Is Shopify the Best? Choosing your E-commerce Website Platform.
This article is for small business owners who wear many hats and are looking to create their first e-commerce site that is easy to manage and built for the DIYer. Disclaimer: There are more powerful e-commerce options that exist and I've chosen to focus on a couple I've found that are budget and DIY-friendly.
There are many great website platforms available when prioritizing e-commerce. Choosing which one is best for you can be very confusing and overwhelming. When you first start googling, you'll often find Shopify first. Two additional options I recommend considering for your first site include Squarespace and Squareup.
Important factors such as cost, design ability, and cart features will be covered regarding each of these 3 options.
Cost
Shopify ($29 - $299/m)
Squarespace ($18 - $40/m)
Squareup (free - $72/m)
Design Ability
Shopify (3 out of 10)
Homepage is designed with an easy to manipulate drag and drop builder
Additional pages are limited in design options and are challenging to design without custom code
Check-out pages are limited in design to color/font changes
Squarespace (7 out of 10)
Homepage and all other pages are pretty easy to design once you get the hang of it.
Check-out pages are somewhat flexible to design
Squareup (2 out of 10)
Design is very limited overall
Cart Features
Shopify
Shopify is designed around e-commerce. Some of the functions provided in the most basic plan are things you would have to pay more for on other website platforms. Shopify offers over 100 payment options, a simple check out and automatic calculations for shipping providers. To learn more about the cart features Shopify offers in depth visit this link: https://www.shopify.com/online/ecommerce-solutions#cart.
Squarespace
Squarespace gives users the opportunity to customize the checkout experience they desire. Specifically, there is a checkout settings panel where you can enable express checkout, newsletter subscription, terms and service, abandoned cart recovery and more. The level of detail regarding checkout and cart options will depend on which plan you have.
Squareup
Squareup allows many different payment processors, including Google and Apple pay. It also has advanced settings and the option to make and edit your own store policies. A square website will also automatically sync with square technology, which is an easy-to-use portable card acceptor that is commonly used at in-person stores.
There really isn’t a right or wrong answer.
Every person’s decision will vary based on their needs, desires, and priorities.
Some things to think about are: where you see your business in five years, if you’re going to hire someone to initially set up your website, how comfortable you are with managing your site for additional design edits, and your budget.
All three of these e-commerce site platforms are great options for starting a business, growing a business, or validating your business with a website and online store.