Check out this Shopify review to see if this is the website builder for you.
Looking for a website builder for your online store? If so, then Shopify is the best web solution for you! We all know that going online is the way to go not just for small business owners, but even for the established ones. It is a great platform to reach and serve a wider audience in the most cost-efficient way possible as opposed to having a physical store.
There are many no-code website builders to choose from, but the leading web hosting choice for eCommerce is Shopify because of its simple and intuitive design and analytics tools. It has everything you need to build, manage, and grow your business online. Keep on reading this Shopify review to learn more about the product.
What Is Shopify?
Shopify is a full-service platform that allows you to build a website, sell, market, and manage your products online. It is a simple yet robust platform that anyone can use to build their first eCommerce site, even those who don’t have a background in coding can now make their own website. What’s great about Shopify is that it is designed for eCommerce, so it has everything that you need to start and manage an online store.
In this Shopify review, we have listed Shopify’s best features that and they are as follows:
Design an Online Store
Choose from over 70 themes designed by award-winning designers. Whatever your niche is, there is surely a design tailored to your needs. Whether you are selling home and décor, jewelry, food-related items, clothing, artwork, merchandise, or even electronics, you will find the right store design for your platform.
Each template is customizable with intuitive adjustments so you can easily modify and adjust every detail according to your branding needs. It is also mobile-optimized so it automatically adjusts its design size to fit any gadgets, whether your customer is using a tablet, desktop, or mobile phone.
Built-in Shopping Cart and Smooth Checkout
Shopify has built-in features that allow smoother checkout and payment processes. Customers can browse and shop at ease knowing that the site has the same level of security as banks with the SSL certificate. It also accepts different payment modes as it is integrated with over 100 payment gateways like Bitcoin and IDEAL, apart from the usual Paypal and credit cards.
Do you cater worldwide? No worries! Shopify’s checkout comes in over 50 languages and it automatically computes shipping and tax rates so it saves us all the hassles in the world. You can even set up the shipping rates according to weight, location, or tiered pricing to make it flexible for your customers.
Store management
Manage, fulfill, ship orders, and inform your customers. Manage your store and conveniently fulfill orders on the go with your smartphone. You can even connect to various fulfillment centers such as Amazon and Shipwire or set up a custom fulfillment solution to make shipping fast and easy. Its management tools also allow business owners to get to know and serve their customers better by having a glance at their shopping habits.
Marketing & SEO
Raise awareness, reach a wider audience, and boost customer loyalty with Shopify’s marketing tools. You can fill in the right SEO keywords for your target market as Shopify automatically generates the sitemap.xml for your products and webpages.
You can even market the right products to the right customers at the right time with customizable promotions such as discount codes and digital gift cards. It also allows you to utilize the power of social media by integrating Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest into your website. As a bonus, you will get $100 Google Ads credits if you spend $25 with Google.
Product and Inventory Management
Regardless of whether you have thousands of products to sell, you can easily import or export your products using CSV files, or one of Shopify’s importer/exporter apps. No need to manually track your products as you can sort, categorize, put variations, and track the stock levels in a few clicks. You’ll know which items are selling out fast and which need replenishment.
Web hosting
It’s not just a website builder, it is also a hosting platform that has unlimited bandwidth, so traffic is never an issue. There’s no limit in terms of the number of visitors on your site and you won’t be charged for it. Your credit card data is secure as Shopify Level-1 PCI compliant and SSL certified.
Analytics
As they say, you cannot improve what you can’t measure. Data is important in improving sales; thus, Shopify embedded analytics in their system. Analyze what works and what doesn’t at a glance with Shopify’s dashboard analytics and reports such as products, exports, and traffic/referral reports.
24/7 Support
Get the support you need 24/7 via email, live chat, and phone. There’s also a discussion forum where you can ask questions and contribute to the discussion about accounting, operations, marketing, and the like with fellow entrepreneurs. If you’re new to this whole website building and e-commerce stuff, you can access Shopify’s help center and compass for tutorials and guides. Those two sections provide a great onboarding experience to help you get started.
Pros and Cons
The Pros
- Intuitive design and tools
- 24/7 support
- Third-party apps integrations
- Full-service website building and hosting platform
- Ecommerce support system
The Cons
- Price – Shopify is more expensive than its counterparts
- Customization limitations – some customizations can’t be unlocked and may require special coding skills.
Are you finding this Shopify Review informative so far? Keep on reading…
Pricing
Shopify has 5 plans available—Lite, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced. Here are the monthly rates:
Shopify Lite — $9 per month
- Includes core eCommerce functionality
- 1 user account only
- You need to have an existing website as it is not meant to be a standalone online store
Basic Shopify — $29 per month
- Includes core eCommerce functionality
- No international pricing, professional reports, advance report builder, and real-time carrier shipping
- Ideal for local eCommerce
Shopify — $79 per month
- Includes core e-commerce functionality
- Included professional reports and international pricing
- No advance report builder and real-time carrier shipping
Advanced Shopify — $299 per month
- Designed for enterprises.
- Includes all basic core and premium eCommerce features
As with any other plans, you can avail of discounts up to 20% if you pay upfront. Get a 10% discount if you pay upfront for a year and 20% if you pay for two. If you are unsure yet, you may test it out first for 14 days for free.
Conclusion
If the goal is to have a robust eCommerce store, then Shopify is the ideal platform for you as you can start it without a background in coding. Everything is well-designed and ideal for online businesses. It made things easy for entrepreneurs to set up their businesses to succeed through technology even without having to hire a web developer.
We hope you found this Shopify review helpful.