Due to the digitalization in almost every sector of commerce, consumer behavior has been changing over the years and so does their needs and requirements for a product or service. We all can agree on the fact that online retail business or any eCommerce is very competitive due to so much globalization. In such a competitive market, the business has to stand out to sell its product or service efficiently.

And Shopify is such a front-end platform that makes businesses capable of handling online consumers by directing them towards a purchase. This seamless customer experience further accelerates the number of visitors to the online store. Thus profit margins for the organization reach new heights. But businesses also use systems such as Oracle NetSuite that are cloud computing solutions.

They help in managing key business operations such as finance, ERP, inventory management, and many more. With the help of NetSuite and Shopify integration, eCommerce activities can get a boost and many processes in business can be simplified. These processes involve real-time management of inventory, their locations, and management of orders seamlessly.

Here is the A to Z of NetSuite and Shopify integration for better understanding:

 

Why your business needs integration of Oracle NetSuite and Shopify?

Management software in any business brings synchronization and balance between different operations such as sales, inventory management, and many more. Also, NetSuite and Shopify integration is such a solution to optimize the different processes involved in the business. Integrations like Shopify NetSuite Integration increases the efficiency of the organization thereby improving its profitability.

There are also features for error detection and optimization that makes software integration more useful. And since the Oracle NetSuite is highly customizable, you will be able to integrate it with Shopify just as you prefer to meet all your requirements. Shopify NetSuite Integration also helps businesses with routing as well as tracking of orders and inventory control that can bring more precision to the sales.

 

How does NetSuite and Shopify integration makes business operations more efficient?

Shopify acts as an eCommerce platform that works on the front-end while ERP solutions like Oracle NetSuite are backend-operated systems. Thus, integration between these two ensures that you can manage your customers with an ERP solution that will be independent of the customer experience. Customer-centric activities such as interaction on eCommerce platforms are optimized with the help of NetSuite ERP.

It’s done for better inventory management, tracking of orders, etc. This coordination brings more efficiency to the business thus saving both time and effort from the management teams. Shopify NetSuite Integration also helps in better stock management, routing the orders from the nearest inventory location for faster delivery and improved customer service.

 

Types of Shopify NetSuite Integration

Although there are several approaches available for the Shopify NetSuite Integration in any business, the following are the best ones that can help you achieve more efficiency and profitability:

 

1. Customized Shopify NetSuite Integration

Since NetSuite ERP can be customized according to the needs of the business, the integration between Shopify and NetSuite is also highly customizable. And most businesses today are adopting this approach because of its high reliability as well as scalability. The Shopify NetSuite Integration partners help integrated solutions businesses in selecting and customizing the different tools of both platforms.

These tools can satisfy the needs of any business organization. Different APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are used to help integrate these platforms so that personalized experience can be delivered to the customers as well as management teams of any business.

 

2. Point-to-point Shopify NetSuite Integration

The second most trusted method for Shopify NetSuite Integration is the point-to-point approach. In this process, the businesses are allowed to choose between the processes they want to master and the type of data they want to be managed with the integration. The synchronization between Shopify data and the ERP data from Oracle NetSuite is achieved in batches by this approach.

The data mapping in this procedure is performed without any involvement of an intermediate platform which gives the integration a faster and smoother experience. This type of integration is very beneficial for businesses that have a limited number of channels to manage.

 

3. Cloud-based solution for Shopify NetSuite Integration

The cloud-based solution for Shopify NetSuite Integration involves the use of SaaS to synchronize and operate the different processes in any business. Organizations frequently use this method because it is so versatile and easy to access. The SaaS-based integration helps you access the services from both these platforms anywhere at any time.

And because of its added customizability, this approach has better results than the point-to-point approach of Shopify NetSuite Integration. But because of these added functionalities in this method, the price for this integration is higher than the other two. So, if you are ready to spend your fortune on a better Shopify NetSuite Integration, then a cloud-based SaaS system is the best approach.

 

Factors to consider before proceeding to Shopify NetSuite Integration

Before deciding on the Shopify NetSuite Integration for your business, you must keep in mind the following factors that can save both your cost and time:

 

1. Data volume

First, you need to assess the total data volume that you are expecting the integration to analyze and operate. Solutions like big data are key to the Shopify NetSuite Integration. Also, your data sets should support these types of solutions. This way your team can be prepared for the changes in the growth of the business.

 

2. Consumer base

The next important thing you should keep in mind before deciding on a Shopify NetSuite Integration is that customers are the center point of the business to sustain. And this integration between NetSuite and Shopify should be beneficial for them. This way the integration will have a greater impact on the business.

 

3. Documentation

Documentation of all the processes of your business should be communicated between different teams involved in the integration process. And avoiding errors and duplications in this process is very much necessary as it eliminates different business risks.

Thus, before jumping to the integration part, make sure all of your documentation processes are simple and error-free.

 

4. Research and discussions

The need to research difficulties that you may face is very much important when you are going for Shopify NetSuite Integration. Make sure to discuss these possibilities with your management teams and take suitable steps to mitigate such issues. This will help you fulfill your goals with the integration process more efficiently.

