Shopify

Shopify is the leading multichannel cloud-based commerce platform for small and medium sized businesses. If you are an entrepreneur, you can use Shopify to design and manage your online store on various channels like social media, mobile, the web, market places, pop up shops, and brick and mortar places.

If you have been looking for a platform that will give you a central single view of your business as well as a strong back office, then Shopify is what you are looking for. Shopify will help you run and manage your business because it was engineered using enterprise technology to provide reliability and scale to its users (businesses of different sizes).

Due to its reliability and efficiency, Shopify is used in over 150 countries with more than 800,000 businesses. Shopify is so effective that it is used by some of the most recognized brands in the world. Some of its top users include Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, LA Lakers, The New York Stock Exchange, and GoldieBlox.

The online platform was founded in 2006 but has applications in almost all industries in the world. Some of the industries that incorporate the Shopify software in their day to day operations include retail, design, computer software, food and beverages, financial services, cosmetics, real estate, entertainment, higher education, sporting goods, construction, and music.

There are hundreds of other industries that use Shopify to create online stores for their businesses. Shopify is simply the best platform for any startup business.

Features

User friendly

Since it supports a variety of businesses including small ones, Shopify is very easy to use and navigate. You can set up an online shop for your products easily on Shopify. If you are starting your online business, Shopify can help you build your site because its builder is easy to use and readily available.

Customer support

The customer support team of Shopify is available 24/7 to help any users that may encounter challenges using the platform. Whether it is technical difficulties or help with setting up your online store, the Shopify customer support will help you out.

Tools

There are numerous tools on Shopify that you can use to make your business store look more appealing to potential customers. You can gain access to creative themes that will make your store more attractive, as well as add-on apps that you can use to integrate your business with other market places.

Some of the market places that you can integrate with Shopify include Amazon and Mail chimp.

Pros

• Shopify will help increase your sales because integrating your business with more market places other than Shopify will give you access to a larger audience and more paying customers.
• Shopify helps its users build amazing user-friendly websites even if they do not have the technical skill or experience of building a website.

Cons

• Some of the important apps on Shopify have to be paid for in order to successfully run an online store. The discount codes, inventory management, and editing apps have to be paid for.
• The trail period of Shopify is just 15 days and some users would prefer if it had more time such as 30 days for a better initial set up.