Shopify E-Commerce Review

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Shopify is the most popular e-commerce platform on the planet. This all-in-one e-commerce software powers over 1 million merchants and has generated over $100 billion in sales. This 2024 Shopify review covers the ins and outs of this hugely popular online store builder

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Shopify Review (Summary)

🛈 About

Shopify lets you start, grow, and manage your online store. Start selling your products online today with the world’s leading all-in-one SaaS e-commerce platform.

💰 Cost

There are four Shopify plans: Shopify Basic costs $29/month, the Shopify Main plan costs $79/month, the Shopify Advanced plan costs $299/month. There is also the Shopify Starter plan that costs $5/month. Finally there is Shopify Plus (enterprise ecommerce and starts a $2,000 per month). (Compare Shopify plans here.)

😍 Pros

Fully hosted and all-in-one platform meaning you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff. Huge (free and paid) app marketplace, and custom themes. Abandoned cart recovery, 100+ payment gateways, simple to use storefront, SKU and inventory management, built-in SEO, marketing, analytics, and reporting, flexible shipping rates and automatic taxes. Excellent customer support, self-help documentation, and community. Sell across multiple channels, both digital and physical products (integrated POS). All features.

😩 Cons

Shopify’s built in payment processor only allows you to sell from certain countries, and you have to pay transaction fees if you use third-party payment gateways. The cost of using apps can quickly add up. Email hosting isn’t included. The Starter plan comes with limited Shopify features.

Verdict

“Shopify is the best fully hosted ecommerce platforms on the market today. Shopify pricing is reasonable and comes with hundreds of built-in features and thousands of apps. Shopify gives you everything you need to get started selling, via your online store, social channels or your physical shop through their integrated POS.”

 
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Reddit is a great place to learn more about Shopify. Here are a few Reddit posts that I think you’ll find interesting. Check them out and join the discussion!

Key Takeaways:

Shopify is ideal for larger stores and features a powerful backend editor and inventory system for scalability.

The platform is easy to use, offering a drag-and-drop editor, customizable themes, and a wide range of sales features to help businesses increase their revenue.

Shopify offers stand-out design functionality, over 3,000 apps, extensive payment options, and 24/7 customer support, but has high transaction fees and can be more expensive with the need for additional apps.

shopify review

Powering more than 1M online businesses Shopify’s annual revenue topped $6 billion in 2023, which is up 26% from 2022. And in this 2024 Shopify review, we’ll go over why a recent survey shows that 88 percent of its users recommend Shopify.

Who are the 12 percent that didn’t connect with the site? What makes this platform so widely used and wildly prominent in the e-commerce sphere? Is it approachable enough for a newcomer, designed for experienced tech pros, or does it fall somewhere in the middle?

By the end, you should be able to answer all those questions and more. Because my goal isn’t to just deliver an in-depth Shopify review: I hope to help you decide whether this e-commerce platform is right for you specifically.

Find out why 1M+ businesses use Shopify’s powerful and easy-to-use e-commerce website builder. Start your free trial now!

Why This Shopify Review?

The cool part about this Shopify.com review is that it was written by someone who started a business from scratch on Shopify a few years ago and has since become an avid user.

However, I’m no stranger to a wide range of other e-commerce tools, including BigCommerce, 3dcart, Wix, Squarespace, WooCommerce, and Magento. Later on, we’ll compare how Shopify stands out compared to those major competitors, as well as what exactly this reviewer was selling on those websites.

There’s always the possibility that your business fits better into a different e-commerce platform option. But you’re likely here because you’ve heard all sorts of (probably great) things about Shopify, and you’re weighing whether you should give it a try. So, let’s get one of the more obvious questions out of the way:

What Can I Use Shopify For?

It’s a fully hosted all-in-one ecommerce website builder, so that question should be obvious, right? But the truth is that you could always just open up an Etsy shop or, heck, why not just make an eBay profile and sell your wares there? Because you’re looking for a robust platform that you can house your entire business within, and that’s where Shopify comes in.

shopify reviewed

While perusing the reviews of Shopify, you’ll see a wide range of valid opinions, but they’re coming from just a wide range of people. They have different goals, niches, industries, experiences, the list goes on. However, if you use Shopify, you’re doing (very generally) one or more of four things:

Starting a brand from square one
Selling online
Selling in-store
Marketing your brand

Let’s review each of these five areas, and see how the Shopify platform makes doing them easier, better, or—at the very least—different.

Plans & Pricing

shopify pricing plans 2024

Shopify offers several pricing options depending on the size and needs of your e-commerce business.

  • The Shopify Starter plan is $5/month and lets you add e-commerce to social media platforms, messaging channels, or an existing website. It comes with a 5% transaction fee when using Shopify Payments.
  • Basic Shopify plan is the cheapest plan for building your own store, priced at $29/month, and includes all the essentials for a new online store. It has a 2% transaction fee unless you use Shopify Payments.
  • The Shopify plan is $79/month and is ideal for growing businesses, offering features like gift card creation. It comes with a 1% transaction fee unless using Shopify Payments.
  • Advanced Shopify is priced at $299/month and is designed for big businesses that want to scale up. It includes advanced reports and third-party calculated shipping rates, with a 0.5% transaction fee unless using Shopify Payments.