 

 5. echnical resources

The last factor that you should keep your eyes on is the availability of proper resources and technology. These are necessary for the Shopify NetSuite Integration in your business. Take the help of business experts and teams that have experience with the integration process.

 

Advantages of Shopify NetSuite Integration

Shopify NetSuite Integration helps businesses in countless ways. Traditional data management in businesses has many gaps that are bridged with such integration. A Shopify-Oracle NetSuite integration comes with the following advantages:

 

1. Optimized Investments

The cost of operation in different processes of business is reduced due to the Shopify NetSuite Integration and those resources can be used on other fronts of the business.

This provides better investments for business owners in areas that need improvement. And since all the data is stored in synchronization to both platforms, the economic cost of maintaining records is also minimized.

 

2. Improved Customer experience

Customer satisfaction is crucial to any business’ success. Since the integration offers seamless interaction of the customers with the eCommerce platform, the experience is greatly improved. All the operations that are handled by NetSuite are updated in the front end. They are available on the Shopify platform. This keeps the customers updated regarding orders and returns.

Many businesses these days allow the customers to track their shipment as well as the inventory location for better communication. This creates more trust between the business and the customers. The sales staff also has data regarding all the products which helps them provide better service to the customers. Thus, businesses receive better customer satisfaction and it ultimately helps them achieve more profit.

 

3. Automatic Billing System

Shopify NetSuite Integration has tools that help business to ease up their tedious process of manual billing. Thus, with each new purchase of stocks and sales, the vendor and the customers of that particular business are delivered with automated bills and invoices.

This reduces the risks of data loss or error and the business has better control over inventory management. The Shopify NetSuite Integration will provide the business with an automated billing system that helps it focus on other aspects of the business that are more critical.

 

4. Fewer chances of error

The Shopify NetSuite Integration offers a seamless flow of information between both front-end as well as back-end. Since there is no involvement of any intermediate party, the chances of errors are very low.

Data is updated constantly on both platforms. Now, this creates better efficiency in data management and the margin of error is reduced effectively.

 

Conclusion

In As a result of this article, we have explained all the factors that are important for you to consider when choosing a Shopify NetSuite Integration partner. A trusted and reliable Shopify NetSuite Integration can bring your company more profit without much hustle and finding such an integration partner is very much necessary. They can use their years of experience and experts to recommend the best solutions as well as policies that can benefit your business.

When it comes to setting up online stores on Shopify, one of the most common concerns is security. Without a doubt, security is extremely important in the world of eCommerce because it deals with consumers’ personal information such as payment information and addresses.

Third-party apps offered in the Shopify store can help you expand your business to new heights, by providing interactive pop-ups and a customer-friendly live chat. The question is whether these apps collect your customer’s data and, if yes, how they do that.

The majority of third-party apps acquire data about your clients, which may include the following:

• Email address
• IP address
• Customer account data, such as phone number, mail address, etc.
• Device ID

You are legally responsible under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for ensuring that personal data is gathered and used in accordance with the GDPR standards when third-party Shopify apps acquire and use your customers’ data.

 

What Data Do Third-Party Shopify Apps Gather?

No matter if it’s a live chat or product recommendation app, any Shopify app you install on your store will require access to certain data types to perform particular functions. For instance, if you create email marketing campaigns with Shopify third-party apps, they will need access to your customer’s email address and country to create a proper customer profile. The customer data that they may collect can also include:

• Demographic data
• Shopping history
• Contact information
• Behavioral data
• Customer names

So, you need to read their privacy policy to learn which personal data they need to acquire for better results and offerings, such as referral bonuses, discounts, etc.

 

You, as the Shopify Store owner, select what kind of client data is gathered, for what purposes, and how it is managed. Under GDPR, you will be considered the data controller. You must ensure that the third-party app providers you use are GDPR compliant and that all relevant security measures are taken to secure data.

Shopify has taken a lot of steps to protect consumer data in recent years, particularly with the adoption of GDPR in Europe. To reduce data leakage, these methods include limiting login attempts and ensuring app developers only access the information they need to run the apps.

 

Privacy Laws to Consider

Now it’s time to understand what kind of privacy law issues you need to know to understand what kind of measures to take to save your customers’ personal data.

1. What Data is Collected

Some types of data collected by third-party apps may be personal or unnecessary, putting you at risk of GDPR violations.

For instance, if  you want to install an app to design the sidebar menu of your store, your third-party app may not require access to your client’s contact details for helping you design a smooth and user-friendly app.

While, if you need to build an email campaign, the third-party app may need access to your client data to offer more customized marketing campaigns. For example, customer demographics, such as age, interests, income, etc. may help the app providers come up with better campaign ideas. It doesn’t matter if your third-party provider gathers data as a data processor or controller, it should adhere to the GDPR standards.

 

The GDPR states that you should nearly never gather sensitive data such as:

• Race and ethnicity
• Beliefs in religion or philosophy
• Political viewpoints
• Biometric or genetic data
• Sexual orientation or sex life, etc.

You can usually only acquire this information if it is required by law. Make it clear in your Privacy Policy whether you have permission to gather this information and why you require it.

 

2. The Time Period Data is Retained

Under the GDPR, data retention periods must be appropriate to the data used and should not be kept for longer than necessary. You risk legal action if third-party apps hold customers’ data longer than necessary or permanently.

