Shopify – eCommerce Platform
As technology has evolved, people have been leaning towards more “automatic” means of getting what they need or want. eCommerce is booming and is setting up a trend that is here to stay. More and more physical stores are shifting their businesses online to have a chance of surviving. That is why Shopify brings forth the opportunity to make a more favourable environment for businesses of all kinds, ranging from small home businesses to big corporations. Let’s take a closer look.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a one-stop shop for scaling up your business both online and offline. The e-commerce platform began its journey in 2006 back in Ottawa, Ontario intending to bring customers and businessmen together under one platform. This saves time, money, and resources, and Shopify knows how to do it right.
Shopify allows store owners to either sell through their dedicated website or in person via a feature known as Shopify POS. You can use your Android, iPhone, iPad, etc. to acquire payments through the convenient POS app. Moreover, it has integrated marketing tools that help you generate more buzz on your websites, social media handles, online marketplaces and much more.
You can create engaging marketing campaigns and analyse reports on how well your business is doing to stay on top of things. Building a new customer base has never been easier, thanks to its SEO and content marketing tools. Even if you have no idea about effective marketing, Shopify’s built-in features will help you get the push you need. Read below to learn more about its wonderful host of benefits.
Is Shopify for you?
Shopify exists to provide a platform where store owners, especially smaller businesses, have a chance to participate in the market just like all the other big guns. If you have a DIY store, an ethnic trinkets or outfits store, or anything you are proud of, Shopify is the one platform that will help you flourish in your venture.
Independent business owners around the globe have managed to pool about $200 billion. You just need to take on the challenge and go with the flow. If you are worried about messing things up or are unsure of certain things work, Shopify employs a 24/7 support system with experts that will help you with a range of things, like troubleshooting, campaign design and business advice.
Thus, if you intend to see your business soar high in the big leagues, Shopify is the starting point.
Features
As an eCommerce platform, Shopify holds many salient features that make it ridiculously easy for shop owners to run their operations smoothly. Hence, if you consider yourself a noob at this game, take a look at the features outlined.
Free Tools
Shopify comes pre-loaded with a number of free tools that will help your budding online business lift off smoothly. Other platforms compel you to pay a hefty amount for themes to design your online showroom. Shopify, on the other hand, offers you free themes and designs to choose from, so that you are in control.
It allows you to mix and match different designs and customise themes that fit your business branding perfectly. You can choose from a variety of eCommerce-based stock images curated by them. Just choose what fits your business model closely.
You can even opt for their professional photography services, where you can have items sent over to be done the way you want. You can utilise the different tools to get your idealistic online showroom appearance.
Cloud Network
The common compromise that most entrepreneurs have to make is to share a hosting server. Servers tend to crash very frequently and at the wrong times. This leads to spiraling downtimes, ultimately making you lose a ton of money.
Thanks to Shopify, you can rest easy knowing that all your data will be stored in a cloud network. The chances of the cloud network abruptly shutting down on you are next to zero, and the price for the network is included within your subscription bundle as well.
Admin Controls
The Shopify admin controls can display graphs, charts, and bars, informing you on how your store is performing. You can view real-time data and explore where your store is particularly doing well. This will help you understand what to do next to keep revenue coming in. This will also help you understand where your store needs a little more work so that you can take the necessary measures.
Shopify Academy
Shopify offers free courses to learn the ins and outs of how Shopify works and how each of the features and options can be utilised to work better for you. These courses are free of charge so that you can learn whenever it is convenient for you.
Pricing
If you end up liking their services using their free trial version, Shopify has monthly plans in three categories.
The Basic Shopify has all the features you need to start a business. It starts at a monthly rate of $29. The Shopify Plan has all the features you would require to develop your business, at $79 per month. And lastly, Advanced Shopify has just the right tools to scale up your business at a whopping charge of $299 per month. It seems to be quite a significant leap in price, but if you want more professional-grade maintenance of your online store, without having to break a sweat, the price is worth it.
Verdict
Shopify has made it clear that their aim is to create a renewed faith in online store management. Try out their trial version and see if you like what Shopify has to offer. We are sure that you will find pretty much everything you are looking for, to launch or scale your venture!