For large-scale, enterprise-level businesses with big budgets, there’s Shopify Plus, which requires you to request a custom quote as there is no set pricing (but starts at $2,000).

Try Shopify for free with their three-day trial, no payment details are required. All you need is an email to test it out. If you like it, you can get three months for just $1 per month.

Shopify $1/month Free Trial
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Start selling your products online today with the world’s leading all-in-one SaaS e-commerce platform that lets you start, grow, and manage your online store.

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Starting a Business on Shopify

You have an idea for a business, and you’re looking for a place to begin. Or, you’re taking your side hustle and moving it to a platform like Shopify where it can grow. If that’s the case, then Shopify is all but made for you.

Unlike platforms like WordPress, which is pretty complex, and even Squarespace, which is definitely approachable but quite limited, Shopify is built for shopping. Could you tell from the name? And, moreover, it’s built for folks who aren’t looking to build everything from scratch.

What does that mean for you? Well, if you’re already a WordPress expert, why even consider Shopify? Put that expertise to good use! And further down this review, we’ll get into how you can integrate it with your existing website.

shopify's dashboard

A Robust Resource for Startups

In this review, we’ll go through all the reasons why this site seems to have it all. And if you’re not already familiar with the enormous number of marketing tools available to you online, you’ll likely discover a plethora of avenues you can go down to achieve your business goals and beyond.

Shopify does a great job of giving you the freedom to keep it simple and build from there. You can have nothing more than a webpage that sells a single product. You can have a Shopify site that puts the site you’re reading this to shame. The possibilities are endless because it was built that way.

google trends

Creating a Brand from Scratch on Shopify

You’ll have a lot of fun with the first few steps of starting a business with Shopify. You can even begin before you’ve come up with a name, with a Business Name Generator that’s freely available, no need to open an account. You likely won’t find one that hits the nail on the head, but you’ll get tons of ideas.

Shopify also has a fantastic logo builder tool that you can use to create something from scratch or start from a template. I’ve heard of many people drafting something up with the simple graphic design platform Canva. But if you’re planning to house your business entirely on Shopify, you might as well create a logo here.

The only thing more important than the name and the logo is deciding what you’re selling. And since you need to create a unified look through your store and across all advertising channels, you’ll want to do this first thing.

How Shopify Helps Build an Online Presence

Once you have all the basics locked down, you want to sell your product. And because Google’s SEO Algorithm can’t yet immediately recognize your greatness, you need to get your name out there.

Shopify has a ridiculous number of marketing apps and built-in SEO tools to help get your brand noticed. I recommend going with the best-reviewed, most popular apps, but feel free to browse around. You may just discover an up-and-coming option that puts you ahead simply because you’re not doing what everyone else is doing.

Directly through your Shopify account, you can quickly and easily:

Get a custom URL or import one you already own.
Browse both free and paid stock images.
Create an entirely unique store.

Setting Up a Store in Shopify

dashboard

You can open up a store, whether you have an inventory of products or not. In fact, the dropshipping business model is one of the more popular avenues to pursue on Shopify. You can select the products you want to sell through their partnership with the dropshipping company Oberlo.

The customer pays you the retail price, you take that money and buy it at wholesale, and the drop shipper does all the packaging and shipping directly to the customer. Boom, profit.

But whether you’re selling your own items or using Shopify for dropshipping, you can choose your store theme based on a variety of templates (some free themes, most are paid Shopify themes). You’ll customize your products to your heart’s content, including adding descriptions (Shopify has apps for that too). And add whatever else you might want, like an “About Us,” FAQ page, and so on.

Then you’re good to go. I think, all told, you could roll out a functioning store in less than a day, no kidding!

Find out why 1M+ businesses use Shopify’s powerful and easy-to-use e-commerce website builder. Start your free trial now!

Designs & Templates

As an eCommerce business, having a website that’s fast, responsive and visually appealing can make a huge difference in attracting and retaining customers. Shopify is one of the most popular platforms used for building online stores, and with a variety of templates available, it can be tough to decide which one is the perfect fit for your business.

Here I showcase some of the best Shopify templates to help you make an informed decision and, ultimately, create a successful eCommerce store.

Have you ever wondered if an online store is built on Shopify? Sometimes, it’s easy to tell if a site is using Shopify, while other times it may not be as obvious. Here’s a guide on how to can find out of a website and it’s design you like is using Shopify.

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Should You Do the Free Shopify Trial?

I always recommend starting off with a free trial, even if you know you’re going to become a paid user. For one thing, you can only have one Shopify store at a time, so if you get far in the beginning and decide you want to just start from scratch, delete everything and start over without feeling like you wasted any money.

While writing this review, Shopify was offering a 90-day free trial, which is incredible. But that’s in the throes of the novel coronavirus pandemic, so it’s certainly temporary. Still, it’s worth it to take advantage of whatever the free trial offer is, even if just the standard 14-day free trial.

Shopify Capital is a credit program for qualified businesses, which is another potential avenue for startups looking for some seed money to hit the ground running with advertising and beyond. It could be worth looking into.

Do You Need to be a Licensed Business to Start a Shopify Store?

settings

Technically: no. You don’t have to be a licensed business to open your own Shopify Store. You would just need to pay taxes on any income by filing self-employment taxes, which require quarterly payments.

