Shopify Review (2021) Do you really need this eCommerce Platform
Choosing the right eCommerce platform is a very hard decision to make, so we decided to gather information about leading online store builders and share it on an easy to understand pattern.
We have video review attached to each of our posts for people who are not interested on reading full articles. So if you don’t have time to read this Shopify Review I suggest watching the video below to better understand how Shopify operates and is it good for you or not.
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Shopify Video Review
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What is Shopify?
Shopify is One of the best Ecommerce platforms and by providing the opportunity to sell your products online It helps making Ecommerce operations much easier.
The best thing about shopify is its simplicity to use, it is very easy to manage even for newbies with no technical knowledge of setting up ecommerce platforms.
It is designed to help you start, run, and grow your business with hundreds of build-in features.
You can sell your products quickly on your website, popular online market places and even social media platforms.
One of the best things behind Shopify is that even those with small business and startups can use Shopify. It’s the greatest and most easy to use platform for those who doesn’t want to hire a developer to setup their online store for them.
It is also best for entrepreneurs who are new to this business and want an online service without struggles.
Shopify is providing a wide range of templates with capability of customization so it is the best choice for people looking for new professional designs rather than typical old fashioned online store templates.
Meeting the user’s requirements and allowing both, physical and digital goods to be sold this is what exactly Shopify tagline says “you’ve got the will. We’ve got the way.â€
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How does it work?
Well, Shopify as mentioned before is very easy to setup and easy to manage.
It is also popular for its low startup cost compared to other well-known online store builders.
That’s why Shopify claims that even the beginners can set up and use it.
The users can easily create an online store without any need of coding and other technical knowledge. But if you want to edit something then you are allowed to develop it your way.
So, what you have to do is:
You only need to pick a plan according to your budget for your online store.
After choosing the plan you need to choose a premade design or buy a premium one even hire a designer to design your main template.
The last step is to add your product, Page content, payment options etc.
After the procedure is done your Web Store is online and you can promote it to get customers.
Point to be noted here is:
You have a wide variety of free and custom-built themes to get through their market place.
If you are new to Shopify!
You can do just fine with a free theme and upgrade it anytime you want.
You can even use their drag and drop layout tool if you are more comfortable with dragging and dropping items into the view.
So, this means you have the freedom to change the look of your website anytime you want in any way you want it.
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Shopify Themes
It comes up with plenty of free professional looking themes to choose.
The custom-built themes can be purchased from shopify marketplace but if you want you can use their Drag and Drop layout tool to make your own template for your web store.
Theme Features
Your online store should have a few important features that are going to make your website stand out and delight your visitors.
Remember, when shop for a Shopify Ecommerce theme, Make sure they have the following features:
- Customer support, quality coding and great reviews
- Clean and easy customization
- Build-in custom settings panel which will allow you to change the template to your own liking
- Cross-browser compatibility, responsive design, and SEO friendly
Here are some of the Best Shopify themes according to users interest:
- Gecko- responsive Shopify theme
- Fastor
- Shopier
- Jasper
- Boutique-responsive theme
- iOne
- Foodly: One-stop Shopify Grocery Shop
- Simolux
- Material
- Everything
NOTE: if your selected theme doesn’t offer the options for editing certain things and you are familiar with HTML and CSS then you can change the main code according to your needs with their built-in theme editor.
Shopify is known as one of the top rated and most used eCommerce platform
WHY?
Because, Shopify has been used to power more than 600,000 stores it also got over 1,000,000 active users and has generated a lifetime value of over $82bn in sales.
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Shopify Security
Shopify is dedicated to provide a secure shopping experience for its customers, and the system is always up to date with the most advanced security standards.
Shopify is certified level 1 PCI DSS complaint.
As a result of the above certification all Shopify online stores are automatically PCI complaint which ensures that the customer will have peace of mind. Providing the best shopping experience, making businesses legitimate and safe.
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Shopify Pricing Plans:
- Shopify lite- $9 per month
- Basic Shopify- $29 per month
- Shopify main plan- $79 per month
- Advanced Shopify- $299 per month
- Shopify Plus- Negotiable $2000 per month
The good news!
Good news is that you can start your online store from $9 per month with Shopify lite.
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What is Shopify Lite
It allows you to sell an unlimited number of goods.
