Shopify Reviews & Pricing

by Shopify Inc. | Founded 2006, Ottawa, Canada

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What is Shopify?

Industry Specialties: E-Commerce

Shopify is a one-stop shop for all your eCommerce needs, helping you build, launch and grow an online business from scratch. At its core is a user-friendly interface that allows you to design stunning storefronts without any coding expertise. You can use drag-and-drop tools, unique templates and customizable layouts to curate your store’s overall appearance.

You can market your products across marketplaces, social media and personal blogs. Connect the platform to a POS system for in-store shopping and manage all your sales from a single backend. A native AI helps manage the store’s analytics and offers insights into enhancing sales strategies and marketing campaigns.

The platform is highly scalable and supports multiple business models, including B2B, D2C and dropshipping. It offers an extensive partner network to provide access to thousands of third-party apps to enhance the store's functionality. Global businesses can also manage multiple storefronts for different geographies using its headless architecture.

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User Sentiment i

Based on 11539 reviews:

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#4

Shopify is ranked #4 on the top 10 Web Design Software leaderboard based on a comprehensive analysis performed by SelectHub research analysts. Compare the leaders with our In-Depth Report.

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Shopify Pricing

Based on our most recent analysis, Shopify pricing starts at $29 (Monthly).

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Starting From: $29
Pricing Model: Monthly
Free Trial: Yes, Request for Free

Training Resources

Shopify is supported with the following types of training:

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars

Support

The following support services are available for Shopify:

Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Help Desk
Knowledge Base
Tickets
Training
24/7 Live Support

Shopify Benefits and Insights

Why use Shopify?

Key differentiators & advantages of Shopify

Market Leader: Shopify is the top-rated eCommerce platform according to our research, outperforming competitors like BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce. With a 100 analyst score, it offers a comprehensive feature set that's ready to use right away.
Effective Multiple-Channel Selling: Shopify excels at managing sales across different channels. It simplifies selling, distribution and wishlist management by letting you customize product catalogs, discounts and placement for each channel. You can automatically sync updates to ensure consistency across all your sales outlets.
Easy Implementation: Getting started with Shopify is quick and simple. Its guided setup process helps you launch your store in minutes. Plus, 99% of key eCommerce requirements are available out of the box, eliminating the need for complex integrations.
Scalability and Flexibility: Shopify grows with your business. Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, there's a plan to fit your needs. Enjoy a free trial to explore its features. Upgrade to higher tiers for advanced options like global selling, custom storefronts, headless architecture and unlimited staff accounts.
Streamlined Inventory Management: According to our data, Shopify offers 100% of the features needed to manage inventory across multiple locations out of the box. This includes a barcode generator and scanner, stockout alerts, sourcing integration, multi-location inventory tracking, order management tools and more.

Industry Expertise

Serves all businesses looking to open an online storefront.

Shopify Reviews

Average customer reviews & user sentiment summary for Shopify:

11539 reviews

89%

of users would recommend this product

Shopify has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 11539 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Based on an aggregate of Shopify reviews taken from the sources above, the following pros & cons have been curated by a SelectHub Market Analyst.

Pros

Ease of Use: Many users praise Shopify for its user-friendly interface, especially for those with little to no coding or web design experience. It allows users to set up a store quickly and easily.
Extensive Customizability: Shopify offers various free and paid customizable themes. It also has a large app store with numerous plugins for additional functionality.
Enhanced Security: Users appreciate Shopify’s integrated CDN hosting, SSL certification and multi-factor authentication, ensuring high security for businesses.
Support and Community: 24/7 customer support is available, and a large community of users and developers offers advice and solutions.
Scalability: Scaling your business with Shopify simply involves shifting to a higher-tier plan to access enterprise features like headless architecture, built-in AI and support for multiple business models.
All-In-One Solution: It provides a comprehensive package for managing eCommerce businesses, including marketing, inventory management, order processing, shipping, payments and analytics.

Cons

Cost: Some users find Shopify expensive, especially since costs can escalate with paid apps and transaction fees.
Technical Expertise: In-depth customization requires accessing Shopify’s proprietary coding language, Liquid, which can be challenging for users with low technical expertise.
App Dependencies: The reliance on third-party apps for additional features can lead to slower website performance and increased costs.
Free Trial Duration: The free trial period is relatively short (3 days), which some users find insufficient for making a fully informed decision.

Researcher's Summary:

Shopify is a robust platform for every type of eCommerce business. During testing, I loved its “Markets” feature that consolidates wholesale, retail, B2B and D2C operations into a single view. You can tailor experiences for each market without creating multiple stores and get a bird's eye view of it all from a unified screen.