However, I strongly recommend opening a licensed business as soon as possible, preferably before you sell your first product. You want to be protected from personal liability, and it has its tax advantages, especially important if you’re employed elsewhere and a Shopify store is a side hustle.

Types of Online Stores on Shopify

shopify store types

The type of online store you open on Shopify is pretty much limited to your imagination. Are you selling infrared saunas? Then maybe I’ll review you sometime soon! Are you delivering made-to-order prints or clothing? Are you selling food or drink? Accessories or crafts? Books, comics, novels, lit mags?

This is an honest Shopify.com review, so let’s be honest here: this is a for-profit company, which means they want as many customers as possible. That means their platform is designed to accommodate every type of business imaginable (as long as it can be done online).

E-commerce Features

I’m warning you right now: time slips away when you start building your store. They make sure it’s ridiculously easy to customize, and you can end up getting carried away and realize that eight hours have gone by and all you’ve done is play with the background color. That’s not a bad thing, it’s actually a testament to the approachability and ease of use.

It’s Hard to Beat the Shopify Online Store

shopify themes - paid and free theme

Literally. It’s difficult to so easily create such a good-looking website – if it’s even possible at all. But if you have a hyper-specific vision for your store in mind, you could build it from scratch or customize a Shopify template by editing directly in the HTML backend. Best of both worlds!

When you have existing imagery of your products, all you have to do is drag and drop the files directly onto the site. You can create galleries, slide shows, or static images. You can put text anywhere you want. You can browse dozens of themes and play around with them.

While Squarespace and Wix have more templates, the e-commerce features of Shopify beat out Wix and Squarespace in my book, and the templates aren’t going to be a good enough selling point to compensate for that. (Read my Squarespace vs Wix comparison.)

Review of the Shopify Shopping Cart

Amazingly, you can accept over a hundred forms of Shopify payments if you live in the United States (I can’t attest to other locations). This includes all the major credit cards and e-wallets, as well as cryptocurrencies and beyond.

Further, they’ll calculate everything based on the local taxes and currency of the shopper. So if you’re an international seller, you know that your checkout will be translated to accommodate wherever the shopper is located, their local currency included.

If you haven’t already guessed, you can pre-set your shipping rates, or have Shopify calculate the shipping automatically, although that requires the Advanced Shopify plan. If you have a variety of items, however, it’s likely worth the upgrade, even if it’s just for the automatic shipping calculations. You don’t want to undercharge for that!

shipping zones

Shopping Cart Security

Shopify also guarantees the highest level of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which means their security measures are scrutinized more so than most companies. They utilize state-of-the-art encryption to keep all info safe and secure. And they paid out over $850,000 to white hat hackers over the years for reporting bugs that have all been patched.

In fact, Shopify will pay out as much as $50,000 for identifying specific security issues, making the incentive to report vulnerabilities competitive with exploiting them.

pci compliance

When you open an online store on Shopify, your site will automatically feature 256-bit SSL encryption, which instills total confidence in your shop for visitors that their payment data is secure. Since there will be little to no evidence that your site is hosted by Shopify, this is a great way to guarantee safety for your brand specifically.

How to Manage Your Shopify Store

I love the Shopify mobile app, but I get into more details on that a few sections down in this review. (Spoiler: You can do pretty much anything from a mobile device.)

However, it’s the robust dashboard, whether the desktop or mobile version, that really blows me away. They cover all the potential bases, and it’s an addictive tracker of your growth, sales, visitors, order tracking, and more. It’s a top-down but crystal-clear data presentation that I can’t say enough good things about.

reporting

How does the Shopify dashboard compare to its competitors? Every Ecommerce software has an interactive dashboard component, but none are as clean and everything-in-one-place as the Shopify version. For the less techy folks, it’s near-perfect.

How Specific Can You Organize Your Inventory?

Shopify allows you to add as many dropdowns as you need for your products, although you’ll likely have to download an app if you have more than one or two.

For example, if you’re selling a T-shirt that comes in different colors and different sizes, the customer will have two dropdowns, one for color and one for size, and the product image can even change when you do.

inventory management

Is this unique to Shopify? No, you can do the same at (I’m guessing) all Ecommerce platforms, including all those that I have experience in, from Magento to WooCommerce. But it’s still important to mention.

You can also list each item separately by color, design, size, and whatever the case may be depending on your industry. This might also be a great SEO strategy, as each product page is its own opportunity to get recognized by search engine algorithms.

How Powerful Is Shopify As a Web Host?

The web host capabilities of Shopify are downright impressive. You get unlimited bandwidth, although that should be standard since your business growth would be stunted otherwise. Shopify also updates your web capabilities automatically, no need to take your site down and make your customers wait for an update. That’s a great way to lose them!

But what might be my favorite component of their web hosting is the unlimited domain name email address forwarding, which can be incredibly useful. That way, you create different emails for different departments and streamline customer communication. You don’t want your custom design requests to go to your IT department, after all.

reliable ecommerce web hosting

While it’s likely wise for massive companies to invest in more specific server space, most store owners will never have a bandwidth problem while using Shopify as their web host.

Reviewing Data from Shopify Sales

I’ve already gone on about the Shopify dashboard, where you can find most of the data you’re looking for all at once. But you can get a lot more in-depth with the data collected from your ongoing sales. Shopify is designed to be as robust or as minimal as you want it to be.

