<aside> 😵 Use this section to analyze the two platforms: Web Flow and Shopify with regards to deciding which will be best per the client’s needs.
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Here are some things to consider before making a choice?
Shopify gives inbuilt design tool
| Web Flow | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Ecommerce capabilities | **Ecommerce capabilities:** | |
| receipt/order notifications & emails | ||
| secure payments (may have limited gateways) | ||
| customer account | ||
| order management | ||
| refunds | ||
| basic inventory management | ||
| Add affiliate links with link builder | ||
| SEO & content marketing | ||
| Ecommerce capabilities: More suited for ecommerce than WebFlow. | ||
| Payment processing (can also handle in-person sales) | ||
| Customer Engagement Tools | ||
| Order management | ||
| Inventory management | ||
| Shipping | ||
| Marketing | ||
| Discounts | ||
| Easily add affiliate links | ||
| Pinterest integration to drive sales | ||
| POS system | ||
| SEO | ||
| Backend | Backend: | |
| markets ease to build as “you design we create the code” | Backend: | |
| need code to customize template (Liquid templating?) | ||
| Liquid is not for backend, it is for frontend | ||
| Ease of authoring | Ease of authoring: a visual website builder that allows you to create custom websites without coding. Difficult editor with a steep learning curve when learning to use it |
*Wide range of templates to choose from. | Ease of authoring: Shopify is easier to use. However, it has restrictive templates. Can customize site without coding. If you want to customize site, there’s an option to make code changes in the CMS editor. | | Cost | Cost: Ecommerce page says $29/mo when paid annually
CMS plan: $23/mo Bandwidth: 200GB Visitors: 250K (# of visitor bandwidth can handle) | Cost: $29/mo, charged once yearly. Monthly ($39) or annual payment available.
Flexible: option to pause site and not pay monthly to rebuild site on the backend. Customers will be able to view site but not complete transaction during this period
The cost of apps and transaction fees all hike your monthly price up, making it more expensive to run your store than you originally thought. | | Free plan | Free Plan: You can use Webflow for free forever to build your store and publish on a webflow.io domain. Only pay when you want to go live and process orders. | Free Plan: Shopify allows you to start for free then enjoy the first month for $1 before you start paying
Shopify partner can develop stores for free forever, and transfer the store for free as well | | Payment options | Payment options: Customizable checkout experience
Credit or debit card payments (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB) through Stripe and PayPal
Web payments (such as Apple Pay and Google Pay) through Stripe
PayPal Credit, which makes it easy to finance purchases, is available for some customers depending on location and browser | Payment options: Over 100 options. Supports multiple payment gateways
own payment processor: Shop Pay (one-click checkout) | | Cross channel selling | Cross channel selling: | Cross channel selling: allows you to integrate with social media and marketplaces for multi-channel selling | | Intergration with Quickbooks | Integration with QuickBooks: Yes can send order details (confirm whether this meets client need) | Integration with QuickBooks: Yes | | Transaction fees | Transaction fees: Apart from other payment gateway costs, ****an additional 2% transaction fee on any sites within a Standard Ecommerce site plan. The Plus and Advanced Ecommerce site plans do not charge a 2% transaction fee.
Connect to a payment gateway guide | Transaction fees: Unless you’re using Shopify Payments, you’ll need to pay a 2% transaction fee on top of other payment gateway costs. | | Platform features | Platform Features: Complex animation, custom layouts, content rich pages, publish straight to web OR export code for production, abundant templates
mobile available | Platform Features: Complex animation, custom layouts, content rich pages, publish straight to web OR export code for production
sell both online and in person (POS system) Free AI-enabled features Shopify Magic mobile app available | | Plugin capability | Plugin capability: Extensive app list for integrations, specific e-commerce options (able to create shopify storefront aesthetic) | Plugin capability: Plugins available for store front, analytics, shipping, marketing, etc.
Lots of plugins required. Lots of apps to connect to (3000+) to expand your store | | Support | Support: Limited - email and phone only. Morgan said we will get access to them (WebFlow University?). Can we confirm how log this will last? | Support: 24/7 email, phone, live chat, social media) | | Miscellaneous | Miscellaneous: Figma > Webflow integration | Miscellaneous: 24/7 customer support | | Scalability | Scalability: Also offers scalability, but may have an issue with high product volume | Scalability Designed to scale with business growth (traffic, growth, sales). Good for large stores | | Analytics | Analytics: Analytics is basic. Need to connect to analytics and targeting tools including Google Analytics (all tools available here) | Analytics: Own built-in Shopify Analytics; can connect to Google Analytics as well | | | webflow vs. shopify General comparison Avada Comparison VEZA comparison In general, Webflow is a better option if you are looking for more unique customization options and a powerful CMS.
Shopify is a better choice if you're looking for an easy-to-use platform with plenty of features to support your business operations. | |