Let’s face it, there is an increasingly large number of online store building tools now available, and choosing the right one for your business can feel really difficult. 

You’re probably here because you’ve heard a lot about one of the leading e-commerce solutions, Shopify — but you’re not quite sure if it’s the right option for you.

Well, with this detailed Shopify review, we’ll discover if it’s actually a good fit for your project or if you should look at alternatives like WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Wix.

So, Let’s get started…

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a web application that allows you to create your own online store. 

It provides you with a wide range of ‘themes’ that can be customized to meet your own branding requirements and allows you to sell either physical or digital products.

A key aim behind Shopify is to let users without coding or design skills build an online store without the help of a developer.

However, people who are familiar with HTML and CSS will be pleased to discover that the platform provides access to both.

How does Shopify work?

Shopify is a ‘hosted’ solution. This means that it runs on its own servers and you don’t have to buy web hosting or install software anywhere.

You don’t own a copy of the product, but pay a monthly fee to use it and so long as you have access to a web browser and the internet, you can manage your store from anywhere.

With Shopify, the key things you need to build and market an online store like templates, a payment processor, a blog, and even email marketing tools are provided ‘out of the box.’ 

That said, you can customize your store to meet more individual requirements through the addition of apps more on which later or using custom code.

Who Can Use Shopify?

Anyone can use Shopify, whether you’re a first-time seller, or a multi-million dollar business like Harry’s Razors (yep, Harry’s Razors is just one of Shopify’s satisfied customers). 

All you need is an idea, something to sell, and an internet connection, and you could have an online store live in no time.

With over 1,200 apps, specialized features such as inventory tracking and shipping tools, and a range of price plans, Shopify is a powerful platform to choose from.

It can be used by any sized store and is extremely scalable.

Is Shopify Worth It?

It depends! That is a maddening answer, I know. But it’s true. 

Shopify is a tool. It might not be for you. 

If you are selling a single digital product on your blog, then Shopify is probably not worth it.

A PayPal button or a WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress site would work. 

But if you need to run a multi-product eCommerce store with inventory, marketing tools, customer records, etc, then Shopify is absolutely worth it.

If the pros/cons balance out for you based on your goals, resources, expertise, etc.

Make sense? Cool. Let’s dive into the Shopify Features.

Features

Let me dive into Shopify’s functionalities and tell you a bit more of what I think of it. Hopefully, this will help clarify some questions you may have.

1) Ease Of Use

Shopify is really easy to use, it’s an extremely powerful tool too. 

For example, you can set up and launch your online store in one weekend (no joke). 

But you could also spend days or even weeks developing a custom solution to fulfill your needs.

Personally, I think Shopify lets you do more with fewer clicks than competitors like Volusion or BigCommerce. 

Moreover, Content Management Systems such as WordPress or Magento doesn’t even come near in terms of ease of use.

I also find their backend intuitive and straightforward to navigate. 

Whenever I got stuck, all I had to do was check their tutorials or ask for support on their live chat. 

Most of the time support was helpful and quick to answer.

2) Templates & Design

Shopify is not short on templates and they generally look modern and professional. 

They are also responsive, which means that they’ll look great on any device. 

Sadly, they only offer a handful of free templates (about 10). I really wished they had a couple more.

However, if you have a budget, you can buy one of their paid themes that cost between $140-180. 

Another option is to purchase a theme from an external marketplace like Themeforest, where prices are generally lower (around $50).

Or if you need a specific design you could get one exclusively developed for you from one of the many Shopify experts.

In terms of template customization, Shopify gets it right. I find it super easy to personalize store templates. 

Changing global styles is a walk in the park (e.g. colors, fonts, or social media buttons) with the theme editor menu.

Even cooler is the way they let you add, remove, or even move sections up and down with a couple of clicks. 

The shortcoming here is that you are limited to the available sections of your template.

3) Importing & Exporting Data

Products can be added easily using Shopify’s interface or you can even import your products via a CSV file. 

This last option is pretty useful for large online stores.

Filling in the product information is intuitive (e.g. title, description, images or videos, price, or SEO options). 

Finally, collections (category) can be assigned to keep your online store tidy.

The SKU (stock-keeping unit) and the inventory tracking features let you manage your stock more efficiently and prevent you from selling out-of-stock items.

You may require to sell several variants of the same product. Be aware that Shopify will let you add a maximum of  3 variants (e.g. size, color, and material).

The system will then generate all the necessary combinations, and individual inventory tracking can be setup. 

The cap is at 100 combinations (unless you use a paid app or edit your theme’s source files). 

