If you are an eCommerce developer, you probably know most of the popular products and work with solutions like BigCommerce, Magento, Volusion and others to develop and deliver software and websites that meet your client requirements. Among the solutions growing in popularity is the Shopify eCommerce offering. In this article, we look at four things that make Shopify a popular eCommerce platform for developers and businesses.
‘Shopify provides a great foundation for design, development and roll-out and for handoff to the business to keep the site evergreen and growing beyond implementation.’
The Shopify eCommerce platform can help an emerging business get off to a successful start and support the eCommerce needs of the business as it grows. The Shopify framework is used in approximately 150,000 online stores worldwide. Shopify is an excellent choice for eCommerce stores, Online Stores, eStores and online sales websites, and it is a popular choice for developers and IT consultants.
Here are four things that make Shopify a popular eCommerce choice for developers and businesses alike:
1. Features – Shopify has support for a mobile application so you can sell online and offline. Businesses can leverage digital and physical gift cards to support customers and gift-giving and encourage purchases on their site. Shopify supports drop-shipping which provides the additional flexibility of stock, inventory and shipping management, so the business owner can forward customer orders to a supplier to complete fulfillment and shipping of the product. Shopify allows for refunds, partial payments, split payments, credit and debit card processing, custom receipts, discounting, barcode scanning using smart phones, and the development team can set up administrative accounts, enable the business to track employee performance for sales commissions, adjust target profit margins, etc. Businesses can organize products to track inventory, and include analytics for trends, best-selling products, etc. Shopify allows businesses and development teams to easily upload product information using CSV and spreadsheets to mitigate costly, time-consuming manual data entry.
2. Themes – Developers can quickly and easily leverage Shopify themes for a variety of industries and business functions, including themes for service providers like photographers, law firms, wellness services and retail and product-based providers like clothing stores, food and drink suppliers, accessories and more. There are free and premium themes for electronics, fashion, furniture, sports, jewelry and just about every other category, product or service. Developers can use simple tools to develop custom themes for businesses wishing to strike a different tone or satisfy a unique set of requirements.
3. Integration – Shopify integrates with QuickBooks and other accounting solutions, as well as email marketing platforms, social media, selling on Instagram, and other popular sites like eBay and Amazon and Shopify enables integration with more than 100 payment gateways and solutions. In addition, there are numerous Shopify and 3rd party applications for shipping, search engine optimization (SEO), fulfillment, inventory management, customer support, reporting and Augmented Analytics.
4. Business Handoff – After the business IT consultant has developed and launched the site, the business can use simple content and editing tools to add photos, products, descriptions and other content to the site and to update administrators and users. Shopify offers loans and funding to businesses to encourage expansion and growth and its customer service is dependable. Businesses can leverage the Shopify legal policies and pages to use a boiler plate or customize a policy or legal reference to protect their business and ensure that their clients and customers understand refund policies, business liability, privacy policies etc. Shopify also offers social media support and self-paced video tutorials to support the enterprise as they grow their eCommerce business.
Whether you are a developer, looking for a dependable, flexible eCommerce solution with plenty of features and flexibility to meet your client requirements, or you are a business wishing to expand your brick and mortar business with online capability or upgrade your existing eCommerce site, Shopify provides a great foundation for design, development and roll-out and for handoff to the business to keep the site evergreen and growing beyond implementation.
‘ The Shopify eCommerce platform can help an emerging business get off to a successful start and support the eCommerce needs of the business as it grows.’
Find out how a Shopify Development partner can help your business achieve its goals. Read our White Paper on the Cost Vs. Value Of Engaging An Offshore Software Developer for Shopify or other eCommerce or technology needs.