 

3. When Data is Transferred to a Third Party

Some third-party apps may employ cloud service providers situated in the United States. If this is the case, your customers’ data will be transferred to the United States, and because it is not a secure location for international data transfers, as a data controller, you will need to find ways to ensure that personal data transferred to the United States are compliant with the GDPR.

In most circumstances, the GDPR prohibits the usage of cloud services situated in the United States. You may need to take extra technical steps, such as anonymization, or enter into complicated contractual arrangements.

 

4. How Data is Protected

As a data controller, you must ensure that the third-party app provider takes technical and organizational precautions relevant to the type of personal data to avoid data breaches and unlawful data losses.

Every website should include a privacy policy that describes what information is collected, how it is used, who can see it, and how it is protected. While users voluntarily provide much information about themselves when they sign up for newsletters, fill out forms, or send email requests, facts collected from third parties and cookies should also be revealed, and users should be given the option to accept, reject, or disable cookies.

 

Practices When Installing an App

When you install a Shopify app, you need to go through the following practices to avoid illegal cases. Once you encounter a legal risk, you need to find a lawyer to help you understand your legal options.

• Read permissions — Whenever you want to install an app, you will be asked to provide permission for access to various kinds of personal data. Once you see that, you need to examine each type of data to see what a third-party app requires and determine whether the customer data is unnecessary or too excessive. Once, you evaluate and believe that the personal data required by the third-party Shopify app is unnecessary you will need to contact the developer and app provider to ask why they need that information. If they do not give you a clear and logical answer, it’s better not to install the app to prevent any future legal issues.

 

Pro Tip: Keep in mind that trustworthy and credible apps require only the data that is necessary.

 

• Read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy thoroughly — Approved apps in the Shopify App Store must have a privacy policy that outlines how personal data is collected and used. To comply with GDPR, you must evaluate these privacy policies and consider what kind of information an app gathers, how it uses the data, if its sells data to other parties, how long it stores, etc. Shopify requires third-party apps to address GDPR requests, but this requirement is unlikely to be strictly enforced (or implemented quickly), which is why business owners must educate themselves.
• Examine data retention policies — A third-party app shall only keep personal data for as long as it is necessary and reasonable. Some third-party apps on Shopify Store, for example, acquire personal data but do not establish a time restriction for deleting it.

 

Third-party apps can help your Shopify stores become even more customer-friendly and smooth, providing more measurable features, but they also have some risks and disadvantages. Since you are the data controller, it is your obligation to ensure that third-party apps only gather the necessary information and they only utilize your customers’ personal information for legitimate commercial purposes.

When you first install an app, read through the terms of service, privacy policy, and developer website. Keep in mind that you, as the Shopify business owner, have complete control over which apps you trust.

To make things easier, Shopify has made it mandatory for all applications to provide a privacy policy outlining their data handling methods, so you can decide whether or not you’re okay with them.

 

Data Privacy and Data Security

Data security refers to a collection of rules as well as various precautions and steps taken by a company to prevent unwanted access to digital data.

While, data privacy refers to the proper handling, processing, storage, and use of personal information. It’s all about individual rights when it comes to their personal data. Data privacy also refers to having control over what information is made public, by whom, and when.

 

So, data security protects data from dangerous attacks, whereas data privacy refers to the data’s appropriate governance or use. As a result, both data security and data privacy are essential as they will have the following benefits:

• Improve your brand reputation
• Increase trust and credibility
• Boost data management
• Safeguard essential information

 

As long as you install Shopify apps from the official Shopify App Store, your store will be safe.

An app must go through a lengthy review process before being released on the App Store. The Shopify team will double-check the app’s code and look for issues to see that it works properly.

A Shopify App can be created and submitted for review by any developer with enough knowledge. However, the software they just made will have to go through three major steps of approval. After that, the shopkeepers can install it.

 

The stages of evaluation are as follows:

• Before submitting the app for review, create a draft.
• After the app has been submitted for evaluation, it is in the process of being reviewed.
• After the software is released on the App Store, it is approved.

Shopify will very certainly contact the app’s creator throughout the assessment process. It will highlight any adjustments that must be made before the app is approved.

Once you want to install third-party apps for the best marketing results, double-check our blog to ensure it is safe and secure.

You have just finished setting up your first Shopify store. You have spent countless hours designing it, deciding on prices, and choosing what to sell.

You’re excited to see that you’re getting a lot of clicks right after you launch…but there’s a red flag; no one decides to buy!

Consider it. You’re working on multiple ad campaigns to drive traffic to your Shopify store but then all the visitors that do come to your store, abandon it on the very first page they land on. You don’t get even an opportunity to convert them into subscribers – not to mention a successful sale.

Shopify stores must turn their focus on reducing their website’s bounce rate. Though a website’s bounce rate is not considered as important as content, marketing, and social media, it is something that is thought of or added later.

A business owner’s thoughts are set on putting its budget into SEO, Google AdWords, and a great social media strategy. Yet putting all your efforts into these campaigns can be worthless if your Shopify store cannot handle the traffic or accommodate your target market.
Does this sound familiar? The following post will break down a variety of tips and ideas for reducing your Shopify store’s bounce rate!

