Shopify is clearly the most complete e-commerce software on the market. No matter your goals, if you simply want to create an online store, this is the CMS that you will need to use!
If you want to create an online store , you have several options. You can code your e-commerce from A to Z , but this requires great technical skills . Or, you can use a CMS , which makes it easy to design an online store .
Among these software, we note Shopify , the most used CMS in the world for creating e-commerce. Shopify is an all-in-one tool that allows you to create a store without the need to code. Even without skills , you will be able to have a stylish , fast and mobile- optimized e-commerce .
Today we’re going to walk you through the Shopify test in detail so you can get an idea of how it works.
🕰️ No time to read everything? Here’s what you need to remember:
👉 Best online store creation tool with simple and intuitive operation.
👉 Payment process with integrated conversion with a one-click system.
👉 Possibility of creating a flexible point of sale to promote your brand in real life and online.
👉 CMS optimized for natural referencing in order to find visitors without spending on advertising.
👉 Complete and optimized dashboard to track your online activity at a glance.
👉 Many extensions available to customize your online store in just a few clicks.
Shopify Overview
Shopify is a Content Managing System ( CMS ) or content management software in French. In short, it is software that will allow you to create a website without coding . It is this software that offers the possibility of putting your online store and adding functionalities , improving the graphic appearance and others.
Shopify is a Canadian company specializing in e-commerce design . Overall, if you want to create an online store, this software will take care of everything. It is he who will host your website as well as your domain name , manage payments , shipping and others.
If Shopify is so popular, it is also because it integrates many templates that allow you to design a magnificent store quickly and easily. Thanks to themes designed by designers , even if you are bad at design, you can create a professional store.
Worldwide, nearly 30% of e-commerce businesses run on Shopify . Consequently, this CMS is used both by online stores of small merchants , but also by large e-commerce businesses . In itself, there are no real limits with this CMS. With all the features, themes and plugins, there’s almost nothing you can’t do.
Who is Shopify for?
Shopify is an easy-to-use tool for creating an online store . Therefore, from the moment you want to design an e-commerce to sell your products or to do dropshipping , this CMS will suit you. There are several scenarios where Shopify can be used.
If you want to get started in dropshipping ( selling directly from an existing supplier like Aliexpress, wish, Amazon, etc. ), Shopify is ideal . You can connect the Oberlo application to automate shipments from your suppliers.
Next, Shopify is great for small merchants . If you want to sell your own products online , this CMS will be perfect. Even without skills, you will be able to create a professional online store . If you have a small structure, this CMS is ideal for building and managing your e-commerce on a daily basis without taking the headache.
But if you have a bigger project , in particular creating an e-commerce that generates hundreds of thousands of visits per month, it is also possible with Shopify . Indeed, the CMS is largely capable of running a large online store . With all the extensions available, there’s actually nothing you can’t do.
In summary, you must understand that Shopify acts as a facilitator for creating e-commerce . Therefore, from the moment you want to create a store without having to worry about the technical part , this CMS will be ideal.
Services offered by Shopify
As we told you above, Shopify offers a lot of features . We will therefore present to you the most used services of the platform, so that you can get an idea of how it works .
Creating a store
Shopify aims above all to be easy to use and therefore allows you to set up an online store step by step easily from the e-commerce platform . Overall, you will be able to add all your products for sale and sort them to create categories and pages. But you can also create a “ single product ” store with a single page.
You should know that even if you have never used this software, you will be guided by the platform . As soon as you arrive on Shopify , the CMS will show you how to add or import a product , integrate a theme, configure order shipping and more.
Shopify will guide you through all the steps of setting up your e-commerce. By following the steps shown directly from the platform, you will be able to put your store online quickly.
The step that takes the most time is surely adding product . Indeed, for each product that you add, you will have to fill in a lot of information such as its price , its characteristics , and others. But you can also integrate photos , videos as well as a description .
On the home screen, you can see that Shopify asks you to choose a delivery method . Here you can choose between several options including shipping, local delivery or local collection.
Note that if you already have an online store on another CMS like WordPress, Wix or SquareSpace, you can migrate it to Shopify . In fact, the platform allows you to recreate an existing site created with other software.
Shopify also allows you to have a blog section on its site . We have already talked about it on our blog, if you own a business that sells online, it is imperative to have a blog. By publishing articles , you will be able to attract free, hot and regular traffic . This is a great way to attract long-term customers so you can no longer rely on advertising.
From the platform, you will be able to write complete blog articles , as it is possible to do with WordPress for example. You can add images , links , videos and more. It will also be possible to optimize your articles for SEO ( by adding extensions – see below ).
