Advantages of Shopify: Benefits and Limitations for Ecommerce Businesses
If you're considering launching an ecommerce website, redesigning an existing online store or moving away from your current ecommerce platform, there's a good chance Shopify is on your shortlist.
And for good reason.
Shopify has become one of the world's leading ecommerce platforms, used by businesses ranging from startups and independent brands to major international retailers.
At Maxim Consulting Services, we work with Shopify businesses across a wide range of sectors. We've built new Shopify stores, migrated established ecommerce businesses onto Shopify and helped existing Shopify retailers improve their websites, functionality and customer experience.
So, what are the advantages of using Shopify, and are there any limitations you should consider before choosing it for your business?
Here are the most important things we've learned from working with Shopify.
1. Shopify is built specifically for ecommerce
Perhaps the biggest advantage of Shopify is that ecommerce isn't an add-on to the platform — it's what Shopify was created to do.
Products, collections, inventory, orders, customers, discounts, payments and shipping can all be managed from a central Shopify admin.
For businesses moving from a more general website platform or a complicated ecommerce setup, that can make day-to-day management considerably easier.
It's also one of the reasons we often recommend Shopify to businesses that have reached the point where their existing platform no longer suits their ecommerce ambitions.
Find out more about our Shopify ecommerce website design services.
2. Shopify is relatively easy to manage
You shouldn't need to contact a web developer every time you want to add a product, change a price or create a promotion.
Shopify's admin is designed to allow businesses to manage much of their ecommerce operation themselves.
Depending on your setup, your team can manage things such as:
Products and collections
Pricing and inventory
Orders and customers
Discount codes
Website content
Blog articles
Navigation
Delivery options
Basic reporting and analytics
For us, that's an important benefit.
We want our clients to have control over their websites after we've built them, while knowing we're there when they need help with something more complicated.
3. Shopify can grow with your business
Another major benefit of Shopify is scalability.
The requirements of a small ecommerce business can be very different from those of an established retailer processing significant order volumes.
Shopify offers different plans and an extensive ecosystem of apps, integrations and development options, allowing the platform to evolve as a business grows.
For larger and more complex ecommerce operations, Shopify Plus provides additional functionality aimed at high-volume and enterprise merchants.
This means businesses don't necessarily have to replace their ecommerce platform simply because they've grown.
4. Shopify has a huge app and integration ecosystem
No ecommerce platform can provide every piece of functionality every business might need out of the box.
One of Shopify's biggest advantages is its ecosystem.
The Shopify App Store provides integrations covering areas such as:
Email marketing
Product reviews
Subscriptions
Loyalty programmes
Product personalisation
Wishlists
Back-in-stock notifications
B2B and wholesale
Booking systems
Shipping and fulfilment
Accounting
Customer service
Search and filtering
We've implemented many different combinations of these for our clients.
The important thing isn't installing as many apps as possible. It's choosing the right ones and making sure they work together effectively.
Too many unnecessary apps can add cost and complexity and potentially affect site performance.
5. Shopify offers professional design flexibility
Shopify provides a large selection of free and paid themes that can form an excellent starting point for an ecommerce website.
But a Shopify website doesn't have to look like an off-the-shelf template.
Themes can be configured and customised around a company's branding, products and customers. More advanced development can provide further flexibility where required.
At Maxim, our approach to Shopify web design starts with understanding the business and the customer journey rather than simply choosing a theme.
The objective is to create a website that looks good and makes it easy for customers to find and buy products.
6. Shopify works well on mobile
Mobile ecommerce is hugely important, so an online store needs to work properly on smaller screens.
Modern Shopify themes are responsive, adapting their layouts for desktop, tablet and mobile devices.
But responsive design alone isn't enough.
Navigation, product imagery, product information, filters, buttons, checkout and page speed all contribute to the mobile customer experience.
We therefore look at mobile usability as an integral part of a Shopify project rather than something that's considered after the desktop site has been completed.
7. Shopify makes payments and checkout straightforward
Shopify provides a mature ecommerce checkout and supports a wide range of payment methods.
Shopify Payments can simplify payment processing, while businesses can also offer appropriate accelerated and alternative payment methods.
Reducing unnecessary friction during checkout is important because every additional obstacle gives a potential customer another opportunity to abandon their purchase.
Shopify's focus on ecommerce means the checkout experience has been developed specifically around converting visitors into customers.
8. Shopify provides useful SEO functionality
One of the questions we're frequently asked when businesses consider moving ecommerce platforms is:
“Will moving to Shopify affect our Google rankings?”
Shopify provides the core functionality required to build an SEO-friendly ecommerce website, including editable page titles, meta descriptions, headings, image alt text, automatically generated sitemaps and canonical URLs.
However, simply using Shopify doesn't guarantee good Google rankings.
