How to ascertain if this is the right time to switch from Shopify?

SEO for organic Google rankings is always a fantastic source of revenue for almost every eCommerce business in the world.

It is common for almost every other Shopify theme to have issues with proper schema markup for your pages. The first and the most important step of SEO is On-page SEO, and you have to make sure to follow around 15-20 On-page steps to increase your ranking.

Integrating features like reviews schema, FAQs schema, etc., becomes a real challenge if your theme does not support these essential features.

These and other features are not usually possible with many Shopify themes, and you cannot leverage SEO for organic rankings easily.

This is the first and one of the biggest answers to the question – How to ascertain if this is the right time to switch from Shopify?

Limitations in customizing functionalities of your Website

There are hundreds of customizations that you would want to do as you grow your online business.

However, with Shopify, you are restricted to only a limited number of customizations unless you spend a lot of money on expert Shopify developers.

Also, to have a particular feature, you are usually forced to spend on a paid plugin which can negatively affect the loading speed of your web-store!

Increasing your profit margin by avoiding extra Fees

Pricing is complex with Shopify because as your business grows, you end up paying for a lot of things.

To start with, you pay commission on every transaction, and with a large number of transactions, this adds up and eats on your profit margins. This is a significant figure when you compare it to other available options.

Now, let’s discuss one of the most significant challenges related to pricing, i.e., Plugins. You are probably using separate plugins for:

Email Marketing

Legal Compliance

Upsells/Downsells

Social Media Integrations

Abandoned Cart SMS

CRM Integrations

And other plugins

These plugins would vary for every business. Furthermore, many of these plugins will have prices depending on the usage.

All this adds up to spending a lot of money from your profits.

There is a way out for this, and this is also one of the biggest reasons brands switch from Shopify after a particular stage in their lifecycle.

Enhanced, engaging, and responsive UI and UX

The user interface and experience play the biggest role in conversions. With so much competition in every Ecommerce niche, you have to make sure to be different in order to get user attention.

Features like animations and interactive UI have become common; however, integrating them in Shopify is a big challenge.

Most of the themes would restrict you from using images, text, and videos in a particular manner and usually do not have features like animations. This is another reason to switch as there are solutions like BetterCommerce, which allow you to take engagement to a whole new level with breathtaking UIs and thoughtful UX!

Issues with Product Variants

One of the biggest challenges with functionalities comes when you start segregating the products in your store.

There are limitations in the number of product options (and not variants) that you can add to your store. There are also restrictions to the types of images that you can use.

Paying a lot for a number of plugins for every common feature

We have some specific examples that will give you more clarity.

Every site needs to be GDPR compliant, and for achieving all the requirements, you are probably using an app. Similar to this case, numerous essential functions cannot be completed without using a third-party app in Shopify.

You also tend to get restricted with integrating Shopify with other software that you use for your business.

You are also probably using a separate app for product reviews. Reviews are an essential part of any eCommerce business, and in Shopify, you will likely have to spend money to display reviews in a specific style.

Problems when you plan to go Global

Shopify is terrific in the start when you sell locally. However, you start facing challenges when you plan your international expansion.

We have some examples that will give you an idea.

If you wish to use the multi-currency feature on your store, you will only be able to do that with Shopify payments. However, Shopify payments allow only specific countries and not all countries!

Now, if you choose a third-party payment gateway, you will have to pay separate transaction fees. There are other challenges with integrations that you might have to face with different payment gateways.

If you are feeling restricted from going global, that is probably the right time to switch from Shopify.

Reporting limitations

Reporting of various metrics becomes more and more critical as you scale.

Shopify only provides professional reporting in high-priced plans. These metrics are very essential for the growth of your Business. To get these metrics in Shopify, you are left with just two options: Either upgrade the plan or pay for a paid app.

Issues related to Shopify Shipping

If you intend to provide shipping quotes to your customers and a lot of options suited to their needs, you will probably have to shell out a lot of money.

You either have to go with Shopify shipping or have to be on an expensive Shopify plan to get real-time quotes from shipping suppliers.

Conclusion and what else to expect!

I hope you now have a better idea of the biggest challenges you face or might face with Shopify.

If you are also facing some of these challenges and are looking for an alternative that can match your goals, contact us to know more about BetterCommerce.

BetterCommerce is the answer to all the above challenges and much, much more.

We have helped numerous brands scale their online business with tested and proven growth optimizations. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your particular Brand achieve specific goals!!!