Shopify

Pros

I currently use Shopify for my “side hustle” business - selling retro and vintage style dresses online - www.retrovintagedresses.com I previously used Magento for my shopping cart before switching over to Shopify. I like that it’s an easy platform to get set up on and deploy. Also, I love that you can easily create a catalog on business manager to sell products on Facebook and Instagram. Definitely easy to use.

Cons

I don’t have any cons that I can think of with Shopify. I’ve been using it for over 2 years and have not had any major issues or set backs.

Pros

Shopify is the easiest eCommerce platform and offers an excellent combination of ease-of-use and power. I love WooCommerce (have used it for site builds since 2012), but Shopify has become my new go-to for basic eCommerce builds in recent years. If you know what you're doing you can literally get a simple Shopify site up and running in less than 2 hours.

The plugin and theme marketplaces on Shopify are phenomenal. They're not as extensive as the WP plugin marketplaces, but the overall quality is better, making up for the quantity gap. There are still a few holes compared to something like WooCommerce, but Shopify will do 95% of what you could imagine doing on an eCommerce site, and do it easier than anyone else.

Stability may be the biggest selling point of Shopify. Because you don't control the server, database, or mid-tier code, the hard maintenance is all done by Shopify automatically. Most serious eCommerce businesses make back their subscription just in the maintenance cost savings.

Cons

Shopify is not nearly as flexible as something like WooCommerce or Magento because you don't have access to the server's backend code or the database. This makes it harder (and sometimes even impossible) to build out really sophisticated solutions to difficult data oriented problems. That said, those kinds of problems are rare and most businesses will be able to find alternative solutions.

Shopify is going to run you $30/month+. Compared to a lot of the open source options out there this can feel expensive. Apps can drive that price higher very quickly. For most small businesses they're going to find themselves paying $50-$100/month for the features they need to drive their online sales. If you're willing to go without some functionality (or find a free alternative) you can keep that cost in the $30-$50/month range.

Pros

Shopify has maintained a fairly constant and consistent set up for a while now and while that can feel frustrating, they have done a good job at keeping what they do have functional and helpful. Apps allow further customization and allow for some unique options and they are good at helping out when there are issues with my store, fairly rare, but when needed it's important. Customers are used to using Shopify as it has become a standard for online shopping.

Cons

I wish they would rely less on Apps sometimes as that can quickly increase the fees my shops ends up paying every month.

Pros

I have an online shop to support my podcast on Tudor history. I originally set up my shop thinking I'd sell some fun leggings using print on demand vendors. And it's grown into a bit of a behemoth. Which is great! Here's the thing - lots of creators use Redbubble and Spreadshirt and other places like that, which is fine, but the difference is that when you do that, they handle the entire sales process. This is fine if you don't want to know your customers, but if you're running an online business, then being able to capture that sales information, and get mailing list sign ups, is crucial .

You can still use print on demand vendors, only this time you control the entire sales process. Everything is branded for your business. The tags in the leggings are branded for you. The mailing address is your company. It's all yours.

Of course, the downside is that you also have to handle the customer service questions that would normally go to the Zazzle equivalent. But if you are really wanting to build a business around your customers, you want that touch point. And you get to keep all the profits.

With all the apps, you can have a store that really expresses who you are, and lets you control the entire sales process.

Cons

I'm not a fan of how much is only included in the more expensive options, and how much is only available through paid apps. Of course it's great to have the options at all, but it's very easy to start to run up high bills. At one point I was paying close to $100/mo for all my various apps!

I also still use other marketplaces like Etsy because it's the distinction between selling at a church craft fair and setting up your own shop. At the church craft fair you're pretty much guaranteed some kind of traffic. With setting up on your own you have more control over the feel, and ownership of the shop, but it's up to you to go out and get all the traffic.

Pros

It is easy to get a website up and running. Adding products is easy.

Cons

WHERE DO I BEGIN:
-inventory records only go back three months...I was horrified to find out I lost 4 months of inventory records.
-to print a receipt...you need to buy and download an app...it is awkward to use and takes a couple minutes for the receipt to upload before you can print it.
-to have employees log in you need to download and app and pay monthly
-you can not do a credit on someone’s account if they return something...You need to either return their money or give them a gift card it is awkward and difficult to use.
-if you mark an order pending payment you cannot take payment on the POS system.
-you cannot add any vender information that is not visible to your customers.
-the duplicate feature when adding products doesn’t work properly....to hard to explain what should be duplicated and what shouldn’t but trust me it wasn’t created by someone that understands business