The main difference between Shopify lite and other plans is that it will not give you a full online store with a shopping cart, Instead you can use this plan to sell on your own existing websites or social media platforms.
For Those having blogs or popular social media accounts, it is a wonderful platform to help you sell your products online.
the good thing is that You will not need to pay overhead costs.
If you have lots of followers on social media and not interested in creating your own store from scratch?
Then let me tell you that Shopify lite is a great option for you.
Make your followers happy by selling your products through Facebook.
On Facebook you can use the high visible Shop Section that Facebook is offering now.
Almost half a billion people are using Facebook so it is a smart move to make them aware of your products and investments.
The most interesting thing here:
You can directly chat with your customer with Facebook Messenger via your online store on the Facebook page.
Customer will buy directly and can track their orders online.
So if you wan’t to sell products on your existing website or your social media page then Shopify lite is the best plan for you.
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Customer Support
The convenient customer service they provide will be available 24/7 at your service.
Their fast replies and instant problem solution skills will amaze you.
Most importantly the behavior of the customer service and availability will please you.
They are ever ready to help you with anything needed to be fixed.
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Inventory Management
All of the Shopify Packages will allow you to add unlimited number of products on your stores.
Their inventory management solution helps you stay organized with your tasks, avoid costly errors and track all inventory activity in one place.
In your control panel you can assign barcodes, track stock counts, manage product variations, add plugins and apps from Shopify app store, and check insights within your management dashboard.
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Pros:
Speed and security
Customizable Design (free and paid themes)
Add-ons (Shopify App-store +Buy button)
Great Marketing Features
Great Customer Support
High Speed & Built-in Security for hosting
Rich App-Store: Shopify App-store has all the features that you need to run a a successful online business
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Cons:
Content Marketing: Shopify’s blogging platform is not as great as WordPress
Shifting from Shopify to another online store may not be easy.
Transaction Fees: Shopify imposes a transaction fee of between 0.5 percent and 2 percent for every sale
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SEO & Marketing
If you have an amazing store but your customers are unable to find it, then chances are that you will be very disappointed with the sales figures. Shopify offers great features for both SEO and Marketing.
Thanks to the built-in search engine optimization (SEO) features,
Your website will easily be found on all major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.
What’s cool is that even though these SEO settings are automated,
You can have access to each product page and customize your own target keywords, URLs and more.
If you really want to customize your store further, the company offers customizable H1, Title and Meta Tags.
Also, the URLs are all SEO friendly. Shopify has partnered with Google to occasionally give you advertising money for a new AdWords account.
Marketing is all about gaining satisfaction of customers. Shopify does not offer the fanciest marketing tools in whole world,
But they offer the essentials (the main tools needed for your products and the most Important ones).
The important media that are needed for sales of products are included in Shopify.
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Interface and Ease of Use
The interface lets you set up and manage a variety of sales channels, and some of the main ones are:
Shop tab on Facebook
On your Facebook page a place where users can browse and buy your products.
Amazon and eBay link
they enable you to manage your Amazon-eBay listing and Shopify products all in one place under your own Shopify dashboard.
There are also some other channels available for you to sell product online like Instagram and Buzzfeed .
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Shopify Sale Tools and Features
It has almost all the needed tools for a successful online store
From analytical tracking and payment gateways, to multi-channel integration and abandoned cart recovery.
Not only that, but Shopify has more than 1,200 Apps on their app store.
This means if a particular feature that you need and you are not able to find it within the main platform then you can still find it on the app store, either as free add-on or for an extra monthly charge.
Payment Gateways
Including PayPal, Stripe, WorldPay, Klarna, SagaPay, Amazon Pay, and Apple Pay. It also has its own payment gateways (Shopify Payment).
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Final Verdict
Shopify is designed for both big businesses and small businesses who want to grow fast and professionally.
Their analytical and management tools will help you keep track of everything easily and all in one easy to access place, and there are tons of features that can help you scale up really quickly.
Their pricing seems to be a little higher than other online store builders but the features and tools they provide can’t be found on any other online store platforms.
If you still don’t know if Shopify is good for you or not I suggest signing up for no question asked 14 days free trial of this online store platform and see the features yourself without paying a penny or submitting your payment info.