We’ve used various e-commerce platforms over the years, so we understand it can be pretty overwhelming when picking the right one for your online business. With that in mind, we’re putting the spotlight on one of the most popular e-commerce platforms out there – Shopify! We’re absolutely loving it at the moment and want to highlight some of the main benefits of using Shopify for your e-commerce site.
1. Easy to use
One of Shopify’s main benefits is how easy it is to get started using your website. This is due to features such as a user-friendly and intuitive interface, allowing you to easily manage your products and orders.
Shopify is designed for the average user, so you don’t need a decade’s development experience just to make small changes. There’s also plenty of guidance on the Shopify site itself to help you with the process!
2. Flexibility
Shopify allows the creation of a fully bespoke website – rather than just off-the-shelf templates and themes – which is something you will want to consider for a professional website that directly meets your requirements. Although Shopify templates can be helpful for those who are just starting out and want to keep costs low, Shopify has the capability of being fully customisable, which allows you to craft your interface to specifically meet your user’s needs and business objectives. We used Shopify’s bespoke web builder to design local cocktail connoisseurs, Bar Buoy, a new e-commerce platform that gives them the edge against their competitors and stands the test of time as their business evolves.
We also love Shopify’s ability to integrate seamlessly with WordPress so that we can provide a brilliant method of adding user-friendly e-commerce functionality to our client’s existing websites. Our top team of coders have worked hard in migrating local lifestyle store, Brogan Buzec’s original WooCommerce website over to Shopify to allow for a more simplified method of managing their products and unbeatable user experience.
Users will also have access to apps: specially curated add-ons to the site such as booking systems, subscriptions, voucher codes and POS systems for streamlined management between online and offline sales. These apps are rigorously tested by Shopify themselves and the range is comprehensive.
3. 24/7 customer support
Another advantage of Shopify and part of what makes it so user-friendly is its great customer support. We mentioned earlier that there is plenty of online guidance, but they also offer 24/7 customer support via web chat, email or phone. There are also community forums which can provide an extra level of support or troubleshooting.
4. Secure and reliable
One thing you should be looking for in your e-commerce platform is security, as your site will be handling a lot of sensitive information, such as customer card details as well as, potentially, addresses and phone numbers. With Shopify, you can enable SSL certificates and PCI on your store to encrypt all data and pass it through a secure connection.
Because hosting is integrated, you don’t have to worry about server maintenance either, as Shopify will take care of this, giving you a fast, reliable connection. Shopify also prevents server time-outs even in times of high traffic, making it a great platform for sales and peak times such as Christmas and Black Friday.
5. SEO and marketing tools
Along with the benefits that make it so easy to use, Shopify’s benefits also make it easier to market your site. Some e-commerce platforms will require you to use separate plugins to integrate your SEO tools, but Shopify includes powerful SEO and marketing features built-in.
These include social media integration, email marketing, product reviews and even analytics which will help you to better tailor your marketing efforts. It’s important that you don’t neglect your SEO as it will be a lot harder for your potential customers to find your store in the first place.
6. Allows different payment gateways
Having multiple payment gateways is good practice as it allows your customers to use their preferred payment method, without which, they might not feel confident to go through with the sale. Shopify allows the use of Paypal, Worldpay, Klarna and more, including its own, powered by Stripe. By using this gateway, you won’t have to pay any transaction fees and will pay lower credit card fees.
The bottom line is, we think Shopify is pretty damn good. It provides plenty of benefits and allows you to get a great store set up with a lot less hassle than some other platforms. If you’re looking to launch a website on Shopify, or you need any of the other services of our Exeter website design agency, get in touch with our talented team of web designers.