The most obvious data points are which products are moving and which ones are staying on “the shelves,” so to speak. Google Analytics is directly compatible with your store’s setup too, so you’ll have all those insights at your disposal. You can pull up all your traffic and referral reports quickly and as detailed as you want, and export them to a variety of file types, like Excel and PDF.

You may not need every data point, but if you ever hire an expert, they should ask for all of it to give you the best chance of converting more customers.

Is the Shopify App Better Than the Rest?

shopify app store homepage

It’s not hard to tell right off the bat that Shopify is designed for the every-person, meaning hyper-intuitive navigation and extremely easy management is a key selling points. So making a simple mobile app that allows you to do practically everything from your phone just comes with the territory.

Shopify offers the best e-commerce store mobile app on the market. Period, end of story! Have I tried them all? Admittedly, no. But I have tried many, and this is by far my favorite eCommerce software in terms of navigation, accessibility, and features Shopify provides.

You’ll be able to email and call customers, manage inventory, and review your dashboard while on the go. That’s not just extremely convenient, it feels essential to today’s world.

A Favorite Part of Shopify Is the Customer Support

The customer care team at Shopify is passionate and willing to go above and beyond. To me, that’s a huge selling point. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve pulled my hair out with other customer support teams. And anyone that makes me feel like that will never happen gets a gold star.

shopify support

However, the 24-7-365 support via live chat, online form, email address support, and phone support are not unique to Shopify, and neither is the exceptional customer service. All e-commerce websites dedicated to helping small businesses thrive make sure to have great on-call representatives.

But still, Shopify takes it all a step further than most with other features that will help you reach new heights as an entrepreneur. On top of the standard help center of FAQs, they have really helpful and often fascinating forum discussions where I’ve found countless tips and insights.

A Review on Managing a Brick-and-Mortar Store with Shopify

shopify selling

Shopify is an eCommerce platform that you can also use for your physical storefront. This is an amazing resource for businesses that sell both online and in-store, as you’ll want a streamlined management system that takes all the sales and operations into account.

Some products may sell better in-store than online. Your overall revenue is how you properly allocate funding. And your store can’t function up to its highest levels of productivity and organization without the right Point of Sale (POS) system.

But if you have a separate POS for your store that requires you to upload or (so much worse) manually input the data, human error is bound to occur. Having your online store and in-store operations all run through the same platform is incredibly beneficial.

Shopify Hardware Quality

As sleek and beautiful as the Shopify POS system hard drive might be, they’re awesomely durable, meaning they’ll do fine in both boutique fashion outlets and busy restaurants – and any type of retail and food service business between.

The hardware is largely grouped into three categories, although the first encompasses everything you’ll need to set up an in-store point-of-sale system. The Retail Kit has the iPad stand, card reader, and all the necessary accessories. Each is sold separately too.

SHOPIFY HARDWARE

It’s also all designed to be as versatile as possible. Your staff can carry the iPads around with them to service customers, and the same goes for the card reader. You can even take your POS hardware with you outside of the store to make deliveries, estimates, installations, and so on.

The Shopify POS System Is One of the Most Robust on the Market

While the point-of-sale system is easy to learn and use, they offer training videos so that you and your staff can become Shopify POS experts together – and any new employees can be onboarded quickly.

Further, the many Shopify add-on apps can facilitate really awesome features for your POS as well. You can book appointments, classes, and seminars while automatically scheduling and tracking attendance. You can sell by product, by weight, or by time. You can quickly change the prices, make products unavailable, and run promotions and discounts. The possibilities really are endless.

So, while I’m going to go over a few of my favorite components, these are in no way a complete list of the ways you can use this POS to your and your company’s advantage.

shopify pos

Incredible Payment Flexibility

The credit card fees are excitingly low, although they get lower the larger your POS system package. I kind of wish it was a standard low rate, but it’s still very competitive. You’re also not charged additionally for returns and exchanges, which should be an industry-wide standard.

You can also charge more than one credit card and split up payments. A customer who wants to do that will be highly discouraged if you’re unable to accommodate them. Whether four people want to split a check or one person wants to charge for part of it and pay the rest in cash, Shopify makes sure it is easy to do it all.

Basically, you’re in control of your Shopify payments. If people pay with digital points, gift cards, discount coupon codes, or festival tickets, you accept that form of currency and record it in your POS as if it were any other form of payment.

shopify pos business

Game-Changing Tracking and Management Features

This isn’t so much a benefit of the Shopify POS so much as it’s why you invest in a POS solution in general. There’s no better way to keep track of all your purchases and inventory. Staff can clock in and out using the POS. You can switch up cashiers through the system on the fly, so you always know who was handling cash, when, and in what drawer.

All the data can also be synced to your QuickBooks (or another accounting platform) account to keep track of everything for taxes. And you can limit what certain staff can and can’t do. For example, you might not want to allow employees to comp items or add discounts themselves.

Again, whatever level of control or tracking power you want to have over your business, the Shopify POS (and, frankly, all POS systems worth their salt) can make it happen.

reporting

Tools for Building Customer Relationships

The customer-facing tools of the Shopify POS offer some really exciting stuff. More and more businesses seem to be allowing their customers to order directly from the screen. But you can also go paperless and still accept tips by flipping the iPad around to face the customer after taking their order.

They can have their receipts sent directly to their email, and they can sign up for rewards by providing their contact information.