Dashboard
The big advantage of Shopify is that you will be able to manage your e-commerce and have a detailed report of your sales . This is the famous dashboard that you have probably already seen if you are interested in online business. This dashboard will allow you to have access to all the statistics necessary to see the status of sales.
This dashboard provides access to a huge amount of data . Not all of them are necessarily useful, we will present to you the most interesting statistics to know.
Before you start, you should know that you can generate statistics for a day , a week , a month or a personalized period of time.
The most interesting statistic, at least the one that all e-retailers look at, is total sales . Here you can see an overview of your turnover , but also where the sales come from ( advertising, organic visits, etc. ).
Next to it, also very important, is the number of visitors . You can observe at first glance the number of Internet users who visit your store . But you can also get a more detailed report , in order to see the average time spent on your store, the most visited pages , the bounce rate and others.
On the right, you can see the customer retention rate . This percentage represents the quantity of customers who recommend to your website after purchasing a product there. At the same time, you can observe the percentage of customers who purchase for the first time from your store.
Below, Shopify displays the number of current orders . Note that a separate section on the platform allows you to see the orders to be processed . Next door, a very important statistic is your conversion rate . You will also be able to see the percentage of visitors who add a product to the cart.
👉 We invite you to regularly check your conversion rate , because it is a key indicator of your marketing performance.
Then you can also see the average basket . Here too, it is an important indicator for defining your marketing strategy . The objective is of course to increase this average basket. There are several techniques to implement in order to sell more.
Finally, one last really interesting statistic is going to be the turnover per marketing campaign . Thanks to a detailed report, you will be able to see the conversion rate , the average basket of customers coming from an advertising campaign .
Themes
To personalize your store , you can add a theme . Themes will make it very easy to improve the graphic appearance of your site. Typically, themes are built by designers and developers.
The objective of a theme is above all to make your store more stylish . But themes must also be optimized so as not to slow down page loading times . Some themes are therefore very stylish, but too heavy and therefore reduce the speed of your site.
There are free and paid themes . While many free themes provide quite a few options, we prefer to be honest, it is better to go with a premium theme . Especially if you want to create a designer store without reducing the performance of your site.
As you can see, some themes will add features , which are not available if you keep the base Shopify theme. For example, you can add carousels, stock counter and timer, and others.
Some themes also offer pre-made e-commerce templates . In this case, you can import a template including several pages , but also product sheets and categories. Then, all you have to do is modify the template with your products, your text and others. It’s a super simple and quick way to create your e-commerce .
In our opinion, adding a theme is essential to creating an online store worthy of the name. We therefore invite you to find out before starting your e-commerce in order to choose the theme that suits you. Quickly, here are the criteria for a good Shopify theme 👇
A theme must be fast . Design is important, but if it slows down the loading time of your pages, you will lose visitors. We therefore invite you to check that your theme is not too heavy before installing it on your store.
Also, it is better to choose a theme that is optimized for SEO . SEO is very important to develop your e-commerce. With an optimized theme, you will be able to more easily have an effective SEO strategy.
As a bonus, certain themes allow you to display your site in several languages . If you want to sell internationally or simply in neighboring countries, this could be interesting.
Extensions
Shopify includes many extensions that will allow you to add features to your store . There are thousands of extensions, some free and others paid . A good part is also based on a freemium model , that is to say with a free but limited version.
We will quickly introduce you to some extensions that are essential on Shopify.
The Boost Sales plugin allows you to add “ UpSells ” and “ CrossSells ”. Overall, as soon as a customer places an order , you will be able to display a page to offer them another product. This makes it easy to increase your average basket.
If you want to do dropshipping , the Oberlo application will be essential. This application allows you to order and ship your orders directly from your supplier ( mainly Aliexpress ). The extension also allows you to manage inventory and track shipments in real time.
Then, we recommend that you install several extensions in order to optimize your site for SEO . Shopify’s basic features allow you to change some things, but we don’t think it’s enough. We therefore invite you to install Plug In SEO which will allow you to optimize several elements and correct your errors. You can also download SEO Image Optimizer to optimize your images for SEO.
We also recommend that you install Mailbot , an email marketing extension . Thanks to this plugin, you will be able to collect emails directly from your store. But the extension also allows you to send email campaigns , such as promotional emails , newsletters and others.
You can also add the Yotpo Reviews plugin . This extension will allow you to add customer reviews to your product sheets. It is also this plugin that will allow customers to leave a review when they place an order.
Finally, we recommend the Referral Candy plugin. The latter will allow you to create an affiliate program for your online store. Publishers will be able to sign up for your program and promote your products in exchange for a commission. You can also create promo codes for your affiliates from this application . Note that the extension takes care of everything , from affiliate registration to commission payments and sales tracking .
