Shopify reviews: Scam or good ecommerce solution?
My opinion4 out of 5
Shopify is a very good e-commerce platform in the market today. It is designed to help users create their own online store with hundreds of built-in features and hundreds of additional applications. You can easily sell your products on multiple markets or even through social networks.
You wantBuild an ecommerce websiteand you have considered some ecommerce website creation platforms (among them,ShopifyAre you looking for a sincere review of..Shopify ?
You want me to reveal to you in an honest review ifShopify Is it a scam or the real solution to make money with an online store?
If that's the case, I'll reveal everything to you; you can create a beautiful website with Shopify but you are limited and be prepared to spend a fortune on your marketing!
To be honest, it's very simple: choose Shopify because it's very efficient. But avoid Shopify if your goal is to build a long-term business. It's simple to set up and anyone can sell products online.
The price starts at 29.-/month
More than 70 themes
Integrated payment gateway
Customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Get a free 14-day trial
Try for free
Why am I so confident, you ask yourself?
I'll explain it to you.
Shopify and Dropshipping
I first started as a web developer, then I became a digital marketer and entrepreneur. Open Source has always been essential to me. And Shopify is not Open Source. I was closed-minded about it. I don't change my mind.
And then, one day I met 2 young people who were doing Dropshipping on Shopify. They were pioneers in 2017, long before the dropshipping bubble burst and courses were selling like hotcakes.
They showed me their Shopify stores, showing me the dashboards and sales. It was quite incredible. Their technique was simple, setting up as many different stores with different products. They were creating more than 30 stores per month.
Impossible to achieve with Woocommerce or Magento.
I then started on Shopify myself. Bewildered by the simplicity of creating an online store in just a few hours.
Everything you need to know about Shopify: In-depth review
I have already used Shopify, so I will give you a brief overview. I will try to detail my opinion on Shopify as much as possible, for each of its features. To better guide you, I have even decided to rate them.
I used a simple 5-point rating system. So, 5 for "amazing", 1 for "terrible". There will actually be some "1s" because I'm not completely satisfied Shopify fan.
Some notes are obviously bad, but these features can in any case be complemented by other tools.
If you have never used Shopify before, but are considering trying new tools, I will reveal to you what may pose a problem for you in the future. The same goes for Magento or Kleap, these tools are also very popular. In any case, you must make your own decisionreview.
Major brands have their opinion on Shopify: they love its simplicity
Before diving into the evaluation of Shopify and its features, you need to know who else is using Shopify.
Here are some Shopify clients that you might recognize:
Leesa
The New York Times store
Redbull shop
Kylie Cosmetics
All of this, to tell you that some big (international) brands trust Shopify. Obviously, we don't know what goes on behind the scenes but it's a positive sign.
Enough talking now, it's time to reveal my Shopify reviews.
My reviews on Shopify (with ratings)
Ease of use: 5/5
Shopify is not only considered the simplest e-commerce tool, but also one of the easiest to use! In fact, many other tools have been inspired by the Shopify interface to create their own application.
Do you know what COO HARLEY FINKELSTEIN said in 2018?
We aim to make Shopify the first thing that merchants think of in the morning, and the last thing they think of at night. In other words, we want Shopify to be the heart and soul of their business. We want to help them sell more through Shopify, and work more efficiently.
Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein speaks during the fourth quarter 2018 earnings call
An example of the ease of use of Shopify is its Flow app (available only for Pro users). It allows you to automate tasks and ideas from a library of pre-established automation templates (also valid for those who build their own template).
Here are some examples:
Automatically create a support ticket when you receive a negative feedback on Shopify
Send daily searches of best sellers from Shopify directly into an excel spreadsheet
Hide and display products based on Shopify inventory
Automatically add a free gift to orders over 100.-
The Shopify application can easily integrate with other platforms such as Asana, Slack, and many others.
Of course, you have to pay for these tools. If your business is thriving and you don't mind the expense, that's perfect, but in another case...