On your side, you’re able to easily search for products and see if anything is in or out of stock. You can create Customer Profiles, which can garner exceptionally useful data and outreach information. You can even integrate your own loyalty rewards program directly through the Shopify POS, no need to go with a third party.

Combining a Shopify Online Shop with a Retail Location

When you’re dealing both in-person and online, you need everything connected on one platform. The benefits far outweigh any additional costs, I promise you. The boost in productivity—and the seamless connection that delivers unrivaled peace of mind—is practically priceless. You’ll be able to look at your whole business and all its facets, not treat it like two separate companies.

One of the most ambitious ways to look at the Shopify POS in combination with online sales is potentially eliminating a storefront or opening another location. By considering your books individually rather than taking a step back and looking at all of them in real-time can help you continuously optimize and reevaluate your business’s future. So valuable.

How to Sell Digital Products

You’re not going to have a storefront for your digital products, but you’re also not going to have to manage a limited inventory. So why sell on Shopify?

Well, because it’s super scalable and feature-rich. If you’re moving digital products at a pace that requires you to sell directly from your site rather than third-party seller websites like Etsy and Amazon, then Shopify is a great choice.

However, if it makes more sense financially to simply pay part of each sale to a third-party seller rather than the monthly fees of Shopify, that’s the better route.

Put simply: you can sell digital products on Shopify, just like physical items. But I’d be surprised if it made all that much sense if you don’t also sell physical products or services as well.

Marketing Tools

marketing tools

Optimizing your marketing strategy by pulling data from several different sources can get confusing, and confusion leads to oversights. Good thing Shopify lets you do everything in one place.

Your Shopify online store builder is where you can continuously build on your brand. That means writing and publishing blog posts that help your audience and improve your Google search ranking. It means full integration with email marketing and social media marketing, wherein you can lead a customer from clicking your ad to purchasing the product without ever leaving Facebook or Instagram.

It means identifying where your current audience is located, continuously attracting new customers, and actively building new offerings to expand your potential client pool.

Shopify has you covered on all fronts.

Watch this video for marketing tips using Shopify:

Blog and SEO Tools

shopify seo and blogging

You can build a blog directly on your Shopify online store, so your customers can have your insights on top of all your products, all in one place.

I recommend hiring a blogger in your niche to crank out content. It’s worth the investment to have a robust blog initially, and then post something new every week or so – while promoting the existing content on your social media channels.

You can use the Shopify SEO tools to figure out the best strategies, but chances are you’re going to want to outsource some of that content writing. It can be a major energy drain, and you have a business to run.

Don’t forget that you can also use Shopify’s SEO tools to optimize every part of your eCommerce website, from the homepage to the product categories to each product page. And the better you optimize for search engines, the more organic traffic you’ll receive, which further improves SEO.

seo app store

Should You Trust a Google Smart Shopping Campaign?

Shopify’s integration with Google Smart Shopping is awesome if you want to sit back and watch the potential customers roll in. For those who aren’t familiar with Google Ads and just want to get rolling right away, I say go for it. But that shouldn’t be your long-term digital marketing strategy.

google smart shopping

This might be my only major complaint about Shopify: they make Google Smart Shopping sound like either a standard or a no-brainer. Here’s the thing: it’s super limiting, meaning you’re not going to have the kind of control that a PPC expert and digital ads manager would need to do their job properly.

Here’s what you CAN NOT do if you use Google Smart Shopping instead of managing your Google Ads campaigns yourself:

  • Exclude specific search terms using Negative Keywords.
  • Exclude certain ad networks.
  • Exclude specific devices.
  • Control location targeting beyond setting the country. If you run a local storefront, that’s pretty much a deal-breaker.
  • Perform regular bid adjustments.
  • WORST OF ALL: You won’t have Granular Reporting, meaning you won’t know if your traffic is mainly coming from a specific source like YouTube or Gmail ads.

However, some of the limitations are what people who use Google Smart Shopping look for. The ads will be automatically scheduled based, and your audience targeting will be automated as well. That means you can sit back and trust Google to bring in the right audience for you.

Shopify Gives $100 to First-Time Google Ads Users

The requirement is that you need to spend at least $25 on a new account. Also, the $100 credit will only apply to Google Shopping campaigns. Still, that can translate into a lot of ad-spend depending on the competition level of your niche. If you don’t have a Google Ads account yet, there’s absolutely no reason not to take advantage.

google ads $100 credit

What Is Kit? An Overview of Shopify’s Virtual Assistant

What’s impressed me most about Kit is how much it’s improved over time. But even early on, Kit has been a very useful (and free!) app that I use often. This “virtual assistant” can actually write social media ads for you. I always like to go in and touch them up, sometimes even rewriting them completely, but it’s super handy.

Kit is also a great reminder app for email follow-ups, as that to-do list can get cluttered quickly if it’s not automated. Once you touch up the initial customized emails, it can send out all sorts of clever automated messages to maintain customer engagement. I love it.

Here is what it looks like

shop kit crm and assistant

You can also use Kit to do things automatically in other apps, particularly in the marketing niche. I also utilize Kit for accounting stuff and gathering ideas on potential new product avenues. Do you need it? No. Is it great to have and free? Yes and yes.

