Shopify, headquartered in Canada, is a widely used eCommerce solution that facilitates the creation of dynamic online shops with minimal effort. Despite having some of the best features in the industry, Shopify has competition.
As a result, I’ve compiled a list of Shopify’s top rivals so you can compare and contrast your options before deciding where to host your dropshipping business.
Tips for Using Shopify
Before we talk about some of the most popular alternatives to Shopify, let’s take a look at how the platform works. Some of the biggest eCommerce store owners in the world trust this all-in-one platform that is easy to use. Here are a few of the main reasons why you might want to set up your own online store with Shopify:
· User-friendly
One of the best things about Shopify is that it is very easy to use and is good for people who are just starting out. It comes in different languages, and you can make the interface for your store by dragging and dropping.
Simple to handle
Shopify makes it easy to run an online store because it has a lot of automatic features. For example, shipping costs, taxes, customer reminders, and so on can all be done automatically.
Lots of Things
You can look at many features, like email templates, fulfilment centres, customer profiles, and more, all in one place.
Aside from that, Shopify also lets you use a lot of SEO techniques and sell your products on social media sites like Facebook. Shopify also has a layer of security called 256-bit SSL, and its customer service is known for being helpful.
- Shopify is good for small and medium-sized stores, but it can be hard for large online stores to get results that are tailored to their needs.
- Shopify is a bit pricey compared to other online stores.
- Shopify doesn’t have many tools for managing content (like fewer AR tools and carousel display options).
- Shopify’s support for shopping on mobile apps is not very good.
5 Sites that are better than Shopify
As you can see, Shopify has some good points and some bad points. So, if you want an alternative platform for your dropshipping store, you can think about the following Shopify alternatives.
Wix
Wix is a popular alternative to Shopify that has been around since 2006. In the same way, it is an easy-to-use website builder with dropshipping tools that you can learn more about.
Wix is mostly recommended for people who are just starting out because its website builder makes it easy to make a unique online store.
PROS:
- It has a lot of ready-made themes for online stores that you can change to fit your needs.
- Wix has an easy-to-use website builder with a lot of add-ons to choose from.
- It has automatic marketing plans, secure payment gateways, and other features.
CONS:
- There aren’t many ways to connect it to other applications.
- At the moment, you can’t add Apple Pay or Amazon Payments to your Wix store.
- Its premium plans can get a little pricey over time.
WordPress
The WordPress company owns the open-source plugin WooCommerce. If you want to find free alternatives to Shopify, WooCommerce is a great choice.
But if you want to try out WooCommerce’s more advanced features, you can sign up for its premium plan.
PROS:
- WooCommerce is free, and you can get the basic version of it for free.
- Integration with WordPress is smooth (for free website creation).
- There are many SEO tools and hundreds of plugins that you can use.
CONS:
- Your store would depend heavily on WordPress plugins and extensions.
- Creating and running a WooCommerce store can take a little bit of time.
- Overall, WooCommerce’s customer service is not as good as what other solutions offer.
Bigcommerce
BigCommerce is one of the oldest companies in the business, and it can help you set up and run an online store.
There are also more advanced tools for content marketing and SEO for your store.
PROS:
- It has a tool that lets you build your store’s interface without having to know how to code.
- It has features for selling across all channels (to sell your products on Facebook or Instagram).
- BigCommerce has a lot of add-ons and works with more than 50 different payment gateways.
CONS:
- There aren’t many free themes for online stores, and you have to pay extra for some plugins.
- It can be hard to figure out how to use its advanced SEO features.
- The steps for making a store and putting it all together could be made easier.
Magento
Even though Magento was started in 2007, it went through a big change when Adobe bought it in 2018.
Now, Magento has a lot of themes and smart ways to run your store, making it one of the best alternatives to Shopify.
PROS:
- The best thing about Magento is that it is a very strong open-source platform.
- Magento also has a lot of cloud-based solutions for your store that are easy to use.
- Since there are a lot of developers working on Magento, you can find a lot of useful extensions and plugins.
CONS:
- Magento is difficult to learn compared to Shopify and Wix.
- To use Magento, you would need hosting services from a third party.
- No specialised customer service.
Shift4Shop
Shift4Shop has been around since 1994, and it is still thought to be one of the best ways to host an online store.
It is one of the most affordable alternatives to Shopify, and small business owners are encouraged to use it.
PROS:
- Shift4Shop’s built-in features make it easy to use good SEO techniques.
- You can make your platform mobile-friendly by integrating your store with Google AMP.
- It works with more than 70 different payment gateways, and there are no extra transaction fees.
CONS:
- Shift4Shop can be hard to learn (not as user-friendly as Shopify).
- There aren’t many free themes for online stores, and many of them are no longer relevant.
- It only works with a small number of plugins and apps from outside sources.
Dropship Corporation can help your dropshipping store grow.
Creating your store is only half done when you choose a front-end solution. To run your store as a whole, you would need a powerful platform like Dropship Corporation.
It is the official dropshipping solution from AliExpress. It is free, and you can use its long list of suppliers to put together the perfect catalogue for your store.
Processing Done by Itself
Get the most out of your time by having your products’ tracking numbers or order statuses automatically synced or updated.
With this one-of-a-kind feature of Dropship Corporation you can find a better supplier with the highest-rated services and the most potential for making money.
· Order Management
You can place multiple orders at once, and you can even map out the different options in your store. There are also features for dividing up products and keeping track of stock.
Some Other Things
You can try out a lot of other things in Dropship Corporation, like automatic pricing, product bundles, shipping settings, and more.
Conclusion
You’ll learn more about Shopify and all the high-end features it has after reading this post. Even though Shopify is a cheap and easy way to set up your online store, you might want to look for other options.
So, you can check out all of the top Shopify alternatives and competitors listed in this guide. You can also use a tool like Dropship Corporation to find the right products for your store and use its advanced back-end features to run it like a pro.