BigCommerce, on the other hand, supports up to 600 combinations.

This could be limiting for projects with complex products but will be enough for most store owners.

4) Product Categories & Collections

Categories (or collections as Shopify calls them) can be manually assigned to products to group them. 

For example, let’s say you sell pet food, you could have a collection for dogs, cats, or snakes.

Then Shopify will automatically generate a page for each collection showing all the included products.

This can save you hours, if not days, of data entry and manipulation, particularly if you have a large number of products in your online store.

You’ll need to make sure you name or tag your products in an extremely consistent way to take advantage of this functionality. 

However, the automation only works if you have a consistent naming convention to product titles, tags, etc.

5) Payment Processors & Transaction Fees

As far as I know, Shopify has more online payment processors than any other alternative (over 100 providers). 

As you can imagine, big names like Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal or Authorize are included.

And yes, they also have their own system, Shopify Payments (powered by Stripe).

One of my biggest issues with Shopify is that they will charge extra transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify Payments (2%, 1%, or 0.5% depending on your plan). 

Sadly, Shopify Payments is not available in every country. So if you can, do use it.

On top of that, manual payment methods can be enabled too. For example, cash on delivery, bank deposits, or money order. 

Remember, on these orders, you won’t have to pay any commissions to Shopify.

6) Shipping

In my experience, eCommerce logistics (shipping) can get tricky, and having an efficient system can save a bunch of time and money.

Shopify is excellent here, no doubt. But let’s quickly review their shipping system.

Shipping rules can be set up easily (e.g. flat rate, free shipping, country or region-based rates) from their backend for individual products, collections, or for your entire store.

But the shipping fun begins with the live shipping rates. This system connects your store with carriers (like USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc) and provides accurate shipping costs during the checkout.

When fulfilling orders, you can buy (discounted) shipping labels from Shopify’s backend. 

You only need to print it and stick it on the parcel (a big-time and money saver). Please note that for this to work, you need to specify the weight of your products.

Shopify is the leading solution for dropshipping – an eCommerce model where the order processing and fulfillment are done by someone else (a dropshipping provider).

By default, you can connect your Shopify store to several dropshipping providers like Rakuten, Amazon Fulfillment, or Shipwire. 

Other services can be manually connected (via email) if you need to. Some solutions such as Oberlo can be added via the App Store.

7) Taxes

I am not good at maths, so I appreciate online store solutions that make my life easier, especially when it comes to a topic that nobody likes: taxes.

Shopify doesn’t do anything too impressive with taxes, but I like that it doesn’t require rocket science to set it up and it actually works.

• You can display prices including taxes or excluding them, whatever works for you.
• Shopify includes an automated tax calculator by ZIP code (only for US-based stores).
• Manual tax settings can also be added for countries or regions.

8) Accepting Multiple Currencies

Being able to display prices in multiple currencies is a key feature for merchants who wish to sell in multiple territories. 

Displaying prices and facilitating checkout in local currencies can improve sales rates considerably. 

And, unlike several other well-known e-commerce solutions, Shopify lets you do this, so long as you are using its built-in payment gateway, Shopify Payments.

Although it’s great to have this feature available, it could be a bit better, however.

First, unless you’re on a Shopify Plus plan, or using a third-party app, your users will have to use a currency selector to manually choose their preferred currency. 

(A free ‘geolocation’ app can be installed to detect a user’s location and display a currency recommendation, but in my view, this is not as good as fully automatic currency conversion.)

Second, a currency selector is only currently available in two themes (Debut and Brooklyn). If you don’t use one of these, you’ll need to insert code into your store to create one. 

Third, multi-currency payment doesn’t work with Shopify ‘Buy Buttons.’

Given the above limitations, I suspect that many merchants will find themselves reaching for a third-party app to handle multi-currency payments based on my research, Bold Multi-Currency is probably your best bet here.

The lowdown on multi-currency selling is that Shopify is a reasonably good option for merchants wishing to do this, but there are improvements that could be made to the functionality. 

Bigcommerce, for example, makes it much easier to sell in multiple currencies out of the box, without the need for currency selectors, and its Buy Buttons facilitate multi-currency payments too.

9) Abandoned Cart Recovery

Online shopping abandoned cart rate seems to be well above 60%. In other words, 2 out of every 3 users won’t actually finish their purchase  (yup very depressing).

That’s when the abandoned cart recovery tool can help you. This is a feature that allows you to interact with those who never placed the order in order to gain them back.

For example, you can set Shopify to send automated emails with a discount code to those users that never finished the purchase process (assuming you know their email addresses).

