Ten Reasons Why You Should Use Shopify As Your Online Store

If you’re a business owner looking to set up an online store, you’re probably weighing the pros and cons of the eCommerce platforms you could choose from. You want something that is easy, affordable and effective. Look no further Shopify. There’s a reason why Shopify has been used to power over 600,000 stores and has over one billion active users. We’re about to give you ten reasons why this software is a great choice for you and your small business.

1. Easy Setup

It seems like setting up an eCommerce store would take hours to perfect, especially when you’re not sure how the platform works yet. However, setting up your site through Shopify only takes a few minutes. Once you create your account, you’ll add your product information, pick a theme, set up your domain and activate your payment processor. Then you’re done! Obviously you’ll make improvements over time but you won’t find another eCommerce platform that makes the setup process any easier than Shopify does.

2. Price

Oh, the things we could all do without the restrictions of a limited budget. However, like most people, you probably do have a limited budget, and you want to get the most for it. Shopify delivers that. There are five different Shopify plans to choose from depending on that budget and your overall business needs and wants. The Shopify Lite plan starts at a mere $9 per month with the most advanced plan, Shopify Plus, being around $2,000 per month. That’s a huge range, so to figure out which one you need, check out this article that breaks down each individual plan.

3. Marketing

Shopify allows you to improve your SEO and increase traffic to your website. Through Shopify, you can generate discount codes, sell your products through your social media sites, post blogs, add product review features and more. You can also add relevant keywords to your site pages and product descriptions that will help users find you. If you ever become overwhelmed with how to increase your SEO rankings, there is a Shopify Kit that provides tips and advice to drive more sales to your site based on your products, customers and overall performance so far.

4. Customization and Appealing Design

Maybe you’re a business wiz but the design and creative part of running an online store has you a little stumped. After all, it’s tough starting from scratch! But no worries. Shopify provides ten free templates that you can use to create an attractive online design. If you decide you want even more customization, there are over 50 other premium templates that you can purchase. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to find a sleek and professional template that will portray the image you want. Of course, if you do happen to possess a passion for design, you can always build your own template too.

5. App Store

Shopify offers over 1,200 different apps that will help you elevate your eCommerce, some which are free while some are pay-to-use. These apps are designed to help you improve your SEO and sell more products. For example, the Tidio Live Chat app allows you to interact with your customers and gives them a way to ask you questions about products and the checkout process. Another app called Socialphotos finds posts about your products that your customers have used on their social media and features it on your product pages. Overall, there’s a huge selection of apps that give you the flexibility to customize your users’ shopping experience.

6. Customer Support

Anytime you start using a platform for the first time, you’re bound to have some questions. Shopify has a 24/7 support team that is able to assist you through live chat, phone and email with great response time. There are also several community forums you can retrieve information from, as well as many beginner guides on how to use the platform. There are some eCommerce platforms that don’t offer a support system at all, so it’s nice to know that an expert is there to help if needed.

7. Integration with social media

With Shopify, you can sell products on all of your social media pages through each one’s sales channel on your Shopify admin. You can also promote your accounts through your store. Several themes come with social media buttons already, although you can also find several apps in the Social Media section of the App Store on Shopify. With these apps, you can do things such as embed your Twitter feed or create a Twitter card to share more info about your store through tweets.

8. Blogs

Blogs are an excellent way to increase traffic to your website and Shopify automatically comes with a built-in blog tool that allows you to create exciting and visually appealing content about your brand, services and products. Blogs boost your SEO and help your listings on the search engine results page, so definitely don’t overlook this feature!

9. Reports

If you’re putting the effort in to create and run an online store through Shopify, you’re going to want proof of results. Shopify also offers many different reports that will give you an idea of what you’re doing well and what you might want to change moving forward. Depending on your plan, Shopify provides finance, acquisition, behavior, marketing, sales, profits, and customer reports. These different reports will give you insight into your store’s recent activity, visitors and transactions.

10. Abandoned Cart Reminders

Shopify is a pretty smart system. One of its highly beneficial features is the Abandoned Checkout Reminder. When a customer visiting your site adds things to their cart but leaves without purchasing them, Shopify will save their cart information and send them a reminder email, giving them the option to recover their cart and purchase the items they had originally put in it.

There are many more reasons than just these ten that prove that Shopify is a great choice for those that want a reliable and effective eCommerce platform. Elevate your business performance and set up your account today!