Shopify Software Reviews

“fair pricing”

Pros

The platform is easy to use, doesn't require deep technical knowledge and does a solid job of delivering what it promises at a reasonable price.

Cons

It can be frustrating in the beginning because it tends to create a lot of issues (early on) which often leaves customers having to contact the company where they registered their domain or their email provider for support.

“Quick sales”

Pros

From both the shopper side and the developer side, this platform works really well for online stores. Browsing products is easy and checking out is fast when you want to make a purchase. On the development side, putting together a store for clients and customizing it for their brand is also pretty without any trouble so getting an online presence up and running doesn't take long.

Cons

The part that tends to take the most time is the initial store setup when building for clients. Entering all the required details, configuring shipping and adding products can be a bit time-consuming at first but it's mostly a one-time effort. After everything is in place, it usually just runs without any issues.

“no need to be an expert”

Pros

Doesn't require any technical background at all to get a store or websie set up and working which is probably the biggest advantage. And if help is needed their customer support is available 24/7 and is very friendly. It really feels like a plug and play platform. There are also plenty of free apps available so anyone can put together a website in a very short time without any trouble.

Cons

Support does come with some limitations depending on the plan you choose. Once the included service period runs out, getting technical help can become quite expensive.

“Good one!”

Pros

Building a polished, professional online store with this platform is very easy.

Cons

It can be a bit trickier to get a custome template compared to just picking one of the supported pre-made themes and after that you may end up relying on a third party developer for support.

“stylish themes”

Pros

Keeping it updated doesn't take much effort. Managing products is simple and the themes look really polished so it's easy to launch a shop that looks good in a short amount of time.

Cons

On the downside, the platform by itself offers only limited functions and depends heavily on paid plugins if you want to customize the store properly. Those add ons are not one-time purchases either since you end up paying monthly subscriptions for features that really feel like they should already be part of the core product. Looking at the overall cost those monthly fees added up to about what I later spent one time in WooCommerce to get all the functions I needed.

“flexibility across budgets”

Pros

Buying and printing shipping labels worked smoothly and support for multiple thermal printers gave us flexibility across different budget levels. The customer portals were easy as well and with the right team and budget, they can be configured to match your exact needs.

Cons

A few things still cause frustration. Orders that were created by mistake or later refunded don't seem to be removable or deletable which leaves us with pending orders that will never actually be fulfilled. Gift cards also hide the recipient name so if you forget it, you end up having to reissue the card or create a new one for the client. Discount codes could be improved too especially if rolling discounts were available. We also ran into product weight mismatches. Even after weighing all of our products, the total package weight still seems off which causes shipping prices to vary.

“costly apps and poor support”

Pros

Setting up a store is almost ridiculously simple if you have even basic technical ability. If someone can handle Facebook, they can probably handle this too. Uploading files is very easy and most of the menus are laid out in a way that feels fairly logical. That beginner friendly setup is probably one reason so many scam sites end up using the platform, it's accessible to absolutely anyone including fraudsters. Still that convenience alone doesn't make it a good platform.

Cons

Price was a major problem compared with other platforms. On its own it doesn't include enough features so you end up forced to pay for extra apps and modules. The worst part is that these aren't one time purchases, they come with recurring monthly charges. After adding up what I needed, I was looking at spending around $500-$800 USD every month. At that point it was actually cheaper to build a Magento site and pay once upfront for modules I can keep using for the life of the site. Support from them was awful! I reached out about a server side issue and the tech couldn't solve it but also wouldn't transfer me to someone who could. The same thing happened all four times I called with similar problems on their end. Payouts are also limited to one currency and only once a week which feels inflexible and unprofessional. The final straw was when they sold me a third party theme and just two days later the vendor replaced it with a better version. The vendor was willing to refund me but said that the platform had to process it. They refused! The vendor was very apologetic and even mentioned they regularly hear from customers about how unprofessional the policies are on this site. Since then I've also noticed how many short-lived scam stores and counterfeit sellers operate on it. Those sites often seem to stay up while legitimate stores sometimes get shut down. I feel much safer hosting my site on my own terms without having to worry that, under their user agreement, they can terminate it whenever they want.

“perfect platform for growing stores”

Pros

It really seems to cover everything. It works well for both small shops and larger businesses and getting a store up and running only takes a few minutes. The platform is very user friendly and I also appreciate that it keeps improving the product based on customer feedback.

Cons

The analytics are the one area that could be stronger. They're already fairly effective but it would be even better to see industry benchmarks included, have a built in KPI tracking tool and not need to rely on Google Analytics for a fuller picture.

“plenty of plugins”

Pros

There's a huge selection of plugins so the platform ends up covering a pretty wide range of features and functions. It's also nice that a lot of the upkeep and ongoing maintenance can be handled without needing to bring in a developer.

Cons

I do wish more of the features were built in or included for free. It feels like they rely quite a bit on third party apps for services customers commonly need and those extra costs start adding up. Some things really should be part of the base package instead of being locked behind a Pro upgrade or only available through outside apps.

“has a polished design”

Pros

Setting up and running an online store with this works really well if you don't have much web development knowledge or time to spare. The templates and built in features make it possible to launch a professional looking e-commerce site without spending nearly as much as a custom build would cost.

Cons

Once a business gets larger, it can start to feel limiting in terms of how much you can expand and customize the site. Its overall structure also hasn't been very effective when it comes to areas like search engine optimization.