I have to say that whilst the system is easy to set up, I find it a bit limited. 

It’s true that you can customize your email, but you can only send the email 1, 6, 10, or 24 hours after. 

I wish there was an option to set rules to trigger (or not) the follow-up email (e.g. minimum order amount). 

What happens if you don’t know their email address? Other options like popups or banners would be nice to have.

If you need more control over this (e.g. email sequences, pop-up, etc) there are apps in the Shopify App Store that can help you.

10) Custom Fields & File Uploads

Some merchants will require their customers to provide some text at the point of purchase (for example, jewelers might require inscription copy; some merchants might like to give customers the option to add a dedication to a product, etc.).

Shopify will allow you to capture this data, but it’s a fiddly process: you need to create a ‘line item property’ by manually adding some HTML code to your template. 

The other alternative is to pay for an app to do this job, which isn’t ideal. 

It’s a similar story with file uploads: if you need to offer your customers the option to upload a file (for example, an image to be used on a t-shirt or mug), you’re going to have to get coding or, yes, you guessed it, pay for a relevant app.

11) Sell Face-To-Face (PoS)

Yes, I know, the whole point of getting Shopify is to sell your goods and services online, right. 

But with Shopify, store owners can also sell the old way, face-to-face.

If you wish to sell offline, it’s possible to integrate Shopify’s PoS (point of sale) with your physical sales channel even if you are on the go.

The great thing about it is that it’ll be completely integrated with your Shopify backend, so your reporting, inventory management, prices, etc are automatically synced.

You can start small, by selling items using the Shopify PoS app (e.g. using your smartphone or tablet) and accept payments. 

You won’t need anything else. Pretty useful to test physical store ideas.

But if you are planning to sell offline a lot, you may want to look into buying PoS hardware to make your life easier. 

For example, Shopify offers a couple of card readers that you can connect to your smartphone or tablet. They cost between $30 and $90.

It’s also possible to buy a complete kit with a receipt printer, card reader, cash drawer, and an iPad to manage your physical sales.

12) SEO

A lot of the users wanting to know if they’ll ‘conquer’ the first organic positions with this website builder or that other one.

Let me say that most of the time, SEO ranking issues are related to poor optimization jobs (e.g. bad content) and not Shopify (or other tools) issues. 

However, Shopify has a few SEO drawbacks you should be aware of:

• Shopify URL structure isn’t 100% customizable. For example, product pages will include always ‘/products/’ in their URL, this can’t be changed.
• Shopify auto-generates the Robots.txt file, sadly you can’t customize it.
• Shopify doesn’t make it easy to create sub-categories, which can be an SEO pain for some.
• Although you can create non-eCommerce content easily, it can be a bit limited (e.g. not possible to add widgets or maps). Sometimes, you may need a bit more (content) flexibility to support your overall SEO strategy.

However, despite the above-mentioned pitfalls, I would say that Shopify’s SEO is good and intuitive. 

For example, customizing most of your SEO parameters (e.g. title tags, descriptions, slugs, etc) is easy.

I really like the redirect system they have in place. When you change a URL, Shopify will automatically create an optional redirect from the old URL to the new one so you don’t generate 404 errors.

13) Blog & Content Generation

Sure, Shopify comes with a blog you can use for your content marketing strategy. 

It even has a lot of blogging features you’ll need but it can feel limited especially when compared to platforms like Weebly or WordPress.

From their blog I like that:

• It’s fully integrated with your store site
• Tags are easy to set
• You can have more than 1 author
• SEO parameters are customizable

But I’d like to see them improve on the following:

• The editor feels a bit old and doesn’t come with many elements (e.g. galleries)
• Blog layouts are not as flexible as I wished
• It doesn’t have categories, you are forced to use tags
• Tricky to add commenting systems like Disqus
• No related posts feature
• Not possible to embed products in blog posts 

I have to acknowledge that Shopify’s approach to blogging is a way better solution than what BigCommerce or Volusion offers and should be good enough for most eCommerce sites.

But of course, you could always put your blog on a subdomain and let it run through an external platform. But that comes with its own set of challenges.

Creating other pages is also possible and relatively easy. But the page editor can also feel limited, especially if compared to website builders like Wix or Duda. 

There aren’t either many page elements available (e.g. galleries, maps, social media buttons, etc.) and the layouts are very rigid.

14) Reporting & Analytics

Shopify reports are OK, good, or amazing, depending on what plan you have. 

I am not a big fan of this and I believe everyone should have access to all the data – as Shopify competitor BigCommerce does.

