If you want to establish an e-commerce business (like an online store, for example), you probably know by now that Shopify is one of the best online software platforms that you can use to sell your products or services around the web globally.
But even if Shopify seems like the best option for your e-commerce business, there will always be pros and cons of building a store using it. So without further ado, let’s dive-in:
PROS
1. Usability
Naturally, every business owners’ main goal is to raise their sales and expand their business. But sometimes they tend to get overwhelmed with technology and other tasks needed online, as it becomes tedious to handle. This is a significant advantage Shopify is yielding. The platform provides support and assistance with overall store management and access to a user-friendly technical interface. So for those business owners who are not tech-savvy, Shopify can be a good choice indeed.
- App store
With more than a thousand of web and mobile applications that any business can use to automate their tasks, Shopify is really at their A game. The platform offers a variety of plugins and tools that are focused on the different sectors and needs of a typical online business. These are different kinds of online marketing tools, inventory, accounting, monthly reports, shipments, customer support, and others, which can make the everyday life of your business much more comfortable and simplified. However, note that there are fees and paid subscription plans for these plugins, but yet some of them are really helpful in making sure that the needs of your business are met.
- Marketing and Promotion
Aside from managing the business using the mentioned-above tools, Shopify also provides marketing resources in order to uplift the website’s SEO rankings and increase sales, whether on regular webpages or social media. The platform offers various SEO tools to optimize your store’s web-pages for search engines, online marketing campaigns creation tools for smarter targeting on Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, as well as the option to add eye-catching banner ads (like on marketplaces such as Click2sell.co).
CONS
- Pricing
Since Shopify is an established and popular e-commerce platform, their service can be a bit pricey, which means that for some people the required investment might seem a bit higher than expected. The platform has different pricing plans and subscriptions ranging from $29 up to $299 per month, and there are also a few other transaction fees (depend on the chosen package). Shopify also provides point-of-sale (POS) machines for those businesses who need it for their physical stores. However, this package comes with additional charges which might make your Shopify experience costly.
- Technical support
Shopify’s customer support is open 24/7, with different phone numbers in some regions or countries they are catering to. Email support and live chat are also available. However, the main drawback is that their customer service won’t be able to answer questions regarding technical concerns directly, so you might want to join a relevant forum and post your questions or issues there, and wait for others to help you.