“fast launch”

Pros

Quick and easy to start off with and I didn't need any coding knowledge to make real progress. On the few occasions I did have to touch code, it was still very manageable which helped me build the site from scratch in just a few days instead of the weeks it used to take. The visual nature of the platform along with the many themes you can purchase, install and customize, makes the whole process feel very approachable. A big part of its appeal is the community around it since there are plenty of answers, plugins and themes available online, both free and paid. The wide range of plugins also makes it simple to set up payment options, shipping solutions and extra features very quickly. Not every plugin feels equally well integrated but that seems more like a plugin-specific issue than a platform specific problem. Compared with the WooCommerce store we used before, this comes out far ahead.

Cons

That simpler, less code-heavy approach does come with a tradeoff: you lose some flexibility. Adjusting a theme can be a bit awkward although it's not impossible. Since we came from WooCommerce with WordPress, we had to change the way we approached building the store. Instead of creating exactly what we wanted from the ground up, we had to work more within the boundaries of what this solution offers. Thankfully, we found a very solid theme that made that transition much easier. For businesses that need a highly specific setup, it may require extra effort but it can still be done. On the technical side, the platform occasionally behaves in odd or slightly counteraccessible ways especially with things like saving changes or switching languages, where it can feel a bit hit or miss. Fortunately, that doesn't happen often. The monthly subscription may also be a concern for some but considering everything included, I'd still say it justifies the price.

“powerful storefront and marketing tools”

Pros

The wide range of app integrations is a big reason so many small businesses rely on it. Features like inventory management, customer tracking and the website builder are some of its strongest points. On top of that the built in marketing tools and available add ons make it a very capable e-commerce platform.

Cons

An area where it falls short is handling multiple pricing tiers, multiple brands and certain discount setups that require item-level exclusions.

“customizable storefront”

Pros

One thing that really works in it's favor is the pricing, plus the huge app library you can browse, buy and install. That flexibility makes it highly customizable so it can be adapted to fit a wide range of business needs.

Cons

A few features feel like they should already be built into the platform to improve functions such as support for nested product options. That said there are app based fixes for most of these gaps including this one and while those workarounds can feel a bit outdated and cost more than I'd prefer, they do get the job done.

“flexible growth without huge costs”

Pros

Running my store on it has been a really positive experience. The platform is easy to use, gives you access to a lot of helpful information and makes it possible to grow your business without the cost shooting up dramatically the way it can on Etsy.

Cons

That said, there are quite a few features I wish were built in since I've had to rely on third party apps to get certain things done. The reporting tools are also fairly limited and weren't especially useful during tax season so I ended up needing an outside app for that too.

“reliable hosting and security”

Pros

Setting my products up and getting them published is pretty easy. On top of that it handles the hosting and site security which is a huge plus. Another thing I appreciate is that it is an established name in the market. I've often had to settle for lesser knockoff options with other tools and this definitely doesn't feel like one of those.

Cons

Coming in with no experience editing Liquid files, that part was unfamiliar at first. Still, it hasn't been too hard to locate what needs changing and make code adjustments especially since there's plenty of guidance available. One limitation I've noticed is that it doesn't offer as many app integrations as WooCommerce. That said, it also ties back to security since having too many apps can create more chances for something to break.

“simple path to sell online”

Pros

Is still a fairly affordable way for new vendors to get started in ecommerce and it gives people a easy path to selling online. The software isn't overly hard to learn and there's a huge selection of themes and apps available within the platform.

Cons

Lately this feels like it's being built more for larger businesses and less for startups or solo sellers. Setting up and managing a store now takes more know-how than it used to. The Facebook and Google integrations have also changed and become more complicated. It presents those changes as helpful for sellers but that hasn't really been my impression. To me it seems more focused on serving Facebook and Google's requirements while expanding its own fulfillment channel.

“so little effort needed”

Pros

Takes very little effort to get a store live. You can go pretty advanced with it in theory but that usually isn't what we need. When a client wants an online store up and running within a month or less, this is almost always the platform we choose. Pick a plan, upload the SKUs and launch, it's really that easy!

Cons

Where it gets harder is customization. A lot of the time you end up relying on third party apps and some of those can be buggy. They also add up in cost pretty quickly. A plan that starts around $20 a month can jump to $50 or more before long once you need extra customization.

“Good starting point”

Pros

Starting out with it is easy and it works well overall for running an ecommerce store.

Cons

Upsell features feel a bit limited, the loading speed can be slow and there isn't much control over the landing page.

“powerful sales tools”

Pros

Doesn't require any technical expertise which makes it very approachable. It comes with plenty of marketing tools that can help grow sales and attract more customers. The custom templates are useful for building your store or website the way you want and there's also a wide selection of both free and premium apps that can further support and improve your sales efforts.

Cons

A lot of the features depend on third party services and those usually come with extra costs. There is also an added fee for payment processing when you use an external payment provider. The SEO features could be more advanced and product listing is not as fast or automated as it should be. On top of that, reworking many of the templates can be difficult.

“perfect for launching stores”

Pros

Starting an online business feels much more doable with this platform especially for new entrepreneurs and dropshippers who do not have a big budget or a lot of resources to build an e-commerce store. Putting a store together is surprisingly quick and some people with experience can have a new store ready in just 2 to 3 hours. There are plenty of free plugins available along with paid ones and the paid options usually feel worth the cost. On top of that, customizing and designing your own store on the platform is actually a fun part of the process.

Cons

Even though it handles a lot of challenges really well, the payment system has been the biggest issue on my side. I am from India and still an engineering student so I do not have a credit card or a PayPal account. I only have a RuPay debit card and that is not accepted there. I know this probably affects only a small number of users but since I am one of them, it has definitely been a real limitation for me.