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What Is Shopify?
Shopify is a commerce platform that allows anyone to easily sell online, at a retail location, and everywhere in between. Shopify offers a professional online storefront, a payment solution to accept credit cards, and the Shopify POS application to power retail sales.
Shopify currently powers over 160,000 retailers in 100 different countries, including: Tesla Motors, Gatorade, Forbes, Amnesty International, Encyclopedia Britannica, Maxim Magazine, CrossFit, Black Milk Clothing, Herschel Sup
Who Uses Shopify?
Small to mid-size on standard plans and Enterprise companies on Shopify Plus.
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Reviews of Shopify
Scott
Don't Shop Around, Shop-ify!
Comments: Overall, Shopify has been good to me. They made me a Partner because of the – you know I can't actually recall what the criteria was to become one – maybe you just apply to become one. But if you are a Partner, you can develop stores at no cost, and then get paid a referral fee and a residual for transferring it to a paying client. A very nice gesture towards us store-builders – I wish all creative software or SaaS platforms were as fiscally friendly. They also make it easy for devs looking to expand into Shopify App creation – so they can be on the receiving end of that sweet, month-to-month autocharged booty.
Pros:
Shopify is where it's at if you want to get involved in the whole Direct 2 Consumer craze! You could literally have a store, up and running and transactional in 10 minutes assuming you're computer / web literate, have a bank account, and a product to sell...For getting up and running with hundreds of attractive themes to choose from (not all on Shopify.com, there are online stores that sell themes...) you really can't beat the ease of Shopify – with just the right amount of freedom, and automation to make sure you can get your products and logo looking their best, and not accidentally break the whole thing. And if you know a little HTML/CSS, the sky is really the limit in terms of customizing the theme. Plus there's a Shopify "App Store" that offers every possible function you could imagine if you wanted something not natively offered such as pop-ups, rewards clubs, or wholesale pricing.
Cons:
In the beginning, I found it a bit cumbersome to deal with large catalogs with lots of variants (color / size) per sku. But Shopify and their lightning-fast chat support are nothing if not good listeners and they've made editing part of, or your whole catalog, much easier than ever before, with tons of filters for tailoring your product selection on the back end, to making almost any variable from Title, to Inventory, to Weight, easily bulk editable. So the thing I'll say that still stinks, is that all the apps charge subscription fees, which is super annoying, especially if you rely on a bunch of them. I would much rather pay a one and done license fee as opposed to $3 a month for my mailing list manager app, $16 a month for my Wholesale price tiering app, and $5 for my abandoned cart retrieval system. It adds up to a big, never-ending headache.
Andrea
Alternatives Considered:
My experience with Shopify
Comments: The truth is that my experience with shopify has been very good, it helps me to have control in the sale of my items through the different tools and options to control my payments and inventory in a secure way.
Pros:
I like that shopify has a wide alternative and ease of uploading products and see the amount of sales that are made, also offers the facility to receive payments and I find it very safe.
Cons:
I would say that sometimes the delay in response from tech support is annoying, but otherwise everything is fine.
Rhiannon
Alternatives Considered:
They promise the moon and provide a crumbling chunk of space rock
Comments:
I couldn't move away from this platform fast enough.
I lost 7 months of effort and about $3000 cash dealing with this shifty company that promises the moon and provides a crumbling chunk of space rock. Steer clear of this place if you want a long-term site that won't bleed you dry. It's a band-aid solution I would have expected in the 90s with Web 1.0, but it simply cannot perform in the 2020s in a global marketplace.
Pros:
It's braindead easy for anyone with a modest set of technical skills to setup a store. (If you can use Facebook, you can use Shipify). Uploading files is a breeze and most menus seem to make some logical sense. The easy of initial setup is why so many scam sites use this platform-- anyone, even fraudsters love it. But that doesn't make it a good platform!
Cons:
The platform is quite costly compared to other options. It doesn't come with enough features to work on its own so users are stuck having to pay for add-on modules. And these are not a straight-up purchase but come with a monthly fee. I calculated the modules I would need and it was going to run me $500-$800 USD/month! It has been cheaper to build a Magento site and pay cash up front, one time, for modules I will use for the lifetime of my site. The service at Shopify was appalling. I contacted support with a problem on their server that the tech couldn't help resolve but refused to patch me through to someone else. This happened every time I called in (4 times with similar issues on their end). Payout is offered in one currency and once a week. Not at all flexible or professional. The final dealbreaker was when they sold me a 3rd party theme that was replaced 2 days later by the vendor with a better theme, and the vendor would have refunded me but said it was up to Shopify to refund. Shopify refused and the Vendor was very apologetic and said they heard all the time from customers how unprofessional Shopify's policies were. I have since noticed how many fly-by-night scammer sites and sites selling counterfeit goods are on the Shopify platform. Though these are rarely shut down, honest sites sometimes are. I feel much safer hosting my site on my terms and without worry they, under their user agreement, can terminate my site whenever they choose.
Ardi
Alternatives Considered:
High cart flexibility and low cost
Comments: You can later extend the required functions with third-party applications developed by others. There are numerous applications available, ranging from website functionality to marketing functionality. There are many paid features and many payment methods that can be used with no monthly fees and payment only. There are many design templates, from free to paid, and scalability is high.
Pros:
There is a high degree of freedom in page configuration when creating an EC site. In addition to the look and feel of the design, you can customize it with a wide variety of applications, so even amateurs can complete an EC site that looks like it was created from scratch by a professional. You can also update your blog. With a wide range of payment methods, we can offer customers a seamless shopping experience. Above all, the costs and maintenance fees are cheaper than other cart API systems.
Cons:
The initial status of the mail template is not ready for use as-is, and its customization is quite complicated. If two days have passed since the order was placed, the payment status of a convenience store, etc. will be shown as "expired" even before the payment deadline, which will complicate the order management.
Shukurath
Shopify review
Comments: My overall experience with Shopify has been excellent. It is an easy to use platform with many features and customization options. We were able to quickly and easily create a store with Shopify and launch our business. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the platform and would recommend it to anyone looking to start a business online.
Pros:
I like that Shopify is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. It has a lot of features and tools that make it easy to set up and manage an online store. It also has great customer support, which makes it easy to get help when we need it. Lastly, I love the wide variety of themes and customization options that Shopify offers. Shopify allowed us to create << blueside >> ecommerce application. In addition, Shopify offers a wide range of payment options, making it easier for customers to purchase from our store.
Cons:
The basic plan is quite limited in its features and customisations, and I think Shopify could do more to offer better pricing for those who need more features.
