Let's get right down to it: If you’re wondering if you should be on Shopify...it’s a good indication that you should probably be on Shopify. Born in Canada, loved by 1.2 million people, there are few platforms quite like this one. Known for its robust e-commerce experience that’s baked into the core codebase, it truly is a powerhouse that allows for efficient product fulfillment and management, as well as a finely tailored user experience.
Think of it as your command center, where you have an overabundance of key product data at your fingertips that combines seamlessly with site development, and Shopify’s laboriously optimized checkout flow. Wholly customizable, businesses have the ability to deliver a premium experience that reflects their brand—all with a streamlined backend. When it comes to e-commerce simplicity, nothing really compares. Here’s an overview of the platform’s standout features:
With Shopify, the details that can make e-commerce a real headache to manage—shipping, fulfillment, payment processing, discounts, point of sale, integrations—are all built into the platform, so that you have access to everything you need from your dashboard.
The platform is built to integrate with existing shipping, fulfillment, and payment processing systems, but it also offers its own solutions. Shopify Shipping offers discounted rates with USPS, UPS, and DHL while providing simplified tools for printing labels, fulfilling, and tracking orders from the same place you manage products, customers, and inventory. Meanwhile, Shopify Payments allows you to accept credit cards and other online payment methods (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.), with fraud prevention features and multiple currencies available.
Regardless of the store in question, Shopify’s checkout flow is always the same: A series of digestible checkout steps with a consistent layout and design that’s proven to maximize conversions. Because while customized pages, features, and interactions to match your brand and wow customers may increase engagement throughout the rest of your website, data has proven that this rigid, rapid, recognizable approach to the transactional pages of your website is ideal for conversions.
Within Shopify’s checkout, customers navigate through four mobile-friendly steps—Information, Shipping, Payment, and Review—with helpful auto-fill features along the way to speed things along. What’s more, customers can opt to save their information with Shop Pay, an accelerated checkout system that lets them save their email address, credit card, and shipping and billing information for the next time they are directed to the Shopify checkout on any website.
Shopify’s Theme Store provides a solid head start on the design and development of your website. You can browse more than 100 Shopify-approved website templates by industry, layout style, and product volume to home in on the features that will support your brand and business goals, using your selected theme as a springboard for development.
When we work with clients to design and develop Shopify websites, we start with a deep dive into the theme store to gather a sampling of themes to leverage. We look at navigation styles, homepage layouts, collection page layouts, product page layouts, module types, and animations to get a clear sense of how each theme will accelerate our workflow, and then we begin customizing. Whether you’re building your own website or partnering with an agency or contractor, Shopify themes allow for efficient and cost-effective projects.
Shopify’s expansive App Store puts limitless integrations and features at your fingertips. Referral programs, loyalty programs, shoppable Instagram galleries, product bundling, product wishlists, customer profiles, subscription programs...if you can imagine it, it’s likely in the app store.
One benefit of powering more than 500,000 businesses in 175 countries is a seriously robust Help Center. Shopify’s existing documentation includes extensive guides to getting your business set up, migrating from other platforms, setting up products, payments, and shipping, and more. Additionally, the platform offers live support via chat, phone, and email that’s always surprisingly helpful.
