E-commerce has fundamentally changed the business scenario. A growing number of suppliers now offer their products online rather than at physical stores. Therefore, it is necessary to develop e-commerce shops that reflect a perfect combination of aesthetics and functionality. Some of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the market include Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, OpenCart, and BigCommerce. Shopify is a favored option for 88% of sellers who want simplicity, quality, efficiency and advanced features.
Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that allows you to create a basic online store setup quickly. Shopify has been used by more than 800,000 companies because the platform allows businesses to sell a single product or a handful of products based on their needs. Shopify is among the best hosted eCommerce platform, where you don’t need any server/hosting, SSL, etc. all you need is just a domain. They provide an all-in-one solution that includes hosting, SSL, security, performance, SEO, etc. For more details about these features, you can check review portal MyBestWebsiteBuilder.
Here are some reasons why Shopify is a better e-commerce platform
1. Quick setup. Easy to use
Not all online entrepreneurs are technology experts. For this reason, most entrepreneurs fear setting up their own e-commerce shops, as they would encounter difficulties while building an e-commerce store. Shopify is a hassle-free platform that is easy to set up and use. It is the best alternative for people who are looking for a complete solution without having technical knowledge about the development and hosting of an online store.
Shopify offers a platform that you can use even if you do not know how to code at all. They took care of the hosting and the servers. All you need is your product and the name of your online store. Shopify provides several tutorials on their website, that you could watch to understand the basics. After that you only need a few minutes to create your basic online shop. Just go to the Shopify website and create an account with them and you are done.
From there you can easily customize your shop and list your products. Shopify is even easier than creating a blog on WordPress. Once you’ve listed your products to the platform, you can edit descriptions, customize color schemes, and add titles to your images.
You can manage your inventory using the Shopify admin, offer discounts, track orders/sales and manage transactions with ease. Shopify takes care of everything you need to manage a successful online store. Shopify is also a leading platform for dropshipping, with a lot of apps that can make your life easier, such as SaleSource. For more info, click here.
2. Great Security and Reliability
Another great advantage of Shopify is the security and reliability it brings for its users. Security is vital for online business because your customers will share confidential personal and financial information on your web store while completing their purchase. Key customer information that you process through your eCommerce includes credit card information and bank details. Shopify addresses these issues and all you have to do is focus on selling your products. Not needing to take care of security and reliability issues allows you to concentrate on building your business without worrying about the security of your customer’s confidential details.
3. Mobile optimized stores
Mobile responsiveness is key to the success of an e-commerce business because the number of mobile users is increasing every day. If your online shop is not easily accessible on mobile phones or if it loads very slowly, you will lose most of your customers to your competitors.
A mobile-friendly website increases the customer experience and ultimately increases your sales. Studies have shown that a majority of the people who now use their smartphones for shopping, no longer use desktop computers. An adaptable mobile website makes your online business a solution for the future.
Shopify takes care of mobile responsiveness so that you need not do anything. It comes with an extremely responsive website which keeps updating with new requirements as they become available. The prime goal of the platform is to take care of all the technical needs that stores may have, so that you only focus on selling products.
4. Secure and easy default payment option
A major challenge for an online retailer is the integration of a secure and reliable payment gateway. The payment gateway you use must allow buyers to pay with different payment options. While this is a big problem for self-hosted eCommerce websites, it’s not a problem for those using Shopify.
Shopify has its own payment provider to accept credit card payments. With Shopify, you can easily configure this payment gateway. Stripe the default payment gateway is one of the safest payment gateways available. You also benefit from cheaper credit card rates and the fact that you don’t need a business account to use Stripe’s services. Further, if customers do not have a credit card, other options like PayPal, Amazon, etc. are also available for tm to use on a Shopify store. Shopify provides support to lots of third party payment gateways that can be linked with the Shopify store if you choose not to use Shopify’s gateway.
Some of the main key features of Shopify are listed below:
Key features of Shopify:
- Easy to use systems
- Hosted Solution and Cloud-Based
- Default Shopify payments (with stripe) and if needed, support for 100+ third-party Payment Gateways – check litextension.com for all you need
- Responsive store, manage it from mobile
- Unlimited Products and Bandwidth (visitors)
- 24/7 dedicated Support
- Security and Reliability
- Better Performance
- SEO Friendly
- Supports blog
- Shipping carrier integration
- Thousands of Free and paid themes available on the Shopify Theme Store
- Shopify own blog
- Powerful Analytics
- 14-Days Free Trial
Shopify provides lots of free and paid apps on the Shopify App Store to help you build your business, you can find some of the best ones on launchtip.com integrate with external services, and add more advance features to your Shopify store. Some of these features are:
Shopify Apps features:
- Support for Multiple Languages
- Dropshippers integration
- Marketplaces integration
- Loyalty/Rewards program
- Email Marketing
- Social plugin/feeds
- Product Customization
- B2B features like Wholesale Pricing, approval, etc.
- Live chat
Shopify Pricing Plans
Now depending on the type of business, Shopify offers several subscription plans that have different monthly fees, transaction fees, and store features. There are four Shopify pricing plans to choose from:
- ‘Basic Shopify’ – $29 per month
- ‘Shopify’ – $79 per month
- ‘Advanced Shopify’ – $299 per month
- ‘Shopify Plus’ – fees are negotiable but in the region of $2000 per month.
Source – shopify
Bottom Line:
If you want to launch an online store, but are new to the industry, Shopify is a good option for you. If you do not benefit from your online shop, you can end your subscription at any time. This flexibility allows you to try out different models and ideas. If you are planning to launch your e-commerce store and want some professional help, have a look at the services offered by QualDev Inc. a Shopify development company.
If you are still looking for eCommerce platforms that help you with everything? -You can click here, to learn more.