Customer Support
Shopify is easy to use, but there may be problems managing your store. In order to respond to your problems, customer support is available . There are several specific features of your platform’s customer support, which we will present to you.
You should know that there are several ways to contact customer service . In order to get a quick response , you can start a web chat with a Shopify employee . The only downside is that you will have to speak in English , as the company’s operators only speak this language. The chat is available 24 hours a day and allows you to get a response quickly. In case you are in a hurry, this is ideal.
As you can see, it is possible to contact Shopify on Twitter . It’s also a quick way to get a response. But in our opinion, it is better to go through the platform in order to have an answer to your questions.
If you want to contact support , you will have to do so by email. Generally, the response time is longer.
Finally, Shopify also has a discussion forum . On this forum, you can find Shopify employees, but also many CMS users, some of whom have become experts after years of use. You can register for free and ask your questions . Many users will be happy to answer your questions, but can also give an objective opinion on your store for example.
But you can also find the answer to your question simply by searching in discussions that have already taken place .
The rates
Shopify offers 3 different pricing options . Depending on the plan you choose, many features can be added . Depending on the subscription plan, you can also have more or fewer administrator accounts in order to work with your collaborators on your store. The Shopify and Advanced plans also provide access to more detailed analytics reports .
Then, you should know that Shopify charges you a commission for each sale on your store. This percentage varies from 1.8 to 1.4% depending on the formulas. Obviously, the more expensive you opt for a subscription , the lower the commission will be . ( in case you make a lot of sales, the most expensive plan becomes the most advantageous )
Note that no matter which subscription plan you choose, the first 3 months will cost only $1. monthly .
Advantages disadvantages
After testing Shopify for several weeks, here are the strong and weak points that emerged:
Advantages
✅ Easy to use
✅ Many templates to create a design site
✅ Good value for money
✅ Ability to accept payments in multiple currencies
✅ Marketing reports and statistics
The inconvenients
❌ Customer support only in English
❌ Commission on each sale
In summary: our opinion on Shopify
Our opinion on Shopify is simple. It is clearly the ultimate CMS if you want to create an online store . The software is easy to use and will allow you to have a professional, stylish and optimized e-commerce. Thanks to all the extensions available, you can do absolutely everything on your store.
In addition to the ease of use which makes it easy to have an e-commerce design, this CMS is optimized for SEO . Thanks to a few plugins, you will be able to manage your SEO strategy in order to gain places on search engines.
In terms of choosing the formula , it’s up to you. If you ‘re just starting out and want to create an online store to sell your own products, the entry-level solution is perfect. But from the moment you start making a lot of sales , the Advanced formula will be more profitable.
In our opinion, Shopify offers good value for money . There are certainly cheaper CMS that allow you to create an online store, but they are not as easy to use. With Shopify, you can literally create a beautiful e-commerce store , without any special skills.
In conclusion, we recommend Shopify , which is by far the most advantageous and simplest solution for designing an e-commerce. Thanks to templates and applications, creating an online store is clearly child’s play . But the daily management of your e-commerce will also be simplified .
The alternative to Shopify
Shopify is, in our opinion, the most complete software for designing an online store. However, there are alternatives which, like this platform, allow you to create an e-commerce without the need to code. We are therefore going to present to you the best alternatives if you do not want to use Shopify .
To start, we obviously think of WooCommerce . This completely free WordPress CMS extension allows you to create a professional online store . The software is a little more complicated to use than Shopify, but still offers great savings. If you are not afraid to train yourself or are comfortable with the technical part, WooCommerce is ideal for getting started with very little budget .
Then you can use Wix . This platform makes it easy to create an e-commerce thanks to numerous templates. The software is very easy to use and offers the possibility of creating your online store quickly . The subscription is similar to Shopify for the same features. This in itself is the alternative that most resembles Shopify .
Finally, we also think of SquareSpace , an easy-to-use CMS designed to create websites. With this platform, you will be able to design an e-commerce very quickly thanks to the numerous templates available. Prices are similar with subscriptions varying between
The alternative to Shopify
Shopify is, in our opinion, the most complete software for designing an online store. However, there are alternatives which, like this platform, allow you to create an e-commerce without the need to code. We are therefore going to present to you the best alternatives if you do not want to use Shopify .
To start, we obviously think of WooCommerce . This completely free WordPress CMS extension allows you to create a professional online store . The software is a little more complicated to use than Shopify, but still offers great savings. If you are not afraid to train yourself or are comfortable with the technical part, WooCommerce is ideal for getting started with very little budget .
