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When setting up an own e-commerce shop, at some point all online merchants arrive at the same standstill: which shop system is the best and which platform caters to the individual requirements best. In this blog, we take a closer look at Shopify, a Canadian-made shop system, and show some of its biggest advantages over the plentiful competition. The following points will be examined more closely:
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a subscription-based software that allows anyone to set up an online store and sell their products. Shopify store owners can also sell in physical locations using Shopify POS, our point-of-sale app and accompanying hardware. If you’re a Shopify merchant with both an online and physical presence, your inventory and stock get synced so you can manage your store(s) from one account, on any device.
9 Shopify Benefits You Should Know
Shopify is becoming increasingly popular among online merchants worldwide. The Canadian shop system is constantly improving its market presence and has become an integral part of the e-commerce industry. Below you will find the key reasons why we think Shopify will help you succeed in building a successful eCommerce business.
Easy to Use eCommerce Platform
This is by far the biggest reason merchants love Shopify. Shopify is built for the average user, not skilled developers. It’s simple to add products, create discounts, and process orders. Web design is user-friendly and even easy with Shopify’s drag-and-drop editing tool. In fact, a webshop can be set up in 4 minutes. The Shopify platform itself provides the software and hosting, i.e. the technical infrastructure required to launch the web store.
Support for Wide Range of Businesses
Shopify supports many different types of eCommerce businesses. Shopify users can sell physical products, digital products, or drop-shipped products on Shopify (so long as none of the products are illegal). Shopify sellers use the software to market a wide variety of products like:
- Handcrafted goods
- Beauty supplies
- Home goods
- Outdoors gear
- Clothing
- Digital products
- Online classes
- Events
- Gift Cards
- eBooks
- And much more!
According to a recent study, the highest trending Shopify items for 2021 are doormats, household storage containers, kitchen towels, bike saddles, handheld device accessories, and toy kitchens and play food — so if your business involves one of those categories, Shopify is an especially good choice.
When it comes to selling goods on Shopify, almost anything goes. The only hard and fast rule is that you can’t sell anything illegal, and the following products are prohibited: alcohol, tobacco and e-cigarettes, fireworks, drugs, video game currency or credits, firearms, and weapons.
This list of excluded products is subject to change; for example, over the past year the policy regarding CBD products was updated and Shopify now allows sales of CBD products lawfully derived from hemp. Be sure to check for the latest news on restrictions before you start building your Shopify store.
Start or Scale Your Shopify Business with Waredock
Select the best warehouse locations and distribute inventory efficiently.
Low Startup Costs
Shopify’s relatively low monthly fees make setup affordable. How much does Shopify cost, you ask? Shopify has a 14-day free trial period, after which users will have to pay a monthly subscription fee. The most basic plan starts at $29 per month, with the next level at $79 per month and the top-of-the-line package retailing for $299 per month.
All these plans include SSL as well as web hosting. SSL is the standard technology for keeping an internet connection secure and safeguarding any sensitive data. If you want your own domain name without the brand name (i.e., Shopify) in your URL, it costs an additional $14 per year. Entry-level packages allow for two users per account, although they offer unlimited product and storage space
Beautiful and Customizable Themes
It’s also easy to get carried away in the design elements. You can spend a lot on purchasing a theme from the Shopify store, but it is a one-off fee
Great For Dropshipping
Shopify is the platform of choice for many dropshippers. Shopify’s dropshipping integrations with top names like Spocket and Oberlo make dropshipping from your Shopify admin a lot simpler.
Capable Support
You can access technical support every hour of the day through phone, live chat, and email. Self-help options are available as well. Customers like that Shopify’s support is available outside of regular business hours.
Support for Multichannel With Shopify POS
If you’re a multichannel merchant who sells in-person as well as online, Shopify is an excellent choice.
Shopify makes it easy to sell in brick-and-mortar and pop-up shops with its in-house POS system. When you sign up for Shopify’s eCommerce store, you’ll also automatically gain access to Shopify POS. Shopify POS lets you easily complete in-person retail transactions and process credit card payments. Your online store and POS system are synced so that every inventory change you make on one platform appears on the other.
Shopify’s Marketplace
Shopify’s Marketplace is packed with a whopping 3,500+ add-ons. Because Shopify comes relatively light out-of-the-box, you’ll likely need to add a few integrations like shipping software, payment gateways, or email marketing software. But with so many add-ons to choose from, you’re sure to find the extensions you need. You can even find some great free Shopify apps that will improve your store’s look and function without costing you a dime.
In particular, you should look into incorporating shipping software to beef up your order processing. Consider for example:
- Waredock: connect to Waredock fulfilment network, deliver your goods to our warehouse and start shipping goods.
- ShippingEasy: ShippingEasy lets you import orders, create shipments, and pay for and print postage. And fortunately, it is easy to use.
- Ordoro: Ordoro is a shipping solution that includes inventory management (if you choose to pay for it). Customers are especially fond of Ordoro’s dropshipping features.
Shopify store owners get access through Shopify to an ecosystem of additional applications and integrations through a variety of interfaces. Online retailers can therefore access a large number of Shopify apps, but also so-called third-party apps, i.e. applications developed outside the Canadian company. This offers e-commerce entrepreneurs the opportunity to customize and extend the platform according to their own ideas and thus represents a complete solution.
Safety and Reliability
Security, especially with regard to sensitive data of customers, should be a top priority for every merchant in e-commerce. At the same time, the data must be reliably accessible at all times. Shopify takes care of both of these indispensable characteristics of a good online shop and carries out regular updates and maintenance work for this purpose. Furthermore, Shopify has an extremely good technical infrastructure, which prevents server time-outs even with increased access numbers. This means that Shopify stores are also well equipped for peak times such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Moreover, online retailers do not have to pay extra for external hosting. Instead, they can use existing domains or buy a new domain name via Shopify.
Other Shopify Advantages
Mobile Friendly Themes
Shopify provides mobile-friendly themes and an app that allows users to manage their store from their mobile devices. This is essential in today’s world, where more and more people are using their mobile devices to shop online.
Shopify Marketing Tools
Shopify provides a range of marketing tools, such as email marketing, social media integration, and SEO optimization, that can help you promote your store and increase your visibility.
Analytics
Shopify provides analytics tools that allow users to track their store’s performance. This includes tracking sales, traffic, and other metrics that can help you make data-driven decisions to grow your business.
Scalability of Shopify
Shopify is a scalable platform that can grow with your business. Whether you are just starting out or have an established online store, Shopify can provide the tools and resources you need to take your business to the next level.
Conclusion
Shopify was originally mainly interesting for small and medium-sized online shops. The simple and user-friendly handling and the many possibilities of adding internal and external apps are only two of the reasons for its frame among online merchants.
In 2015 Shopify extended its features and now also offers an attractive option for large e-commerce and multi-channel companies. The enterprise platform Shopify Plus is used by some of the most famous brands including some Forbes 500 companies. In general, it is safe to assume that the Canadian shop system will continue to grow and improve in the next years. An enormous advantage is that interfaces with other applications are easy to set up so that countless third-party apps can be connected. Interfaces with 3PL (third party logistics) companies can also be integrated smoothly, which is becoming increasingly relevant for many e-commerce entrepreneurs. To put it in a nutshell, Shopify is an attractive solution for online merchants who are looking for a platform that enables scaling and, at the same time, can be controlled in-house and intuitively. In case you work in one of these fast-growing e-commerce businesses, you should definitely also think about optimizing your logistics. Outsourcing the storage and shipping process and all that comes with it makes sense in many cases. Learn more about external fulfillment for Shopify shops and sign up with Waredock Fulfilment Network here.
