15 pros and cons of using Shopify in 2023

Updated on June 2nd, 2023

Shopify pros and cons are important to know when considering this great online store platform.

By grasping Shopify’s advantages and disadvantages one will feel more confident in selecting it as the right solution for their marketing goals.

This article on the most important pros and cons of using Shopify will lay out this ecommerce software’s top benefits and drawbacks to help you decide if it is the right solution for your needs.

Shopify pros and cons in 2023 ( 15 advantages and disadvantages explored)

With billions of people worldwide doing most of their shopping online, it has become essential to run an ecommerce shop as it is super lucrative.

As stated in the Statista article titled “Global retail e-commerce sales 2014-2026,” retail e-commerce sales amounted to approximately $5.2 trillion worldwide in 2021. Moreover, this figure is forecasted to grow by 56 percent over the next years, reaching about $8.1 trillion by 2026.

This demonstrates the enormous potential of the online retail market.

To tap into this opportunity, setting up your store is the first step, and one of the ecommerce top tools to use for creating and managing it is undoubtedly Shopify.

So let’s dive into the best reasons people like Shopify and a few things some people don’t like that would help you decide if it is the right solution for your online store creation and management.

Pros (the advantages)

We will start by reviewing some of the amazing Shopify advantages.

1. No code & overall ease of use

First on our pros of Shopify list is the fact that it doesn’t require much coding skills to use when building your online store.

Its drag-and-drop editor is smooth and intuitive. You can easily create an ecom website in a short time.

Overall ease-of-use

Besides it being a no-code platform, almost all functions on it are simple and easy to use.

Shopify makes it easy to add most functions you need to run your store successfully. From customizing your store’s look, SEO optimizing it, getting help, integrating apps, etc.

Things are just smooth all around when using Shopify.

Very beneficial software with a friendly user interface that will assist you in launching your virtual shop(s) fast.

2. Beautiful, fast mobile ready templates & themes

As a no-code ecommerce site builder, Shopify offers hundreds of beautiful templates and themes that are loads quickly and mobile-ready.

The benefit of this is that you will create stunning-looking websites that help get people to buy your products and services more.

3. Built-in SEO and performance

As someone who does SEO, this is one of my favorite Shopify pros.

I love that Shopify is search engine optimization ready which leads to your web-based store performing well in search engines.

It has meta description, headers, desktop & mobile speed, and SEO-friendly URL built-in.

Shopify auto-generates

• xml sitemap
• robots.txt
• canonical tags
• title tags

4. 1000s of Shopify built-in apps & third-party applications

Shopify has over 1000 built-in apps which make building and managing your online shop easy. Most of them are advanced apps you need to run many essential ecommerce functions.

Thirdly-party apps & Zapier

Shopify securely integrates with your favorite third-party apps directly and you can use Zapier to connect to thousands more.

5. Supports payment processors in 7 continents

Another advantage of using Shopify is that it supports and integrates with many online payment platforms in all 7 continent thus making it easy for online shops to sell to customers anywhere.

Some of the popular payment gateways it supports are Apple pay, PayPal, Stripe, Payoneer, etc.

6. Supports multiple languages

Another strong Shopify pro is your ability to configure the platform into any language thus reaching customers anywhere in the world.

7. Multi-currency

This is another advantage that allows you to sell to customers worldwide. You won’t be limited to a particular currency when using Shopify.

8. Auto security & version updates ( one of my fav pros)

Shopify constantly auto-updates themes and plugins to the newest version for a more secure platform.

This is a great benefit as it allows you to save time and just focus on other important aspects of your store.

You will worry less about being hacked or spending resources hiring someone to do the maintenance.

9. Secure FREE hosting

This is one of the strong Shopify pros that a lot of people like. Since the platform is fully hosted and secure, you don’t need to spend extra buying a hosting service.

10. Support for various regions of the world

A really great Shopify advantage I love is that the company provides 24/7 tech support and customer services via live chat, email, and phone that cover all regions of the world.

This is a great benefit because it doesn’t matter where you are located, Shopify’s knowledgeable support team will help solve your store issues promptly.

Shopify provides support through social media too. You can also get help by asking in Shopify community forums or using the extensive knowledgebase on their website.

11: Inventory management

An area that’s important for any web shop is being able to manage inventory properly. Shopify has in-house applications you can use to make this happen without hassle.

You also use their API to connect with other apps without much tech skills.

12. Scaling without hassle is a powerful pro

Growing your business online store with Shopify is not that hard to do.

Unlike some ecommerce builder platforms where when it is time to grow your business you have to deal with all kinds of headaches, Shopify makes it easy for you to scale with built-in apps and features like Shopify Plus (a cloud-based server and infrastructure that can handle peak traffic without issues).

You will also be able to use Shopify’s built-in inventory management tools to quickly scale.

This is a really powerful pro since a lot of businesses find it challenging to scale without the right platform.

13. Connect with WordPress

If you are like most businesses you are using or want to use WordPress for your blog or website because of its flexibility.

So if you like to switch all or part of your site into an online store, Shopify makes it easy by seamlessly integrating with WordPress.

The advantage of this connection for some is that they will be combining powerful Shopify ecommerce features with WP flexibility and freedom.

Anyone can do this by installing and activating the ShopWP plugin.

Important

If you are starting off with WordPress and need a host that’s fast and secure, the web hosting sites I recommend you create an account with is Bluehost or WPEngine (a true fully managed WP hosting platform)

Cons (the disadvantages)

It will be disingenuous to talk about Shopify pros without mentioning some things I and others don’t like.

Nothing is perfect.

1. Transaction fees

One of the biggest complaints people have about Shopify is its inflexible transaction fees.

As you do volumes the fees get expensive with Shopify Payments which they encourage people to use.

To make matters worse, I found that even if you decide to switch to a better credit card processor that other offers better rates for sales volumes, Shopify will still charge you transaction fees in addition to your payment processors.

Other Shopify similar sites like BigCommerce and Squarespace have an advantage in this area because they don’t charge these fees if a business wants to use third-party card readers.

2. Expensive apps

Another Shopify con is that some of the useful applications on the platform are very expensive.

Even though the builder has a lot of free apps, you still have to pay to use some of the ones with better functionality on top of your monthly Shopify plan payment.

For example, the Subscription Plus app costs an extra $4.99/m. This might not look like much but if you are just starting your store and need a lot of apps, it will add up.

So this is a disadvantage to consider. But if you are making money or have the financial resources it doesn’t matter.

Final thoughts

I really hope this Shopify pros and cons review will help you make an informed decision.

Shopify is an easy-to-use online store platform with a lot of advantages and some disadvantages.

I recommend it to those looking to sell online because the pros outweigh the cons for a lot of people.

If you have comments or questions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using Shopify, please write us.