Shopify Software Reviews

“great start for online stores”

Pros

Feels like one of the best options for ecommerce! The setup is very simple so you can launch quickly without much trouble. Their customer support is also really helpful and the 14 day free trial gives you a chance to test everything first. Other than that the free themes make it easier to create a store that looks polished and appealing.

Cons

It works really well when you're starting a business but it becomes less ideal over time. Once you want to grow your store, the higher tier plans with extra features and customization can get pretty expensive. It also seems more geared toward businesses that use the platforms payments since that's where you can benefit from lower transaction fees.

“effective themes”

Pros

It's pretty clear why this platform is leading right now! Getting started doesn't take much effort, the themes are user friendly, offer a wide range of functions and are strong enough to support stores doing 7-8 figure sales. On top of that their customer support has been very solid.

Cons

The weaker area is promotions. A lot of basic promotional features still aren't included unless you add a third party app and that's something that really should be built in from the start.

“easy to use”

Pros

Adding products, setting up collections and handling the rest of the site building tasks in the platform feels very easy and user friendly.

Cons

A fair amount of customization is still necessary and there have been quite a few times when we needed an app or extra add on service to get exactly what we wanted done.

“flexible payments and discounts”

Pros

Setting up different payment methods was very easy and building out my own website design was just as manageable. The shipping setup works quite well too and the discount features have been really solid.

Cons

There's still room for improvement on the web design side especially when it comes to handling page SEO. Figuring out how to lazy load images so my site would perform faster was honestly pretty frustrating.

“helpful features for daily business”

Pros

Every part of this product and its features has been really useful for my business and it's very simple to use on a daily basis.

Cons

Starting with it was honestly a bit of a headache and pretty confusing at first but once I learned how it works everything started running really well.

“hard to figure out templates”

Pros

There really aren't many upsides I can point to here. If I had to name one, it's that once you finally learn your way around it the website can end up looking polished and professional which matters a lot to me.

Cons

Moving around both the app and the website is incredibly frustrating. I really dislike having to pay extra for templates that still look very basic and the free ones feel even more stiff and boxy. It took me four days of working on and off just to customize my site because the platform isn't user friendly and the wording isn't simple enough for someone without experience to follow. Also customer support was no help whatsoever.

“Quick marketing integration”

Pros

Getting an e commerce site up and running quickly is one of the platforms biggest strengths. It also fits nicely into marketing workflows especially when connecting it with tools like Google Shopping.

Cons

From time to time our merchant clients run into issues while uploading products. Even so the problem is usually manageable in the end.

“Solid payments”

Pros

Pretty easy to get started with and integrating the e commerce side of things doesn't take much effort. The payments system is also something I really appreciate.

Cons

One limitation is that theme sections can't really be added to regular pages. If you want to build a page with content beyond the homepage, you'll get the header and footer but adding section-based content into the body isn't very flexible.

“excellent inventory sync”

Pros

We usually choose this for clients when they need to sell both online and in person whether that's through a physical store or at events like markets and expos. The way it keeps inventory synced across those sales channels is among the best available. It's also a big plus that it connects with so many widely used tools including QuickBooks.

Cons

A drawback for me is that it is closed source since I generally prefer open source platforms. In practical terms, that becomes noticeable when you need extra functions through extensions because there are often only one or two options and they're rarely free. There are also limits to how much you can customize the site's appearance unless you learn the platforms specific coding language which most users probably won't do.

“All functions you need”

Pros

Running a store on it feels very practical because the platform is user friendly and the features are quite complete. It also supports unlimited products and uploading items through the mobile app from a smartphone makes managing the store convenient from anywhere. I actually started using this option when I first got into dropshipping and it worked well for that too.

Cons

The issue is that the platform is fairly expensive. The price gap between the basic and advanced plans is quite large and the features included are also noticeably different. For example the basic package does not include monthly reports so I have to compensate for that in other ways to keep things worthwhile. Another limitation is the lack of email hosting which means I need to set up and pay for my own business email to communicate with customers.

“order edits and refunds done fast”

Pros

Updating a customer's order details is really easy and navigating the refund process is just as simple.

Cons

Something I really dislike is that our company can't retroactively apply a promo discount. If a customer forgets to use one, we have to calculate it ourselves and enter it manually which takes time away from actually helping the customer.

“packed with tools”

Pros

Managing my store has been really easy and there are tons of features that support business growth and development! Their customer service is quick, efficient and genuinely helpful plus it's never hard to reach someone. The platform keeps rolling out updates and the app options you can add to your site help you stay current with new trends and features. It also connects well with a lot of essentials like Facebook catalogues and wholesale platforms and moving inventory over can basically be done in one click. On top of that the discounted shipping rates are a really nice bonus.

