Pros and Cons of Using Shopify for Your eCommerce Business

Starting your own digital marketplace can be a daunting task especially for ordinary business owners who don’t have technical know-how in web development. But going online has become a necessity for every business. Thankfully, there are web-based applications that can simplify this pesky task.

Shopify is a popular e-commerce tool used by a wide variety of businesses for setting up an online shop. It can also be used to manage and sell both physical and digital items. To use this tool, you need to sign up and pay a monthly subscription fee.  Shopify can be customized to suit your business needs and can be accessed anywhere with a web browser and a good internet access. With Shopify, practically anyone can set up a digital store without advanced technical or web development skills.

But while Shopify offers a lot of advantages for online businesses, it also comes with some disadvantages. And it’s not surprising why some entrepreneurs are looking around how to remove ‘Powered by Shopify’ button in their websites.

To help you decide whether to use Shopify for your e-commerce business, let’s check out some of the great features of Shopify as well as its flaws.

Advantages of Shopify

• Easy setup

As mentioned above, Shopify simplifies the entire process of creating an e-commerce website. With Shopify, you don’t need advanced programming or web development skills to create an online store. It comes with hundreds of beautiful, professional, and customizable storefront themes. If the existing templates don’t match your needs or preferences, you can also purchase Shopify-based storefronts at affordable prices.

• Effortless online store management

Business owners and entrepreneurs have a lot of things to attend to – and gaining technical know-how in managing their e-commerce website is certainly an added burden. With Shopify, you don’t need to be a tech geek as it features a simple, centralized interface where you can easily manage content, blog, graphics, and product items. It automates the technical part making it effortless to run your online store.

• Wide range of payment options

When it comes to online business, it is essential to have a wide range of payment options – and Shopify offers this. It allows you to receive payments through credit card and it is also integrated with numerous payment platforms.

• Built-in marketing tools

Shopify features built-in SEO and digital marketing tools to help you sell more. It has integrated with Google Analytics for better customer engagement. It also features Facebook and Google AdWords advertising credit to help you reach a wider audience.

• Extensive plug-ins

Shopify store offers numerous apps for automating your tasks. There are available plug-ins for various business processes such as customer service, supplies management, reporting, accounting, and more. These apps can definitely help simplify your life and let you focus on more important tasks.

Disadvantages of Shopify

• Costlier option

Shopify subscription plans (starting at $29 up to $299) are not the cheapest options available. In fact, the monthly fees can be restrictive, especially for small businesses. Although there is a cheaper “Lite” plan that comes at $9 per month, it doesn’t have all the features necessary to set up a professional digital store.

• Higher transaction fee

In regions where Shopify uses a third-party payment platforms (such as Amazon, Paypal, etc.), an additional transaction fee is charged per purchase. These fees can range between 0.5% and 2% and would mean additional costs for your business.

• Different blogging platform

For those who are used to the WordPress platform, working on Shopify’s built-in blogging system can be a pain. It is a completely different platform that requires some time to learn. So you have to be ready to invest time in this learning curve.

• Limited features and functions

Since Shopify is designed for less tech-savvy users, it only offers core features with limited functionality. If your business requires more advanced features, it may be best to choose other competitors such as WordPress or Magento. These platforms offer better customization but require deeper technical know-how.

•         Limited free templates

Currently, there are only around ten free theme templates. The rest of the themes come with an upfront fee. But if you require a unique, customized template, you either have to learn programming or hire a web developer.

• Costly apps and plug-ins

Shopify apps are generally costly. To integrate these apps in your software, you can either hire a professional web developer or pay a monthly subscription fee. Furthermore, you normally need to manually input the data into the app, which means added time.

• Pesky account cancellation

If you ever decide to change your e-commerce platform, all the information and data in your Shopify online store will be gone. What you only get is a CSV export which you will then need to manually input on your new e-commerce platform. Usually, you need to hire an e-commerce developer to input your data into your new digital store.