Pros And Cons Of Shopify: Should You Choose It?

What is Shopify?

Shopify is one of the best ecommerce platforms that allows aspiring entrepreneurs to start their online store and sell products online. The platform is available to use in over 175 countries in the world. Thanks to its features and ease of use, the platform has been experiencing steady growth over the years.

Entrepreneurs can easily set up online stores on Shopify without having to hire Shopify development agencies. You can quickly bring your store online. Apart from using Shopify to sell products, businesses can also list them on other marketplaces, like Amazon, Walmart, Flipkart, etc., to sell to a large audience.

Shopify is available through monthly or annual subscriptions. It is also one of the most affordable platforms on the market.

Here are the Shopify subscription plans.

Thanks to the popularity of the Shopify ecommerce platform, you will be able to find many agencies offering Shopify development services. You can hire them if you need to customize your store further.

Pros of Shopify

One of the chief reasons Shopify has a huge user base is the numerous benefits it offers. Whether you are a small, medium, or large business, Shopify has something for you.

Here are a few top benefits of Shopify.

1. Ease of use

No one wants to use a complex ecommerce platform to run their online store.

In fact, most of the entrepreneurs are not tech-savvy and they don’t want to get too technical with their ecommerce platform. This makes Shopify a prime candidate for your store, too.

Shopify’s interface is intuitive. Business owners can easily navigate through the platform and set up an online store. It is also easy to manage products, orders, and customers within the store.

All these factors make Shopify highly preferred by business owners.

2. Predesigned themes

Shopify has numerous predesigned themes and templates available within the store. You can find over 160 themes available in the Official Shopify store. There are also free and paid versions to pick from.

If you are not happy with the themes available in the store, you can also get themes from third-party stores as well. These themes make developing and optimizing the store easier, and you can usually do it yourself.

Each of the themes is also easy to download and install on your store. As they are built specifically for Shopify, they also work exceptionally well in terms of user experience, better navigation, SEO, etc.

3. Secure and reliable

Another advantage of Shopify is that it is extremely secure and reliable. The platform understands that most people using it may not understand security and reliability from a technical perspective. Hence, it comes packed with a range of security features.

Shopify has two-factor authentication. This additional security layer helps protect merchant accounts. It is also Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, which is the highest level of compliance for handling credit card information. All Shopify stores come with 256-bit SSL certificates to encrypt data transmission. This protection keeps business and customer data secure.

With integrated fraud detection tools and regular security updates to keep up with the changing cybersecurity landscape, Shopify is at the forefront of protecting ecommerce stores using it.

4. An extensive range of apps

Often, businesses require third-party apps to extend the functions of their ecommerce stores. It could be to make SEO easy, improve user experience, and ensure an easy checkout process. Most of the time, this may not be possible to do with the platform.

That’s where extensions and plugins become so much more helpful. And Shopify has a lot of them. Shopify has an official app store with 12500+ apps. Which is quite a lot, honestly.

This makes Shopify a great platform for adding new features, functionalities, and capabilities without writing any code. You can just download the app you want and install it.

5. Scalability

When picking a platform to run an ecommerce store, scalability is one of the primary factors that many businesses consider. As their business grows, the platform must be able to support their growth. And Shopify is designed to do that.

Shopify offers multiple subscription plans. These plans allow your business to start small and upgrade as you grow. The platform also lets you add unlimited products with unlimited bandwidth. Shopify can also handle large traffic and transaction volumes. You can also reach global customers with Shopify, as it supports multiple languages, currencies, etc.

Extensions and API integrations can also help you add new features, which is helpful, especially as you grow. Multi-channel selling and automatic updates also save you time. You can focus on growing your business instead of spending time maintaining it.

6. User interface

Another advantage of using Shopify is its simple and easy-to-use UI. This is a huge blessing for small and medium-sized business owners without any technical training. The learning curve to figure out the UI is low, and you can quickly become familiar with the Shopify customization options in a few days.

The layout is clean and well-organized. Which makes it easy for users to find the tools and features they need quickly. Shopify also has a simple main dashboard. It provides a clear overview of key metrics like sales, orders, and visitor statistics. The intuitive UI makes it easy to find essential menu items faster.

Shopify also has an excellent drag-and-drop interface for its theme editor. The editor allows you to customize their store’s appearance as you need. You can modify the store’s layout, add new sections, or rearrange content. And it is all possible without needing to code.

7. Great customer service

Customers often need timely support if something goes wrong with the platform. Shopify does a great job at this. It offers round-the-clock customer support via live chat, email, and phone. This ensures that Shopify users can get help whenever they need it. Regardless of where they are.

Shopify provides support through various channels. You can contact the support using live chat, email, phone, and social media. This flexibility allows businesses to use the method that suits them best. You also get a dedicated account manager with Shopify Plus.

Shopify has a vibrant community forum where users can ask questions. You can also share experiences and get Shopify development advice from other users. The platform also has a Help Center, which has articles, guides, tutorials, and FAQs to help you learn the platform better.

Cons of Shopify

While Shopify has numerous benefits, it is far from perfect. It comes with certain limitations that you must know as an online store owner.

Understanding these limitations of Shopify allows you to make an informed choice about the platform you want to use.

Let’s check out a few crucial limitations here.

1. Transaction fees

Shopify charges transaction fees when third-party payment gateways are used. These are charges separate from credit card usage fees. Businesses that enjoy high sales volume may discourage them from using the platform.

Apart from this, Shopify also requires a subscription to use along with premium themes, app costs, etc.

These charges can compound into a huge monthly expense, which affects the profitability of online stores.

2. Monthly/annual subscription costs

Monthly/annual subs cription costs can dissuade people from using the platform. Businesses need to pay the subscription, whether they make sales or not. Especially small businesses that are starting out might find this challenging.

Even with subscription plans, the business may not enjoy advanced features or functionalities that might improve sales. And to get these features, upgrades are necessary.

Subscriptions to the platform also lock the customers to the platform. This often happens with annual subscriptions. Customers cannot move to another platform without losing money.

3. Customization limitations

The number of free and paid themes in Shopify is an advantage of the platform. However the limited customization options with these themes are a drawback.

Changing the theme’s UI is challenging unless you work with code or hire a Shopify customization agency.

While you can work on the platform for customization yourself, it might lead to technical issues, glitches, etc. All these may add to your store costs.

Also Read:

How to Migrate from Magento to Shopify: Complete Guide

4. Dependency on apps

Another challenge is that the platform requires many third-party extensions and apps to customize the platform for better features. This also can be challenging for most online businesses.

Most features that users expect from a platform like Shopify are not available with the app. They need to be added using third-party apps. These apps can also slow the site down and create bad user experiences.

Often, these apps require subscription fees, making them less value-adding to the business.

5. Limited multi-currency support

Multi-currency is not available with basic Shopify plans. This compels businesses to opt for expensive premium plans. This is not ideal for new stores looking to serve international customers.

The payment gateway dependencies of multi-current support in Shopify can also be a challenge.

Shopify also uses complex currency calculations, which may confuse users and lead to cart abandonments.

Conclusion

Despite the limitations, over 5 million stores use Shopify to serve hundreds of millions of customers worldwide. Hence, we can confidently say that Shopify is a great platform to start and grow your online store. However, one element to keep in mind when starting your Shopify online store is to hire an agency to help you with Shopify development services.

Working with an expert Shopify development company like Dolphin Web Solution helps you start your journey the right way. With our expertise, you can ensure the best user experience and first impression as you state your operations. This will help you grow your store.

You can speak to our support team to learn more about starting a Shopify ecommerce store.

Contact us now!