Online shopping has gained immense popularity over the last decade. The COVID-19 pandemic has further boosted its growth due to several travel restrictions imposed by governments worldwide. It becomes crucial for shop owners to upscale their business and take it to a digital space where they can sell their products to a broader audience. To achieve this, businesses need a platform to design and host their websites. With several benefits, Shopify is one such Content Management System that helps users build and run online stores efficiently.
This article will provide a comprehensive understanding of Shopify and its features that users can use to build eCommerce websites. The article will also mention the key features and benefits of Shopify that can be leveraged by users to meet their eCommerce business needs. Read along to learn more about the benefits of Shopify!
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
- Basic understanding of Customer Management Systems.
Introduction to Shopify
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Shopify is a Software as a Service solution that businesses use to open online eCommerce stores. Unlike WordPress and Blogger, Shopify specifically Builds, Hosts, Operates and Manages websites related to the eCommerce industry. It is the world’s most popular multi-channel Content Management System, mainly used by small and medium-sized businesses across the globe.
Shopify has over one million clients spread across more than 175 countries. Many industry-leading companies, including FitBit, Penguin Books, Hyatt Hotel Corp, RedBull, use Shopify to meet their eCommerce needs. Shopify eliminates the need for installing any website servers as it is a Cloud-based service. Users can enjoy the benefits of Shopify at ease as the software gets automatically updated with the addition of new features.
It offers numerous tools that cater to all online store requirements, such as Marketing, Sales, Customer Engagement, Shipping, Payment, and many more. Shopify also provides a 15-days free trial period to users for them to better understand the platform. Users get access to thousands of pre-built templates that can be used to design customized websites depending on the niche.
According to Shopify, users witnessed an average annual growth rate of around 30% while using this subscription-based platform to run their businesses. Shopify allows Marketing across multiple Sales channels that helps companies to reach a larger audience resulting in higher visibility and increased sales figures.
Ottawa-based SaaS providing company Shopify was founded by Scott Lake, Daniel Weinand, and Tobias Lutke in 2004. The firm has raised over $122 million over four funding rounds from investors like Insight Partners, OMERS Ventures, and many more. Shopify has acquired twelve companies, including Oberlo, Handshake, Return Magic, Boultmade, and several more.
Features of Shopify
In order to grow an online business, companies must understand the capabilities of their Content Management Systems. Shopify provides multiple features to its customers that help them build aesthetic-looking eCommerce websites and enables them to keep track of the performance of their business. It also comes with many analytics tools to aid users in making informed business decisions for boosting Sales, and at the same time, increases the Efficiency of Websites. Below are a few notable Shopify features:
1) Shopify POS
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Shopify offers a feature named Point Of Sale that enables companies to sell their products in the real world. For example, companies can open physical pop-up stores to sell their products offline and accept payments from buyers using a card reader. The payments are directly linked to the company’s Shopify inventory that also maintains a record of every sales transaction.
The Shopify POS application provides a unified Dashboard that eliminates the need to maintain separate Sales records in-store and online purchases. The application is compatible with Apple devices (iPhone & iPad) and allows users to customize Orders, View Customer Purchase History, and Add Discount Offers. It can also give customers rewards if the online store has an active loyalty program.
Shopify POS can be used to plan and set up personalized Marketing Campaigns for in-store customers. Shopify offers this application in two options: Shopify POS Lite and Shopify POS Pro. The Pro version is packed with better features such as In-store Analytics, Omnichannel Selling, and many more.
2) Out of the Box SEO Tools
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is key to the growth of any online business as it helps improve the website’s ranking on search engines. Effective SEO practices help businesses increase their online presence by reaching out to a broader audience that accelerates Sales. Shopify comes with various SEO tools that users can leverage to achieve their desired goals.
Shopify also offers support for multiple third-party application integrations to help users effectively optimize their websites. For instance, Smart SEO is an application available on Shopify App Store that provides many features like automated metadata input, providing structured data to various search engines, including Google, offers multi-language support, and many more. Another application named Booster Image and SEO Optimizer can be used to increase traffic from google image search. The app automatically optimizes Meta Tags, Alt Text, Site Maps, JSON-LD, etc.
3) Shopify Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a business model in which eCommerce companies buy products from a third party and get them directly delivered to their customers. This model eliminates the need for maintaining an active warehouse to store listed products. Companies need to pay the wholesale price to suppliers while controlling the price customers see on their websites.
