Shopify hosts a huge percentage of online retailer’s websites, with brands turning to the SaaS platform for tiered pricing and ease of use. But while the platform is a great option for smaller retailers, it may not be right for you. Here's how to know if you've outgrown the platform.
When Should You Migrate?
If you haven't considered migrating platforms, here's some food for thought. While Shopify offers benefits for many retailers, there are several reasons why some merchants may need to look to other platform providers.
You Need Greater Flexibility and Control
You’ve probably encountered a few roadblocks when it comes to growing your business with Shopify. For example, if you're interested in integrating an exciting new functionality into your site, but you realize the only way to do so is by purchasing an ongoing subscription to an app. Now for every complex eCommerce integration, you have to pay more per month for each individual one. Whatever functionality isn’t built into the Shopify theme you’re using can’t really be added without an ongoing extra charge. Although occasionally it’s possible to alter the code and do it yourself, it’s not easy if your team lacks the necessary technical skill or bandwidth. Since Shopify is a closed-source proprietary platform, they don’t allow full access to the code, so there will always be aspects of your site that you can’t really control.
Support is Lacking
A major complaint from Shopify users is difficulty connecting with a real support agent and not just a chatbot. For years, Shopify users have taken issue with the lack of support at the ready for its many thousands of merchants. Not only is it still quite tricky to get in touch with someone at Shopify for help, a large portion of the development work that happens at Shopify is outsourced to external agencies and experts. This means that the specific issue you may be experiencing with your Shopify site or complex eCommerce integration might not even be in the realm of experience of your support agent, if you manage to reach one. Shopify often acts as a middleman between you and the engineers that built your site, so it can be difficult to solve issues or implement eCommerce integrations that may not even require a lot of resources or labor.
Your Team is Growing
Shopify’s most basic plan only allows for one staff account, so you have to upgrade to the higher levels to get more staff accounts. The third tier offers 15 licences, while the highest tier is the only option that allows for unlimited access. If you have a large team or are considering expanding, you will be forced to upgrade to the higher tiers to allow them access to customize your store. Most other platform providers don’t have limits on how many team members can access the website.
Your Business Requires Alternative Currency Options
Shopify can be a great option for international sellers, but in order to apply duties and import taxes correctly, you can only do so with the lower two tiers in three markets. You have to upgrade to the third “advanced” tier to have access to more than three markets, and you have to pay $59 a month for each additional market. This can add up quickly and is another pain point that pushes growing retailers away from the limitations that come with Shopify’s basic functionality.
Your Website Availability Has Dipped
Shopify aims for a 99.99% uptime, but it is difficult to find the history of their outages and server availability. Shopify servers are cloud-based and hosted remotely, which allows for greater flexibility and tends to be easier to maintain. However, Shopify hosts 2 million merchant sites, which means that there are likely to be issues that cause outages occasionally. The last time Shopify was down was on May 6th and it lasted for almost an hour. An outage might be only for a few seconds or minutes, but for larger retailers, that can result in thousands of dollars of lost sales.
What To Do Next
Shopify is a great choice for retailers who are looking for a user-friendly experience to help them get up and running as fast as possible. However, that’s not what every retailer needs, and what works for you now may not work for you in the future. If you’re realizing that you’ve outgrown Shopify and you’re ready for a platform that can handle high traffic and omnichannel inventory management, among many other complex challenges that comes with running a successful eCommerce store, you’re in the right place. Read our blog post on how to prepare for domain migration to get started, and if you’re looking for more help choosing an eCommerce platform that suits your needs, we can help with that too.
Our eCommerce platform marketAgility is a single-source platform that offers full flexibility along with dedicated support specialists to help you every step of the way. We ensure your site runs the way it should, so you can focus on growing your business. Schedule a consultation today to get started.
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