 

 

What is the Shopify bounce rate?

Bounce rate is an e-commerce metric that suggests the number of visitors that lands on a page of your Shopify store and only looks at the said page before leaving or bouncing from your site immediately without even viewing any other page.

In simple words, bounce rate tracks the number of single-page visitors to your store and shows how effective your store is at retaining or converting visitors into customers. It is the killer of engagement, lead generation, conversions, sales, and revenue.

A higher bounce rate means your e-commerce website is either:

• Difficult to function
• Confusing
• Not keeping your customers interested
• Unappealing design and aesthetics
• Cannot handle high amounts of traffic

 

Top 5 ways to reduce Shopify bounce rate

1. Improve website loading speed- The loading speed of a website can be a serious reason behind the high bounce rate of your Shopify store. Users expect a web page to load in 2-3 seconds and if it takes longer, they usually leave the page. It is not always the design and content of the website, but the loading speed of the website that affects the bounce rate. Having a fast page load time of your e-commerce store can also boost your website’s crawl rate. The faster loading time also helps Google crawl more pages at one time. It increases your website’s crawl demand, meaning Google will want to crawl more pages.

How to improve your page load time

• Optimize image size and format
• Optimize dependencies
• Avoid Inline JS and CSS files
• Optimize Caching
• Avoid render-blocking scripts
• Avoid redirects
• Reduce HTTP requests
• Minification of JavaScript and CSS
• Reduce Cookie size

2. Improve user experience- If you want to provide your users with the best experience, you need to invest in your E-commerce website. Shopify is one of the leading tools these days to build your E-commerce website for it gives you an easy-to-use interface and ready-made theme customization. But this is not the only way to improve your user experience. The best way is to hire Shopify web developers to optimize your Shopify store based on your requirements and goals.

How to enhance user experience

• Use white space
• Optimize your page speed
• Use attractive calls to action
• Use hyperlink differentiation
• Segment key information with bullet points
• Use images (wisely)
• Include well-written headlines
• Keep your website pages consistent
• Catch your 404s
• Be responsive and mobile-friendly

 

3. Improve Landing Page Aesthetic and Quality- Once you are done with technical issues, you can shift your focus on the aesthetics of your website. Set your target audience and determine their needs and requirements to have a clear picture. This can include the images, color scheme, and even the font. To grow your e-commerce business, it is always important to understand who you are selling to and what they like. Once you have done your research, it is time to start analyzing Shopify’s ready-made themes and getting the help of a trusted Shopify website developer.

How to improve landing page aesthetic

• A clear call-to-action
• Keyword rich overview of the service
• Mobile Optimized Design
• A captivating video
• Before and After images and attractive graphics
• Testimonial for the specific services or other trust indicators
• Point visitors to your social accounts

 

4. Add product reviews and ratings as social proof- Another way to gain a consumer is to include social proof on your product pages. Displaying your product views and ratings on your website makes new visitors believe that the product is being used by other consumers like them. This retains them for a little while longer, pushing them to learn more about the product you’re selling. This is similar to how you decide if you want to purchase a specific product or look for other options, based on the rating it has received.

How to increase conversions with product reviews

• Make reviews visible
• Make reviews interactive
• Have credible reviews
• Single vs. multi-dimensional reviews
• Recommend products

 

5. Optimize your online store for mobile devices- It is reported that 79% of smartphone users make an online purchase using their mobile devices. Our need for being able to shop on the go has led to the rise of e-commerce. We prefer to shop on mobile apps and sites more than desktop sites because it is more convenient for us. This is why your Shopify store needs to optimize its experience for mobile users. Make it simple for customers to find products, learn more about them, add them to their carts, pay without difficulty, and complete the transaction. The simple and hassle free checkout process is a must as it reduces the bounce rate. You may also boost the value of your brand by developing a mobile app for it. This way shoppers can enjoy the seamless experience and ease of access anytime they want.

How to make your e-commerce website mobile-friendly

• A clear layout and simple website navigation
• Design fast-loading pages
• Offer an omnichannel user-experience
• Avoid flash and unwarranted pop-ups

 

Why do you need to be concerned about your bounce rate?

Do you think there’s any use of running marketing campaigns to promote your product and sale if your Shopify bounce rate is high? Imagine spending a huge amount to drive 100 visitors to your website out of which only 2 make a purchase.

The very first step you need to take to secure your sales is to focus on reducing your bounce rate. The more time a visitor stays on your Shopify website, the more likely they are to search products and even make a purchase.

 

Conclusion

Reducing the Shopify bounce rate is not as easy as it seems. It could be troublesome if not done with the help of professionals as it takes several steps. If not considered immediately, it can result in poor website performance and lower conversion rates. To lower your E-commerce bounce rate, take care of all the factors described in this piece of writing. If your efforts aren’t enough, then hire Shopify professionals who can optimize your site and even help you manage your online presence.

Ecommerce systems are considered one of the best platforms for small businesses, especially WordPress agencies. Scalability is an important factor to consider when choosing a platform. As your business expands, so will your needs, and the platform you pick should be able to keep up.

