Shopify is one of the most remarkable e-commerce platforms. But like anything else, it has its disadvantages and advantages. For most people, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, but to be fair, both sides should be presented so that you can choose whether or not Shopify is right for your e-commerce venture.
Let’s start with some of the advantages of Shopify.
Advantages of Shopify
- Shopify is competitively priced. The prices they charge for the various packages are comparable with those of other shopping platforms.
- Shopify is straightforward to use. The backend is modelled after WordPress, with the same look and feel. You can quickly figure out how to add products, turn features of your store on or off, set up payment options, and many other valuable features. This is one of Shopify’s main strengths.
- You can customize the look of your Shopify site using the free themes that come with your membership. This is useful because not every e-commerce platform offers that to you.
- If you choose to use Shopify’s platforms, you can take care of many details. For example, Shopify has payment gateways already integrated into the backend that you can set up on your store. Shopify also has shipping options available to make it easy for you to print a label and ship.
- Shopify’s app store contains a lot of helpful information that allows you to add even more features to your site. Some e-commerce platforms have a noticeable lack of documentation, but Shopify is not one of those. They have an extremely comprehensive manual, plus additional documentation and live support.
Disadvantages of Shopify
The only real disadvantage that Shopify has as an e-commerce platform is the pricing, which was included as an advantage. The reason that it is also included here is simply that there are e-commerce platforms out there that charge nothing, and with Shopify, you do end up paying credit card processing fees, app fees, and, of course, the monthly fee, which can range between $29 and $179 a month. However, for the functionality that you get, the price is still highly fair. With the $29 a month store and even with paying credit card processing fees, you’ll still have the potential to profit with your Shopify store.
