SHOPIFY – PROS AND CONS

MOTIVATION

I always recommend Shopify to all my clients and friends and I use it myself. I think it is, by far, the best option when building an online store, regardless of budget. I also think that I have a credible opinion, because in recent years I was involved within all aspects of e-commerce. Clearly, there are not only good parts. There are also some cons that you will find out in the last lines of this report. However, I haven't seen a Shopify store owner complaining.

Thank you very much for reading this and I encourage you to do it 'till the end, because I have synthesized some very useful information.

PROS

Unbeatable price

First I will address the elephant in the room. Yes, if you're very good with computers, you can make an online store even cheaper, but it's not the same thing. With Shopify, prices start at 30 dollars per month, and building your store on Shopify is much easier. 30 dollars per month, I guess, pales in front of a good e-commerce site that costs thousands of euros to custom build.

Shopify is a company with a turnover of billions of dollars, which allows itself to give the best price for the services offered.

Security

Each site is more or less secure. Sometimes, if you have "enemies", weak security can reflect in your pockets. Shopify is a huge company, it has over a million customers for whom it provides top security. We are talking about a company with a turnover of billions of dollars.

Emails and SMS alerts included in the price

When I abandon a checkout, I receive an email. When I place an order, I receive an SMS. Shopify offers these services and a little more, included in the price, and they work great! Shopify is a company with a turnover of billions of dollars and wants your turnover to grow as well.

Well thought out dashboard

Very well thought! It's easy to find and manage orders. It's easy to find out what steps the customer followed until the purchase and maybe what made him buy. You can see useful and advanced statistics very easily. You have information about customers who have abandoned orders, so you can contact them.

Mobile application

Yes! You also have a mobile application, where you can see a mobile version of the dashboard and which notifies you when you have received an order, wherever you are! Now you have more freedom. The laptop or computer is not so important anymore and it is not even necessary all the time.

Themes thought out, tested and confirmed

A theme is, basically, the interface that the user sees whenentering the website. Its importance is clear: it must look good, and the pictures, buttons and options must be arranged in such a way as to maximize the number of sales and facilitate the customer's journey towards purchase. Some smart and well-paid people made these themes, which were further tested and modified in accordance with the experience gained from over a million shops made on Shopify (over a million exist right now and are active).

Your store will work well on mobile

Not well. Very well! Shopify stands out by having by far the best mobile optimization.

Marketing Integrations that work as they should

Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, Google Ads, smart newsletters. All these integrations face various problems with most online stores. For a site made in wordpress, it's a whole headache to make sure that all these integrations work properly every day of every month, of every year. This no longer happens with Shopify, because their team works to make everything go as well as possible, and on the other hand, Google, Facebook, and everyone, create these integrations with Shopify in mind, because Shopify is so big.

Inventory is easy to manage

Simple and short. You upload products easily, set the variables easily, make collections easily, assign the products to the collections easily. Good bulk editing, complex editing options.

Advanced Check-Out options

On any site, when you complete an order, you choose the payment method, possibly the delivery method. Some also have the option of picking up from the physical store. Stores built on Shopify have another option, in addition to delivery by any means and pickup from store, namely "local delivery", which only appears to people who are at a predetermined distance from your business. This way you can deliver faster and cheaper, and this option only appears to customers who are close enough to make the delivery.

Fraud analysis for payments

The chances of honoring an order paid with a stolen or cloned card decrease. It is not available for all payment processors and it is not available for the basic subscription.

International SEO and International Pricing

The part with SEO means that it translates elements of the site for the country from which it is accessed. The price part is obvious. For Romania, the price appears in RON, for the Germany, in EUR, and so on. Shopify is a billion-dollar company; he thought about that too.

24/7 customer support by email, chat and even by phone

For the few times when you need help or information, you get it!

Conclusion

Everything goes smoothly, which cannot be said about many options for creating online stores, including other e-commerce platforms.

CONS

Commission per sale depending on the Shopify subscription

For payment processors other than those "friends" with Shopify, a commission of 1 or 2 percent of sales will be charged, depending on the purchased subscription.

Limited customization

You can't build the site exactly how you want it. The stores are built based on "themes" with a specific user interface. The good part is that you can't go wrong, because these themes are made and perfected by professionals who know what e-commerce is about.

Among the most expensive ecommerce platforms

Yes, it is among the most expensive, but also the best. Because it's a company with a turnover of billions of dollars. Personally, I have worked with several e-commerce platforms, and with Shopify, the money spent are the most justified.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Do you want to build a shop on the Shopify platform?

Shopify offers a free 14-day period in which you have time to build your online store. I, as a Shopify partner, can extend this free period.

If you want to open a Shopify store, please contact me!

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Have a good one!