Review of Shopify regarding the possibility of customizing it: 3/5
Shopify allows you to adapt to your needs through customization.
Most other ecommerce website creation tools only achieve one of these objectives. They are either easy to use and limited, or flexible and complicated.
As your business grows, you will have the opportunity to customize your Shopify store as you wish. You will likely start with one of the pre-defined Shopify themes, but once you are familiar with the Shopify platform, you can also create a theme from scratch.
But for me, this is where Shopify is limited. I have visited hundreds of Shopify sites and to be honest, they all look the same. They all have the same layout issues and you can't really change anything about it.
Even as a developer, you are limited on the pages you can modify. For example, you cannot customize the checkout or cart page. And if you want to implement advanced marketing functionalities, the only way is to use an extension and therefore an additional subscription service.
The pricing: 2 out of 5
With Shopify, you can shop in four ways:
A monthly payment that starts at 29.-/month and goes up to 299.-/month. The more expensive packages include additional options and larger discounts on shipping fees.
If you use Shopify as your online payment provider, you will need to pay 2.9% + 30¢ to process the transaction. The fees decrease slightly with each upgrade: 2.4% + 30¢ on the Advanced Shopify plan. Similar, slightly lower fees apply to in-person payments.
If you use another payment provider, Shopify charges an additional percentage on top of the payment provider fees. Shopify fees start at 2% and decrease to 0.5% on the advanced plan.
If you choose to use Shopify's point of sale hardware, there is a one-time fee of 656.- for the entire package which includes an iPad stand, a receipt printer, a cash drawer, and a card reader. Each of these devices can also be purchased individually. If you only want a basic card reader, you can get one for free with your Shopify account.
The hidden fees of Shopify
Overall, Shopify charges you a monthly subscription fee and payment processing fees.
The only fee that is a bit annoying is the one that applies to the use of other payment processes. These fees start at 2.0% on the lowest Shopify plan and go down to 0.5% on the advanced plan. These fees apply to payments accepted by Paypal and Amazon Payments, among others.
I completely understand why Shopify charges payment processing fees. It's completely normal for their business. But this fee, on top of other processing fees, is a bit excessiveIn my opinion.
The positive point is that the majority of your payments will be made through Shopify Payments; it's easier to do. This mainly concerns transactions that go through Paypal (Note that you will have to pay Paypal processing fees and Shopify fees on each transaction).
Some e-commerce website builders claim to charge 0% transaction fees. This is not entirely true. Yes, they do not charge anything, but your total expenses will still be high. In fact, you also need to create an account with your own payment provider and they will charge you payment fees. It is a different way of doing things, with Shopify you know your exact expenses.
Product management and delivery: 4/5
With Shopify, you can manage the shipping of your products as you see fit. You can also choose which company you will work with for maritime transportation. Since you are using Shopify, you will benefit from reduced rates for these types of services.
On the other hand, in Europe, it is a bit limited. There are no local players like in Switzerland or France.
The themes available on Shopify: 4/5
Shopify offers dozens of themes. Some of them are paid, ranging from 140.- to 180.-.
But there are also many free Shopify themes. Even these themes seem to have been created by real professionals.
To choose one, simply browse through the Shopify theme store and select the one that suits your needs. With paid themes, you will have a more professional website (at an affordable price). One day, when you have enough budget to hire expert Shopify developers to create an ecommerce site that reflects your brand, you can always do so.
In summary, website creation is easy to do. You can take care of it yourself.
App Store: 5/5
Shopify's App Store is amazing!
You will find an app for almost any additional features you want for your store: Facebook Messenger integrated into Shopify, billing on Shopify... Everything is there.
Moreover, this option truly sets Shopify apart from other e-commerce tools.
I know several business owners who have used Shopify and its apps to create their businesses. This means that with just a few clicks in the App Store, you can add an extremely advanced and fully integrated app to your Shopify store.
No other e-commerce tool has such an app store (with as many quality apps).
