Are you a webshop owner, then you are probably aware of the endless choices within the world of e-commerce-platforms. A true jungle, which might seem difficult to navigate in at times. Are you on the urge of establishing your first webshop, the choice may seem even more confusing. To make it a bit more easy for you to choose a platform we give you, in collaboration with Kiranan Luxmy, CEO & Founder of the e-commerce-bureau Grafikr, an insight of the ecommerce-platform Shopify. You will have an insight into its functions and what you should be aware of if you choose to integrate with Shopify. 

The choice between an open source or closed source-platform    

Before you choose an e-commerce-platform, you should consider whether a closed source-platform or an open source-platform is the right choice for you. With a closed source-platform you will not have access to the e-commerce source code but limited access to the source code regarding the webshop. The software is financed and owned by the copyright holder, which means that only the people with permission can modify and release software for the system. On the contrary, you have, with an open source-system, access to the source code and thereby the possibility of changing and releasing software for the system. Shopify is a closed source-platform where you will not have access to the source code. The platform is standardized, and Shopify controls what software is developed for the system. This may sound like a downside, but if you are not a high-skilled programmer or a tech-specialist, Shopify’s stanardization is a high advantage. The platform should be considered as a plug and play-solution consisting of an intuitive system which offers a wide range of functions which are easy to use. Here you will have a solution with pre-designed themes, where you as a user have the opportunity of integrating elements such as logo, pictures and colour and thereby customizing the site to your own needs. In order to clarify whether Shopify is the right choice for you, we recommend testing different sorts of platforms in order to determine whether you are compatible with a platform such as WooCommerce or Shopify. A good idea would be to set up a trial and try out different sorts of themes.

A world of functions 

Before making your choice, you should outline which functions that are necessary in order for your webshop to fulfill the needs of your customers. There are a wide range of functions which can be used to develop your webshop and in the following section, we focus on some of the functions that new Shopify users often ask about:

• Online vs. offline sale of products 
• Marketing
• Drop-shipping
• Payment solutions

Online vs. offline sales of products

With Shopify you have the opportunity of selling your products offline as well as online through omnichannel and thereby sell your products across each other. With the online channel you have the possibility of selling your products as from a regular webshop. In that way, your customers have the possibility of collecting the products personally. Thereby, you have the opportunity of adding different kinds of delivery methods to your needs. Are you about to have your products shipped, this can easily be done with Webshipper. 

Marketing  

With Shopify, you have the opportunity of setting up advertisements through help from Shopify. If you wish to make use of this function, you should be aware of the fact that it is only your basic needs within advertisement that will be fulfilled, why this is highly recommended if you are not an advanced user in the field of advertisement. If you wish to advertise individually or use a bureau, Shopify can easily integrate and assign products from the platform to, for instance, Facebook in real time in which the prices etc. will be updated live.

Drop-shipping 

One of the functions in which several Shopify users often ask about is drop-shipping. A function that lets you sell from the stock of others. Shopify has their own version of drop-shipping in which you have the possibility of adding products to your shop with products and pictures. With drop-shipping you have the opportunity of choosing a combination by drop-shipping a product type and afterwards creating your own stock. Thereby, you have the opportunity of testing the popularity of your product type before putting all of your energy into selling the concerned products. 

Payment solutions

An essential part of your webshop is payment such as MobilePay. Primarily, Shopify offers their own payment system, Shopify Payments, as an integrated and intuitive part of the platform. However, Shopify does not offer any local payment methods such as MobilePay. However, you can make use of a solution such as Quickpay which gives you the opportunity of using MobilePay. A highly recommended payment method since this is the one mostly used in Denmark. Moreover, Webshipper offers a dynamic checkout-solution. 

Why choose Shopify?

If you wish to create a site with a lot of content such as landing pages and a blog, Shopify is not the platform to choose. Plus, Shopify is not your choice of platform if you wish to sell highly varied products. However, Shopify is, without a doubt, one of the most relevant platforms if you are a beginner within the field of webshop platforms as it is highly intuitive and standardised, especially for you who is not a tech-master. Therefore, you should choose Shopify if you want to have an intuitive closed source-solution which is easy to use and does not require high tech-abilities.