WBX Commerce has onboarded quite a few clients who use storecarts that we don’t think are especially effective. When this happens, we always push for a switch to Shopify.
Choosing an online storecart is sort of like buying a car: there are a lot of choices, and most of them will get you from point A to B… at least for a while. But, just like cars, many have more features and are better quality than others. If Shopify were a car, it would be a luxury economy SUV sports car. Basically, a car that could never actually exist. Fortunately, in the world of storecarts, Shopify can and does exist. And you should have it.
If you could buy a elegant, reliable luxury car for the price of the car you have now, why wouldn’t you?
Oftentimes, people get a little sentimental about their storecarts. And we get it – it can be frustrating to move to something new when you’re satisfied with what you’ve got. For some reason, Woo Commerce is one that seems to bring out a little extra sentimentality in our clients.
The bottom line: WBX Commerce believes that Shopify is the best possible choice. Here’s why.
- Better mobile experienceYeah, yeah, you’ve heard it before: mobile purchasing is the bee’s knees and it just keeps growing. Just a few months ago, ComScore reported that mobile sales accounted for 20% of the total of $84.3 billion of online spending. The good thing is, Shopify has a great, clean mobile interface. With it, your customers can easily navigate your site and find just what they want.
- Dedicated customer support line
Even ultra-reliable Shopify runs into problems now and again. Fortunately, if these do occur, the customer support line is awesome and efficient, so you don’t have to dread that phone call on top of dealing with that broken link.
- Built in support to sell on social media and Apple PaySocial media is king these days, so having an ability to sell through other platforms is a big boon. Unlike most store carts, Shopify provides selling through Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, and it allows your customers to buy through Apple Pay too. With others, you’ll have to take the third-party leap and find a plug-in that suits your needs.
- A bigger development budgetBecause Shopify is publicly traded, they are able to spend more on market research and software development. As a result, we’ve found that they are able to keep up with the newest technological trends. Ecommerce is a fickle, wild creature so knowing things are up to date has always been a relief for us.
- Server Management
Dealing with a crashing server is a massive headache, especially if you haven’t got a dedicated tech guy at your beck and call. With Shopify, they will manage the server for you.
- Server ReliabilityShopify has a much more reliable bandwidth than most. A great example of this comes from one of Shopify’s largest clients, who is now also a client of ours. Before they switched, they had to deal with constant crashes due to a high volume of traffic. They even had to set up queues for customers to purchase items on sale days. Not something you want to deal with if you can avoid it!
- Easy to use backend interfaceWhen you do make changes to your store, the last thing you want to deal with is a labyrinth of dropdown menus and annoying auto-formatting. Shopify is super user-friendly, which means you don’t have to be a tech wizard to create discounts, change prices or post to your blog.
- Specific Credit Card ChargesThis one is simple, but important. When a credit card is charged, your customers will see your brand on their statement, rather than just a generic “Shopify” charge. This not only means that your customer won’t be scratching their head about a charge, it also increases your brand visibility. Especially if you sell a finite product like food or cosmetics, why not remind your customer of their spectacular purchase, and avoid an overage of customer service calls?
- Free SSLFor the sake of the security of your data and your customers, you will need to have SSL (The green HTTPS in the URL bar) on your site. With someone like Woo Commerce, you’ll have to pay extra for it, but with Shopify it’ll be free.
- Apps storeHaving access to tools and plug-ins is a big plus for your business. This means you will be able to add all sorts of extras, such as inventory management, loyalty programs and accounting. While most storecarts have apps available around the internet, Shopify keeps them centralized. Think of it as similar to the Apple App store, where you can easily browse all in one place.
It should be noted that Shopify isn’t perfect. First of all, it isn’t free. It can cost anywhere from $29 to $299 per month, depending on your needs. (You can check out their payment plans here) It can’t do everything you want. Sure, they’ve got a really efficient setup, but if you need something out of the ordinary, it’s likely it won’t be possible. Finally, they don’t have the best full website for CMS content. Sometimes, you may want to pair Shopify with a CMS that manages the rest of your site.
Still, we think it’s your best bet espexially for the low price of $29 a month. When customers run into issues, they often jump ship. Maybe they’ll choose a source like Amazon to try to find your product. If you’re lucky and they end up buying from you directly, you still won’t get the margins on Amazon you’d get on your website. And if you’re not so lucky, they might even end up buying another product entirely. The point is, store carts matter.