 

Shopify is an excellent choice for setting up a dropshipping store or simply establishing an online presence for your brick-and-mortar business. It does, however, have certain restrictions. The lack of features such as those that allow you to update inventory inventories and the inadequate blogging platform (particularly for those who have been spoiled by WordPress) may lead you to seek other Shopify options.

 

Many consumers have expressed dissatisfaction with the classification of items. As your product line grows, you’ll find that this is an extremely tough challenge to solve. The term “collections” is used instead of “categories” by the firm. These “collections” also don’t allow you to construct a hierarchy.

 

Fortunately, several platforms provide equal or even superior capabilities, as well as far lower costs when compared to the commercial value they provide. Who doesn’t like a little more cash at the end of the month?

 

So why not start with the one that meets your requirements? Here are some of the finest Shopify alternatives to consider.

 

-The Most Popular Shopify Alternatives

Let’s take a closer look at the best Shopify alternatives and what they have to offer.

 

1. WooCommerce (WooCommerce)

WooCommerce is the result of even the slightest amount of eCommerce application study. It’s one of the finest Shopify options for many companies. It’s entirely free to use, open-source, and, best of all, highly regarded for measuring visitor satisfaction. Some users even argue that it is superior to Shopify in many ways.

Scalability is a little more difficult; to obtain the advanced features, you’ll need to upgrade to the more costly version. Aside from that, WooCommerce provides everything you could need. In a matter of minutes, you can create a website with an expensive cart.

It’s also responsive, making it simple to create mobile-friendly websites. All you have to do now is pay for the hosting. And, unlike Shopify, you don’t have to pay a monthly fee to use their sophisticated features: you may acquire them for a one-time fee. However, you should be aware that WooCommerce’s debugging capabilities are limited.

When used in conjunction with dependable eCommerce hosting, you can dramatically increase the performance of your WooCommerce website.

If you want to upsell after a transaction, you may make it so that consumers can add more items or suggestions with a single click on your website.

 

2. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a wonderful choice if you want a basic, no-frills experience with the flexibility of utilizing a drag-and-drop editor to build up your website. It’s one of the finest Shopify alternatives, and it provides eCommerce shop owners with a full-cycle solution.

BigCommerce features several beautiful themes, but just seven are available for free across all sectors. The premium ones will cost you money, but they are far superior to Shopify in terms of customization. It also has several sophisticated capabilities that can help you enhance your content marketing and advertise your goods in a variety of ways. It also comes with several features to help you increase your conversion rate.

The best thing is that their built-in shop has a lot of features, so you won’t have to pay as much as you would on Shopify. It also allows you to manage your business across several platforms, such as Amazon, Pinterest, eBay, and Facebook. When you compare BigCommerce’s load times to those of other sites, you’ll notice that they’re a little slower.

The costs range from approximately $29.95/mo to $299.95/mo, so you’ll have to make a decision based on your budget. Your costs will vary based on the number of items you sell and the amount of money you make.

 

3. 3DCart

For eCommerce shop owners, 3DCart is a solid hosted platform. 3DCart is one of the most popular Shopify alternatives for a variety of reasons. The rates start at $19 per month and go all the way up to $229 per month. You’ll get a variety of SEO tools, emails to follow up on abandoned carts, and customized goods in exchange. A WordPress design agency can create a website that is highly flexible, easy to use and built on an easy-to-understand UI and UX interface.

However, the service is a touch slow, and the themes aren’t that varied. Furthermore, there aren’t many glowing testimonials regarding their customer service.

 

4. Volusion

One of the most popular Shopify alternatives is Volusion. This cloud-based shopping cart is used by over 200,000 organizations and is particularly popular among small enterprises and corporations wanting to expand. Your consumers will appreciate the ease of Volusion’s one-click checkout functionality. You may also use the platform to access a variety of plugins and features that you can use in your online business. It’s ideal for transportation companies. You must, however, understand how to keep your delivery expenses minimal.

Keep in mind that the bandwidth is metered, so if you are over the limit, you may be charged about $7 per GB by the business. The monthly fees typically range from $15 to $35 and offer you access to a variety of extra services such as other categories, subcategories, and gift cards.

While the majority of the work is done through a graphical user interface (GUI), you will need some basic coding abilities to get your store up and running. Furthermore, the product’s functionality is limited. The bandwidth restriction, which forces you to spend more as your business develops, maybe the true limiting issue.

 

5. Squarespace

Squarespace is a good option if you don’t have a lot of computer expertise and want to keep your product selection modest. The platform includes a powerful website builder as well as a large selection of templates and themes. With that and a little tweaking, you can get some remarkable results and have an e-store that seems like it cost a fortune to build.

Unlimited pages, galleries, blogs, bandwidth, storage, contributors, checkout, free domain, and SSL security are all included for $26 per month. Add in a $100 Google Adwords credit, orders, tax, discounts, customer accounts, ShipStation label printing, and Xero integrated bookkeeping. You’ll also receive abandoned cart auto-recovery, real-time carrier delivery, automated discounts, and gift cards for $40 each month (pretty expensive for such essential features).

Squarespace, on the other hand, is limited to PayPal and Stripe. Both processors impose additional transaction fees, even though one does not. The suite is also a little slower to load than Shopify, and its mobile load speeds are the slowest of the competitors on the list.

MailChimp, Google AdWords, share buttons, and Amazon affiliate tracking are the only marketing options available.