Its analytics module is a strong suit. Unlike other platforms that typically involve a 24-hour waiting period to access current data, Shopify lets you stream your business’s data in real time. The drag-and-drop interface is intuitive, and pre-built reports provide a solid foundation. However, the platform truly shines in its ability to access and customize ShopifyQL code for advanced analytics.

Shopify's scalability is also impressive. The platform grows with your business. Starting with a basic store and transitioning to a complex, multi-channel operation is seamless. The headless architecture offers flexibility for customization, allowing you to create unique shopping experiences using its native Hydrogen visual editor or other third-party solutions.

The mobile app has offline image editing, AI image generation and website editing capabilities. Also, Shopify's native AI, Magic, automates routine tasks and provides data-driven recommendations.

Shopify’s AI-powered virtual assistant, Sidekick, trains itself on your store’s data, customers and transactions. You can ask anything, from using a feature to understanding your business data, and it always provides helpful, contextual answers. It lets you generate customer segments, design marketing campaigns and optimize your sales funnel. Sidekick also identifies customer segments and offers tips to boost conversion rates, like targeted emails, discount coupons and cart recovery strategies.

However, Shopify's cost structure can be prohibitive for some. As the business grows, so do the expenses. And reliance on third-party apps for essential functionalities can lead to increased costs and potential performance issues down the line.

While the platform offers a high degree of customization, mastering Shopify's Liquid coding language is necessary for complex changes, creating a barrier for non-technical users. Lastly, the short duration of the free trial might hinder the evaluation process for potential customers.

Overall, Shopify is one of the best eCommerce solutions that can adapt to evolving business needs. However, you should carefully consider the platform's limitations in terms of cost, technical complexity and app dependency before jumping into a contract.

Key Features

Storefront

Website Builder: Create professional online stores with over 70 customizable themes, mobile optimization and advanced HTML/CSS editing.
Checkout: You can offer customers a seamless shopping experience with features like one-page checkouts, multiple payment options and abandoned cart recovery.

Shopping Cart

Shipping: Receive shipping charges from FedEx and UPS and set up fixed, tiered, weight- and location-based shipping rates. You get free shipping after a set price point. The platform supports outsourcing shipping to Shopify Fulfillment Network, Rakuten Super Logistics, Amazon, Shipwire or a custom fulfillment solution.
Payment: Accept a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, digital wallets and cryptocurrencies. You also benefit from low transaction fees and robust fraud protection.
Abandoned Cart Recovery: It lets you automatically send recovery emails to customers, including a link to their shopping carts, to encourage them to complete checkout.
Taxes: Get location-based tax rates and automate tax calculations during checkout based on custom rules.
Multiple Languages: The platform supports checkout in over 50 languages and helps translate themes to accommodate local businesses and customers.

Store Management

Customer Management: Build strong customer relationships by tracking purchase history, preferences and behavior. You can offer account creation for repeat customers and guest checkout for convenience.
Dropshipping: Partner with suppliers to offer various products without holding inventory. Shopify integrates with popular sourcing websites like Auto DS, Printify, Zopi and Printful, making it easy to set up a dropshipping business.
Refund: Issue full or partial refunds from any order using the same payment method. Automate inventory updates after order confirmation or cancellation.

Marketing and SEO

SEO: Improve search engine rankings with SEO-friendly features like customizable titles, meta descriptions and automatic sitemap generation.
Product Reviews: Improve customer engagement by choosing to display reviews on either the product page or your website’s homepage based on desired visibility.
Discounts: Create marketing campaigns with discount coupons to boost sales. The platform also helps boost customer loyalty by allowing you to design custom discounts for repeat customers.
Social Media: The platform integrates with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest to drive social marketing.

Products

Inventory Management: Use barcodes to manage and track inventory across multiple locations and get stockout alerts via the mobile app. You can also set inventory replenishment notifications and display custom out-of-stock messages.
Digital Products: The platform supports selling digital goods like ebooks, software and music directly through your store.
Product Management: Sell multiple variations of the same product, such as different sizes, colors or materials, each with its own cost, SKU, weight and inventory. Organize and sort products by type, price, season, category, availability, vendor and more. Import and export product details using CSV files, including any number or type of products.
Multimedia Support: Add and display multiple images, videos and 3D assets for products.
Subscriptions: You can offer and manage subscriptions on Shopify-integrated apps to ensure recurring revenue.

