In a retail industry in which half of all businesses are suffering from overchoice when it comes to technology investments, it can be extremely difficult to come to a conclusion on which software is right for your brand. Add a global pandemic into the mix and the necessity of an online presence becomes obvious, but with so much uncertainty, so little time, and more competition than ever before, alighting on the correct ecommerce platform for your business is no easy feat.
Throughout 2020 you couldn’t talk ecommerce without Shopify playing some part in the conversation. Its rise to prominence has been nothing short of meteoric. As of the third quarter of 2020 its GMV was up 109% YoY and over a million businesses across 175 countries are now selling through Shopify. As tens of thousands of retailers have looked to set up an online store as quickly as possible, Shopify has proved to be the go to choice, time and time again.
With 78% of consumers indicating that they will shop online more often over the next 12 months and the pandemic continuing to restrict physical trade, we’ll continue to see an influx of retailers into the online space. If you’re one of them – here are the five reasons you should consider Shopify to power your ecommerce store.
Integration
One of the major considerations when assembling the ideal tech stack for your business is creating a seamless end to end customer experience. Whichever software(s) you opt for must be easily able to integrate with other components of your business. If not, you’ll be forever dealing with bottlenecks and operational issues that will result in delays and unhappy customers.
As an ecommerce tool, Shopify integrates seamlessly with a variety of operational & shipping tools such as Brightpearl and Shipstation and its 2000 strong app store provides the seller with an easy route for adding extra functionalities and features to its store.
Ease of Use
Shopify allows you to create an online store without the headache of coding, nor are software installations or hosting services required. It also provides the end user with a wide array of themes that can be easily customized in line with your own brand identity.
These themes are imperative to building a site that looks and feels fantastic, providing a stellar customer experience and building trust with your customer. Shopify’s usability ensures that you can fully understand your own store, ensuring that the customer journey is seamless throughout and generating a brilliant brand reputation.
The Price is Right
One of the primary things that makes Shopify a good choice for your ecommerce store, particularly in an uncertain year, is its pricing structure. Its ‘Basic Shopify’ Plan begins at just $29 and you can even enjoy a free 14 day trial so there’s no need to worry about huge financial commitments up front.
The ‘Shopify’ plan is a little more expensive at $79 per month, but with this increase in price comes additional features such as extra user accounts (more staff with their own dedicated login) and reporting capabilities.
The ‘Advanced Shopify’ plan comes in at $299 per month but provides a whole host of extra capabilities such as the advanced report builder functionality and the option for shipping to be handled by a third party provider (not a bad add on to have at a time when fulfilment is stretched very thin.)
Finally, there’s Shopify Plus, beginning at $2000 per month this is an enterprise level solution built to grow with your company. You’ll have more access to the Shopify system in order to customize your platform further, 24 hour support to help with the launch of your site and the option to clone storefronts in order to cover different global territories.
At a very uncertain time for retailers across the globe, Shopify’s low monthly cost and transparent pricing is an option that will allow for peace of mind.
Sell Your Way
Recent research has indicated that almost 20% of shoppers are buying via social media channels and with the popularity of influencer marketing continuing to grow, having the flexibility to sell across multiple channels will be key to capturing sales in 2021. Selling across different channels and platforms is a very straightforward process with Shopify, and its integrations with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can help to increase your brand audience and be available to your customer, wherever they are shopping.
All Round Adaptation
Unprecedented, unbelievable, unrecognizable. Words we’ve heard all too often to describe the impact of the coronavirus over the past year. And this will continue to be the case within the retail industry unless merchants can roll with the punches and adapt to a rapidly changing landscape.
Due to Shopify’s relatively low cost and transparent pricing, its ease of use, thousands of integrations and the ability to sell across multiple channels, retailers using this platform will have an all round solution, allowing them to remain competitive and flexible in an environment in which you must adapt in order to survive.
