In the digital era, shopping for customers around the globe has changed its medium for buying goods and stuff. Now buying one’s favourite dress or food is just a click away. Businesses and retailers are opening e-commerce sites every day for their customer base and to help them Shopify is the first name that comes to the mind of any business that wants to go digital. Shopify is an eCommerce software that allows businesses and startups to build one’s websites, manage products, and calculate shipping rates to sell across multiple channels.
With the ardent growth of Shopify, its pool of e-commerce sites started expanding but with time new businesses are looking for other options that have similar functions as Shopify but have some add-on points as well. Shopify has been one of the most popular e-commerce website builders in the market but that doesn't mean that it's the only suitable platform for hosting an e-commerce website. If you are looking for options to build your e-commerce website in other e-commerce software apart from Shopify we can help you out with other alternatives for Shopify that can elevate your business to new heights. Let us move ahead so we can delve into the differences between other platforms and Shopify. But before doing that, let us understand why new players are looking out for alternatives to Shopify, a time-tested platform.
Reasons that have allowed businesses to look for Shopify alternative
Let us take a look at the probable reasons that are deflecting business from Shopify in the latest trends:
Not willing to use Shopify Payments as the default payment gateway
One of the major reasons that deflect businesses from Shopify is the ability to choose a payment gateway without additional fees. With Shopify, while building the e-commerce site if one doesn't choose their prosperity payment gateway Shopify payments then 2% of each sale is charged as transaction fees. Also if you don’t choose Shopify payments as your default payment gateway for your business then you are liable to give up on access to some of the salient features of Shopify such as the ability to perform transactions in multiple currencies. Also if you are selling a higher-risk product and you want to use Shopify payments then also you can’t.
Requirement for more control over website SEO
An e-commerce website solution's primary marketing feature is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Shopify does a decent job in handling basic SEO tasks but as the owner of the business, you want more control over your e-commerce site if you are heavily dependent on organic search. For example, Shopify does not allow users to access and edit robot.txt files. This is the key file you use to tell Google how to index your website so that only the webpages you want are displayed in the search engine results. In the earlier days of your business, it may not seem like a problem but as your site evolves and grows you will want to have more control over how Google indexes your website.
Higher costs for advanced features
Advanced features, real-time shipping rates, and the ability to accept gift cards are only available in the higher-tier plans. Shopify tends to lock various advanced features behind a paywall. So if you require extra functionality for your business, your monthly budget may get blown out of proportion.
Top Competitors for Shopify in 2022
Let us take a look at the competitors of Shopify that are attracting startups and enterprises towards them and act as a viable option for Shopify :
1. Wix
Wix provides you with two primary methods to set up your e-commerce sites such as ADI and Wix Editor. ADI is an automated assistant that suggests a configuration based on the answers you provide to its questionnaire. Wix Editor enables full user control and customization, and it’s drag-and-drop so that you can place any content anywhere on your website as per your requirements. Its app store features include 280+ apps, add-ons, and plugins to embed social media, live chat, payment gateways, and other features. You can also embed HTML codes, and light boxes and apply various button styles at a cheaper rate which makes it much more affordable than Shopify.
Features :
It has a drag-and-drop editor and tons of tutorials.
Provides rich features for your site.
It has a unique design, and 100+ templates in store.
It works efficiently with third-party payment gateways.
It has free plans with branding done by Wix.
2. Big Commerce
BigCommerce is one of the major competitors for Shopify and it is one of the leading e-commerce platforms for the larger business. For your business, if you require a smooth and flexible drag and drop editor BigCommerce is the perfect tool. It is famous for providing a full cycle solution for your e-commerce website with downright stunning themes. They provide 7 themes free for all the industries so if you want to get a premium theme for your business then be prepared to shred some money to get the premium themes.
Features :
It works for most business models.
It has a strong SEO performance.
It provides an unlimited number of products.
Has fantastic and brand new theme designs.
Provides a wide array of features for your business.
Doesn't have any additional transaction fees and enables multi-channel selling.
3. Zyro
Among all Shopify competitors, Zyro is an affordable option that offers most of the same features as Shopify at a lower cost. The monthly pricing of the advance store plan is even priced lower than the Shopify basic. Also like Shopify, it offers a drag and drop page builder, various themes, and an app marketplace for salient new features. Zyro’s app marketplace offers support for dropshipping, print-on-demand, marketing features, and many more other features.
Features :
AI tools make it easy to make a website, craft content, create a logo, etc.
Affordable prices with more discounts on offer-based plan registration.
Affordable prices with more discounts and no transaction fees.
It has built-in blogging with additional features such as post scheduling.
It allows you to sell digitally worldwide and with support for various languages.
4. Sellfy
Sellfy targets digital product sales and it is a great platform for artists selling music, videos, or courses. Like Shopify, Sellfy is also a cloud-based platform with a monthly subscription and credit card processing fees. Similar to Shopify it offers lite plans with buy buttons and also offers a basic solution to embed products and buy buttons for an existing site as well.
Features :
It is easy to use and gets up and running in five minutes or less.
Enables selling digital and physical products.
Allows automated payments and product downloads.
It has all the tools you need to run your e-commerce business site.
Provides various integration options.
Final Thoughts
Shopify has been the leading choice for e-commerce but your business may overgrow Shopify at some point in time or you may require some additional features that Shopify fails to provide. After going through the list of competitors BigCommerce, Wix, Sellfy, and Zyro emerges as the strongest competitor for Shopify among startups and enterprises. Choosing Shopify alternatives isn't about picking the best or worst but having an understanding of your requirements, skills, and budget realistically. After taking these points into consideration you can easily choose a platform to host your e-commerce site or just get in touch with pravaah consulting for a custom website design that hits all the right spots for the scaling of your online business.