Why Use Shopify? 14 Businesses Share What Matters

Shopify and Shopify Plus is our ecommerce platform of choice at Aeolidia, and we don’t work with any other ecommerce platforms. We’ve been setting up online shops for designers, makers, and other creatives since before Etsy launched and we’ve found it to be indisputably the best ecommerce software available; built from the ground up for ecommerce.

One of the things that we love about Shopify is that they are always innovating. When this post was first published, Shopify’s features announcements blew all the other options out of the water, particularly with mobile checkout. Now, in 2023, there are over 100 updates. (Sign up for our newsletter to hear our most-anticipated new features from the 2023 Editions.)

Here are a few of the features we love:

• B2B/wholesale updates such as customer-specific quantity minimums
• Highly customizable sites with a great user experience and beautiful design options
• Increase your average order value with bundling (theme integrated or custom plugins)
• Mobile first websites are easy and Shopify sites have great SEO
• You can have beautiful product detail pages, either long-form or short-form
• Top-notch integrations with Klaviyo for email marketing

I asked members of our community what they would tell a shop owner who wanted to know if they should use Shopify. Here is some great info and advice from shop owners like yourself. If you’re still wondering why choose Shopify, read on:

So much more than just ecommerce

Shopify offers a lot more than an ecommerce sales platform. This tool is more like a product database or inventory management system, allowing you to sell items on a website, through channels such as Pinterest and Facebook, and in a point of sales situation. I use the portable card reader when I go to craft shows and sell items directly from the online store inventory. This tool helps me to manage inventory and sales tax collection.

Jennifer Boaro, The Cat Ball

Handle large inventory easily

For us when deciding, it came down to Shopify’s capability to handle a large inventory relatively easily, it’s simple to use (less tech-y), lots of design options, and it is a platform which we can grow into and add more features as we need them. Overall, Shopify is very well thought out—meaning it takes care of the nuts ‘n bolts so well, you can focus on the actual shop, get up and selling, then go back and make more adjustments easily as time goes on.

Dyan Dowling, Brevard Design

Customer support is always available

My advice really focuses on the help and assistance that’s offered to Shopify storefronts. I can’t even tell the number of times I’ve contacted their chat support for help—for everything from uploading fonts to setting up shipping profiles properly. They can help with anything and everything. They’re incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and always available to lend a hand. I feel that their level of customer service is what makes me solid in my decision to choose Shopify in the first place. I know that no matter the problem I might run into, help is always just a click away.

Stephanie, Phylogeny Art

Shopify integrates with social media for added sales channels

I usually tell people about how it also integrates with Pinterest and Facebook easily for added selling channels. When so many people are trying to use a bunch of platforms, I find this integration very easy and manageable. In that same vein I think it’s the most advanced platform in terms of integration possibilities for free and paid apps.

Kaitlin Phillips Goodey, Goodey Studio

Tip: prepare your content before signing up for the trial

Shopify is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to set up a robust and professional looking website for your e-commerce business. To make the most of it from the start, and save a little money, take time to prep before you open your account Sketch out how you’d like your site to look, write the copy for the pages and product listings, and collect and resize all your product photos and web images. This way, as soon as your free trial starts, you can plug the info + images in and hit the ground running.

Jane Pearson, Janery

Sell online and in person

Shopify is an incredibly robust platform and they really take care of everything you need to set up your shop. One of my favourite features is their POS. I can sell online and in person, while managing my inventory and keeping track of my products. I do pop-ups and markets frequently and I love how easy it is.

Lindsay Down, Owner & Creative Director, Pure Colour Baby

Easily manage giveaways

I love how easy it is to manage orders and inventory. I do a lot of giveaways, and with Shopify, I can manage those free orders (and their inventory) with the paid orders, without any fee! I love Shopify and I wish I would have started my business on it.

Jayme, My Little Athlete

Sell to wholesale customers, too

Using Shopify and the Locksmith app, I’m able to sell to both retail and wholesale customers from the same website!

Tammy, Cloverleaf

Helpful community

What I like best about Shopify is that I never feel alone. There’s so much support both directly from Shopify and third party groups. It’s a sure bet that someone has already asked your question and someone else has provided a clear answer with a step by step solution. It’s also incredibly easy to get someone on the phone or on chat and get direct help from a real person. It’s a great community.

Brittany S Dowd, Mo & Fig

Great if you don’t want something too tech-y

Way back when I first started my biz, I started my very first website in WordPress and struggled to achieve the look I wanted and use the features the way I really wanted. I was drowning in tech-y black holes. And, at that time I couldn’t afford to hire a developer. After a frustrating 6 months I found Shopify and never looked back. The beauty of Shopify is that the templates give you a professional clean look from the start and you don’t need to waste time fiddling with too much code or tech issues. I was able to gain back my time and put more energy into my creative work.

PS. Later on I decided to hire professionals (my dream team) and really customize my site. It’s the best thing I’ve done for my online presence.

Neesha Merani, PaperWand

Improve your SEO

For any website SEO is key and Shopify allows for SEO everywhere (product photos, collection photos, product listing tags etc.). I’ve only had my Shopify shop open for a month now and I’m already showing up in the first page of search! I like a lot of customization, but playing around with adding apps into HTML was terrifying for me. I was able to find everything I needed in Shopify’s support and forums without a single phone call! The Wix support was very lacking waiting 30 mins or more on the phone oftentimes or days for return emails and the SEO wasn’t great, for years my site blearily paid for itself.

SSMDesign

Simplify your business operations

Oh, Shopify how I love thee! Let me count the ways… You make me look beautiful and professional. You’re support is awesome and answers all my silly questions. You integrate with so many apps that you’re a dream come true. You offer many experts to make my life easier—like Storetasker and Kit. And for a non tech-y gal, you make it so easy to do updates and implementation. I’m so glad we found each other…

Ann Chikahisa, Chikahisa Studio

Updates and security fixes are automatic

Having started out in the Stone Age of the Internet, when you had to code multiple databases to run an eCommerce store, Shopify is hands down the easiest and most robust platform for selling products today. My favorite aspect? I don’t have to be in charge of updates and security fixes! Pair that with a huge selection of apps to extend functionality, and great built-in features at a low monthly cost and you have a no-brainer.

Tamara Hoffbauer, Decorative Design Works

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Would you like to give Shopify a try?

It’s our favorite! Sign up for your free trial here today. That’s our affiliate link, and I’d be glad to help out anyone who signs up using our link by answering a question via email or pointing you in the right direction to get started.

If you’d like some help getting your Shopify store set up to maximize sales, you can get our rate sheet here.