 

6. Prestashop

For enterprises on a tight budget, Prestashop is a great option. You might claim it’s free, but given that you’ll need to pay for web hosting and a name, it’s not quite as good as Magento. Prestashop has a hosted version thanks to agreements with 1&1, WebHostingHub, TMD, Microsoft Azure, and others.

Prestashop’s theme and template library aren’t as extensive as Shopify’s, but its usability is as excellent as you’d expect from a free platform. It also has no additional transaction costs, supports 25 languages and different currencies, offers worldwide sales, has an infinite number of items and characteristics, and provides information on abandoned carts.

It will be difficult to expand your business as it develops because you only receive one pre-installed theme, but you can also add a third-party theme. Although the number of free modules is limited, the premium modules allow you to significantly improve your site. You may establish a professional online shop with minimum initial expenditure if you hire a developer or take the time to read through the various guidelines and tutorials available for PrestaShop users.

 

7. Square Online

Square Online is a Square eCommerce website builder. Square, which began as a payment processor, purchased Weebly a few years ago. Square Online is a quick and easy method for company owners to add eCommerce capabilities to their website if they currently use Square to accept payments.

It’s fine if you don’t know how to code. Square Online provides a fantastic onboarding process. Customers are guided through the whole store setup process through a series of prompts. You can have a professional-looking store up and operate in a matter of hours.

For individuals on a budget, Square Online may be the ideal Shopify alternative because it provides a fully free option for creating and maintaining an online business. The free edition, however, does not have all of Square’s features. However, you just pay the processing costs on each transaction, so it does the job. You may also utilize Checkout Pages if you don’t want to create a full online store and also you can hire a WordPress expert for this. These are also excellent methods to include checkout functionality into an existing website.

Digitalization and the global coronavirus pandemic accelerated changes in consumer behavior which altered their shopping habits. Widespread lockdowns pushed more shoppers to shop online which encouraged brands to invest in live commerce. Let us first understand What is Live Shopping?

Live Shopping or Live stream Shopping can be defined as the merger of shopping services and real-time streaming videos. Live online shopping first emerged in China and has since grown to become an essential sales channel for all e-Commerce brands all across the world. Suitable for all industries like beauty, fashion, consumer electronics, travel, and tourism, etc, Live commerce successfully bridges the gap between sellers and buyers.

Live stream shopping is the most powerful way to build your brand. Videos commerce can help you build deeper connections with your customers and help retain them. Live online shopping involves broadcasting a video while showcasing products in real-time. As everything happens instantaneously in raw form, this leads to improved customer engagement.

Additionally, consumers do not put their trust in brands easily. With a number of online hoaxes taking place and the availability of too many brands have made customers think twice before trusting a brand. Here is when live streaming shopping comes into play and takes your brand to a whole new level.

The most effective way to add live commerce to your online store is by integrating your websites or apps with a live shopping solution. Channelize.io live shopping solution is the one that can help you build brand awareness and credibility while you sell live.

Introducing Channelize.io Live Shop on Shopify

Channelize.io has launched a Live Shop on Shopify that allows Shopify merchants of all sizes to leverage the power of live selling and boost their revenues.  Our Live stream Shopping can help your brand in a number of ways as mentioned below.

• Live commerce ensures that your target audience is briefed clearly about your products and your brand. You can show them behind the scenes giving them an idea about your company, your work culture, and your vision. This will assure shoppers that you are an authentic brand.

• Our Live shopping app for Shopify will help you demonstrate or showcase your products in engaging ways that can empower your customers to make informed decisions.
  
• As everything happens in real-time your brand will be reflected as an authentic brand leading to an increase in your cart value and eventually the sales.
  
• Apart from being a sales tool if leveraged thoughtfully our live shop on Shopify can serve as an effective marketing tool.
  
  
• The best part is that you can Install this Live shopping plugin for Shopify for Free and Upgrade as you Scale-up.

Getting Started

Once you install our Live shopping plugin for Shopify you can get started easily by following a few basic steps as mentioned below.

• Installation of the App
• Creating an Event
• Adding Event Basics
• Choosing Products
• Adding a Host
• Managing your Event
• Going Live from Broadcaster App

Use Cases

Live Online shopping in recent months has become the basic form of purchasing products and hence all almost all the industries are jumping onto this technology. Brands have started realizing the advantages of live stream shopping. Here are some use cases that can be achieved by leveraging our Live Video Shopping plugin for Shopify.

• Hosting a fashion show
• Launching a gadget while showcasing its features
• Inviting celebrities to promote products
• Hosting giveaways and live contest
• Live streaming a tourist destination
• Live streaming a yoga session
• Offering limited-time deals and interacting with customers via live chat
• Collaborating with an influencer for a Q&A session
• Giving behind the scenes glimpse to your customers and much more

Wrapping Up

Livestream e-commerce is a unique experience, both for buyers and brands involved. The direct real-time interaction with customers makes it a unique selling as well as a marketing tool.

Shopify owners can now show customers products in more detail and customers can ask whatever they want to know directly by leveraging our live stream shopping app.

Let’s quickly recall all the benefits of our live shop on Shopify.