The Basic Shopify plan reports are limited to:

• An overview of a few key metrics (e.g. sales, user sessions, orders, etc)
• Real-time reports
• Finance reports (e.g. sales, taxes, payments, etc.)
• Acquisition reports (general information about how you got your visitors)
• Some behavior reports (e.g. conversion rates, check out rates, etc.)
• Analytics by marketing campaign linked to a UTM campaign (e.g. a newsletter)

The ‘Shopify’ plan comes with a couple of nice perks:

• Sales report (connects customer metrics with sales metrics)
• Customer report (to find out things like returning customers or customers by country)

Finally, if you have the Advanced Shopify plan or Shopify Plus, you’ll be able to create custom reports. 

Using their filters you can dig as deep as you need into your data.

Connecting Google Analytics (with conversion tracking) is also possible. So after all, you may not even need Shopify’s reports.

Although not all the Shopify Reports data can be found in Google Analytics.

Additionally, there are dozens of reporting apps you can get from the Shopify app store. 

Personally, I’ve never used any of these apps, so I can’t comment on their quality or features.

15) Shopify App Store

Shopify has an app market where you can find extensions (for adding extra functionality) for your online store. 

Similar to the ones you can add to your smartphone.

Many solutions (e.g. BigCommerce, Wix, Weebly) have their own version of this Shopify App Store. 

But Shopify has an insane amount of apps. From email marketing integrations to dropshipping connections, you name it.

These can certainly save you a lot of money and time especially compared to custom-developed solutions.

There are a bunch of free apps (over a thousand), but many others are paid apps. You can read reviews before installing them.

Some of the apps are even developed by Shopify themselves. For example, the digital downloads extension or Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest integrations.

The not so cool thing is that it can get expensive. For example, if you need 2 or 3 paid apps, you may be looking to pay $50 or $60 extra a month – not every eCommerce owner can afford this.

Pros

• Adding products as well as managing payment and shipping options and processing orders is absolutely painless.
• Their layouts (templates) can be modified to a large degree without any programming knowledge.
• Shopify can help you with your content marketing too as it comes with a blog and more. Although with some limitations.
• It’s possible to change your store’s look and add extra-functionality by installing new templates and apps in seconds.
• If you are a programmer (or hire one), you can have complete control over your online store customization.
• Having official 24 hours support is something I value a lot.
• No matter how fast your business grows, Shopify can accommodate small, big, and colossal eCommerce projects.
• If you are into dropshipping, Shopify integrates with several apps/providers.
• A nice perk is that you can sell offline with their PoS solution.

Cons

• I think Shopify Prices are fair, but you’ll definitely need a budget as it starts at $26 per month.
• I am not a big fan of their extra transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify Payments, they can add up quickly.
• Setting up multilingual stores isn’t easy (nor cheap). A good solution for you could be this (paid) app.
• Some of the coolest features are only included in the higher plans (e.g. abandoned cart).
• Although Shopify comes with a blog and you can create other types of pages (e.g. product landing pages). Getting your non-eCommerce content looking the way you want is not so easy.
• As you can read above, it has a couple of SEO issues 

Security & Backups

Being hacked is not fun, it can put your business under serious pressure. 

So I don’t have to tell you how important is to keep your store safe.

Unlike WordPress and similar CMS, Shopify takes care of updates and security matters in the background. 

Shopify system runs on Level 1 PCI compliant servers (mandatory to accept credit card payments). 

SSL encryption (at 256-bit) is enabled for every Shopify store to keep your visitors’ data safe.

At Shopify, they do have a backup system in place. In desperate times, they can restore your online shop. 

But this is not an official service, they advise you to keep regular backups of your site by exporting a series of CSV files.

That’s why adding a more advanced backup solution from the Shopify App Store (e.g. Rewind) may be wise. 

It will be very helpful if you deleted content (e.g. products) by mistake.

In short, you only need to do regular backups and have a strong admin password.

Customer Support

You can contact Shopify 24-hours support via email, phone, or live chat. 

One of their Support Gurus will take care of your question (yup, that’s their real job title).

In general, my experience with Shopify support has been good. They are (relatively) fast and helpful. 

But this depends a lot on the type of question (e.g. how technical is it) and your luck with the support agent.

We also tested their support on a broader scale, comparing it with 9 other website builders and eCommerce platforms. 

Shopify came out 2nd, thanks to both the quality of their answers and the useful knowledge base. In this test, Shopify’s rival BigCommerce only made it to 5th place.

In my opinion, support is one of the biggest advantages of using Shopify (or similar solutions) over a traditional CMS (like WooCommerce). 

