

GAME OF LOVE

– I know there have been a few things that I really wish it offered, but right now I can’t remember what they were, so I guess they didn’t bother me that much! ha!

Favorite Features:

LEVERT BEAUTY

– Product launch comparability and views because it allows us to play with ideas to increase the customer experience/value.
– Also, under “Reports” the Gross Sales by Traffic Source because it shows you your best selling and how the customers find you be it organic, direct, search engine, etc.

LITTLE UNICORN

– Its organized and easy to edit. We love that we are able to have buyable pins on Pinterest through Shopify. We also really enjoyed the articles and tips given to us daily from the Shopify team.

GAME OF LOVE

-Built in abandoned cart support. I’ve recovered many sales that way!
-Their iPhone app is awesome and I rely on that every day!

Tips for generating more success:

LEVERT BEAUTY

– Be flexible to what you think you know, read their blogs and play with things while your business is still young and growing. You’ll always be learning and its important to bend for demand and utilize the data in front of you.

LITTLE UNICORN

-I think that social media is a great and inexpensive way to market and advertise your product. We will send mommy bloggers product and have them post about it. Another thing is to have good photography, we have found that good photos really sell the product.

GAME OF LOVE

-Really watch analytics, see where people are spending time while visiting your store and make sure those pages are really optimized and designed to convert sales.  I’ve made lots of small changes since launching 60 days ago, and those changes directly impacted sales.
-Be sure to use a top notch design company for branding and site design. They’ll take your Shopify store to the next level!

To Sign Up:

From our client’s feedback, and our own experience customizing shops, Shopify is highly recommended. Especially for businesses that are selling a variety of products or have specific needs. They have a no obligation 14 day free trial that would give you enough time to mess around and make sure you like it. Click the link below, then click the green “Sign Up” button to get started today!

www.shopify.com