What is Shopify?
Shopify is an e-Commerce solution that specializes in giving customers access to all the parts of an online store in a single, convenient package.
When customers purchase Shopify, they can customize their online store, connect multiple sales channels, manage products and inventory, fulfill orders, and track their metrics all from the same software. For first time online sellers, this is a great package to get your business off the ground in a very uniform and cohesive manner.
Shopify is one of the most popular e-Commerce solution because it is the best of both power and simplicity. Instead of going to multiple individual solutions for each part of your online site, why not get all you need in one software? Shopify has a plethora of tools and customization options to make your online store exactly what you want it to be.
Options
Pricing for Shopify comes in 3 tiers: Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify. The monthly fee for these tiers is $29, $79, and $299 respectively. Each higher tier comes with progressively better features and benefits. Every higher tier reduces the cost to process credit card transactions. If customers choose to use external payment gateways, the fees for these are also reduced with each higher tier.
In addition to a greater number of staff accounts per customer, each tier gives added benefits such as gift card support and real-time carrier shipping. Each tier can have the retail package added on for a flat rate of $40 per month.
Choosing a Tier
So which Shopify tier works best for your business?
Plan 1: Basic Shopify
As the Shopify pricing page indicates, the Basic Shopify package is best for customers looking to start a new business. You don’t yet know exactly what features you will need or use, all you know is that you have a product and you need a way to sell it.
Plan 2: Shopify (Standard)
The standard Shopify package is best for growing your existing business. You’ve been selling your product online for a little while, but it’s time to move forward.
Maybe you want to consolidate several e-Commerce solutions into a single package, something that Shopify is known for doing extremely well. Maybe your volume has grown to a level that makes more sense to have more capable software. Perhaps you’ve noticed a need for a few features or tools that are only available in the standard Shopify tier. If any of these are the case, it may be best to go with the Shopify tier.
Shopify Advanced
Maybe you have quite a bit of experience and history in the e-Commerce field. You have a very successful business and you know exactly what your customers want. It may be time to get the Shopify Advanced tier.
This tier gives the lowest rates on credit card transaction fees, the highest savings on shipping label printing, and offers some of the best features and tools in the industry. It's also the only package that gives you live shipping rates from USPS, UPS, and FEDEX.
Who Uses Shopify
Shopify users are in good company. Some big names use Shopify for their e-Commerce needs, such as
- Tesla - http://shop.teslamotors.com/
- Google - https://store.google.com/
- Wikipedia - https://store.wikimedia.org/
- LA Lakers - http://lakersstore.com/
Competitor Options
The biggest competitors for Shopify are BigCommerce, Magento, and WooCommerce. Shopify and BigCommerce differ from Magento and Woocommerce in that they are hosted and maintained for you This removes the burden of scaling and tech support from the customer. Magento and WooCommerce have more customization option than Shopify, but require more active management and tech support by the customer.
Learn more at: https://www.shopify.com/