Structure before theme
A purchased theme always looks good in the demo, because the demo products were built for it. So the starting question is how your range is structured and how customers search for it. The theme follows from that.
Shopify // fast start
Shopify, when operations should stay simple
Shopify takes hosting, payment integration, security and updates off your hands. That is a real argument when nobody in-house can or wants to look after a store technically. The price is a monthly fee and limits when product logic gets very specific.
Selection
When Shopify fits
- Nobody in-house should have to deal with servers, updates and security.
- Selling is the focus, not an extensive content area.
- A manageable to medium range without exotic pricing logic.
- It has to go live quickly and then run reliably.
Honesty
When I advise against it
No system fits everywhere. These cases speak against Shopify, and I will say so:
- B2B with customer group prices, tiers and quotation processes: Shopware is built for that.
- A large editorial area alongside the store: WordPress with WooCommerce is often the better fit then.
- Data that has to stay in-house by requirement.
Method
How I work with it
Take collection pages seriously
In Shopify, collections are where organic visibility happens. A collection without its own copy and without a meaningful heading is a wasted entry page.
A checkout without obstacles
The checkout in Shopify is largely fixed, but the routes to it are not: shipping cost, availability and delivery time have to be visible before someone adds to cart, not after.
Legal requirements for Germany
Price indication rules, unit prices, right of withdrawal and shipping cost disclosure are not automatically correct in a system designed internationally. That belongs checked before launch, not after the first warning letter.
Comparison
Other systems
If Shopify does not fit, these are the alternatives:
WordPress
WordPress runs a large share of the web, and that is both a blessing and a curse: there is a plugin for every problem, and after two years the site has thirty of them, is slow and vulnerable.
Go to WordPressShopware
Shopware pays off from the point where a website builder starts to creak: many variants, prices per customer group, tiered pricing, an ERP system in the background.
Go to ShopwareTYPO3
TYPO3 takes more effort to set up than any other system on this site, and that is not a drawback but the price for something the others cannot do: separate permissions, real language hierarchies and an editorial structure that holds up with fifty editors..
Go to TYPO3
FAQ // Shopify
Frequently asked questions about Shopify
What does Shopify really cost?
Beyond the base fee there are transaction fees and usually several apps. Before launch it is worth adding up the apps you actually need: depending on scope, the comparison against a self-hosted store tips one way or the other.
Can I move away from Shopify later?
Yes, but it is work. Products and customers can be exported, order history and custom app data only partly. Anyone who considers a move possible should be sparing from the start with apps that hold their own data.
How good is Shopify for SEO?
Technically solid, with two known quirks: duplicate URLs for products in several collections, and a fixed URL structure that cannot be shaped freely. Both are manageable with canonicals and clean internal linking, you just have to know about them.
Shopify or Shopware?
Shopify when operations should stay simple and product logic is manageable. Shopware as soon as customer groups, tiered pricing or a leading ERP system come into play. The difference is not in the looks but in how far the system can adapt to your processes.
Not sure whether Shopify is the right system? Ask me, I am happy to sort it out, even if the answer is a different system.