Then you can use Wix . This platform makes it easy to create an e-commerce thanks to numerous templates. The software is very easy to use and offers the possibility of creating your online store quickly . The subscription is similar to Shopify for the same features. This in itself is the alternative that most resembles Shopify .
Finally, we also think of SquareSpace , an easy-to-use CMS designed to create websites. With this platform, you will be able to design an e-commerce very quickly thanks to the numerous templates available. Prices are similar with subscriptions varying between $11.81 and $38.64 per month .
How to use Shopify?
There are hundreds of different ways to use Shopify , depending on the type of store you want to have. We will therefore show you how to get started on this CMS in order to put your first store online .
👉 Before you start , you should know that you can start a free trial to use Shopify without paying ( or €1 per month ) for 3 months . We invite you to do this before starting this tutorial.
When you arrive, you will directly have to choose your domain name . It will be the name of your store, but also its virtual address. Clearly, your visitors will type this name in their search bar in order to access your e-commerce. We therefore invite you to take your time before choosing this name .
Shopify will also ask you to include a logo , slogan and others. Don’t panic, you can change everything later . The best thing is to prepare several elements before starting your store, in particular an idea for a project and products to sell .
Then, you will be able to start adding your products . Each time, you will have several elements to integrate. You will need to add a title , sales price , description , photos/videos , and others. In reality, you can personalize each product page using many elements. It is therefore up to you to see which elements you wish to modify on each product.
Right after, we invite you to create the most important pages for your store. This is going to be a contact page , an about page , an FAQ page, privacy policy pages , refunds , returns and others.
Once you have a few products online and your main pages are in place, you can add a theme to your store . As you can see, a theme makes it easy to improve the graphic appearance of your site. There are thousands of themes , free and paid, that allow you to add a touch of design to your store.
Be careful, adding a theme can greatly change the visual appearance of your store . We therefore invite you to install it on your site as soon as possible . Otherwise, you will have to modify many elements and this may waste your time.
By opting for a premium theme , you will have access to templates to easily create a designer home page . If you’re just starting out, we invite you to choose a template and modify it with your products, the name of your store, your slogan and others. ( many tutorials are generally presented by theme builders )
Next, you will customize your navigation menus . This will allow your visitors to easily find your products or a way to contact your customer service, for example. Here too, you can choose different colors, typographies and more.
Right after that, it’s time to customize the checkout process . Here, you should know that Shopify gives you a lot of options to best manage this process . For example, you may or may not ask customers to create an account before ordering . But you can also ask customers which contact methods they prefer, collect emails and automate the sending of emails for abandoned carts, for example.
and €36 per month .
How to use Shopify?
There are hundreds of different ways to use Shopify , depending on the type of store you want to have. We will therefore show you how to get started on this CMS in order to put your first store online .
👉 Before you start , you should know that you can start a free trial to use Shopify without paying ( or €1 per month ) for 3 months . We invite you to do this before starting this tutorial.
When you arrive, you will directly have to choose your domain name . It will be the name of your store, but also its virtual address. Clearly, your visitors will type this name in their search bar in order to access your e-commerce. We therefore invite you to take your time before choosing this name .
Shopify will also ask you to include a logo , slogan and others. Don’t panic, you can change everything later . The best thing is to prepare several elements before starting your store, in particular an idea for a project and products to sell .
Then, you will be able to start adding your products . Each time, you will have several elements to integrate. You will need to add a title , sales price , description , photos/videos , and others. In reality, you can personalize each product page using many elements. It is therefore up to you to see which elements you wish to modify on each product.
Right after, we invite you to create the most important pages for your store. This is going to be a contact page , an about page , an FAQ page, privacy policy pages , refunds , returns and others.
Once you have a few products online and your main pages are in place, you can add a theme to your store . As you can see, a theme makes it easy to improve the graphic appearance of your site. There are thousands of themes , free and paid, that allow you to add a touch of design to your store.
Be careful, adding a theme can greatly change the visual appearance of your store . We therefore invite you to install it on your site as soon as possible . Otherwise, you will have to modify many elements and this may waste your time.
By opting for a premium theme , you will have access to templates to easily create a designer home page . If you’re just starting out, we invite you to choose a template and modify it with your products, the name of your store, your slogan and others. ( many tutorials are generally presented by theme builders )
Next, you will customize your navigation menus . This will allow your visitors to easily find your products or a way to contact your customer service, for example. Here too, you can choose different colors, typographies and more.
Right after that, it’s time to customize the checkout process . Here, you should know that Shopify gives you a lot of options to best manage this process . For example, you may or may not ask customers to create an account before ordering . But you can also ask customers which contact methods they prefer, collect emails and automate the sending of emails for abandoned carts, for example.