The only downside I would add here is the structure of Shopify apps. Most of them operate on a monthly subscription basis. The prices are generally high. The trade-off is being sure that the apps work and that their creators will assist you in case of any issues.
Directory of experts: 5/5
Sooner or later, you will need help with your website.
Perhaps you want to change the layout of your website? Or maybe it's time for a complete rebranding of your brand?
Anyway, you are lucky!
Shopify has been the leading e-commerce tool for long enough that it currently has a vast network of professionals to help you with your site. Every e-commerce agency indeed has extensive experience with Shopify.
Shopify also has a comprehensive directory of experts that you can consult. Designers, developers, photographers, marketing specialists, all classified by city. It is very easy to find the help you need. And they are all Shopify certified.
Market integrations: 5/5
There are several ways to create an online store.
A number of e-commerce companies choose to focus exclusively on Amazon, for example; they do not have a website at all.
But what if you want both? With Shopify, it's possible!
Instead of having to establish your product listings multiple times (manually) - on your own website, Amazon, and eBay - Shopify will do it automatically. First create your products in Shopify, then add integrations for Amazon and eBay
Once you have connected Shopify to your Amazon and eBay accounts, Shopify takes care of the rest.
You save a lot of time!
Product ranking: 3/5
Shopify offers SEO for your product pages.
Do not be mistaken, you will still need a lot of work for your Shopify product pages to rank for any keyword, even if it is somewhat competitive. Fortunately, with Shopify, you have all the tools at your disposal to achieve this.
Indeed, optimizing product pages, photos, and descriptions for a specific keyword is possible thanks to the standard elements of Shopify's "page optimization" (similar to Yoast).
This does not mean that you will automatically be ranked for the keywords you want. You will still need to create a lot of quality content to increase the authority of your Shopify site. In fact, my next point is about this content. E-commerce site creation tools are not designed for content publishing. I will give you my opinion and a solution in the next point.
Content and blog SEO: 1/5
This is the category where Shopify completely fails.
Yes, Shopify has a blog. In reality, there isn't really a reason why you should use their blog, as it lacks the necessary management and SEO features. So, if you want to grow your business or attract traffic, Shopify's blog is not suitable.
If you want an all-in-one system with product sales and a complete system for your marketing, opt for itKleapThis is a solution that is increasingly used because it competes just as well on Shopify for selling products as it does on WordPress for optimizing a blog.
If you truly want to be on Shopify and blog, use WordPress, as it allows you to install all the necessary featuresnecessary plugins For good SEO, it is possible to have Shopify and WordPress on the same domain. Therefore, you will use Shopify for your online store and WordPress for your blog.
In any case, don't forget to useSEO tools.
Point of Sale (POS) : 3/5
I don't know anyone who uses Shopify as a point of sale system.
I consider this to be a... bad sign.
The most popular ones are: Square (especially for small businesses), Clover, and Revel. I have even seen Shopkeep several times.
But I have never seen Shopify, not even once.
I give Shopify a rating of 3/5 because I believe that their point of sale is not mandatory.
The final choice: Shopify vs Kleap vs Magento vs BigCommerce
For small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses, the choice really comes down to: Shopify or Kleap.
Shopify gives you a good tool and ecosystem. The tool itself is powerful, the apps are also, and their team is the best!
Certainly, the additional fees can be high (from 2% to 0.5%), but the benefits you will get from using Shopify are not negligible. In fact, as soon as you start feeling the impact of these fees, I recommend upgrading to a higher subscription plan. The further you progress, the lower the fees become.
On Kleap's side, you can start your store for free and only subscribe once it is actually working. It is the best tool because it includes the shop and marketing tools to promote it.
In the end, it's an extremely easy choice for me. For any online store, I automatically choose Kleap to build my site and I don't think twice about it.
The alternative: Kleap
Free then $12/month
Design your store automatically with AI
Simplicity to modify and add products
24/7 customer support
Get a free 14-day trial
Create your store for free