What is Shopify? This question may arise in the mind of many Shopify Store owners as they mull over the advantages and benefits of becoming a Shopify Retail Solutions Provider. If you’re pondering about it, then you need to know more about the ground-break features that distinguish Shopify from its competitors. In this article, Darren Hardy exposes the salient points that make it a standout among the leading online marketplaces.
The most outstanding feature that distinguishes Shopify from the rest of the online store platforms is its user-friendly interface and zero-fee shopping cart. Shopify provides an extensive range of add-ons and tools, apart from its robust and scalable E-Commerce platform. These features help users start selling right away without investing in eCommerce software or signing up with a web development firm. For a Shopify Store owner, this translates to maximum potential for online sales at the earliest.
Unlike many other eCommerce solutions providers, a Shopify Store does not have a homepage but is built around the core attributes, which are search engine optimization and conversion tracking. Once your site is set up, the system automatically serves relevant content to your visitors, according to predefined parameters such as the layout, appearance, featured content, product catalogs, etc. All you need to do is load your product pages, create your own pages, upload your photos and videos, and start marketing your products.
A Shopify Store can be operating entirely using the credit card or PayPal platform. The credit card payment gateway acts as the online store owner’s bank, accepting payments in real time from buyers. PayPal is one of the most popular online wallet providers and has recently partnered with Shopify to offer an innovative and streamlined payment gateway for Shopify Store owners. This means that your buyers will never leave the comfort of their homes or offices to complete their shopping – it’s all done online! And thanks to advanced security features and Shopify integration, there are no problems arising regarding credit card security.
When setting up a Shopify Store, you will need to decide whether you would like to use a third-party credit card payment gateway or not. If you choose to use a third-party payment gateway, you will have to share a percentage of all sales made from your customers (this is known as the ‘Shopify percentage’) with the company who operates the payment gateway. Shopify makes this process easy by providing online guides, which walk you through the whole process. However, some people prefer to start selling online straight away without any payment gateways. In this case, they will have to learn more about setting up their own Shopify Store and incorporating their own payment gateways, or take the help of Shopify to shoplift store templates that are available in various formats.
Once your Store is up and running, you will have to look at ways in which you can receive payments from your customers and how you are going to pay your suppliers. You have the choice to either use a third-party fulfillment service or to integrate your own fulfillment services directly into your ecommerce website. If you opt to integrate your own fulfillment service, you will have to start building your list of suppliers and choosing the best ones for your products and services – you will then have to send out an email to your entire client list requesting that they complete a subscription with you. This is how a third-party payment gateway would be integrated into your ecommerce site: once your clients have confirmed their subscriptions, you would then add the details of the suppliers to your own internal supplier database and process payments from there.
On the other hand, if you use a third-party platform to accept your payments, you will have to pay some charges. Shopify pro includes many features that make accepting payments easy such as: reduced transaction fees for small amounts, lower minimum payments, free gift cards, free shipping on selected items and free returns. Many of these features also apply to Shopify merchants. However, even though Shopify has these benefits, they are not all inclusive. For instance, since you will have to set up an account with Shopify and integrate its backend processing system, you may have to pay a monthly fee for the use of their shopping cart and their credit card processing software.
On the other hand, Shopify has its drawbacks: it is a free platform and offers limited customer support. Also, even though their website offers protection against hackers, third-party transactions may still occur, resulting in customer information loss and sales. Shopify provides more security through its fraud management system, but this system is only available for a paid subscription and is not free. Lastly, since you have to set up an account with Shopify and integrate its own back-end processing system, you may have to pay some additional fees to use their shopping cart and credit card processing software. With all of these advantages and disadvantages, it isn’t easy to see why Shopify has become so popular among internet marketers and eCommerce owners.