Given that Shopify already boasts millions of users, it's likely that you're already somewhat familiar with it. Shopify is famous for facilitating the creation of online stores.
The main drawcard is that it is an all-in-one platform covering everything from sales and marketing to payments and shipping.
It is particularly aimed at B2C commerce and has the ability to sell physical or digital products.
When starting a new business or going online for the first time, there are many aspects to learn. This is where Shopify really shines by offering a structured and simpler way to set up shop.
Why use Shopify?
Shopify caters to a diverse range of users, from individual users, and small and medium-sized businesses to monolithic corporations. Some of the key benefits of using Shopify to build your Shop include:
Centralized Platform - Product data, customer information, and operational tasks are all in one place for easy management across various sales channels.
Easy to Use - Shopify is known for its user-friendly interface. Even those without a technical background can easily set up and manage their online store.
Extensive Templates - Shopify has an extensive array of web design templates to customize.
Flexible Sales Methods - Sell in various ways, such as online storefronts, dropshipping, point-of-sale, social media sales channels, online marketplaces, and multi-currency selling.
Mobile Responsiveness - All Shopify themes are mobile responsive, meaning your online store will look great and function well on any device.
Integrated Payments With Shopify Payments - businesses can easily accept credit cards and other forms of payment directly on their store. Shopify also supports a wide range of third-party payment gateways.
Pros and Cons of using Shopify for your website
The pros of using Shopify
User-Friendly Platform - The Shopify platform is easy to use, especially for beginners. It's intuitive and user-friendly, making setting up and managing an online store simple.
Quality Templates - Shopify provides high-quality, customizable templates. It’s easy to look professional without any design skills.
SEO Capabilities - Shopify has a set of robust SEO tools. These include editable title tags, meta descriptions, URLs, image alt texts, and automatic sitemap generation. More advanced SEO features are available in the app store.
Good Marketing Tools - Shopify offers a host of in-built marketing tools, from email marketing capabilities to integration with social media platforms. It also includes features like discount codes, gift cards, and abandoned cart recovery to help businesses boost their sales and customer engagement.
Blogging Platform - Shopify includes a free blogging platform that can help engage your audience and increase conversion rates.
Reliable Security - Shopify stores are PCI DSS Level 1 certified. Which translates to a high level of data and payment security.
Mobile Responsiveness - All Shopify themes are mobile responsive, which is critical considering the increasing number of mobile shoppers.
Ability to Sell Across Multiple Channels - With Shopify products can be sold across multiple channels, including online, mobile, social media, and physical locations.
The cons of using Shopify
Additional Costs - Additional features from the app store and integrations often come with extra costs.
Limited Customization - While Shopify offers a variety of templates, design customization can be limited compared to other platforms.
Transaction Fees- Users will have to pay additional transaction fees, depending on their plan and the payment gateway they use. This is true of most hosting platforms.
SEO Limitations - despite including basic SEO tools, there are some limitations compared to specialized SEO platforms.
Limited Blogging Capabilities - Although Shopify includes a blogging platform, it isn't as robust as dedicated blogging platforms.
Migrating to a New Platform Can Be Difficult - Moving a store from Shopify to another platform can be a complex and time-consuming process.
Lack of Built-in Email Hosting - There is no built-in email hosting however, setting this up through a third party is not difficult.
Some Advanced Features Require Coding Knowledge - While Shopify is generally user-friendly, some advanced features require a basic understanding of coding.
Overview: The Shopify e-commerce platform
Let's look deeper into what sets Shopify apart and makes it a go-to choice for so many businesses.
The platform offers sales-driving features like email marketing, abandoned cart remarketing, and blogging. However, despite its extensive functionality, Shopify doesn't provide native email hosting or a built-in system for complex B2B operations.
It also has limitations in terms of URL structure and design customization. This is because Shopify themes tend to be basic, and adding advanced features requires specialized coding.
Additionally, while the payment plans are well-priced, you will likely need to pay for a variety of add-on apps to gain extra functionality.
To get around this, you can choose a provider like ConvertCalculator to provide the extra functionality in one easy to manage solution.
Using ConvertCalculator software to enhance your Shopify store
As mentioned, Shopify provides a range of sales and marketing tools. However, they can be limiting.
There is a more extensive range of tools within Shopify Plus. Although the $2000 minimum monthly subscription price can be prohibitive if you are a small to medium business.
Using software like ConvertCalculator to fill the gaps means you can achieve all the functionality you need without the price tag.
For example, there will likely come a time on most platforms when you need superior configuration or calculation power.
Consider a scenario where you want to provide a personalized price quotation to customers based on their selections or generate leads by capturing information through multi-page forms.
Shopify may not offer the level of customization or flexibility you need for these tasks. This is where ConvertCalculator will take you to the next level.
Product Configuration
With ConvertCalculator, you can create interactive and customizable calculators and product configurators. This unique feature can greatly increase sales and conversion rates as customers appreciate the transparency and personalization of the shopping experience.
This tool can be a game-changer for businesses selling customizable products or services where prices vary depending on the customers' specific requirements.
Multi-Page Forms and Decision Trees
ConvertCalculator also shines in its ability to create multi-page forms or decision trees. These features can be incredibly useful for businesses that need to gather a significant amount of information from their customers.
For instance, multi-page forms or decision trees can streamline the process if you are selling complex products or services that require a detailed understanding of the customer's needs before making a recommendation.
Lead Generation
You can enhance your Lead Generation forms to include things like file upload and other fields not available within Shopify.
ConvertCalculator provides the capability to create powerful lead-generation features on your Shopify page. You can also integrate these with your email marketing platform.