How to Sell Services

While Shopify is potentially a great choice for selling digital products, it’s not really made for selling services. If you’re selling made-to-order custom furniture or something in that vein, then you’re still selling a product. By services, we’re talking about graphic design, coding, accounting, writing, and so on. There are platforms that are far more useful for a service provider.

However, Shopify does have apps designed for selling services, it would just be in tandem with selling your products. Also, this is just my personal opinion – but since they do little to cater to contractor webshops, I wouldn’t be surprised if they agreed with me.

Are the Free Shopify Apps Useful?

For one thing, Kit the virtual assistant is free, so yes, the free apps are useful. I know there are 3600 of them, and I’m not expecting you to go through them all. But I highly recommend playing with the search bar and just seeing what they have to offer. With over a thousand free apps to choose from, I’d bet money that you’ll be surprised by some of the tools made available free of charge.

I highly recommend regularly visiting the Shopify app store homepage. Under the Staff Picks and Trending sections, you can discover something interesting and unique you might not have considered. You can also organize things by your goals, like selling products.

shopify app store

Are the Paid Shopify Apps Worth It?

Not to disregard the question, but if something is worth it, it’s worth it. I certainly recommend checking out the reviews, but many of the apps in the Shopify Store let you try them out with a 14-day free trial. Then you can ask yourself, “Would I pay for this?” If the answer is yes, then it’s worth it.

In some cases, you might need to invest in paid apps for your online store to function properly. That’s why your personal experience is going to be the most important review you’ll consider. If it’s not as cost-efficient to run your business to its full potential, even initially, then you might want to consider going with an alternative eCommerce software.

However, before you do, reach out to Shopify customer support to see if they’ll drop some prices down to accommodate you. It can’t hurt to ask! You should also read the Shopify App reviews carefully since a lot of them will point out the flaws and save you time trying them! 

shopify paid apps

Shopify Partners and App Developers

Shopify offers a wide range of other opportunities beyond being a platform for online stores. You can also become a Shopify Partner, which includes folks who build stores for other people, provide your services to businesses in need, and develop Shopify apps. It can be a great additional source of revenue – or a full-time career.

shopify partners

The Shopify Academy

shopify academy

First off, the Shopify Academy courses are free. It’s not an upsell area, this is a place that’s genuinely a free resource of super-valuable information.

Let’s be real: Shopify wants you to keep paying your subscription fees and app charges, and the more customers buying your products, the more they’re paid through the (small and reasonable but still existent) processing fees.

That’s not a shot at their team – they need to make money like the rest of us. This is more to drive home that Shopify Academy is a fantastic place to get info from fellow entrepreneurs about the strategies that worked for them. If you’re already listening to all the business podcasts and reading all the success books you can get ahold of, you might as well add the Shopify Academy courses to your repertoire.

Can You Add Shopify to Existing Sites?

Absolutely you can. You can use your Shopify account (including Shopify Starter, formerly called Shopify Lite) to sell products on your website store without migrating all your content to a separate Shopify online store. Shopify makes it easy to simply add a “BUY NOW” button to your existing site and start selling whatever you want.

You do have to open a Shopify account, but it’s not like it takes you to a whole separate Shopify page – the whole process is done directly on your website, which is pretty awesome if you ask me.

shopify buy button

Should You Hire a Shopify Expert?

A “Shopify Expert” doesn’t necessarily mean someone who’s an eCommerce website builder extraordinaire. The title encompasses a wide variety of professionals within a huge number of specialties.

You can go with a seasoned expert with tons of experience or a newcomer offering their services at a reduced price. Feel free to shop around – the marketplace is ripe with amazing talent that can make your job much easier.

Then again, there are experts who can just build your entire online store from scratch for you, getting you all set up to sell products, make back the initial cost, and start a profitable new business. Part of their pitch should be that they pay for themselves in the long run.

shopify experts

Common Questions Answered

What is Shopify?

Shopify is the world’s leading all-in-one SaaS ecommerce platform that lets you start, grow, and manage your online store using hundreds of built-in features and thousands of apps. Shopify gives you everything you need to get started selling, via your online store, social channels or your physical shop through their integrated POS.

What are some important considerations when choosing an eCommerce platform like Shopify?

When choosing an eCommerce platform like Shopify, it’s essential to consider factors such as the Shopify plan that suits your business needs, Shopify alternatives available in the market, and the Shopify theme that best fits your branding and design preferences. For small businesses or those new to eCommerce, the Shopify starter plan may be an ideal entry point.

Additionally, it’s important to consider whether the platform provides an all-in-one eCommerce solution, including eCommerce builders, payment processors, and inventory tracking. Before making a decision, it’s also worth exploring the various eCommerce solutions available in the market and evaluating the features and benefits of each.

What are the essential elements to consider when setting up a store on Shopify?

When setting up an online store on Shopify, several crucial elements must be considered. Firstly, you must create visually appealing product pages that showcase your products and services. Secondly, web design is crucial to ensure your store looks professional and trustworthy. Shopify’s drag and drop editor makes this process seamless and straightforward, allowing you to customize your store without any coding skills.

Thirdly, the Shopify theme store offers a wide selection of themes to choose from, so you can find the perfect one to match your brand’s aesthetic. Additionally, SSL certificates are essential to ensure the security and safety of customer data. Finally, add-ons such as apps and plugins can enhance your store’s functionality and improve the customer experience. Overall, these elements combined make for a robust eCommerce solution that is user-friendly and efficient.

