Shopify Software Reviews

“my thoughts”

Pros

Launching our company store was very easy and it didn't take long to find a visual theme that matched our branding well. There's a large selection of free themes along with plenty of paid options so it's difficult to imagine not being able to find something that fits. the platform's built in features already cover a lot and when something isn't included natively, there's usually an affordable third-party app available to handle it.

Cons

Bringing our existing catalog into the store turned into a fairly big job though to be fair, not every new shop is starting with 200 to 300 products like we were. Updating or customizing those products can also take quite a bit of time and can feel a little outdated at times. I've also run into situations where I wanted to select multiple products and change one shared attribute at once but that kind of bulk editing isn't supported yet. It does seem like the sort of feature they may add later on.

“simple setup”

Pros

The site is easy to figure out and use and whenever I need help, customer support is always responsive and helpful.

Cons

It would be better if the pricing were more flexible, with additional options to choose from.

“dependable platform”

Pros

There are a lot of features built in and you don't need strong technical skills to get started. Once you understand how to use the tools available, you can build a very attractive store with a polished user interface. It's also very secure and reliable. Another big advantage is the customer support which is excellent and available 24/7. You can take payments both online and at a physical point of sale. There's also a mobile app that makes the whole experience very user friendly, from managing product listings and inventory to fulfilling orders. You can even create as many stores as your business needs.

Cons

Does come with monthly fees whether you are making sales or not. Also because your store is built from pre-designed templates, full customization is fairly limited. You still need to run ads or bring traffic to your store yourself and if the shop is new, sales will usually be low at the beginning.

“versatile store tools”

Pros

Having an online store up and running with this takes very little effort and the platform is simple to work with. You can add unlimited products, launch an ecommerce site quickly and manage it from the mobile app as well. It supports dozens of payment methods including Bitcoin and there are plenty of apps available to expand the store and add more features whenever needed.

Cons

The drawback is that the pricing feels a little high compared to some other platforms and the Basic plan also takes a 1% commission on each transaction.

“has everything”

Pros

Having everything in one place is the part I enjoy most about this software. I can upload my own designs or use the built in tools to create products and it all happens right on the same site. They also take care of the order side of things and their print-on-demand service is really excellent.

Cons

The one thing I'd change is making some of the design tools easier to understand. A few of them can feel a bit intimidating and aren't always very clear at first.

“convenient management”

Pros

Very easy to get a store running. It's user friendly, offers plenty of options and being cloud-hosted makes managing everything more convenient. Setup doesn't take much time and there's a wide range of apps and integrations available to extend the platform.

Cons

On the downside, customization can be tricky. Some built in features such as store translations, are more complicated to work with than they should be and the required monthly subscription may not suit every budget.

“Fitting for beginners”

Pros

Feels very easy to get an online store set up and working especially for beginners who want a professional looking site without needing prior ecommerce experience. The platform is all in one, user friendly and makes the setup process fast. The themes whether free or paid, look polished and are fully responsive. Another big advantage is the huge third-party app store which covers almost any functions you might want for customization. It also does a solid job keeping the software and plugins updated regularly for security. It's also an excellent choice for dropshipping.

Cons

One frustration is that a lot of important features like product reviews, are not built in and require paid apps which can get expensive and may also slow the site down or hurt performance. The overall cost adds up quickly between the subscription, transaction fees, credit card fees and app charges. Product images are not automatically cropped to a consistent ratio so that has to be handled manually. There's also a limit of three options and up to 100 variants per product which can be restrictive. The blogging tools feel pretty basic and automatic breadcrumbs are not included by default so users need some technical knowledge to enable them. On top of that some of its terminology is not very universal and can be confusing for new users.

“Polished templates”

Pros

During the trial, I was able to get a website up and running pretty quickly this platform's templates. There were plenty of professional-looking options included and even more available if I wanted to spend a bit extra. I also had the ability to customize the site with simple programming languages which made tweaking things manageable. The pricing structure is another big plus. As a very small business, I can start with the LITE plan at $9 a month and move up later as the business grows. On top of that, if you have the store, location and budget for it, the platform's POS systems are available and feel very polished and professional. It's also worth mentioning that the platform includes tools to help your site display properly across platforms including mobile devices.

Cons

There are still a few charges I wish weren't there especially the extra fees tied to using a third-party payment processor. I'd also really like to see a built in custom form builder included. Another issue I noticed at the time was that images uploaded through drag and drop were not automatically cropped to a consistent ratio.

