In 2006 Tobias Lütke and Scott Lake faced a challenging situation. They wanted to find a solution to the following question: “How can we sell our snowboards?”
Unhappy with the available e-commerce solutions during that time, they catered to the situation with a unique entrepreneurial mindset: build their own. And that led to the birth of Shopify in 2006.
To their advantage, Lütke was a programmer. The ecommerce platform was developed using Ruby on Rails. Today Shopify development wears the crown of #1 choice for e-commerce and has grown into the incredible ecosystem it is today.
Shopify founders soon realized the power of a shared framework and started building this ecosystem. Toda Shopify development network or Shopify Partners includes app creators, theme developers, designers, tech experts, and even entire agencies.
In 2021, this successful ecosystem generated a whopping $12.5 billion in revenue, up 84% YoY. This number indicates four times Shopify’s earnings.
Hire a dedicated Shopify app development company to unlock the benefits of the Shopify platform.
So what led to the immense popularity of Shopify? Let’s find out!
The Aim Of Creating Shopify
Initially, Shopify was created with the aim of selling and marketing snowboards. But soon, the requirement went beyond. It became a one-stop solution for businesses who wanted to transition their business into the online realm. The Shopify platform allows merchants or businesses to enjoy the following benefits:
- Understand common e-commerce practices
- Develop a modern business website with a custom domain
- Market and sell through multiple consumer channels
- Execute branding activities through large ad platforms
- They also have lesser-known tools and solutions that are available for public use.
When you hire Shopify developers with industry expertise, you can unlock a ton of benefits that the platform has to offer.
Benefits Of Shopify Ecommerce Platform
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Detailed Shopify Admin
The backend functionality provided by Shopify offers a powerhouse of reports and features.
- You can get a precise idea of how your online store is performing.
- You can also get a quick view of the number of orders you receive.
- You can even find the best-performing product pages and make customizations on the pages which are not performing well for better outcomes.
- That isn’t where the feature ends! Shopify platform also allows you to get a real-time view of your website visitors to precisely know what stage in the funnel they’re in.
In simple words, Shopify is a holistic tool for an online retailer since it allows you to get an insightful understanding of everything related to your online store.
With experienced Shopify development services, you don’t just build an exceptional store but also unlock a great opportunity to brand and succeed in the industry.
A Basketful Free Features
When you are building a new website, you will need to decide on a theme. Basically, a theme dictates how your website will look and feel.
On most platforms, you will generally need to pay to unlock a particular theme. But on Shopify, you can start your endeavor with a free theme loaded automatically onto your store. You can also perform customizations to meet your brand tone and business model.
Therefore if you want to start your entrepreneurial journey in the online world and want to test the waters first, Shopify is the ideal choice. You can look around the possibilities and configurations available on the platform without spending a huge amount on Shopify app development.
You can select free fonts (already installed on your store), modify the color scheme, upload your own product or business-related photos, and more.
That isn’t where the awesomeness ends. You have the opportunity to choose from a versatile gallery of eCommerce theme stock photos taken by Shopify photographers. During Shopify development, you can locate them in the “free images” section of your Shopify theme.
However, if you don’t want the free images or want to create photographs that are more aligned with business offerings, you always have the option to hire a professional photography service.
Apart from the free gallery, your hired Shopify developers can take advantage of various Shopify tools and features to build a highly functional and powerful website.
Cloud Network Support
When you switch to the Shopify platform, your greatest advantage would have a website on the cloud network instead of an internal server.
What’s the issue with server-based websites?
- Maintaining a server can be hectic.
- It involves significant financial expenses.
- And most importantly, it can crash at the wrong time, leading to unsatisfied customers and loss of sales.
Imagine hosting Christmas or Thanksgiving sales. Your website encounters a huge surge in traffic. And your server crashes. (They’re most susceptible to crashes during festivals and special events when online shopping usually trends).
As a startup business, you might need to share services to reduce operational costs. In such circumstances, you have to hope that the other websites on the shared server are not as popular.
