Introduction
Selecting the right platform is the key factor if one has to establish and execute an e-commerce website. Two well known platforms are Shopify and Squarespace or have a vast array of features and instruments to make your eCommerce site successful. Of course, this raises the question: Which one is for you? In this article, Shopify Vs Squarespace, we will discuss e-commerce capability, designs and customization, payment options, scalability, integration, support and cost plans available in both sites.
Overview of Shopify and Squarespace
Shopify remains an exclusive e-commerce solution that provides multiple tools and options meant to assist you in creating a successful ecommerce store. As of now, Shopify boasts of having more than 2 million active stores making it one of the most sought-after ecommerce solutions. Squarespace, on the other hand, is website creation tool that also contains the ability for purchasing website products. Originally Squarespace was created as site builder software, however, it has quickly become a go-to platform for e-shops.
E-commerce Features Shopify vs Squarespace
When has to do with the features of e-commerce platform, Shopify is one of the best platforms out there. Some of the Shopify features include: merchandising, or order processing capabilities, payment processing and shipping solutions. The product management system of Shopify means that you can manage and edit your products, their variants, price and other aspects in a very convenient way. The software also have a strong order management system for helping order tracking for shipping and payment.
In fact, Squarespace provides less e-commerce capabilities than Type kit – product management and order management being only the options available there. Squarespace also has a product management system to help with managing products, product variations and prices; however, its order management capabilities are not as advanced as those of Shopify.
Design and Customization Shopify vs Squarespace
Design wise, and when it comes to the kind of customization available, Squarespace is the winner here. Squarespace is famous for its sleek and elegant themes and its customization options which are achieved with a drag’n’drop mechanism. Squarespace has relatively limited number of templates as compared to Shopify, and while they’re reasonably modern-looking and flexible, they’re not as clean and slick as Squarespace’s.
The editor provided which offers the opportunity to work on your site, moving objects around is quite simple even if you do not have any coding skills with Squarespace. It is also good to note that you can further format the appearance of your site through the use of custom CSS and HTML. Shopify also provide a liquid editor that enables the user to write code for website customization. You can as well use custom CSS and HTML in your website as you want.
Payment Gateways and Transaction Fees Shopify vs Squarespace
If we consider payment gateways and transactions fees then he said that Shopify has a lot of edge over other soft wares. Shopify includes a large list of the payment gateways such as PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and more, and at this point it has no transaction fees for any of the plans. This implies that you are able to retain a higher percentage of your income earned through hard work and devote your time in expanding the business.
Squarespaces has access to a limited number of payment gateways with only Stripe and PayPal available while the lower tiers charge a 3% transaction fee. This can be very expensive in the long run especially for companies that deal with large volumes of sales.
Scalability and Performance
Looking at the scalability and the performance of the two platforms, it will be quite evident that Shopify is far much better. It can accommodate high traffic and sales making it suitable for businesses that are expanding rapidly. Another aspect of the infrastructure of Shopify is also that it is scalable which implies that it can allow for a large number of users if needed and will not be slow.
Squarespace on the same note is not as versatile as Shopify in terms of scalability. Though, it is evident that Squarespace can accommodate a moderate level of traffic and sales, it may find it challenging to accommodate high traffic and sales. This may result to slow speeds and errors hence affecting your business in a negative way.
Integration and App Store Shopify vs Squarespace
Now coming to integration and app store, Shopify clearly emerges as the winner. Shopify’s app offering is over 4,000 apps and includes social media connectors to such platforms as Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon. What this means is that there are features you can include with other particular services as well as tools to enhance on the various aspects of your business.
Squarespace, on the other hand, provides a much limited number of applications that it has integrated into its website as compared to Wix. Still, as of now, Squarespace boasts of integrations with services such as Instagram and Facebook, although it has a relatively limited number of apps compared to Shopify.
Customer Support
When it comes to the customer support, both Shopify and Squarespace providers have great options available for the clients. The customer support service is available round the clock through phone, email, and live chat; there are also knowledge base and community forum available. Squarespace also provides customers with an email and chat support round the clock along with a rich and detailed info base and a forum section.
Pricing Shopify vs Squarespace
For pricing, Shopify and Squarespace are quite unique as both brands have different pricing packages. This is mainly because Shopify comes with different plans; Shopify Basic that costs $29 per month, Shopify Standard that costs $79 per month as well as the Shopify Advanced plan that costs $299 per month. Squarespace has different subscription tiers which include basic at $26 per month, standard at $40 per month and an advanced tier in $46 per month.
Conclusion
Thus, let’s find out an ideal e-commerce platform for you. If you are interested in an utterly dedicated web site solution for building an online store, then Shopify must be your best option due to its multiple features and handy tools. Shopify provide various features of e-commerce such as product management and order management, payment gateway, and shipping integration. It also has numerous templates and various customization tools and it has an enormous app store with more than 4,000 apps.
However, if you are searching for a website builder that also contains the function of selling products online, then the most suitable option can be Squarespace. Squarespace comes with lovely, cutler templates, and a WYSIWYG editor it is vital to design an amazing website quickly. It also provides goods marketing for selling online and it also has product, order and payment options and shipping integration.