Web Hosting

Email Forwarding: Create custom email addresses to enhance your brand image. You can set up email forwarding rules to ensure consistent visibility and accountability.
Security: You get a free 25-bit SSL certificate and level 1 PCI compliance. Also, fraud detection tools help safeguard your transactions, content and credit card information.

Analytics

Dashboard: Create unique dashboards to manage sales, orders and traffic for multiple stores and locations.
Google Analytics: Connect with Google Analytics to track sales, visits and referrals.
Reports: Gain valuable insights into store performance with comprehensive sales, traffic and customer data. You can export reports to third-party spreadsheet tools to share with accountants and bookkeepers.

Approach to Common Challenges

Slow Website Speed: Shopify's built-in CDN and image optimization tools help load your store pages faster, reducing bounce rates and improving customer satisfaction. Additionally, Shopify's focus on performance optimization ensures your store can handle increased traffic without compromising speed.
Acquiring New Customers: Shopify offers a suite of marketing tools, including email marketing, SEO optimization and social media integration, to help you reach a wider audience. With features like abandoned cart recovery and targeted discounts, you can effectively convert potential customers into paying clients.
Managing Inventories Effectively: The platform’s inventory management system provides real-time tracking, low-stock alerts and the ability to manage multiple locations. By integrating with popular shipping carriers, you can streamline order fulfillment and reduce shipping costs.
Maximizing Revenue: Shopify offers various sales channels, including online stores, social media and in-person sales through Shopify POS. Using advanced analytics and A/B testing, you can optimize your product offerings, pricing and marketing efforts to drive sales growth.

Cost of Ownership

Frequently asked questions regarding Shopify pricing include:

Q. Can I use the Shopify mobile app for free?

A. Yes, the Shopify mobile app is free to download and use during the trial period. You can manage your store, process orders and communicate with customers directly from your smartphone. However, you'll need an active Shopify plan to access all its features.

Q. What are Shopify’s pricing plans?

A. Shopify’s plans are as follows (when billed annually):

Basic: This plan charges $29 per month to manage up to 10 inventory locations, enable localized global selling across three markets, connect with POS and access 24x7 chat support. It also charges 2.9% plus 0.30¢ for every credit card transaction.
Shopify: Charges $79 monthly for every feature in the basic plan, along with five additional staff accounts. This plan has a 2.7% plus 0.30¢ additional charge for each credit card transaction.
Advanced: Charges $299 monthly for every feature in the previous plan, along with 15 additional staff accounts and checkout customization. You can also expand to new markets by adding new sales channels at $59 monthly. It charges 2.5% plus 0.30¢ for credit card transactions.
Plus: Charges $2,300 monthly and is billed on a three-year term. It offers up to 200 inventory locations, 50 sales channel connections, unlimited staff accounts, fully customizable checkout, B2B selling and 200 POS connections. It doesn’t reveal its payment processing rates but charges competitive rates for high-volume merchants.

Q. Are there any additional costs to Shopify?

A. While Shopify offers several pricing plans to suit different business needs, there are additional costs to consider, including:

Transaction Fees: Shopify charges a percentage of each sale, which varies based on your chosen plan.
Payment Gateway Fees: Depending on the payment method you choose, payment providers might charge additional fees.
App Costs: Shopify offers a vast app store, and many apps come with a fee.
Shipping and Fulfillment Costs: These costs are associated with getting your products to customers and are not specific to Shopify.

Limitations

At the time of this review, these are the limitations according to user feedback:

The platform supports zero-value orders only through partner integrations.

Training Resources

Industry Insights: Gain valuable insights into industry trends, best practices and expert advice. Discover how to optimize your scheduling strategies, improve employee satisfaction and boost operational efficiency.
Learning and Support: Access tutorials, guides and FAQs to get the most out of the platform. You also get a dedicated support team to assist you with any questions or issues.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions regarding Shopify include:

Q. Is Shopify easy to use?

A. Shopify is designed with user-friendliness in mind. While there's a learning curve, the platform offers a user-friendly interface and extensive resources, including tutorials and support, to help you get started and manage your store effectively.

Q. What kind of products can I sell on Shopify?

A. You can sell a wide variety of products on Shopify, from physical goods to digital downloads. The platform is versatile and accommodates different business models, including dropshipping, print-on-demand and subscription boxes.

Q. How do I get started with Shopify?

A. To start using Shopify, you'll need to create a Shopify account and choose a pricing plan. Once you set up your store, you can customize its appearance, add products, and set up payment and shipping options. Shopify also provides resources and support to guide you through the process.

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