How is Shopify a good eCommerce platform for startup businesses?

The Shopify platform had over 457 million customers purchase items off their platform in 2020. This number increased by 52.33%  in 2021. So for those thinking, is Shopify a good platform for a startup e-commerce business? The answer is yes, it is a great platform for startup businesses.

How does Shopify compare to other eCommerce platforms such as Magento or BigCommerce?

Is Shopify an eCommerce platform? Of course, it is, is Shopify the best eCommerce platform? This would be subjective. Shopify has many competitors in the e-commerce industry. The top two competitors are Magento and Bigcommerce. Let’s compare these three for their values for new startup businesses.

Pricing

Magento is perhaps the most expensive out of these options because its annual cost ranges from about $22,000 to $125,000. For the Magento cloud edition, your total quote may come out at around $40,000 to $125,000 per annum.

The Basic Shopify plan costs $29 per month and 2.9% of the total transaction value plus 30 cents. The Shopify plan will cost $79 per month with 2.6% of the total transaction value to + 30 cents. The Shopify Advanced plan costs $299 per month and 2.4% of the total transaction value + 30 cents. This makes Shopify quite affordable. BigCommerce has the same costs for its Basic, Essentials, and Advanced plans.

Theme selections

Magento has no themes which come along with native software. Businesses must find or purchase their themes.

Shopify and BigCommerce on the other hand provide hundreds of free and paid themes that businesses can use.

Hosting

Magento provides third-party, on-premise, and cloud-based hosting servers to their clients. These depend upon the user of the store. Shopify and BigCommerce both provide cloud-based hosting that is included in your pricing plans themselves.

Security

Magento will be as secure as the developers make it. You will have to take care of the SSL and TLS certifications yourself. The site is vulnerable to SQL injections as well as in 2019, such an attack left almost 300,000 Magento stores at risk. Shopify handles and provides you with an SSL themselves and meets the 6 stages of PCI standards. BigCommerce is quite secure as well but has compliance for PCI-1 level only.

Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce have their pros and cons. It would be best to understand which platform works for them best. Magento works for those teams that have resources and expertise. Shopify is ideal for small-scale startups which could then be supported by their advanced plans once the business grows. BigCommerce is a great fit for businesses looking for an Omnichannel experience and has their stores with a positive cash flow. So if you are a startup business and wondering, is Shopify a good eCommerce platform for small businesses like me? Then the answer would be yes, it is perhaps the best.

Is Shopify suitable for start-ups and small businesses?

Small businesses that search for opportunities often wonder is Shopify the best platform for them. And the answer is yes! All these small stores can use Shopify for their startups easily. Shopify has all the features needed for their stores and offers great features for startups. It is great for businesses that want to sell online as well. Shopify provides you with an easy way to launch the business.

It is quite cost-effective as well as offers built-in templates that can be used to create attractive online stores. You can even use Folio3 Shopify migration services to migrate your store to Shopify if you were based on another e-commerce platform or use Folio3 Shopify integration to synchronize both your stores.

What are the pros and cons of using Shopify for eCommerce?

Every e-commerce platform has its pros and cons. The Shopify platform is perhaps the most famous platform for e-commerce businesses. However, to leverage the benefits of Shopify, it is best to hire Folio3 Shopify development services as only then can help you better utilize the potential Shopify will provide for your startup store.

Platform Usability

The main goal for the startup business owners is to increase the sales of their stores without facing hindrance from technology or any other tedious administrative tasks. One significant advantage of Shopify is that this e-commerce platform also assists in managing the technological needs of the store. It provides a clear interface and access to real-time data. Shopify also has a powerful hosting platform that can also take care of the transaction processing time. This is also why the Average Shopify Store Revenue is among the highest as store owners know what to do to increase sales. Is Shopify a good eCommerce platform for those who are less tech-savvy? The answer is yes.

Shopify is a great platform for less tech-savvy users. If you are looking for more functionalities for the store, it is best to consider Shopify competitors such as WordPress or Magento. These provide much more functionalities as compared to Shopify and also offer a much more flexible approach with theme customizations and also help in managing larger stores. If you want to stay on Shopify, it is best to Hire Shopify Developer and utilize their custom Shopify development skills for your startup store.

The Shopify App store

One of the strongest aspects Shopify provides is that it has over 1,200 ready-to-install applications that can help automate your tasks allowing you time to invest in more important and operational aspects of the store. For instance, by automating email marketing for the store, you can focus on making new marketing strategies for the store to increase sales. There are newer applications available as well to help you with customer service, accounting for the store, shipping, inventory management, reporting and so much more. These tools can also simplify your life by providing you with the technology that is needed to scale your store.

As amazing as these Shopify applications are, they do require fees that are associated with the use of these applications. These fees need to be paid and this becomes an extra burden for the startups. Furthermore, you will have to manually install these applications which is time-consuming. You could hire a Shopify guru to do these tasks for you, but of course, you will have to pay them as well.

