eCommerce platforms have come a long way in recent years. There’s a number of great cloud based systems that let small and large businesses sell products and services online. They have sophisticated integration with other business tools, take payments securely and seamlessly and you don’t need to be a graphic designer or web developer to have a great looking online store that works on any device.
But with so many options to choose from, which eCommerce platform is best for you to use?
At Greenfish Marketing, our answer is always Shopify. Here’s why.
Some of the biggest brands in the world use Shopify
Gymshark. Fitbit. Red Bull. Hyatt Hotels. Heinz. Lindt. Nescafe. Kylie Cosmetics. SKIMS and SKKN by Kim Kardashian. The New York Times.
These are just a handful of examples of (really) big brands from a diverse range of industries who are using Shopify to power their online sales.
Not only are they using Shopify now, but many of them were already established and achieving commercial success when they set themselves up on the platform. This means they had the means and resources to fund the most technologically advanced, bespoke ecommerce solution… and they chose the same platform that you could use to power a start up right now.
They use Shopify because it works so well.
What Makes Shopify So Good
Ease of use, efficiency and reliability are some of the main reasons Shopify stands out against its competitors.
Global Fitness brand Gymshark turns over hundreds of millions of dollars annually and estimates suggest the brand itself is worth about $1.4 billion. Founded a decade ago, it was one of the first fitness brands to really adopt influencer marketing and their relationship with prominent YouTube stars back in their early days helped fasttrack their growth.
Gymshark’s path to success hasn’t always been smooth though. They were growing so quickly that their original ecommerce platform was no longer suitable. The biggest problem they were experiencing was how long it took to set up their business on the platform. It took over six months for their new shop using a different platform to be ready, by which stage the brand had already outgrown the solution they were implementing. The same year, that provider experienced an outage during the Black Friday sales.
Gymshark switched to Shopify and haven’t looked back. While they do use some custom features to run their store, it’s their Shopify Plus subscription that gave them the foundation to really grow their brand. You can read more in their case study on the Shopify website.
More Reasons Shopify Is Great
The size of Shopify’s ecosystem can’t be overstated. Shopify tends to “go first” as far as developing the features, functions and tools you need to run, grow and scale your business. It’s already supported with so many integrations, apps and ways to make running your business easier. They’ve been tested, and fine tuned to suit everyone from a start up to a multimillion dollar enterprise.
Shopify was specifically built to be an ecommerce platform in a time where there weren’t many ways you could easily set up your own online sales. Other platforms were established to compete with Shopify and/or provide an ecommerce solution for what is basically just a website cms.
Shopify is one of the easiest platforms to get started on, you don’t need high levels of technical knowledge or website building skills to open a shop. You can literally take a business from concept to live in just a couple of hours if you wanted to.
Shopify’s built in themes and templates reduce the need to invest heavily in your own designs and offer your customers a seamless shopping experience from any device.
It even has POS capabilities for operations that include online and physical sales channels.
Shopify Lets You Get Really Personal
Shopify is built to grow your business and create a personalised shopping experience for your customers. From dynamic product recommendations based on their behaviour to being able to show people reviews most suited to them, Shopify helps you know your customers better than they know themselves and this in turn converts site visits to sales.
Skin and beauty giant Sephora uses Shopify, and they credit smart reviews to their online sales growth. When people complete their profile on the Sephora website, the system automatically shows the reviews that are most applicable to them. For example, someone who identifies as having a certain skin complaint or condition will be shown product reviews from people who mention how product xyz helped with their ailment or concern. Shopify can be that powerful.
Of course you want to keep your customers engaged after that initial site visit or sale, and Shopify integrates with all the contemporary email marketing clients and CMS like ActiveCampaign and Klaviyo.
Make More Money Online
Of course your sales platform is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to running a successful ecommerce business. Greenfish Marketing specialise in helping business owners on Shopify to increase their revenue and customer loyalty.
We’ve put together a resource that is a must for all Shopify store owners who are serious about their business success.
Download our 23 Ways To Grow Your Shopify Store Guide here.
