Is Shopify A Good Platform?
Let’s find out!
Shopify eCommerce Platform Review
Product Name: Shopify
Website: shopify.com
Price: Free 14 days Trial Period
Shopify Lite: $ 9 /month
Basic Shopify: $29/month
Shopify: $79/month
Advanced Shopify: $299/month
Founders: Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, Scott Lake
Overall Ranking: 98 to 100
Who Is That For: For beginners and experts
Legit or Scam: Legit
When was it founded: 2004
Verdict: Recommended
Affiliate Program: Click here to sign up
What is Shopify eCommerce?
Shopify is the leading online shop builder. Whether you sell online, on social media, in-store, or out of the trunk of your car, Shopify has you covered. In 2016 Shopify acquired Oberlo an eCommerce platform that lets you import products directly from the Chinese superstore AliExpress.
Tomas Slimas, Oberlo co-founder gave a small confirmation commentary – “We can confirm that we have handed over nearly all of our communication to Shopify”
Shopify powers over 500,000 ambitious shop owners all over the world with over 1,000,000 active users!
90 Days Free Trial
Who is Shopify for?
Either you are a newbie online or an offline expert taking your shop online, Shopify can bring your commerce to a totally new level. Its technology will help you save time so you can focus on success.
Everything in one place
Selling your products in many places should be every bit as simple as selling in one. With Shopify’s e-commerce software, you get one unified platform to run your business with ease.
- Fully customize your online store
- Add new sales channels in seconds
- Manage unlimited products and inventory
- Fulfill orders in a single step
- Track sales and growth trends
Shopify has helped me grow my business amazingly. It’s been a pleasure because everything has been easier than I ever imagined.
-Corrine Anestopoulos, Founder, BIKO Jewelry
Abandoned checkouts
Not everybody who adds something to a cart makes it all the way through to purchase a product. When a potential customer provides their contact information but doesn’t complete the order, Shopify stores that as an abandoned checkout.
Note
Shopify only stores the information that is provided by the customer during checkout, and doesn’t automatically create a customer account.
Tip
If customers add items to their cart but leave before checking out, then Shopify doesn’t store their information. Discount codes, exit offers, and security badges are some of the ways you can keep customers from abandoning their carts.
Click here to read the article about abandoned checkout
Kit Virtual Employee
Kit is a virtual employee for your Shopify store. Kit helps drive sales by doing everything from creating highly-targeted Facebook ad campaigns, to sending personal thank-you emails to customers, to handling the other apps that you use to manage your store.
Hiring Kit
To get Kit working for you, you’ll need to add the Kit app to your Shopify store, connect Kit to your business’s Facebook page, and choose your preferred way of talking with Kit.
All Shopify store owners can put me to work—free! –Kit
If you’re getting started with Kit, then you might also want to set up a Facebook Ads Account or learn more about your Kit account.
One of Kit’s main methods for driving business to your store is running Facebook Ads. Like all Facebook Ads, ads run by Kit cost money.
Any budget you spend on Facebook Ads goes to Facebook and is billed through your Facebook account. Kit will help you set budgets for the ads that you run.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
Over 100 Professional Store Template Team to choose from. This will build trust and credibility.
Over 1400 App (Free and Paid) that helps you with running your eStore.
Shopify POS let you accept Credit Cards anywhere at any time. The ability to accept credit cards in-store, on the go, and everywhere in between means you can sell anywhere your customers are.
They manage the hosting process
Swipe (audio-jack) Reader
- Accepts magnetic stripe cards
- Supports Visa, MasterCard, and Amex
Fully integrated FaceBook Store. Customers can easily browse your products and collections using the new, always visible, Shop section on your Facebook Page.
Shopify has a 24/7 support team
KIT virtual employee
Cons:
If you don’t use Shopify payment method they will charge you a transaction fee on every sale (0.5%-2%). It might sound like a lot but on a $10,000 sale, your transaction fees will be between $50 to $200.
Some apps are free and some are paid so your monthly cost. For example, if you integrate an accounting software you cost will be $31.99 per month on top on your monthly membership.
Pricing:
If you are looking for something FREE you won’t get that with Shopify. The closest you will get is a 14 days trial period. If you are serious about starting an online store I would recommend signing up for the 14 days trial then you have nothing to lose if it is not for you-you just cancel.
Shopify Lite: $9/month Sell on social media, in person, or on an existing website with Shopify Lite.
Basic Shopify Plan
The Basic Shopify plan offers all the tools you need to run your business
Shopify Plan
The Shopify plan contains all the features of the Basic Shopify plan and gives you greater insight into your sales trends with built-in professional reports. This kind of information can give you a better understanding of your customers’ behavior when they look through your store to learn how they interact with your products.
If your sales are increasing, then you can also benefit from the lower credit card rates and transaction fees offered on this plan.