However, cloud configuration elements the traditional server issues. The chances of a website crashing a rare, enabling you to join your business smoothly and easily. the cloud network charges are already bundled into the subscription models and thus are significantly cost-effective.
Hire Shopify developers to develop a cloud-based online business store.
Designed Considering Every Business Needs
It’s no surprise that running and operating a business involves significant costs. You will need to pay for product development, marketing and branding, new domain acquisition, and Shopify developers.
To make things easier, Shopify has designed a pricing plan suitable for almost every size of business.
If you’ve just started your journey or have a tight budget, you can opt for Shopify light at only $9/month.
However, if you’ve a flexible budget, you can always go for Shopify Plus. Depending on your business growth, you can move through the subscription plans for Shopify app development.
Innumerable Applications
On the Shopify app store, you can find an application for almost everything. from countdown timer hours to image background remover, there is an app available to address your online business requirements.
The Shopify app store has a rich collection of both paid and free apps. When you opt for the Shopify platform, it is not necessary to integrate apps within your website.
However, to increase the functionality and shopping experience, Shopify experts can suggest certain apps.
Overwhelming Support
At this stage, you already know how Shopify can be incredibly helpful for online store setup. However, if you are still wondering if you should choose Shopify or not, here’s a winning point.
The Shopify ecosystem offers a depth of support to the developers and business owners during store setup and operation.
They even have their own informative blog section where ecommerce and Shopify experts share their best tactics and industry hacks.
Shopify has also created Shopify Academy (now known as Shopify Compass) to allow both beginners and experts to take free ecommerce courses and learn at your own pace. And that’s why they have numerous, highly-knowledgable customer support reps who will happily answer your questions.
Shopify ecosystem extends to social networks as well. You can become a part of Facebook Groups created and online communities by Shopify developers and users who want to help new online store owners succeed.
The Shopify support ecosystem is incredible and impressive. You’ll always find support willing to help you grow.
Ensures A Smooth Journey
Any business can start an online store using the Shopify platform. It might not be extremely easy and simple. But in comparison to several other platforms, building and operating a Shopify store is simpler.
With the advancement in technology and user-friendly features, it will get easier to build and develop an online store. And Shopify is leading the way by reducing barriers to e-commerce.
When you compare Shopify with other E-Commerce solutions you will know the reason why thousands of businesses prefer the Shopify platform. In fact, your journey can be further streamlined by hiring Shopify development services with relevant market experience.
Shopify Ecosystem During Pandemic
Shopify has extended its support to small businesses and offers a unique partnership. Even before the pandemic disrupted the economic flow, Shopify was popular for its simple setup and easy-to-use eCommerce platform.
During the pandemic crisis, Shopify did A Remarkable job of supporting struggling businesses and capitalized on the increasing e-commerce penetration.
According to Shopify’s COO, Harley Finkelstein, the number of new online stores built during the pandemic period (between March 13 and April 24, 2020) on Shopify grew by 62%, compared to the prior six weeks.
The Future Of Shopify Ecosystem
Businesses and Shopify experts and not just drawn to the platform due to its simplicity and accessibility. Shopify’s immense popularity is mostly because the platform allows businesses to create unique touch points and relationships with their target audience.
The most interesting part is that? You won’t need to deal with “Powered by Shopify” branding on your business website.
You can choose the design of your online store and decide exactly how you want to communicate with your customers. According to the CEO and founder of Shopify, Tobi Lütke, the platform wants to empower brands to create quality products and services that people love and leverage customer feedback to perfect their offerings continuously.
Shopify runs on a simple idea- “focus on your business products and let us take care of everything else.”
Today Shopify offers not only the remarkable opportunity to bring businesses online but a wide array of products and services in the e-commerce paradigm, developed by Shopify and powered by independent developers.
Want to join this network and set up your online store? Hire Shopify developers with expertise and experience in the platform. Get started today!