• improves conversion rates
• is educational and appealing to buyers
• appeals to younger consumers
• leads to increased sales and reduced returns
• is shareable on social media
• makes shopping entertaining
• easily accessible

You can reach out to us at info@channelize.io and clear your queries else you can simply install our Live shopping app for Shopify and start selling live.

Shopify marketplace apps are no novelty anymore. They are everywhere and have been around since 2006 as part of Shopify, an instrumental eCommerce platform for retail point-of-sale systems and online stores.

Shopify is a feature-rich, future-ready digital ecosystem for online sellers since it provides a user-friendly interface together with an exquisite range of tools to set up your online store. You can hire certified Shopify experts to get a full-featured online store that meets your expectations and unique needs.

With Shopify’s self-hosting services, you can push your store live right after a quick and easy initial configuration.

Though Shopify has covered a lot of good ground ever since its phenomenal inception, it still doesn’t provide the multi-vendor marketplace setup support as provided by the likes of eBay and Amazon.

It may be quite a spoilsport for Shopify lovers who want to capitalize on this dependable and versatile platform to launch a multi-vendor marketplace, but that’s the way it is.

Does it mean you can’t host a Shopify multi-vendor marketplace? Fortunately, no. With custom application development services, you can certainly build a multi-seller Shopify marketplace app and achieve your business objectives.

What is Shopify app development?

While most of us understand the concept of a multi-vendor app, let’s catch up. A multi-vendor marketplace app is an application that serves as a digital distribution platform or bridge to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers.

For instance, eBay and Amazon are multi-seller apps wherein the sellers can upload their products and the visitors can purchase them. A multi-vendor application owner charges a predefined commission to the seller for each sale or on a subscription basis.

Such platforms are cherished by online vendors for the basic reason that they offer high benefits in terms of improved sales, user experience, efficiency, and convenience.

As of today, physical strategy businesses are not progressing as they should. Over 50% of the populace today surfs the web and invests their time in online locales instead of visiting physical stores to make a purchase.

Therefore, the clients these days are more willing to go online with a multi-seller web-based business that they can operate from just about anywhere as they will receive an assortment of merchandise from different vendors at a single stop.

These online stores provide better returns on your time, money, and energy as compared to opening a brick-and-mortar store that shoppers seldom visit these days.

Though several technologies can help you build a multi-seller app, Shopify is the most preferred option due to the wide range of features and merits it has on offer.

What can Shopify multi-vendor marketplace apps do?

Shopify multi-vendor marketplace apps provide your website with rich functionalities to offer vendors an easy way to access your website’s backend, with no admin controls. From the backend, vendors can quickly add, categorize, edit, and remove their product listings from your website.

Besides, the app helps you set up commissions that the vendors will pay for using the online store either monthly, annually, or on a per-sale basis.

Why is a Shopify multi-vendor marketplace app so important?

With customers increasingly counting on online shopping, ecommerce is opening new possibilities for countless entrepreneurs. Nasdaq predicts that around 95% of purchases will be done online by 2040 and, therefore, entrepreneurs have a serious reason to try their hands at eCommerce. And when we talk about eCommerce, multi-seller platforms are the new norm.

Due to the phenomenal surge that the eCommerce multi-vendor marketplace has witnessed over the last decade or so, having a multi-vendor architecture has almost become a necessity.

Gone are the days when a single business owner used to set up an online store, showcase his line of products, and drive sales almost single-handedly. The multi-vendor approach is the next fascination.

Due to the formidable business competition that the eCommerce niche has at present, just building an online store or eCommerce app is not enough for merchants to survive or thrive. In this always-online age, profits and sales are driven by user interactions and communities. Therefore, the need to have a multi-vendor mindset was never more urgent.

How does a custom multi-vendor Shopify marketplace work?

You can get started with this smarter, better eCommerce marketplace in three simple steps:

1. Create a custom Shopify multi-vendor app to transform your online store into a marketplace that is 360-degree functional.
2. Once you push the store live, invite other businesses to collaborate with your Shopify marketplace app to display their merchandise digitally in an organized manner to ensure customers can search, browse, and purchase their products.
3. Keep a track of all sales and set a commission for each sale to earn from your local as well as global sellers.

Merchants can also use these multi-vendor online marketplaces as a launchpad to create and enhance their online presence. This helps them earn recurring sales and loyal customers.

Shopify’s app library flaunts quite a few marketplace apps to help you convert your online store into a full-spectrum digital marketplace; however, there’s a catch.

If you have a unique product niche, plan to add some out-of-the-ordinary products at some stage moving forward, or have potential sellers from a diverse business genre, going with a strict, predefined architecture may not be a good pick.

Such solutions may not provide you the factor of flexibility in terms of adding customizations as required by you or the vendors selling their merchandise on your platform. It’s like you’ll be handcuffed with a restricted reach, and that’s surely the last thing you’d ask for.

Case study of a custom multi-vendor marketplace app development

Our Shopify app development, The Brihaspati Infotech, recently helped a client achieve his dream of hosting a revolutionary online store that can fit in his budget, entice the audience, perform seamlessly, and cater to the rapidly-changing expectations of his vendors.

Our Shopify app development team delivered a multi-vendor marketplace on time and within budget.