What are the pros of Shopify?

Shopify is a fully hosted and all-in-one ecommerce software where you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff. It has a huge (free and paid) app marketplace and custom themes available. Abandoned cart recovery, 100+ payment gateways, simple to use storefront, SKU and inventory management, built-in SEO, marketing, analytics, and reporting, flexible shipping rates and automatic taxes. Excellent customer support, self-help documentation, and community. Sell across multiple channels, both digital and physical products (integrated POS).

What are the cons of Shopify?

Shopify’s built-in payment processor only allows you to sell from certain countries, and you have to pay transaction fees if you use third-party Shopify payments gateways. The cost of using apps can quickly add up. Email hosting isn’t included. The Starter plan comes with limited features.

What are the key features of Shopify for managing shipping and inventory?

Shopify offers a range of features to help online store owners manage their shipping and inventory needs. For shipping, Shopify allows for party calculated shipping rates and third-party calculated shipping integrations. This means that shipping rates can be automatically calculated based on the customer’s location, weight of the items, and other factors. Shopify also offers a variety of shipping options, such as free shipping and real-time carrier shipping rates.

In terms of inventory, Shopify has features for tracking inventory levels, managing stock across multiple sales channels, and setting up automated reordering. Additionally, Shopify helps store owners comply with tax laws, including providing tax calculations and reports. For businesses in the United Kingdom, Shopify offers localized payment and shipping options.

What payment and pricing options are available on Shopify?

Shopify offers a variety of payment and pricing options to suit the needs of different types of businesses. Shopify Payments is the platform’s built-in payment gateway that allows you to accept credit card payments, as well as other payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. The credit card rates for Shopify Payments vary depending on your chosen pricing plan, but they can be as low as 2.4% + 0p per transaction. If you prefer to use an external payment provider, Shopify also integrates with over 100 payment gateways worldwide.

As for pricing plans, Shopify offers a Starter plan for new businesses, as well as more advanced plans for growing businesses. Each plan comes with different features and payment methods, so you can choose the one that suits your needs. Additionally, there are various payment processors and add-ons available through the Shopify App Store to further customize your payment and pricing options.

What are some effective sales and marketing strategies for e-commerce businesses using Shopify?

To effectively promote your online store and boost sales using Shopify, it’s important to leverage a range of sales and marketing strategies. Customer reviews and product reviews can help establish credibility and build trust with potential buyers. Sales channels like social media and marketplaces can help increase visibility and attract new customers. Cart recovery tools can help recover lost sales by reminding customers of abandoned carts.

Email marketing tools can be used to keep customers engaged and offer promotions through discount codes or affiliate links. Optimizing your product pages for search engine optimization (SEO) can help attract organic traffic. Video tutorials can also be used to showcase products and explain features to customers. By utilizing these strategies and features in Shopify, you can create an effective sales and marketing plan to grow your e-commerce business.

How much does Shopify cost?

There are four Shopify plans: Basic Shopify costs $29/month (2.9% + 30¢ online transaction fee). The main Shopify plan costs $79/month (2.6% + 30¢ online transaction fees). Advanced Shopify costs $299/month (2.4% + 30¢ online transaction fee). Shopify Starter costs $5/month. Shopify Plus enterprise ecommerce starts a $2,000 per month.

Our Verdict ⭐

Shopify $1/month Free Trial
From $29 per month

Start selling your products online today with the world’s leading all-in-one SaaS e-commerce platform that lets you start, grow, and manage your online store.

Start a free trial & get three months for $1/mo

Shopify stands out as the top choice for an eCommerce website builder. It’s a highly scalable platform, suitable for both beginners and established businesses. The expansive app store, diverse pricing options, and comprehensive feature set make it a robust solution for various online selling needs.

However, it’s important to note that relying on additional apps for added functionalities will increase the overall cost. This is a double-edged sword, as while it may add to expenses, it also provides flexibility to customize and expand your store according to your unique business requirements.

Who Should Choose Shopify?

  • Businesses of any size, especially those with extensive inventory or plans for significant growth.
  • Vendors seeking an all-encompassing eCommerce solution that supports a wide range of sales features.
  • Users who are comfortable utilizing apps and investing a bit more to enhance their store’s capabilities.
DEAL

Try Shopify's $1/mo Free Trial

From $29 per month

Recent Improvements & Updates

Shopify is constantly improving its e-commerce platform with more features. Here are just some of the most recent improvements (last checked March 2024):