Results Pages
Another feature of ConvertCalculator is the Result Pages you can create. Shopify's traditional checkout process may not provide the flexibility to create customized result pages.
However, using ConvertCalculator, you can design unique result pages that provide personalized information or recommendations based on the customer's input. This significantly enhances the customer's shopping experience and makes it more personal and engaging.
Summing up
The seamless integration between ConvertCalculator and Shopify makes the whole process highly efficient. Information is sent between the two platforms without any coding required on your part.
This saves a lot of time and energy, allowing you to focus on growing your business rather than dealing with technical challenges.
Using ConvertCalculator for complex pricing calculations on Shopify
ConvertCalculator's complex pricing calculation capabilities can be used to enhance Shopify's basic options.
You can create intricate pricing models, which give you the flexibility to adjust prices based on numerous factors.
Dynamic Product Bundling: Unlike Shopify, ConvertCalculator provides dynamic product bundling, allowing you to offer customized product combinations. This feature enhances customer experience and stimulates more purchases.
Advanced Inventory Management: Shopify offers basic inventory tracking, but ConvertCalculator can be used to create advanced inventory management and provide more detailed insights. Keep track of your stock in real-time, prevent over-selling, and ensure adequate supply.
Detailed ROI Calculations: Shopify doesn't offer built-in ROI calculation features. In contrast, ConvertCalculator can be used to help track return on investment meticulously. This can be crucial for understanding profit margins and making informed decisions.
Discount and Sales Promotions: ConvertCalculator provides a more advanced system to create discounts and sales promotions, offering more parameters and customization than Shopify's discount system.
Shipping Cost Estimates: ConvertCalculator can be used to set more detailed and exact shipping cost estimates based on multiple factors, giving customers a more accurate estimation compared to Shopify's standard shipping cost calculation.
Tax Calculations: While Shopify can calculate tax, with ConvertCalculator you can create a more comprehensive tax calculation system, enabling you to customize tax rates based on region, product type, or customer group.
Profit Margin Calculator: Create a profit margin calculator to calculate the profitability of each product and set up more advanced calculations.
Quantity Discounts: ConvertCalculator allows businesses to set up more complex quantity discounts, providing greater flexibility and customization than Shopify's basic bulk discount options.
Wholesale Pricing: Use ConvertCalculator to set up a seamless solution for wholesale prices, giving you more control and flexibility than Shopify's basic wholesale pricing system.
While you may be able to get some of these features inside Shopify's add-on store, you will need to purchase each one from a separate vendor.
Purchasing from multiple vendors and installing multiple plug-ins means more room for technical problems and a much higher cost.
By using ConvertCalculator, you have everything in one place and pay one low monthly fee.
ConvertCalculator offers a cost-effective Concierge service. If you lack the time or prefer personalized assistance, their experts can set up the solution for you.
As ConvertCalculator is so powerful, you will never have to worry about hitting a wall with regard to functionality and what you need to achieve. Your store will grow with your business.
Shopify + ConvertCalculator = Powerful solution for B2B and wholesale
Shopify is primarily designed for B2C sales, where product prices are typically fixed.
However, in a B2B context, prices often need to be customized based on the volume of the purchase, the long-term value of the customer, or the nature of the negotiation.
This could mean offering bulk discounts, loyalty discounts, or negotiated rates. Shopify doesn't support such complex pricing models out of the box.
For example, if a business wants to offer a tiered pricing model (where prices decrease as the quantity purchased increases), or a bundle pricing model (where buying a set of items together costs less than buying them individually), they could find it difficult to implement these on Shopify without extensive customization or third-party apps.
This is where ConvertCalculator comes in. The flexibility and power of ConvertCalculator means you can set up exactly what you need in terms of calculation and workflow for front and back-end processes.
You can use it to create custom pricing models specific to wholesale businesses based on user inputs. This makes it a valuable tool for businesses that require more complex pricing strategies.
Shopify Platform: FAQ
How to create a web calculator on Shopify
Create a web calculator on Shopify with our intuitive calculator builder. With a variety of templates to choose from and a user-friendly drag & drop form builder at your disposal, you can easily craft your own Shopify calculator. No coding is necessary. Our tools empower you to design and build your own Shopify calculator.
Will ConvertCalculator work on Shopify?
Shopify and ConvertCalculator integrate smoothly to enhance your website's functionality. After the calculator creation process, simply embed it on your site with a few easy steps.
What are Shopify’s main features?
Shopify is a platform for building and running your commerce and e-commerce business. It is geared towards B2C and is an excellent go-to for people who need an easy secure way to run their business.
Here are some of the main features users enjoy:
Security - Shopify provides robust security measures to protect both the merchant's and the customer's information, ensuring a safe and secure shopping experience.
Personalization - The platform offers various personalization options, which merchants can use to tailor their store to their brand.
Fast loading speed - Shopify's fast loading speed ensures a smooth and enjoyable shopping experience for customers.
Mobile commerce ready - Shopify stores are designed to be mobile-friendly, catering to the increasing number of customers shopping from their smartphones.
How much does Shopify cost?
Here are the pricing plans offered by Shopify:
Starter = $5 pm. (Sell products through social and messaging apps)
Note that Shopify Payments, in partnership with Stripe, is necessary to utilize this pricing structure in certain countries.
Shopify Plus, intended for high-growth, high-volume businesses, has a different pricing structure. It starts at $2000 per month, but the cost can increase based on the specific needs of your business or if your online sales are over $800,000 per month.
This plan includes advanced features like higher level of customization, dedicated support, and more. Transaction fees can be as low as 0.15% with Shopify Payments.
Get the performance you need from your Shopify store
Use Shopify and ConvertCalculator together to give you a powerful e-commerce business that can go anywhere.