Product name: Shopify
Overall Ranking: 5/5
Price: $9 / $29 / $79 / $299
Owners: Tobias Lütke, Daniel Welnand and Scott Lake
Website: https://www.shopify.com/
Introduction:
Many people ask themselves which eCommerce platform is the best for their online stores and business. The answer is not as simple as it seems because there are many platforms that provide this type of services. Shopify was found in 2004 by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Welnand and Scott Lake. Lütke is a computer programmer and he built the basics of the Shopify eCommerce service. The platform is clean, simple and easy to use. Today, the service has over 200.000 merchants using the service.
Shopify is a great and complete eCommerce platform where everyone can “open” their own online shops and to sell their products. The members of the Shopify community can easily customize their store, accept several ways of payment and to respond to interested clients with only a few clicks. The owner has a complete control on everything and also can make their online store look and work like they always imagined. They can manage the sales, orders, payments and connections with other members of the community. Not only individuals but also already developed sellers are often using Shopify to expand their business.
The Shopify service is secured with Level 1 PCI DSS compliant that is the best choice of platforms that provide online sales.
Shopify offers four business plans: Shopify Lite, Shopify Basic, Shopify, Shopify Advanced and Shopify Plus.
The biggest current clients that are Shopify Plus users are: Red Bull, Wikipedia, General Electric and Budweiser.
Shopify Plus is easy and simple to use. The new users can test out the service with a free 14-day trial version. With this plan, the user gets unlimited selling capacity, huge amounts of storage, powerful analytics, reliability, scalability, smooth setup, multichannel capabilities and guaranteed priority customer service. Shopify Plus offers a customization of the online shop so the owner can attract more buyers and clients.
Pros/cons:
The general opinion and experience is that Shopify is very good and easy to use even for the newbies.
Pros:
Shopify has a built-in speed and security for hosting because every owner of a Shopify store has to be sure of two things: really fast service and very secure processes for payment.
Shopify includes all the necessary tools and features for building a great eCommerce solution for online shopping.
There is 24/7 customer support that is always fast, helpful and gives the correct answers to every question that a customer may ask.
Beautiful website designs.
Also, there is a FAQ database.
Great marketing tools for customizing the online store. Maybe there are not some fancy tools, but the essentials are enough for starters.
Simple eCommerce.
No access to CSS code needed.
API capability on Shopify Plus plans
- – There are a lot of beginner’s guides and tutorials to get the user started.
Cons:
– Some people find the Shopify platform very expensive, even the basic plan.
– The blogs are not included in the Lite plan (that is also the cheapest of all) so the store owners can’t use the content marketing to increase the sales.
– Some of the users find the Shopify jargon upsetting.
Who it is for:
Shopify is a great eCommerce platform for everyone who wants to build their online stores and sell their products through the web, on social media, through carefully created an online marketing strategy. Shopify is a perfect choice for those who find hard to handle the web hosting and technical part of the job. Everyone who is ready for a real, true and a great eCommerce experience should register their account and online store on Shopify and to sell more products and make more money.
Training/tools overview:
Shopify comes with many features that the user needs to successfully start or expand their online stores. These are the basic features:
Your articles can be displayed in over 50 different languages.
Shopify can also calculate the shipping fees and rates based on your determination (fixed rate, weight-based rate, location based rate and so on)
If the customer leaves a full cart without buying any item, the service sends them an email to remind them to complete the purchase.
Automatic tax calculator based on the location of the store owners and also on the customer’s location.
Customers can buy items without creating an account, but for easier functionality, they can create an account and receive all the promotions on their email.
Discount cards are available in the higher Shopify plans.
Integration with many social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr.
Free email templates.
SEO practices
Product reviews
Analytics
Product lists
Bulk Import/Export
Web hosting
Automatic upgrades
Over 70 payment methods
Support:
The Shopify’s phone support is available 24/7. There are separate phone numbers for US, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and India. Also, the user can get a full customer support through email and live chat. The service also includes forums and support blogs written by Shopify experts and the users can find a way to resolve the issues on their own.
Shopify Plus provides even better customer service and technical support. Every Shopify Plus account is assigned to their own Merchant success manager (MSM) who helps you in regional stores and social media integration. If your MSM is not available at the moment, you will be immediately connected with another. For those who are too shy to talk to a real MSM, there are many other ways to ask a question on the eCommerce forums or for technical supporters in the Help Center.
Price:
The Shopify’s pricing is charged monthly. The service offers four monthly pricing plans. If you pay for a one year plan you get a 10 % discount. For two years long plan the discount is up to 20%. These the monthly plans:
Shopify Lite – $9/month – the credit card rate is 9% with 2% transaction fee. There is no transaction fee if you pay with Shopify Payments. This plan features:
Unlimited bandwidth
Unlimited online storage
Unlimited number of products
Facebook integration
Chat and email support
One staff account (in addition to the owner)
Basic Shopify – $29/month – the credit card rate is 9% with 2% transaction fee. This plan includes the same basic features as the Shopify Lite plan and a few additional features:
24/7 support
Mobile version of Shopify
Pinterest integration
Discount engine
Free Shopify card reader
Online store
Blog
Two staff accounts (in addition to the owner)
Shopify – $79/month – with 6% credit card rate and 1% transaction fee. This plan includes the same features as the Basic plan. These are the additional features:
Gift cards
Professional reports
Recovery of an abandoned cart
Five staff accounts (in addition to the owner)
Advanced Shopify – $299/month – with 4% credit card rate and 0.5% transaction fee. The Advanced plan includes the same features as the Shopify plan. These the additional features:
Advanced report builder
Real-time carrier shipping
15 staff accounts (in addition to the owner)
There is also the possibility to Shopify Plus (Enterprise) plan for those who are planning to make over a million dollars per year. They need to contact Shopify for special pricing offer. There are no transaction fees with the Shopify Plus. There is no specific price, but it may very expensive. Shopify Plus is cloud and web based and the user needs a good computer with an up-to-date browser.
Do not miss the unique opportunity to sign up for a free 14 day trial period and see if the Shopify is the best choice for you.
There are also offline plans that start at $49/month and the most expensive offline plan is $199/month.
Final opinion/verdict:
Shopify is great for everyone who are looking for all-in-one eCommerce services for expanding their online stores and businesses. This platform is great for both the owners and the customers. Shopify provides a great service to their members who want to be great with their own business. They can be sure that will all the tools and features they will be able to build a successful online store that can serve as many customers as possible. Also, Shopify gives a great chance to make more money with your new or the current business. The service is totally legit, but if this is review is not enough for you, feel free to start with the 14-day trial version. You pay nothing for that and you will see if the Shopify is what you need for your business. You have nothing to lose.
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