7 Reasons Why We Specialize in Shopify (& Why We Love It)

Successful online stores need to be beautiful, practical, and reliable. That’s what we focus on when we develop e-commerce sites for our clients, and we choose tools for the job that make it easy.

Of the many e-commerce development platforms to choose from, we find that Shopify is head-and-shoulders above the rest. Here’s why—and how—we use Shopify to create gorgeous, clear, and functional stores for retailers who want to sell their products online.

Key Shopify Statistics

Shopify is one of the most popular and successful e-commerce platforms ever, and here are the numbers that prove it:

• Over 1 million businesses currently use Shopify in over 175 different countries
• Shopify has more than 7000 employees (and plans to hire at least 2000 more this year)
• The average order for a Shopify store is $81 (USD), while the industry benchmark is $78
• Over 4900 apps are publicly available via the Shopify App Store, giving users access to additional features

With hundreds of millions of buyers using Shopify stores around the world (and more appearing each year), it’s clear that the platform isn’t going anywhere soon. But where does their success come from—and how does that translate into better results for the retailers who use it?

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7 Reasons to Design an Online Store with Shopify

At RS Creativ, we use Shopify to create online stores for a wide variety of retail businesses. Here are the reasons why we choose Shopify over other e-commerce development platforms:

#1: Ease of Use

Shopify is designed to be user-friendly. You don’t need to know how to code (although we do) in order to make a brilliant online store with their platform—simply choose the theme you want, then use their clean and simple interface to add your products and other content.

Of course, having a third-party to help focus your efforts and keep the style of your site consistent never hurts, and that’s where we come in. We help match our clients with themes that suit their businesses, organize their products, and arrange vital information to improve customer experience and drive sales.

#2: Affordability

Shopify isn’t free to use, but it ends up providing better value than many other e-commerce platforms. Take WooCommerce, for example—which is free but requires you to have a wordpress domain and hosting (at over $30 per month for a decent plan).

Shopify plans start out at $29 per month, but they also provide you with your own SSL certificate, which saves you about $75 a year. And they offer a 14-day free trial if you want to try out the service without committing to it long-term. But best of all, there are no sales fees associated with Shopify—meaning you get to post higher end-of-year figures and keep more of what you make.

#3: Customization Options

Here’s where Shopify really shines. Their vast library of free and paid themes makes it easy to design a unique-looking store in just a few simple clicks. Different themes come with industry-specific features, too—you’ll find themes focused on fashion, sports, large product catalogues, and more.

You won’t have to worry about pesky back-end tasks like optimizing page load times or tweaking SEO, either, because each theme comes with those details taken care of. Don’t know what those terms mean? That’s okay; with Shopify, you don’t need to. All you have to do is focus on how to display your products and show vital information to customers—and we’ll be there to help.

#4: Focused on Products

When it comes to maintaining an online store, most of the work involves editing and updating your products. One of Shopify’s greatest advantages is how quick and convenient it makes that process.

You can change products individually or use their built-in bulk editing tool to make sweeping changes to numerous products all at once. Shopify also offers users the ability to track products easily by organizing them into collections, further simplifying the back end.

Still, organizing and updating your products can be a lot of work—and the more you have to sell, the more time it takes. That’s why having professionals help develop your store is often the most efficient way to get it up and running successfully.

#5: Smooth Transactions

Making sales is only half the battle; you also need to process and fulfill orders. Shopify offers numerous features to streamline the payment and shipping process, working with partners like Canada Post and USPS to enhance customer convenience and encourage repeat business.

Shopify also allows payment via all major credit cards and Interac debit transactions through their Shopify Payments app, which has no monthly costs or installation fees. And with transaction fees on par with other retailers at around 2.9%, you get this convenience while remaining competitive.

#6: Shopify Apps

We mentioned the Shopify App Store a couple of times before, but let’s take a closer look at exactly why that’s beneficial to retailers. With thousands of apps available from developers all over the world (and more than a few from Shopify themselves), you get an incredible amount of control over your store’s features.

Want to generate shipping labels for your products? No problem. Trying to create a customer loyalty program? Easy as pie. The biggest challenge you’ll have is sorting through all the available apps to figure out which ones will serve you best—and since we’ve been working with Shopify and their apps for years, we’ve got more than enough knowledge to support you on that front.

#7: Tech Support

Last (but certainly not least) is Shopify’s robust and responsive tech support service. While users of other e-commerce development tools may have to rely on community forums or deal with long wait times before getting help, Shopify features some of the fastest response times in the industry. Hold times are typically under one minute—and better yet, Shopify tech support is included with every paid plan.

Making Shopify Work for You

Shopify works for us, and we make it work for our clients as well. Learn more about Shopify by checking out our other posts, and get in touch with us if you want to find out how to set up your online store with this powerful tool and get results.