Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Shopify

What is Shopify?

Shopify is an ecommerce web development platform that allows businesses or organisations to set up their own online stores. Shopify, as a platform, is accessible in over 175 countries worldwide. This all-in-one platform offers many advanced and rich features that you can integrate into your online store. The features can include creating websites, displaying products or services, payment options, inventory management, interacting with customers, and more.

The platform allows you to get customized websites according to your unique business needs. It offers a wide range of themes, apps, and templates. If you want to set up a Shopify ecommerce store from scratch and want professional support, then it is preferred that you contact a Shopify development company.

Advantages of Using Shopify For Business

Shopify ecommerce web development platform is the first choice of many businesses, startups, and organisations. The platform is enjoying global reach because of its user-friendliness, plug-and-play style, and much more. Below are the 8 major advantages of using the Shopify for your business:

1) Easy to Use

The first and foremost advantage of Shopify is its easy-to-use interface. If you are to start a new website, this platform is perfect. As you don't need to spend a lot of time to learn this platform. It has a drag and drop feature with which you can get your store customised without breaking your sweat. Users prefer Shopify because of its easy-to-implement templates, customisability, and structure. If you still find it hard to create an online store on this platform, then you can contact a Shopify development company.

2) Suitable for All Sizes and Types of Businesses

Shopify is suitable for businesses of all types and sizes. The platform supports the creation of an ecommerce store for all businesses, wherever they are in their journey. You can get the website designed for a specific business, ranging from a startup to a well-established business. Furthermore, the ecommerce web development platform is suited to a variety of business types, for instance, a retailer, wholesaler, dropshipper, or seller of digital products. All can get a website designed by leveraging this platform, and this is an advantage of Shopify.

3) 24/7 Customer Support

Being stuck while using any technology is inevitable! Shopify has established a reliable customer support system to assist users who encounter issues while using the platform. Users will receive customer support regardless of whether they choose the basic plan or premium options. They provide a 24/7 customer support system. And there are multiple ways you can contact a real human if the issues persist. You may reach out to them via phone calls, emails, and chats easily.

4) Multiple Payment Processors

Shopify offers easy payment options. It provides the standard payment options like credit cards and PayPal. It also allows the option of buy now and pay later through Affirm and Afterpay. The best part is how easy it is to receive payments on this platform. This can help users capture the attention of the global target audience and carry out transactions with them without much effort. It has third-party plugins that help merchants accept international payments if you want to target any specific audience.

5) Robust App Store

A noticeable advantage of Shopify is its first-rated third-party app store. There are more than 8000 free and paid apps that help you create and manage your online store. These apps on the Shopify app store cover the range from translating your store into multiple languages to capturing emails and running campaigns. You don't need to research this wide range of apps, as the platform recommends popular apps on the basis of your needs. Some of the most useful apps on the Shopify app store are PageFly Landing Page Builder, Xero, HubSpot, Zendesk, and others.

6) Marking and SEO Support

Research has shown that shoppers tend to go online first for more than 60% of the occasions. This shows getting the SEO right is non-negotiable. Shopify supports your SEO strategy with its on-page and off-page tools. For instance, the platform makes it easy to manage meta descriptions, headings, page titles, alt text, and more.

Shopify also helps you with your digital marketing endeavors. You can include various features like coupon codes, store credits, and limited discounts to attract an enhanced number of customers. You won't get all the tools available in the default setting, so you can visit the Shopify app store to get access to an extensive gamut of tools.

7) Customization

Shopify allows you to build your ecommerce store from scratch, but you may find the themes, templates, and other web designing solutions not appealing to your taste. There, you can opt for customization. Shopify allows easy customization options through its customizable website builder. This tool is easy to use, and a user can utilize it without having thorough technical skills. Therefore, you can create your own unique online store without much grinding.

8) Unceasing Growth

Growth is the primary aim of any business, no matter what its size and type are. And Shopify is committed to helping its users grow their business with its user-friendly interface and reliable tools. The Shopify team goes above and beyond to make the platform user-centric and accessible to diverse customers.

With the help of Shopify’s ecommerce solutions, you can achieve unceasing growth for your business or organisation. The platform offers everything you need for your well-performing website development. A digital marketing company also prefers this platform to help you expand your reach online.

Disadvantage of Shopify

Shopify also comes with some disadvantages. So, it's necessary to be mindful of its disadvantages as well to see the whole picture and make informed decisions. Below are the disadvantages of Shopify:

1) Pricing

If you are a new business owner, then having your own ecommerce store on Shopify may seem a bit costly. The platform has three plans for web development pricing: Basic, Shopify, and Advanced. The costs of the plans are $39, $105, and $399, respectively. You will get a discount if you pay for the whole year in advance, and the price drops to $29, $79, $299, respectively.

The platform allows a 14-day trial, but when the trial plan elapses, you have to select the paid plan. And many of their apps on the Shopify app store are also paid. Many ask for a monthly fee that can feel heavy on your pocket, and this is a disadvantage of Shopify.

2) Limited Customization

We praised Shopify for its customization and drag-and-drop feature, but unfortunately, the platform has some limitations as well. Other platforms use PHP for its customizing themes, but Shopify utilizes its Liquid setup. This is not standard software for web development, and not all web developers are familiar with this software. The web developer will need to work extra to learn its unique coding language for providing ecommerce web development solutions.

3) No Email Outreach

Email marketing plays a crucial role in the success of your online store. With the help of email marketing, you will be able to market your products to customers, send product order notifications, inform them of relevant new releases, and much more. But the sad part is Shopify doesn't allow email hosting, which can make your email marketing process more complicated. Without the use of apps, you are limited to using emails that carry the domain names like Yahoo Mail and Gmail.

4) Difficult Exit

Although the Shopify users don't consider leaving this platform but those who try find it hard to shift their store elsewhere. It has a lock-in feature that hinders your exit. You can only take your CSV report with you if you plan to skate off to a new platform. Even deactivating the account on Shopify is a tricky process, and many users find themselves reaching out to the help center to close their account.

Therefore, be thoughtful before creating your e-commerce store on this platform. Ask yourself if you want to continue on this platform for a long period of time.

Winding Up

Everything that has an advantage also has a disadvantage. Shopify is an effective and reliable platform for developing your ecommerce store with its pros and cons. By analysing the above-mentioned points, you can make informed decisions. You may make your choice on the basis of your business requirements and goals. If you are still having any doubts, it is recommended to get in touch with a Shopify development company around you. They have the top experts who can enlighten you regarding this platform.