Cons

Issue is that it costs more than a lot of other options and if you want to connect things like Instagram, email newsletter tools, galleries and similar features, you usually have to pay for an app. There are a few free apps but not many. A lot of the better features are also locked behind the more expensive pro plan.

“smooth migration”

Pros

Using it easy and it works well for both beginners and more experienced store users. We were able to move efficiently from BigCommerce and later migrate a second store from WooCommerce as well. Integrations with shipping software, tax software and our ERP have been fairly simple overall because there are plenty of ready to use connectors available. Moving over from other platforms was also very manageable: we used both LitExtension and Cart2Cart and each one let us set up redirects which was essential for maintaining SEO.

Cons

The downside is that almost everything relies on apps so any extra functions you need usually comes with added app costs. Even some basic features such as product dimensions for each item are not built in and need to be handled through apps. Also certain integrations may not exist out of the box which means you may need custom-built connectors or API development to make them work.

“my thoughts”

Pros

Whenever I need to put together an online store, this is one of the first platforms that comes to mind! It covers all the core essentials a shop needs and I trust it to handle just about any layout or functions I want to create. The plugin selection is extensive and a lot of those add ons can do impressive things that really enhance the website. Other than that the whole platform feels very user friendly.

Cons

A lot of its strength comes from its huge ecosystem of third party apps and tools and that's really what helps turn a site into something much more powerful. The downside is that this stack of tools can drive up the monthly cost pretty fast. While you're actively building and improving the site, that feels worthwhile. But once the store is finished and mostly running on its own, you end up disabling a lot of apps just to keep expenses down. Then if you want to jump back in and make a few minor updates, you have to reactivate those tools and start paying for them again even for small changes. In some cases the site becomes so dependent on certain plugins that you're basically locked into paying those extra subscriptions indefinitely and sometimes they cost even more than the platform itself. I depend on quite a few outside website builder tools so having a more powerful built in option inside the platform would make a huge difference.

“tons of useful integrations”

Pros

There are plenty of apps you can connect to the platform to help automate your business and a lot of them are available for free.

Cons

I do wish there were a simpler way to handle ads directly from the platform especially Google Shopping ads as well as Facebook and Instagram ads.

“Enjoyable experience”

Pros

Launching my Pokemon reselling business with the 14-day free trial turned out to be a huge win. I ended up enjoying the platform so much that I wanted to build another business on it and now, six months later, I've got a fully established operation that's growing fast. I'm still figuring out parts of it as I go but the customer support has been incredible! They reply really quickly, give detailed answers and don't just rush to end the chat, they make sure the issue is actually resolved or that everything possible has been clearly explained. I genuinely love using it.

Cons

Keep in mind that this is not the kind of software you can just pick up and instantly run with. You have to invest time and effort to really learn how everything works. In a perfect world, I'd love some kind of guided setup that forces a clear direction based on your specific business type with a true step by step process from start to finish. But realistically that's probably not possible and if it were, the platform would likely charge a lot more for it. So honestly I'm okay with how it is now lol.

“fastest way to launch online”

Pros

It's by far the quickest and most easy way to set up an ecommerce store.

Cons

The free trial only lasts two weeks but even with that limitation, it's still the best choice for getting an online store started.

“SO user friendly”

Pros

Has been really convenient to run ou store especially for managing products and keeping track of orders. The platform feels very user friendly which makes a big difference when a larger team is working in it together. The checkout process is clear and easy and it works really well. It also gives you plenty of data and analytics that are easy to access.

Cons

Something I'd still want is more flexibility for customizing product and collection pages. To make those kinds of changes, you usually need more advanced coding skills. Other than that many of the apps needed to improve the site and marketing can end up slowing the pages down.

“Great guidance provided”

Pros

It was fairly easy to work with. I was able to set everything up on my own, follow the provided guidelines and work out most of the platform without running into any major problems.

Cons

A few areas felt more complicated than they should have been and took me longer to understand which got frustrating at times. It could definitely be a bit more user friendly but overall it wasn't bad.

“powerful tools for online selling”

Pros

Operating an online store on this platform has been really positive. Adding and updating products, SKUs and stock levels is easy which makes daily store management much easier. It also connects with multiple help desk tools so customer support tasks become more manageable. The stats are simple to read and there are plenty of apps available to expand features depending on what the business needs.

Cons

Sometimes certain app integrations can be a bit tricky to set up. Some of them are not fully compatible and that can occasionally lead to order errors.