Site structure, content, product and collection optimisation, internal linking, page performance and backlinks all matter.
And when you're migrating an existing ecommerce website to Shopify, SEO planning becomes particularly important.
Existing URLs need to be mapped carefully and appropriate 301 redirects implemented so that valuable pages aren't simply lost when the new website launches.
That's something we consider from the beginning of our Shopify migration projects.
9. Shopify is suitable for international ecommerce
For businesses selling internationally, Shopify provides functionality to help manage different markets.
Depending on the business and Shopify setup, this can include different currencies, languages, domains, pricing and market-specific customer experiences.
This can make Shopify an attractive platform for ecommerce businesses that are already selling internationally or have ambitions to do so.
International ecommerce can still introduce complexities around tax, duties, shipping and fulfilment, so these requirements should be considered as part of the overall ecommerce strategy.
10. Shopify reduces some of the technical burden
Running an ecommerce website involves more than designing pages and uploading products.
Hosting, security, software updates and infrastructure all need to be managed.
With a hosted platform such as Shopify, much of that underlying technical infrastructure is managed for you.
For businesses moving from some self-hosted or bespoke ecommerce platforms, this can be an important advantage.
Rather than maintaining the underlying ecommerce software and hosting environment, the business can concentrate more of its attention on products, customers, marketing and growth.
What are the limitations of Shopify?
There are plenty of advantages to Shopify, but that doesn't mean it's automatically the right platform for every business.
There are some limitations worth considering.
Shopify has ongoing costs
Shopify charges a monthly subscription and businesses may also pay for premium themes, apps and additional services.
An individual app may appear inexpensive, but multiple monthly app subscriptions can add up.
We therefore recommend considering the total cost of running the ecommerce platform, rather than simply comparing the headline monthly Shopify subscription with another platform.
Some functionality requires apps
Shopify provides extensive functionality out of the box, but businesses with more specialist requirements will often need apps or custom development.
That's not necessarily a disadvantage — the app ecosystem is one of Shopify's strengths — but it needs to be planned properly.
Before building or migrating a store, we identify important functionality and determine whether Shopify provides it natively, an app is appropriate or custom development is required.
Highly bespoke requirements can require development
Shopify offers considerable flexibility, but it remains a structured ecommerce platform.
Businesses with unusual workflows, complex integrations or highly bespoke functionality may require additional development.
In some cases, another platform may genuinely be more appropriate.
That's why we don't believe businesses should choose Shopify simply because it's popular.
The platform should fit the requirements of the business.
Shopify advantages vs limitations
In simple terms, some of the biggest advantages of Shopify are:
It's built specifically for ecommerce.
It's straightforward for businesses to manage.
It can support businesses as they grow.
It has an extensive app and integration ecosystem.
It offers strong design flexibility.
It provides a mature checkout and payment experience.
It supports international ecommerce.
Much of the underlying technical infrastructure is managed for you.
It provides the foundations required for ecommerce SEO.
The potential limitations of Shopify include:
Monthly platform costs.
Additional app costs.
Some specialist functionality requiring apps or development.
Less freedom over the underlying platform than a completely bespoke system.
For many ecommerce businesses, we believe the advantages comfortably outweigh the limitations. But the right answer depends on what your business actually needs.
Why businesses move to Shopify
We increasingly speak to established ecommerce businesses that aren't starting from scratch.
They already have an online store but are considering whether their current platform is still the right one.
Reasons for considering a move can include the cost and complexity of maintaining an existing platform, reliance on developers for everyday changes, difficulty integrating new ecommerce tools or simply wanting a platform better suited to the next stage of the business.
We've worked with businesses moving to Shopify from other ecommerce platforms and understand that replatforming is about much more than transferring products from one system to another.
Products, customers, content, integrations, design, functionality, SEO, redirects and the customer journey all need to be considered.
If you're thinking about changing platforms, read more about our Shopify migration services.
Is Shopify right for your business?
For many businesses, yes.
Shopify is particularly attractive for businesses that want a dedicated ecommerce platform that's relatively straightforward to manage while providing plenty of scope for future growth.
But choosing an ecommerce platform is an important decision.
At Maxim Consulting Services, we're not simply Shopify developers. We bring more than 20 years of digital experience to our projects and look at ecommerce from a commercial as well as technical perspective.
We work with businesses to understand what they're trying to achieve, recommend the right approach and then help deliver it.
Whether you're launching a new Shopify store, improving an existing one or considering moving from another ecommerce platform, we'd be happy to talk.
Our Ecommerce Portfolio.
We have built Ecommerce websites for many brands and won a few awards along the way, click to have a look.
If you are looking for something similar please get in touch.
You can view our website here
https://www.maximconsultingservices.co.uk/