Here’s the case study:

Client requirements

The client had an online liquor-based multi-vendor Shopify marketplace app.

The client had the following requirements:

• Enable other liquor vendors to sell their products through his app
• Properly categorize all store products
• Integrate 24×7 live chat on the store

While the requirements were pretty straightforward, implementing the solution on an active Shopify store with a quick turnaround time wasn’t anybody’s game.

Therefore, the client decided to hire Shopify developers from us.

The solution

Our development team divided the whole project into two parts, namely:

1. Interface for the store owner
2. Interface for vendors

Doing this on an open-source platform like Magento would have been easier. However, in Shopify, we had no scope for intervening with the base code. Therefore, we created separate interfaces and used them as embedded apps at the back-end panel with iframes to build the marketplace app.

With Shopify APIs and webhooks, we can POST and GET data “TO and FROM” the Shopify website to the custom-built interface.

We used Yii/LAMP technology stack to build the interfaces. The store owner interface was hosted as a Shopify app on the client server and linked to the Shopify website using the client’s Shopify partner account.

The vendor interface was hosted on a sub-domain of the store owner’s website and vendors were able to access it by logging in with their vendor accounts in the multi-vendor marketplace Shopify app.

Features for Shopify App Development Solution

Working agile, our Shopify app development team came up with a secure, easy-to-use, and fully functional multi-vendor Shopify app. The solution was tested vigorously for functionality, performance, and user experience.

The Shopify app development solution we delivered had the following salient features:

Comprehensive, easy-to-use seller dashboard

We delivered a crisp, clear, and clean interface for the dashboard landing pages. The dashboard helps the client get a real-time overview of the number of products, orders, buyers, and messages received by the seller.

Also, the dashboard flaunts an overview in the form of a bar graph powered by HighCharts for dynamic chart implementation.

Several powerful functionalities and features were provided for the seller, including options to add new products, review buyer and order history, view purchase orders, and interact with buyers through instant messaging.

Immersive, easy-to-use admin interface

Our Shopify app development company used an embedded app module to help admins access their admin interfaces through the default Shopify admin dashboard.

Our Shopify app development company deployed Shopify APIs to sync the customer data, orders, and products efficiently with the default Shopify database.

The store admins can simply launch the Shopify multi-vendor app within their Shopify dashboard to manage seller accounts, submitted products, and a lot more.

Major challenges and roadblocks during the development process

Though we’ve successfully developed quite a few multi-vendor Shopify apps, each project has new challenges based on the client’s unique requirements, budget, time, technology, existing architecture, etc.

This project had its share of challenges such as:

1.   Custom nested product filters

We created nested filters such that selecting one filter affects the option of others in the Shopify app development plugin. However, doing this with the default filters available in the Shopify backend was not possible.

We resolved the conundrum with separate product creation forms, providing a unique form for each collection. Furthermore, we created product tags to be used as filters.

Based on predefined product categories, tags were created for each product type

Predefined product categories were used to create tags for each product type based on which the filters showed relevant data. The tags were added automatically and were visible to store admins.

As we used Yii under the MVC architecture to create the forms, they were easy to enhance and modify as per the client’s business needs. The plugin also remains adaptable to changing business requirements.

    2. Creating a live chat

The client wanted live chat functionality for real-time user interaction on the multi-vendor Shopify app development module. Furthermore, the client wanted all chats to be saved on the backend to help the buyer pick up a conversation from where they dropped it earlier.

The seller can keep a track of new, ongoing, and past chats under the Messages section.

For this, we used Chat ID as a unique identifier for each conversation. The Chat ID helped identify who has sent a message and then display it under the corresponding User ID.

Using this approach, not only were we able to implement real-time one-to-one chat, but we were also able to save and access the chat record between buyer and merchant in the database.

      3. Real-time sync of Shopify and seller database

As the multi-vendor marketplace, the Shopify app had the seller dashboard as a separate interface developed in Yii and hosted on a separate server, the solution had to make sure that whenever a seller creates a new product, it is simultaneously created in Shopify as well.

For this, we used the Shopify console runner to work in the background and call the Product API each time someone adds a new product. It helped us implement a real-time data synchronization between the Shopify and seller dashboard.

Case study summary and result

The Brihaspati Infotech delivered a stable and dynamic Shopify marketplace app to the client on time and within budget. The solution helped the client regulate and manage their business on various levels, improve efficiency, and save time on repetitive tasks.

As we have successfully delivered several similar solutions such as a Shopify Payment Gateway Integration, the turnaround time for this Shopify multi-vendor marketplace app was quick and all the client requirements were completely addressed.

We delivered a feature-rich solution with various high-end functionalities, such as:

• The ability for sellers to define custom shipping methods and tracking IDs
• Integration with Hubspot
• The ability for admins to define a commission rate
• Scalable and customized dashboard
• Real-time data sync between the Shopify and seller dashboard

The project met our criteria of 100% client satisfaction with seamless communication, project transparency, regular updates, stringent testing, and after-sales support.

Few words about us

The Brihaspati Infotech is a 360-degree Shopify app development services provider to startups, SMBs, and enterprises. Our solutions are tailored for your unique business needs and aimed to accentuate practically every square inch of your business and ultimately help you max out your ROI.