Welcome to our Shopify competitors guide where we’ll identify equally viable eCommerce platforms along with the pros & cons of each one for every type of business.
In today’s digital world, internet use has rapidly increased people’s online shopping perspective. Where, we once mistrusted it, we now rely on it completely.
In the race among popular eCommerce platforms, products and services can provide the advantage needed to stay ahead in today’s competitive market.
The Shopify retail platform provides online stores and point-of-sale systems. Besides customer engagement tools for easier for online store management, Shopify offers retailers a wide range of online support solutions which include marketing, and shipping.
Still, with over 1 million registered retailers worldwide and a presence in over 170 countries, Shopify may not be for everyone.
Are you looking for the right eCommerce platform for your startup? Or perhaps you’d prefer a flexible or more affordable option; our Shopify competitors 2020 listicle can help you make an informed decision.
1. WooCommerce
Let’s get started with WooCommerce, an open-source, customizable, WordPress based, eCommerce platform that can match the Shopify competitive advantage. This intuitive plugin will transform any existing WordPress website into a robust online store.
WooCommerce also comes with limitless customization options.
Shopify users enjoy improved customer support for resolving any issues. Multichannel integration is another noteworthy Shopify feature. This means you can sell on Amazon, Facebook, Pinterest, and eBay.
Shopify and WooCommerce are both great online marketing platforms for any eCommerce store but your eventual choice will be determined by your personal preferences.
2. Wix
Pricing is the most significant difference between Shopify and Wix's eCommerce approach. Shopify features a 2-week free plan while Wix offers users an entirely free plan.
However, you could choose to upgrade to any of Wix’s paid Business, Ecommerce, and Enterprise plans.
But when deciding on which of these 2 Shop competitors offers more ecommerce value you’ll need to take a closer look at the selling quality features available on each platform.
We soon discovered that both Wix and Shopify bring improved functionality to the mix with their predesigned templates. You only have to select one, add some images and text to it, and it can easily serve as your site or store’s design basis.
Shopify is undoubtedly the better choice of the two for ecommerce applications, however, Wix’s page layout tools, data capture, email marketing tools, and vast template collection make it perfect for anyone looking to develop a ‘general-purpose’ website.
3. Squarespace
Even though they started life with different purposes, Squarespace is yet another popular eCommerce platform that can give Shopify competition this year.
Shopify was initially designed as an online store development solution whereas Squarespace was meant for building and maintaining content–based sites.
But both platforms have become increasingly similar thanks to an increase in the number of Shopify’s content-creation tools and the addition of eCommerce feature to Squarespace’s offerings. Technically, anyone can now use Shopify or Squarespace to sell products online or create a content-driven website.
Overall, both Squarespace and Shopify are user-friendly platforms but the former comes with a bit more flexibility than the latter.
4. Weebly
Weebly is up next on our Shopify competitor comparison and while these two eCommerce platforms are very different – we’ll help you decide which would be better for you.
Weebly is essentially a website builder which means it does not support ecommerce. Shopify in contrast is an eCommerce platform that focuses on helping entrepreneurs build & maintain online stores.
Thanks to their varied target markets, Shopify is great for full-scale eCommerce businesses while Weebly is perfectly suited for digital portfolios and small businesses.
Furthermore, during our ease of use testing, we discovered that Shopify and Weebly are pretty evenly matched e commerce competitors. You won’t require any prior tech experience to get started with using both platforms.
5. Big Commerce
Big Commerce is the next entry on our Shopify competitors stock and it is also great for people who prefer to adopt a DIY approach to online store building.
Anyone can use Shopify or Big Commerce to build an online store without coding skills or knowledge. Both platforms are web browser based, which means that there is no need to install software on your computer. Furthermore, you can operate your store from anywhere once you have stable internet connection.
Simply choose an ideal template from the available collection, upload your products along with their set prices and you’re all set.
6. Big Cartel
With Big Cartel and Shopify, you have two web-based eCommerce platforms that anyone can use to build, manage customer orders, and run their online store. Both shop competitors are cloud-based building tools so you don’t have to install anything on your computer and they operate remotely.
