4 reasons Shopify is the best platform for your eCommerce business

Weighing the pros and cons to determine which platform to run your e-Commerce business on is a big decision. The platform itself can have highly ranked reviews, a pristine brand, excellent customer service, and impressive, cutting-edge features. But is it right for your business?

Spoiler Alert: We’re all in for Shopify as our top choice.

Keep reading to learn what Shopify is exactly, and why it’s the best hosting platform overall for your e-Commerce business.  

(Or you can click here to jump down to the TL;DR)

What is Shopify?

In its own words, Shopify defines itself as “a complete commerce platform that lets you start, grow, and manage a business” unifying all of your commerce – from pop-up shops to brick-and-mortar to your website, and other devices and online marketplaces – from a single, integrated platform.

Are you starting to see why Shopify is our go-to at Elementum?

It allows us to create stylish and effective Shopify themes, apps and products. By doing so, it also helps us in our mission to open up doors to equity and opportunities for merchants that would have a hard time competing in the market otherwise.

How does Shopify compare to Magento and Woocommerce?

Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento (now Adobe Commerce powered by Magento) are all popular eCommerce platforms vying for your attention and business. But how do they compare to one another?

Generally, WooCommerce works well for converting Wordpress sites into online stores. Magento is an open-source platform that gives companies lots of flexibility and customization options. 

What makes Shopify the best overall? Well, it’s more user-friendly with supportive business operation functions. It reduces the cost of running a business and helps small, boot-strapping businesses run and scale their companies from the start! But it also supports business growth and expansion with bigger brands, like Staples.

Take a look for yourself to see how it compares:

(Source)

4 reasons Shopify is the top choice for eCommerce

There are plenty of reasons to love Shopify, but these four stand out among the rest.

User friendly

From its built-in, easy-to-set-up marketing tools to 24/7 tech support, Shopify takes the guesswork out of starting and running an online store. Its SEO and marketing tools allow merchants to add meta titles and descriptions, create unique URLs, and integrate social media pages, such as Pinterest and Facebook.

Additionally, its sales tracker, reports feature, and advanced analytics help you identify where your customers are coming from, which products are best-sellers, and where visitors abandon your site. This powerful data informs you to make better decisions to increase sales and improve business.

Customizable

Understanding it’s your business and you want to do it your way, Shopify lets you take the driver’s seat when it comes to choosing the look and feel of your website. 

Its templates include a variety of aesthetically pleasing and professionally designed themes to fit your brand while still giving room to make tweaks, or even hiring Shopify developers for more rigorous site changes.

The average market value for a custom-built is around $30,000,  which can easily escalate into six figures if the customizations are lofty or extensive.

Driven by our mission to close the equity gap, Elementumn offers custom-built Shopify themes at a fraction of that cost while still maintaining a professional look, high-performing functionality, and a top-notch website experience for users. 

App enabled

Shopify knows that options and convenience are the real currencies businesses use to secure, appease, and retain customers in today’s market. That’s why Shopify’s app-enablement from payment gateways to being an omnichannel-selling platform are the real MVPs.

Shopify gives merchants access to more than 100 payment gateways, including PayPal, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and international options. It also features its own payment gateway that eliminates transaction fees and offers lower credit card fees.

Have an Amazon store? Shopify makes it easy for integration with other popular online marketplaces from Amazon to Etsy. And there are even more apps that aid in other aspects of making your e-Commerce business operate effectively and efficiently.

Cost effective

Need to try before you buy? No problem. Shopify’s free trial allows you to take it for a test drive before making a commitment. You’ll need to set up an account to get started. Next, go wild! You can play with all the bells and whistles that it has to offer, or do trial runs of how to add products and what the design could look like.

The one restriction during the free trial is that you can’t go live, but it does provide you with a test domain to show you, as close as possible, what the real thing feels like. As of February 2023, packages range from $29 (Basic), $79 (Shopify) and $299 (Advanced) billed monthly, with options to trial run each.

Shopify cuts the cost of doing business with its all-in-one features of marketing, financing, reporting and sales.

Bottom line:

Shopify is the most equitable choice. While it’s favored among small or start-up businesses looking to grow, its features accommodate those businesses who are low on resources and manpower, and can benefit from the following:

• Automated tools

• Optimization

• Apps

• State-of-the-art software

• Best business practices

These features provide benefits that help with efficiency, seamless business operations, built-in administration, and improved customer service.

TL;DR

Choosing the best platform to sell on can be perplexing and confusing. Overall, Shopify comes in as the best platform for selling and scaling your business.  

The top 4 benefits of choosing Shopify for your business include:

• It’s user-friendly equipped with built-in features, SEO and marketing tools, and 24/7 tech support, making it easy for you to be successful.

• It’s customizable, offering a variety of professional and appealing site themes for you to choose from.

• It’s app-enabled. From omnichannel selling to a plethora of payment gateways and more, Shopify’s app-enablement is like dozens of  little Fairy Godmothers for your business.

• It’s cost-effective. Not only can you try it for free for two weeks and see for yourself before choosing from its affordable packages, but it packs a powerhouse of built-in business resources for a fraction of what would typically cost thousands of dollars.