As one of the leading e-commerce platforms, Shopify is a huge part of many brands who are selling online. Brands like Red Bull, Heinz, Gymshark, MVMT, and Kylie Cosmetics are all using the power of Shopify for a reason… because it works well!

So what is it about Shopify that makes thousands of brands call the platform home?

Strong Native Analytics

To actually grow a brand, understanding analytics is the key. Without analytics, you won’t know definitively where the weak links are or where the best places to focus energy are. Analytics are everything and having a simple data system makes things easy.

With Shopify, the analytics dashboards are pretty sweet! They are simple, easy to navigate, and not too confusing for non-analytics people. Some of the key data points that Shopify reports on are:

• Conversion Rate
• Average Order Value
• Top Products By Unit Sold
• Returning Customer Rate
  

Plus, Shopify also breaks down the overall increase or decrease rates so you can see the data trends for your store clearly. Obviously there is a lot more data that you should be using that are more specific to growing certain marketing channels, but for quick glimpses or data verification, Shopify’s data is solid.

Easy Updating

One of the best parts about Shopify is the ability to make updates quickly and easily. When it comes to scaling efficiently, speed is the key. As you grow, you’ll need the ability to make changes on the fly to adjust for changes in your campaigns. Shopify makes these changes easy with a simple, visual builder that is pretty intuitive.

Consistent Results

Unlike other platforms, Shopify offers consistency in performance and overall-use. Oftentimes, when brands come to 253 Media to create a new website, it’s because they were on another platform that was creating issues with caching, improper updates, hosting issues, etc…

With Shopify, you won’t run into any issues like that. In fact, over the last few years, the only platform issues that we’ve seen have been due to crazy e-commerce surges like on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Also, most of the apps that we’ve used have been pretty solid compared to apps or plugins that are available on other platforms. Obviously not every app is perfect, but for the most part, they’ve worked well without too many issues.

Apps for ANYTHING

Speaking of apps, the Shopify App Store is AMAZING. There are currently about 3,200 different apps on the app store all designed to help you make your store better. Although Shopify is pretty good right out of the box, it’s not perfect and it’s not super tailored for specific product lines. This is where the apps come into play. If you need something specific for your store, there’s probably an app! Some of our favorite apps include:

• Klaviyo for email marketing
• JustUno for custom email capture popups
• Wholesale Club for a simple wholesale solution
• Bold Product Options for custom swatches and upsells
• Page Fly for custom pages
• ShipStation for easy shipping solutions
  
  

Easy Integrations

To scale on any marketing platform, a simple and consistent integration is key. With Shopify’s Sales Channels, you can easily integrate with Facebook/Instagram, Google, email platforms, Messenger, Amazon, eBay, and more! With these integrations, you’ll be able to efficiently retarget and track users across multiple platforms so you efficiently grow on each channel.

Flaws Of Shopify 

Although Shopify is a fantastic platform for most brands, it does have some serious flaws that can be a deal breaker for some brands. One of the biggest complaints that we hear from clients is that the reporting isn’t great. Running a custom report is only available for users on the Advanced Shopify or Shopify Plus plans, which can be pretty expensive for some users!

Another major flaw for most Shopify themes is the lack of ability to make secondary pages that look great. For brands that need an educational page or more landing pages, you’ll most likely need a third-party app to make something halfway decent. Some themes have extra page templates that can work well, but for the most part, adding extra pages is a serious downfall for Shopify.

Finally, the last major gripe that we have with Shopify is that lack of customization that the themes offer. Sure you can change colors, fonts, positioning (usually), etc… but if you want to get custom with your designs, good luck! With other platforms like Webflow, you have complete freedom to design how you want, but with Shopify you’re pretty locked into the theme you choose, so choose wisely!

Overall, the Shopify platform is one of the best options for building a high-performance e-commerce store. If you have any questions about Shopify or if you need some help getting your store dialed in, reach out to our Shopify experts today!