Besides selling products online, both products will allow you to sell in physical locations, ship items around the world, and receive payments from your customers.
Artists, musicians and small businesses focused on selling clothes, makeup, and music merch make up a significant portion of Big Cartel users. Shopify on the other hand, currently has around 4 million online stores from diverse niches running on the web from various industry sectors.
7. Square Online
Are you looking for an eCommerce services provider to facilitate online and in-person sales? Shopify and Square Online both provide POS systems. However, their full-range business support services can offer much more.
Shopify and Square Online have a lot in common, with both platforms providing the necessary tools for online stores and brick &mortar shops to thrive. But key differences between the two platforms start to arise when you consider pricing. Shopify charges monthly fees that come with reduced processing fees for the costlier subscriptions. Whereas Square Online charges zero subscription fees at all and a flat universal processing rate.
In addition, Shopify currently serves merchants in over 170 countries worldwide, while Square Online only serves merchants in 7 countries: the UK, US, Canada, Ireland, France, and Australia and as such, Shopify clearly has an international edge.
Square Online also supports a wide range of business types with numerous third-party integrations, but Shopify’s online store capabilities are unmatched with loads of in-built features which make it the ideal choice for most eCommerce merchants.
However, we discovered that Square Online boasts of a particularly robust POS ecosystem and comes with more industry-specific features and apps than Shopify, thus making Square Online a great choice for smaller retail establishments, and restaurants that require an improved appointment-scheduling system.
8. Ecwid
Ecwid and Shopify are great tools for selling stuff online. Anyone can use both platforms to build a store, upload products online, receive payments, and manage their inventory without prior coding knowledge.
However, Ecwid was initially designed to allow users sell products on an existing website after adding a snippet of code to it. In contrast, Shopify was conceived as an eCommerce tool for creating a brand new, a fully-functional, standalone online store.
Ecwid has one free plan but the user can access more extensive feature sets as they pay more.
All Shopify plans enable you to sell a limitless number of products online with the main difference being the number of user accounts you’re allowed to operate.
9. Volusion
Trying to figure out which is the ideal online Store builder between Volusion and Shopify? That’s the next question we’ll attempt to answer on our in-depth Shopify vs competitors analysis.
Shopify and Volusion are website building tools that operate similarly by allowing you to create an online store. They are web browser hosted solutions and as such, you won’t need to install software on your own computer.
In addition, both platforms allow you to build and manage your online store remotely from any location with stable internet connection and on any compatible device. Using each product will require you to pay a monthly fee, which gives you access all the tools you’ll need to create and run your store, including hosting, templates, credit card processing, CMS (content management system), support services.
Shopify can get you started with selling products online with as little as 9USD which is 20USD cheaper than the Volusion Personal plan. And while you can’t set up a fully functional online store with the basic Shopify plan, you can use a Shopify ‘Buy Button’ (similar to PayPal) for selling on Facebook and other existing websites.
Furthermore, Shopify includes POS functionality on all its plans. But there’s a catch; Shopify Payments are only available to merchants selling from certain countries. Volusion on the other hand, doesn’t offer any Point of Sale features at all.
10. PrestaShop
On the surface, Shopify and PrestaShop may seem very similar especially as both platforms will allow you to create a customized online store, add a product inventory, market, manage, accept payments, and complete transactions.
And while Shopify and PrestaShop are all-inclusive eCommerce platforms that come with robust in-built features, our Shopify competitor comparison revealed one major (and important) difference.
Shopify’s paid subscription gets you a fully-hosted platform. This means, you must pay a fee for Shopify to host, upgrade, maintain, and provide security for your online store.
In contrast, PrestaShop is an open-source platform which you must install yourself. Afterwards, you must also look for suitable web hosting and pay to perform updates and maintenance as necessary. PrestaShop is essentially a free software tool that allows you to access and edit its code to suit your specific online selling needs.
Conclusion
That’s it for our discussion about the best shop competitors on today’s market.
Now that we’ve helped identify other Shopify e commerce competitors that may have more to offer when it comes to international selling and customization you can now get your online business started in the right direction.