Shopify offers multiple applications that help businesses connect to thousands of wholesale suppliers across the globe. One such application is Oberlo, with which companies can directly import products from AliExpress and list them on their Shopify online store. Hence, businesses need not worry about product storage space for items listed on their websites.
4) Shopify Analytics
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Shopify provides multiple analytics tools that enable users to assess their online store’s performance. Shopify Analytics generates impactful insights related to Customer Activities, Marketing, Sales, and others to aid businesses in optimizing their operations and make better informed strategic decisions for increasing sales.
Shopify’s powerful Dashboard displays critical metrics like Product Analytics, Live view, Demography of Visitors, Total Purchase, and more. It can be easily integrated with Google Analytics to amplify Shopify Analytics’ capabilities. The tool also generates various reports, including Marketing, Inventory, Acquisition, Order, Sales, Profit, and numerous Custom Reports.
5) Abandoned Cart Reminders
According to a report, on average, 68% of customers tend to abandon their Shopping Carts before making a purchase, which results in a massive drop in sales figures. Abandoned Carts Checkout Emails is a feature provided by Shopify that allows users to identify customers who have products added to their cart and send emails to remind them of those products. Businesses can also automate this entire process by upgrading to Shopify’s advanced subscription that helps them save a lot of productive time and increase revenue generation.
To access this feature, users have to navigate to the Orders section and click on Abandoned Checkouts.
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Benefits of Shopify
Shopify being the world’s most popular Content Management System for eCommerce businesses offers numerous advantages to its users over other platforms. Below mentioned are a few notable benefits of Shopify:
1) Better Security
Online stores built and managed by Shopify are highly reliable as the company provides 256-bits SSL Certification to every website and is Level-1 PCI Compliant. These security parameters ensure the complete safety of sensitive customer information, including Credit Card Details, Phone Numbers, Email IDs, Home Addresses, etc. Added security features lead to increased brand value and customer loyalty. This is one of the key benefits of Shopify as businesses can operate in a secure digital environment.
2) Personalization Options
Shopify is a very versatile platform as it provides many built-in tools and options that allow companies to personalize their website according to their specific needs. Users can customize website themes and offer a better experience to their customers by giving them Personalized Coupons, Sale notifications, shipping options, payment methods, and many more.
3) Fast Loading Speed
As Shopify is a Cloud-based service, users can enjoy the benefit of the world-class infrastructure maintained by Shopify. The company’s robust and optimized hardware gives Shopify a super-fast loading speed that enables websites designed on Shopify to load in a few seconds.
4) Smartphone Friendly
Online consumers prefer to use smartphones to browse the internet and shop online. So, it is imperative for eCommerce companies to have websites that are compatible with mobile devices. Shopify enables users to Design, Host, and Manage impeccable websites that are optimized for smartphones.
5) Quick Customer Service
One of the most remarkable benefits of Shopify is that it operates a free 24/7 customer service center to provide unmatched assistance to its customers. The company provides community forums, chat, and voice support services to its clients to quickly resolve their issues. Shopify also has a vast database of FAQs that users can look at for resolving their queries on their own.
6) Shopify App Store
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Shopify runs its own app store where users can choose from thousands of applications to add new features to their eCommerce store. The app store features plug-and-play applications that cater to varied needs of customers like Website Customization, Improving Search Engine Optimization, Adding Analytics capabilities, and more.
Shopify App Store enables the content management system to be lightweight and provides desired features to its customers. Some of the most popular apps available on the Shopify store are OptinMaster, ReferralCandy, Printful, Smart SEO, and Plugin SEO.
7) User-Friendly Interface
Shopify comes with a very easy-to-use user interface that allows its customers to understand the platform’s functionalities in a short time. Shopify has equipped its platform with multiple drag-and-drop features that enable customers with no coding knowledge to run their online stores effectively. One of the prime benefits of Shopify is that it is very easy to set up. Customers can choose Shopify as their CMS if they are willing to open an online eCommerce in a brief notice.
Conclusion
Shopify has packed its CMS platform with several dynamic and useful features to help users create and manage their online eCommerce websites. Its high-end security features, a vast range of third-party integrations, insightful analytics, and user-friendly interface make it one of the best picks in the market. Customers who wish to take their business online can readily opt for Shopify because of the significant benefits of Shopify that give it an edge over its competition. This article provided you with an in-depth understanding of Shopify, You also learned about the key features and benefits of Shopify in great detail.
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Share your understanding of the features and benefits of Shopify. Tell us in the comment section below!
Dipayan has worked with several B2B SaaS companies to break down the complexities of data integration and analysis through insightful content tailored for technical and business audience.