Shopify is trusted by over 500,000 businesses to sell their products online, it has great back-end options and reporting, and takes minutes to set-up. Here’s my short list of the pros and cons of Shopify.
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- Simple & Clear Pricing
It costs $29/month for their basic plan (for most of us, that’s all we’ll need), but note credit card transaction fees are extra (you'll need to factor this into almost any e-commerce solution) - Custom Shop Names
You can buy a custom domain name through Shopify (did I mention easy??), connect or transfer an existing one, or use the Shopify provided free domain (which is always yourstorename.myshopify.com). - Use it as a complete website
This is huge for small businesses who don't already have a website! Shopify allows you to add any additional pages such as an about page, contact, even a blog- so you can kill two birds with one stone. No limit on the number of pages you can have - Sell Gift Card
The basic $29/month plan allows you to sell gift cards (compare this to Squarespace, where you need to upgrade to a higher plan to do this), which is an important feature for most small businesses - Customizable Themes
Its easy to customize the look of your store to match your branding, and you can choose from 11 different free themes - Cost
Cheaper options exist with Wordpress or with Shopify Lite. For a small business, that monthly fee adds up pretty quick. - Limited (free) Design options
You can pay for additional designs, but this adds to your cost
- Simple & Clear Pricing
There's no one-size-fits-all solution to e-commerce, and you should always do your homework and investigate your options thoroughly before deciding what works for you. If you're just starting the process, check out my Quick Guide to Choosing an E-Commerce Solution which can help you choose the easiest path forward for your small business. You can also check out my online webinar where I show how to set-up an online shop using Shopify and Squarespace.