Being able to ask an expert when you’re stuck can save loads of hassle.

Personally, I don’t want to contact support for each tiny question I have, that’d be very unproductive. 

Luckily, Shopify has many detailed tutorials and guides, check them out first if you have a question (they may solve your doubt instantly).

And if you need professional help with your store, Shopify has a directory of (certified) Experts you can contact (make sure you read the experts’ reviews before hiring one). 

Another option is Storetasker. There you can easily submit your custom project (e.g. a complete store setup or just some design tweaks) and have their vetted Shopify Experts submit a quote for your job.

Pricing

Price is an area where Shopify is definitely not a winner. 

You’ll pay anywhere from $29 to $299 per month, and that doesn’t include advanced marketing features such as recurring billing, smart product search, or eBay integration. 

For that, you’ll pay even more on top of Shopify’s monthly fees.

What you’ll pay for the Shopify website builder varies on a variety of factors. 

At first glance, the plans seem fairly simple, but after you consider all the additional costs associated with plugins and marketing software, you’ll soon realize it can get really complicated. 

If you want to save some money, commit to one year for a 10% discount or to two years for a 20% discount when paid upfront. 

You’ll be able to use the 14-day free trial before deciding what you want to commit to.

Don’t get me wrong, each Shopify offering is enticing in its own right, but certain options will be better for your business. 

The best way to narrow it down is to look at the features that come with each tier and match it to your business needs. 

That said, you also need to consider your budget to make sure you can afford the payment (either every month or annually). 

There’s always the option to downgrade, but if that means losing core features you need to run things smoothly, it could do more harm than good.

1) Basic Shopify

Basic Shopify plan will cost you around 29$ per month. 

With the Shopify Basic plan, you’ll get two staff accounts, up to four locations, shipping discounts (up to 64%), the option to print shipping labels, and fraud analysis. 

You’ll pay 2.9% + 30 cents as a transaction fee for each online credit card transaction. That rate decreases to 2.7% for in-person credit card transactions.

If you use any other payment gateway besides Shopify Payments, you’ll pay an additional 2.0% in fees. 

This is best for those who are just testing the e-commerce waters. It works well for both physical and digital products.

2) Shopify

Shopify plan will cost you around 79$ per month. 

With this plan, you’ll get everything in the basic plan. Instead of two staff accounts, you’ll get five and up to five locations. 

You’ll get professional reports and up to 72% off shipping. The big difference in the plans is that you’ll get USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing and a reduced transaction fee. 

Under this plan, you’ll pay 2.6% +3 0 cents per transaction for online credit card transactions, 2.5% for in-person transactions, and only 1.0% in fees for payment processors other than Shopify Payments. 

This plan is best for experienced eCommerce merchants who want to save a bit on transaction fees and need additional staff accounts or store locations. 

If you want reporting features to keep a closer eye on your financial health and customer demographics, you’ll want this Shopify plan.

3) Advanced Shopify

Advanced Shopify plan will cost you around 299$ per month. 

Under this plan, you’ll get everything in the middle-tier plan, with 15 staff accounts, up to eight locations, an advanced report building, and third-party calculated shipping rates. 

Your shipping discount increases slightly, to up to 74% off. Your transaction fees decrease to 2.4% + 30 cents per transaction and 0.5% in fees for payment gateways other than Shopify Payments. 

This plan is best for larger eCommerce outfits that have multiple brick and mortar store locations. 

It offers the flexibility to build advanced reports along with the ability to show calculated shipping rates at checkout.

4) Shopify Plus

By choosing Shopify Plus you can have a custom plan and pricing. 

This solution is best for enterprises, and what brands like Staples and Heinz use. 

To use the Shopify Plus plan, you’ll have to contact Shopify to discuss your needs for a quote. 

Expect the fees to start at around $2,000 per month. What do you get for the minimum $1,700 a month price increase?

• A dedicated support team with priority level support
• Two additional clone storefronts for globalization purposes
• Better access to support for your development team for customization purposes

Conclusion

Overall, Shopify is one of the best hosted solutions for those wishing to create an online store and arguably the best for anyone who wants to use one product to sell online AND in a physical location. 

It’s also particularly good for users who are interested in dropshipping.

The product is competitively priced particularly when you consider that abandoned cart saver functionality, a feature which many other platforms charge a premium for on all plans. 

It’s also easy to use, integrates well with a huge range of other apps, and its templates are attractive.

It has a very big user base (1,000,000 users) which also inspires confidence.

The only way to find out if this solution is for you is to test it out fully yourself – a free trial is available here.