Shopify storefront themes

One of the biggest advantages of Shopify is that Shopify can provide a beautiful storefront theme. These make your website look even more professional and beautiful which can help you retain existing customers and convert visitors to customers. Shopify provides the merchants with several themes as options for the store as well. These themes can be categorized by industry: Jewelry and Accessories, Furniture, Food & Beverage, Art & Photography and so much more. You can check them out to see which fits the store best. These themes are mobile-responsive as well which boosts Search Engine Optimization. Is Shopify a good eCommerce platform with regards to the themes, yes it is perhaps the best.

Unfortunately, there are only ten free theme templates. If you don’t like the templates, you will have to pay a one-time fee for the store to use the other themes. If you want to customize the store, you will have to hire Shopify Development Partners. You can hire Folio3 Shopify Theme Customization to get the most interactive themes at the best price.

24/7 support

Shopify has support agents round the clock. These dedicated support teams are available via emails and live chats. You can even call them 24/7 via your contact numbers on their different numbers for different zones.

If you are facing technical problems, there may not always be help provided to you regarding your query. Instead, you will have to post your question on the Shopify community forum to get help from an actual developer. Support numbers are only listed for the US, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Discounts and marketing tools      

Shopify provides its clients with several marketing tools that can help increase the page SEO rankings, automate other tasks such as abandoned cart emails, and share the store on social media. You could do the following easily:

• Sell your store products on other platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media.
• Generate discount codes for the store.
• Create blogs on your store page. It is an in-built feature that can increase page ranking, and increase store traffic. In these blogs, you can also carry out Affiliate Marketing on shopify.
• Generate discount codes for the store.
• Use accelerated mobile pages to help increase the speed of content delivery to mobile shoppers. This can improve the shopping experience of your customers and also allow SEO prioritization for Google.
• You can also get automatically generated sitemaps, these are used by Google to analyze the content on all the website pages.

These tools such as the AMP (accelerated mobile pages) feature will require a fee to work in your store. Only when you pay for these will you be able to use them. Similarly, SEO features are also a pay-to-use plugin. The exporting of bogs is a hassle on Shopify. Similarly, not all customers can use multiple discounts, only one discount per order can be used. For multiple discounts, you will need the Shopify Plus Plan.

Shopify has its pros and cons. To make the most out of the store, it is best to hire services from folio3 Shopify web design solutions so that you can easily

How much does it cost to use Shopify for eCommerce, and is it worth the investment?”

For those who question is shopify the best eCommerce platform? It is according to many since it has a very high Average Shopify Store Revenue . The initial cost for the Shopify store will depend on multiple things. The Shopify pricing structure is quite simple. You will pay a fixed price and transaction fees which will differ depending upon the plan that is chosen.

1. The Basic Shopify plan costs $29 per month and 2.9% of the total transaction value plus 30 cents.
2. The Shopify plan will cost $79 per month with 2.6% of the total transaction value to + 30 cents.
3. The Shopify Advanced plan costs $299 per month and 2.4% of the total transaction value + 30 cents.

How do I get started with Shopify, and what are the steps involved?

The basic steps needed to start with Shopify are listed below. You can follow these steps but also make sure that you carry out these steps correctly and in order.

1. First, select a business name for the store.
2. Create a Shopify account by choosing the appropriate plan.
3. Add the products to the store that you are selling.
4. Set up payments for the store.
5. Customize the checkout for your store.
6. Generate any required policies for the store.
7. It is best to add a free shipping rate.
8. Set up taxes for the store.
9. Open your store for the public.

FAQs is Shopify a good eCommerce platform for startup businesses:

How easy is it to set up a shop on Shopify, and can you do it yourself, or do you need help from a Folio3 developer?

Folio3 has developers who are certified in Shopify development and have experience and technical coding knowledge of liquid, which is the language in which Shopify is written. If you have a store that stands out, only then can your business be successful. You can set the store up yourself but keep in mind that over 90% of online stores fail within the first five years as they lack technical grounds as most entrepreneurs care about the products, not the code and neither should they. This is why it is best to have a developer by your side.

Who are some of Shopify’s biggest users and what have they achieved with the platform?

Some of the biggest users of Shopify include Gymshark which has a market value of $1.3 billion. It began in 2012 and now has over 5 million followers. Experts factor in the choice of Gymshark using to provide services to their consumers as a major factor in their success. Similarly, Fitbit also uses Shopify services and has a market valuation of $2.1 billion. They were able to expand globally as they used Shopify to provide their customers with their consumer electronics. Also for those wondering, is Shopify a good eCommerce platform for all niches? The answer is yes as it is practically proven.

Are there any other tools or services that go well with Shopify, and how can they help your business grow online?

Perhaps one of the most important services that a Shopify store should have, is theme development. These themes should be developed using professional companies such as Folio3 Shopify Theme Development Company. It is because an attractive theme retains your customers and also increases the conversion of new customers.