The Advantages of Shopify as an E-Commerce Platform

For those who are interested in running an online business, there are a number of different ways to go about setting up an e-commerce shop. Some choose to go the self-hosting route, although this can be difficult if you have no background in web design and site optimization. Others will want to use an e-commerce platform, but with the variety of options out there in this department it’s important to narrow down what you are looking for in a program before you sign up.

Examples of the most important features to look for in e-commerce software for internet entrepreneurs is a customizable design, integration with third-party analytics software, and an easy one-page checkout process. Currently used by over 25,000 online stores, the Shopify ecommerce platform is one solution that ticks all of these boxes.

Website Set-Up Features
One of the primary benefits of Shopify for those who have never run an online store before is the website wizard feature. This helps walk you through the entire set-up process of the site. There are over 115 different templates that users can choose from, as well as the option of incorporating your own designs. All of these templates are customizable, which is a bonus for those who want the ease of a template without the generic look that some can give. You can add in your own blend of fonts, colours, logos, and layout. Banners and slide shows can be added as well. Internet entrepreneurs need to be on the hunt for ways to stand out from the competition, so customizing your e-commerce website with these tools is important.

Management Features
Another useful feature that this software has is the centralized management dashboard, which gives you all the management tools that you need in one place. From here, you can add details to all of the items listed in your inventory, add new items and organize them using the unique “collections” feature, and update images and descriptions. In addition to managing inventory as needed, the platform also allows you to manage your content. Most e-commerce entrepreneurs will want to keep a blog as part of their marketing efforts, for example, and this can be managed through the central dashboard as well without the need to use a separate hosting service.

Integrating a payment system is one of the trickiest aspects of running an e-commerce site. This is a major benefit of using an all-in-one platform like Shopify, which allows you to easily set up a one-step checkout process on the site. You can enable credit card payments online and integrate your site with over 50 payment gateways, including Paypal.

Internet Marketing Features
Users gain assistance with online marketing, with Shopify‘s built-in SEO features. The system has a SEO-friendly CMS that allows customizable H1, title, and meta tags. It also can automatically generate sitemaps, so that when you update your site these changes will show up on search engines quickly. The program can be fully integrated with Google Analytics, and provides a discount coupon engine to give customers defined coupon codes. New users get $100 of Google AdWords credits and $50 credits of Facebook advertising, which means your first 5 months are virtually free with the Basic Plan!

The software also has its own analytics program, to help you track your customers. You can filter a list of clients who have spent the most money in your store, and then use this list for social media and email marketing campaigns. Users also receive statistics regarding who is visiting their shop, where they come from, and how many times they visit.

Whether you are an e-commerce newbie or have more experience in this department, Shopify has many commendable features to help get your business off the ground.

Are you using Shopify? Tell me about your experience in the comments below!