Shopify Review
Shopify shopping cart is an
easy solution for the beginning online merchant. This shopping cart is web based so you don’t
have to download any software and has easy drag and drop setup tools. There are a few limitations with Shopify. For
instance, when you are setting up customized pages from the templates, you will
have to use the programs open source language, Liquid. Additionally, Shopify does not independently
process money or shipping, but there are several integrated services that will
work with Shopify.
Features
Although this simple e-commerce
solution has certain drawbacks, there are some features that we found to be
very good.
-
Design Features – Shopify has numerous premade templates to choose from,
and the ability to drag and drop as you are designing your page makes is very
advantageous. If you need a custom ecommerce website design, don't hesitate to contact us.
- Product Pages – With Shopify Professional, your site can present up to 2500 individual products. The only drawback to this is that currently, you cannot list downloadable products. So, if you have such merchandise perhaps this is not the shopping cart you need.
- Statistics – Shopify has the ability to easily generate useful statistics such as traffic and various sales numbers.
-
Tracking – Tracking your inventory is simple and Shopify even keeps
track of prices and product weights.
- Security – Shopify is PCI certified and PCI DSS compliant so your information is fully secure.
Installation and Administration
Since Shopify is based online
you don’t have to download and install any software to use the basics of the
shopping cart. However, if you decide to
customize your pages, you will have to download Vision, which is a free
application from Shopify. Using this
application to customize a page is a bit more involved, but worth the
effort. But, even if you are a beginner,
the basic features are easy to use and will give you the results you want.
Support
Shopify comes with standard email support as well as FAQ’s which will
usually guide you through most questions. If you need more assistance, the
Shopify Help Wiki has some great tutorials with very detailed step-by-step
instructions to get you through any dilemma.
Additionally, there is a Shopify community forum where you can share
tips and ask questions of other Shopify users.
Summary:
All in
all, we feel that Shopify is a very well rounded and reasonable e-commerce
solution for a majority of merchants.
With plans starting at $24 a month at fees starting a 2% of revenue, many people will be able to give their service a try although many will be put off by the revenue fee. It’s simple to install and administer, pricing is relatively low, there
are no additional setup fees, and the results are more than adequate. If interested in trying out Shopify, I suggest you give them a try as they are currently giving out 30 day free trials!