Advanced Shopify Plan
The Advanced Shopify plan contains all the features of the Shopify plan and has the lowest credit card rates and transaction fees. It is great for merchants who want to accommodate the growth of their business and use analytics to look for opportunities to move it forward.
Set up your shop, pick a plan later
==>Try Shopify free for 14 days, no credit card required<==
Shopify Ecommerce University guides
Here is what you are getting:
- How to find a product to sell online
- The ultimate guide to crowdfunding
- The ultimate guide to pop-up shops
- 50 ways to make your first sale
- The ultimate guide to business plans
- The definitive legal guide to e-commerce
- The ultimate guide to drop shipping
Shopify and Amazon
In 2015 Shopify Partner to Bring Amazon Services to Merchants. Amazon Webstore owners can seamlessly migrate their online store to Shopify.
Sell on Amazon with Shopify
You can now sell on the world’s largest online marketplace simply and conveniently through Shopify.
Quick and simple
Conveniently sync your products in Shopify to Amazon listings in minutes.
A single inventory
Simplify running your business by managing inventory and orders from multiple sales channels in one place.
A whole new world
Sell with Shopify to run a customizable online store and reach new customers on the Amazon marketplace
Overall Recommendation
Shopify is a very powerful online shop builder platform. It is everything you need to build a successful online store and with their 14 days FREE trial period you can’t go wrong!
If you have any questions, please feel free to use the below comment box!
Hello and thanks for sharing, this is the first time that I have heard about a program like this, but what you have discuss so far sounds very good it seems to me like this is a legit way to make some money on the side.
Hi Norman, I am glad you enjoy my review about Shopify. It is a great leading online shop builder and it is growing so fast. If you want to start an online store I really recommend it. When you see big industry leader like Amazon partnering with them you know it legit 🙂
This is a really informative and resourceful review on Shopify!
I’ve heard of Shopify but have never look into it.
This post really help me understand a lot more about this platform and thank you so much for that.
Keep up the good work!
Jerry, thank you so much for your comment. Shopify is a great platform to start an online store. It is growing in a fast pace specially since they partnered with Amazon.
Nice post! Would you say the 14 day trial period is enough time to actually make some money before going premium? Or is that asking a little too much?
Thanks Eric. I would say if you are a newbie on eCommerce store you definitely do not have enough time. That 14 days trial period in my opinion is just so you can see if this is for you.
I had actually never really knew much about Shopify. I was looking for additional avenues for selling products, and ran across this great information! I like the idea of 14 days for a free trial, so I can get a feel for what Shopify might do for me. Do you think in that time, I will know if this will work, i.e. sales?
Hi Matts Mom, in my opinion I think that is what the 14 days free trial period is so people can get the feel is Shopify is for them. I think you can get a pretty good idea within that time frame if this will work for you…I know I did 🙂
Thanks for the review Carol
I have heard others talk about shopify, but I had no idea what it was or what it was used for ?
After reading your review, I’m now fully loaded with all the details ! I will be able to add my knowledge next time someone talks about it ! lol
Cheers
Paul
Hey Paul, you want to know a secret lol I was just like you too….I saw the ad popping on my Facebook so I was familiar with their logo and their existence but that was about it! Now that I know I decided to investigate them and when I saw it is legit I wrote a review!
Hello! Very informative site. Lots of information! I have never really heard of this before, but being partnered with Amazon is big deal. Thanks for getting all this information in one place!
Hello Cristy! It is a very nice and strong eCommerce platform and the fact that they partner with Amazon I have to agree with you here that it is a big deal!
Shopify is a store builder that will last for a long time, there’s no question to it. What I’m curious about is the Shopify Ecommerce University and I’m wondering if it’s some kind of a paid membership that I get in to learn how to use the e-commerce platform. What are your thoughts about this?
Hi Dominic! Shopify is booming more than ever now with the world we are in, people shopping online more and more. So it would be a wise move to start an e-commerce business. As to Shopify eCommerce university, it is at no extra cost, as it is part of your membership.
Shopify definitely seems interesting. I am curious as to what all the different tiers offer.
Jumping from $9 for the basic all the way to $299 seems pretty wild. Though I suppose if you are getting the enough traffic to justify paying $299 it would make sense.
It is nice that the transaction fees appear to be the same across the board too. Thanks!
Hi there! The $9 a month is basically your Facebook shop only. The $29.00 a month Basic plan offers you all the tools you need to run your online store. The $79 a month plan contains all the features of the basic one but also has a built-in professional report and the advanced plan for $299.00 a month contains all the features of the Shopify plan and has the lowest credit card rates and transaction fees. It is great for merchants who want to accommodate the growth of their business and use analytics to look for opportunities to move it forward. Thanks for your comment on that. I just add this explanation to my post!