  • Shopify Flow Enhancements:
    • Improved user experience for browsing and searching tasks.
    • Notifications for workflow errors.
    • Ability to publish and hide products to any sales channel.
    • New subscriptions, delete tasks, and Log output action.
    • New triggers for product variant stock status.
    • Enhanced template search using natural language.
  • Checkout and Payment Updates:
    • Choice between one-page and three-page checkout for all merchants.
    • Shop Pay redirects to the post-purchase page on the merchant’s domain.
    • One-page checkout is now the default Shopify Checkout.
    • Extensibility for Plus merchants on thank you and order status pages.
  • Inventory and Product Management:
    • Mark inventory as unavailable (Safety Stock, Damaged, Quality Control, etc.).
    • Ability to change product status.
    • Customizable inventory columns display and arrangement.
    • Support for product bundles in the Storefront API.
  • AI and Machine Learning Tools:
    • Metaobject support in theme text settings.
    • AI Heatmap tool for website optimization.
  • eCommerce and Business-to-Business (B2B) Tools:
    • Digital product sales for B2B customers.
    • Wholesale account request form for acquiring new wholesale customers.
  • Marketing and Customer Interaction:
    • Email notifications in Shopify Forms.
    • Editable Shopify Inbox chat widget button.
    • Improved spam detection in Shopify Inbox.
  • User Interface and Experience Improvements:
    • New visual filters for storefronts (color and image swatches).
    • Enhancements to range and select input settings.
    • New App Store search filters.
    • Price and category filters in Shopify Collective product search.
  • Additional Features and Services:
    • Integration with Shopify Tax Platform.
    • Introducing Shopify Credit for business purchases.
    • Updates to Hydrogen including Remix 2.0 and a Customer Account API client.

Reviewing Shopify: Our Methodology

When we review website builders we look at several key aspects. We assess the intuitiveness of the tool, its feature set, the speed of website creation, and other factors. The primary consideration is the ease of use for individuals new to website setup. In our testing, our evaluation is based on these criteria:

  1. Customization: Does the builder allow you to modify template designs or incorporate your own coding?
  2. User-Friendliness: Are the navigation and tools, such as the drag-and-drop editor, easy to use?
  3. Value for Money: Is there an option for a free plan or trial? Do paid plans offer features that justify the cost?
  4. Security: How does the builder protect your website and data about you and your customers?
  5. Templates: Are the templates of high quality, contemporary, and varied?
  6. Support: Is assistance readily available, either through human interaction, AI chatbots, or informational resources?

Learn more about our review methodology here.

DEAL

Try Shopify's $1/mo Free Trial

From $29 per month

What

Shopify

Customers Think

Shopify: A Game-Changer for My Online Business

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 29, 2023

I’ve been using Shopify for my online store, and it’s been an incredible experience. The platform is user-friendly, making the setup process a breeze even for someone with minimal tech skills like myself. The range of features and integrations available has streamlined my business operations, allowing me to focus more on growing my business and less on the technicalities.

What really impresses me is the scalability of Shopify. As my business grows, Shopify seamlessly accommodates the expanding needs, from inventory management to customer engagement. The support team is always there to help, providing quick and effective solutions whenever needed. Shopify has truly been a vital part of my business success, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to start or grow their online store.

Avatar for Amit R
Amit R

Incredible

Rated 5.0 out of 5
May 21, 2022

Shopify is great for small and large businesses. And it’s really easy to scale your operations with Shopify. Want to add a new feature to your website? There’s probably an app that does that in the Shopify App Store. And doesn’t matter how much traffic you get, your site doesn’t go down or even slow down.

Avatar for Lee HK
Lee HK

Better than woocommerce

Rated 4.0 out of 5
April 12, 2022

My site used to run on WooCommerce and it was a nightmare. Every couple of days something would break for no reason. Ever since I moved my store to Shopify, it’s been running smoothly. I haven’t had a bad day yet. The only thing I don’t like is that Shopify doesn’t offer a drag and drop builder to edit your website.

Avatar for Bjorn
Bjorn

Amazing

Rated 5.0 out of 5
March 2, 2022

Shopify is the best thing that’s happened to the eCommerce space. This company’s culture and team is really devoted to building the best product and doing whatever they can to help you compete with giants like Amazon. When you start a online store with Shopify, you don’t have to worry about anything. You get dozens of templates to choose from and you can buy premium templates if you can’t find one that suits your brand. They even offer a payment gateway that’s built right into their service. Shopify is the best eCommerce platform.

Avatar for Gabbi
Gabbi

Amazing

Rated 5.0 out of 5
February 3, 2022

Shopify is the best thing that’s happened to the eCommerce space. This company’s culture and team is really devoted to building the best product and doing whatever they can to help you compete with giants like Amazon. When you start a online store with Shopify, you don’t have to worry about anything. You get dozens of templates to choose from and you can buy premium templates if you can’t find one that suits your brand. They even offer a payment gateway that’s built right into their service. Shopify is the best eCommerce platform.

Avatar for Gabbi
Gabbi

Expensive

Rated 2.0 out of 5
October 6, 2021

Shopify may be the ultimate e-commerce and blogging solution for your business but it’s way too expensive for me. It’s not budget-friendly at all so I’m looking for other alternatives.

Avatar for Yna C
Yna C

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References

Mathias Ahlgren is the CEO and founder of Website Rating, steering a global team of editors and writers. He holds a master's in information science and management. His career pivoted to SEO after early web development experiences during university. With over 15 years in SEO, digital marketing, and web developmens. His focus also includes website security, evidenced by a certificate in Cyber Security. This diverse expertise underpins his leadership at Website Rating.

The "WSR Team" is the collective group of expert editors and writers specializing in technology, internet security, digital marketing, and web development. Passionate about the digital realm, they produce well-researched, insightful, and accessible content. Their commitment to accuracy and clarity makes Website Rating a trusted resource for staying informed in the dynamic digital world.

Ahsan is a writer at Website Rating who covers a broad spectrum of modern technology topics. His articles delve into SaaS, digital marketing, SEO, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, offering readers comprehensive insights and updates on these rapidly evolving fields.

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