What is Shopify? Cross-border EC site platform from Canada

Hello, I'm EC Penguin!

I've been hearing a lot about "Shopify" recently when I'm in the web industry, but I have the impression that not many people actually know what it is and what features it has.

There! In this article, I will introduce What is Shopify and what kind of service is it, as I have been immersed in the Shopify world. ( I'm a man who loves Shopify too much, so please understand that I'm a bit passionate about it...)

What is Shopify?

What kind of service is Shopify?

To put it simply,

"The world's largest e-commerce site creation platform"

.

Shopify, which started in Canada in 2004, is now an EC site platform with over 1 million stores in more than 170 countries, and has become a service loved around the world. Its distribution value is amazingly over 10 trillion yen. The platform (management screen) is also very easy to use, supports multiple languages, and is strong in SEO and SNS integration, making it a great feature for attracting customers.

Shopify Inc. itself was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange (like the American and Canadian versions of the Tokyo Stock Exchange) in 2015, and is a company that is recognized by the public. (...) EC deals with information that should not be leaked, including personal information and around payment, so it is important to have a solid operating base.

Shopify Japan was also established in 2017, and has expressed its intention to enter Japan in earnest. Although Shopify is still in its infancy in Japan, considering the past history of services such as Netflix, Airbnb, Facebook, and many others that have become popular overseas, we believe that Shopify will also become widely popular in Japan in the medium to long term.

Shopify Pricing Plan

So far, I think you have a general idea of what Shopify is.

Now let's look at the pricing plan.

Here is the Shopify pricing plan.

The only differences between the above three plans are credit card fees, the number of staff you can register, and whether you can send gift cards, so the basic plan is sufficient for setting up a general e-commerce site for $29/month (about $3000).

Does anyone feel that it is a bit expensive?

No, it's much cheaper, and considering the rich features of Shopify, I often felt that this was a reasonable price.

It's very cheap, and I've often felt that Shopify is very cheap considering its rich features. Moreover, when you use other services to create an e-commerce site, you may have to pay an initial fee, but Shopify only charges a monthly fee.

If you're at all curious, you can try Shopify for free for two weeks, so you can give it a try.

Features and Benefits of Shopify

Now, here are the features and benefits of Shopify.

• Largest market share and growth rate in the world
• Simple operation
• Support for cross-border EC
• Wide variety of apps and themes
• Increase the number of sales channels.
• POS for physical store sales can also be used.

This is just one of the world's largest e-commerce website platforms, and it's very attractive.>It's just one of the world's largest e-commerce website platforms, and it's very attractive. It' s getting a bit long, so let's take a quick look at them one by one.

World's Largest Market Share and Growth Rate

First, let's look at this. It is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world. Especially, it is overwhelmingly strong in English-speaking countries such as the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, as you can see in the chart below, and it is also interesting to see that it is increasingly being used in Africa.

Taken from websitetooltester

And the most amazing thing is the growth rate, look at the overwhelming growth of Shopify.

From Google Trends

Google Trends shows its search volume (how many searches are done on Google).

Google Trends shows the search volume (how many searches are done on Google search), and it is growing at a Dantotsu pace, beating the competitors WooCommerce, Magento, and BigCommerce.

This popularity would not be possible without Shopify's rich features and appeal. As you can see, Shopify is not only one of the largest platforms in the world, but also a service that will become even more popular in the future.

Simple operability

Next, simple operability. There are some services that are so feature-rich but are so difficult to use that you can't fully use them.

Shopify is fine.

Shopify admin screen

It's designed in such a way that even a beginner can easily use it, and I had no problems using it when I first started. It's similar to the Wordpress admin screen.

Support for cross-border EC

Shopify can be used to create EC sites for Japan as well as for overseas markets. As already mentioned, it has a high global market share and supports not only numerous languages, but also tax rates and payment methods for each country.

Japan's population is only going to decrease in the long term due to the declining birthrate and aging population. However, by using a cross-border EC like Shopify, we can compete with the world's 7 billion people.

Variety of apps and themes

It is really a painstaking task to create an e-commerce site from scratch and implement various functions. However, Shopify offers over 2400 rich apps and nearly 100 themes to complement those features.

From Shopify App Store

Recently, a Shopify app for Rakuten has been developed, enabling the creation of e-commerce sites in conjunction with Rakuten.

In terms of Wordpress, it is an image of a rich collection of plugins and themes.

Increase your sales channels through social networking sites

The next attractive thing is that Shopify has partnerships with multiple social networking sites and other EC services, so you can operate in conjunction with them.

For example, you can display your products on your Instagram account and link them to your store.

For example, you can display products on your Instagram account and link them to your store. As marketing using influencers is becoming more and more mainstream, this kind of feature is very appealing.

From Instagram

You can also do physical store sales POS

From the official Shopify

Finally, Shopify also allows you to sell your products in a physical store using POS. This is convenient for businesses that have both an e-commerce site and a small physical store, because they can manage them all at once on Shopify.

These are just some of the simple features and benefits of Shopify.

These are the simple features and benefits of Shopify. I'm sure there are some people who think it's too good to be true, so I'll tell you about some of the disadvantages I've seen myself.

Disadvantages of Shopify

It's too early to feel that Shopify is the best service! It is still too early to feel that it is. Of course, it has its weaknesses and disadvantages.