With more than 600,000 corporate customers and nearly 5 million online stores powered, Shopify is today a reference in the world of e-commerce. Launched in Canada in 2006, this e-commerce platform is unanimously acclaimed for its ease of use and the simplicity of its interface.
In this “Shopify Reviews: what you need to know about the platform” article, we will look at the main advantages of Shopify while emphasizing the advantages that e-merchants could derive from support in managing their store with specialized web agencies. Finally, we will deal with the possible constraints web merchants could face in developing their online business.
Our opinion on the Shopify platform as approved experts
We have chosen to provide our e-commerce development and marketing support services exclusively from Shopify for one reason: its objective is to reinvent e-commerce by making it available to everyone, individuals and businesses alike.
It would be unfair to expect a platform (regardless of its domain or activities) to be able to perfectly meet everyone’s needs. That said, it must meet the needs of the majority of its users. Shopify is no different. But thanks to its flexibility and the responsiveness of its teams, Shopify also tries to continually improve what it does best while integrating more tools to bridge the gaps between e-commerce “insiders” and people.
Customers can sell what they want: simple products, products with options, or even services. Shopify is not only for small or large companies: the advantages mentioned above allow anyone, experienced or not, to get started on this platform.
The advantages of Shopify
The following observation confirms its ability to transcend the divide between large and small firms: many world-famous brands now use this solution to manage their sites. Redbull, Gymshark, Bootea, and Tesla Motors are the best examples.
Shopify is a platform where all data is properly stored in the cloud and is in complete safety. It is, therefore, the best possible solution to update (to add functionalities, solve bugs or reinforce its security protocols) in complete transparency. Other competing platforms, such as Magento, require complex maintenance at this level.
The payment interfaces align well with the PCi DSS Level 1 security standards (you can check this on the Visa or Mastercard sites ). This provision avoids any additional workload or financial burden for the merchant. The payment system configuration normally costs around 1000 euros and requires considerable effort to analyze everything and obtain the PCI security certificate. There are more than 70 payment gateways already integrated ( here is the list of gateways available in France ), including the most popular such as Stripe or PayPal, as well as others intended for cryptocurrencies(Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, etc.).
The other major strength of Shopify lies in its App store, a marketplace filled with useful applications specifically designed for e-commerce activities. Shopify puts each of its apps through a rigorous validation process. This procedure, which guarantees credibility for the platform, testifies to the considerable efforts made by its technical teams to guarantee the reliability of its plugins. In addition to the app store, the Theme store offers more than a hundred free and paid themes with a modern design adapted to almost all sectors.
But if Shopify is so easy to use, why use an agency?
– For the integration of functionalities to your site
Despite its ease of use, using the platform can be more or less complex depending on your business strategy and your idea of your future online store. Indeed, many merchants want to integrate various tools into their Shopify stores that are supposed to meet their strategies: ERP systems, digital marketing solutions, CRM, logistics systems, etc.
These tools, all as useful as each other, require a certain mastery of the platform and coding skills to handle these applications as desired.
– For the personalization of your pages
An authorized Shopify agency can help you customize the different pages of your store according to your needs. For example, with a standard Shopify theme, the product can be showcased on a single presentation template. However, if you sell several types of products and want to present them differently depending on their type, the approach will be less obvious. A team of experienced developers could help you incorporate multiple presentation templates at once. In addition, you can add graphic features specific to your needs or your audience.
– For extensive support in your growth strategy
Shopify Certified Experts can help your team learn and properly configure the platform. But that’s not all! Suppose your business is based on a long-term development strategy. In that case, a Shopify agency will be able to help you develop an action plan to optimize the user experience on your site. It’s a great way to improve customer engagement regardless of touchpoint, site, email, and anchor social network.
The agency will also be able to provide SEO (search engine optimization) and business growth support. In addition, an experienced agency can offer you concrete actions: optimize the customer experience through the points of contact with your customers (onsite, offsite, and offline), production of A/B testing, etc.
Shopify grew with you!
– The cost of Shopify
3 subscription modules currently exist:
- Basic Shopify at $29 per month
- Shopify at $79 per month.
- Advanced Shopify at $299 per month.
Shopify Plus, the advanced version of Shopify intended for large companies, is equipped with more advanced features that allow companies to automate their process and guarantee 360-degree management of the Shopify store.
– Constraints to overcome
Despite this ease of use, Shopify has, like all platforms, constraints. There are cases where other platforms, such as Prestashop or Magento, will be better equipped to meet your needs. Magento, for example, is much more modelable than Shopify, allowing the user to exploit the applications as he pleases while allowing complete control of the website. Other people will favor PrestaShop because of its more ergonomic and intuitive interface.
Conclusion
It is strongly recommended that e-merchants go through agencies specialized in the use of e-commerce CMS to obtain their opinion before any final decision as to the choice of the solution with which you will develop your online store. Shopify is, in our opinion, an extremely effective platform due to its applications’ diversity, ease of use, and originality of its themes.