“apps that boost sales”

Pros

One thing I really appreciate is how many apps you can integrate directly into your website. That makes it possible to sell more without needing to carry extra inventory. We added syncLogic as an additional app and it has definitely helped increase our sales.

Cons

The part I'm not a fan of is the design process which can be pretty difficult to work through. It's not as user friendly as some other platforms and you almost need to already know what you're doing to build a site that looks polished and professional.

“organized catalog management”

Pros

Managing a large range of medications with different strengths and forms has been much more practical thanks to the categorization. It helped us organize everything in a thorough, clear way without much effort.

Cons

Something that bothered me was not being able to quickly duplicate a category or subcategory. Without that, it felt like I had to rebuild the setup from scratch again and again. A simple "create another" option would really help.

“great for merch stores”

Pros

Running my music and merchandise store on the platform has been a really positive experience. The platform gives me plenty of design options that help my shop stand out and it also lets me create a more unique and engaging shopping experience for my fans.

Cons

My only real issue with the software is that selling digital products is more difficult because there aren't enough apps or built in features made for that type of item especially for music, music preview players and e-books.

“very easy”

Pros

The platform is very easy to use and my customers really appreciate how easily they can complete their orders.

Cons

Up to this point, I haven't run into any issues this platform and it has been helping the company grow the business.

“store launched in no time!”

Pros

Even for someone without much technical experience, it takes minimum effort to get a store live with this solution. Since it's a hosted platform, there's no need to deal with setting up your own server or virtual machine and installing everything manually afterward. Payment processing is already built in which saves time and features like product reviews, promotions, coupon codes and sales tools are included and easy to manage.

Cons

Issue is the somewhat higher monthly cost. That said, it makes sense because the platform handles the hosting themselves which saves you from having to pay separately for server setup and ongoing IT maintenance.

“confusing setup and heavy design”

Pros

They do run a lot of promotions which I appreciated even if those launch offers seem to appear only at very specific times and are often hard to actually get. Customer support was decent as well--I contacted them a few times and received consistent help.

Cons

That said, the platform felt incredibly hard to understand and figure out, almost like you need to be a NASA engineer just to figure it out. I ended up leaving before my free trial was over. On top of that, the graphics and overall design felt too heavy and somewhat boring. The promotional pricing and helpful customer care were the better parts.

“quick to set up store”

Pros

Working across different platforms has made me appreciate how quickly the platform gets a store up and running. It takes very little time to launch and start selling.

Cons

The $29 monthly fee to use it is a bit of a downside.

“Set up is fast”

Pros

It is one of the core parts of our business. It's quick to get up and running and it includes features that give a small business plenty of room to be creative with marketing.

Cons

It still bugs me how many steps customers have to go through to finish a purchase. Every extra click feels like another chance for someone to drop off before completing the order. Even with that, the platform still converts well.

“ecommerce features done right”

Pros

Everything about it, from the features to the user interface, is clearly built with ecommerce in mind.

Cons

The biggest downside is the cost since the subscription plans are a bit on the expensive side.

“helpful order tracking but glitchy”

Pros

Keeping up with customers and their orders is pretty easy this platform and it also helps cut down on paperwork by making the process paperless.

Cons

Problem is that it can be glitchy and tends to crash fairly often. Since it relies on a wireless connection, using it in a place with mediocre Wi-Fi can really cause problems.

“pros and cons”

Pros

Customizing and personalizing my sales page was genuinely fun and the whole process felt very user friendly. It lets you control just about every part of your visual content which made it easy to shape the page exactly the way I wanted.

Cons

I wish it offered the ability to see my balance and card details directly in the app instead of having to open the web browser version.

“too limiting for storefronts”

Pros

After going through the 14 day trial over and over, I kept hoping it would finally click for me or at least make me understand why so many people rave about it but that never really happened. It's fine overall, just pretty underwhelming and kind of bland.

Cons

It handles the basics it's meant to handle but it doesn't feel very complete. The heavy reliance on apps is a big turnoff for me. At this point, I really don't get why more of the features modern ecommerce stores actually need aren't already built into the platform especially given how long the platform has been around and how much of the market it owns. The customization side is also rough. It feels far too restrictive and there should be a lot more design freedom--ideally with a drag and drop builder that lets users create layouts themselves. I know my way around website design which honestly makes the platform's limitations even more frustrating.