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Many positive online Shopify reviews highlight that the platform provides an easy and smooth user experience with powerful store-building features. This makes it a go-to choice for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises with vast inventories.

Even after 18 years, Shopify remains one of the most widely used ecommerce platforms in 2025. It holds a significant market share and is known for its reliability, scalability, and exceptional customer support.

However, with new competitors offering advanced features and automation, is Shopify still the best platform for your online store?

In this Shopify review, we will take an in-depth look at Shopify’s features, pricing plans, and overall effectiveness to help you determine whether it’s the right fit for your business in 2025.

What is Shopify? An overview 

Shopify is a top-rated ecommerce platform enabling businesses of all sizes to easily set up and manage online stores. From small startups to large enterprises, Shopify provides solutions that help companies thrive in the competitive ecommerce landscape.

Founded in 2006, Shopify has grown into a powerful tool for ecommerce business owners, offering a comprehensive suite of features to support online selling and business management.

Despite mixed Shopify reviews (4.4/5 on G2 and 1.5 on TrustPilot), it remains a leading choice for ecommerce businesses.

Some of the standout features that make Shopify a powerful platform include:

• Customizable themes: Creating professional, unique storefronts
• App store: 8,000+ apps for extended functionalities
• Inventory management: Tools for stock management
• Marketing tools: Shopify Email, Shopify Forms, automation, and segmentation
• Shopify POS: Smooth payments, fast checkouts, and easy in-person sales
• Dropshipping & print-on-demand: Quick and hassle-free business setup 
• Shopify payments: Secure and integrated payment processing
• Analytics & reports: Track key metrics and improve business performance

Pros and cons of Shopify 

Look at these Shopify pros and cons to decide if it’s the right fit for your business.

Pros	Cons
Easy-to-use platform with customizable themes	Transaction fees are applied when not using Shopify Payments
8,000+ app integrations for better functionality	Limited flexibility for larger stores
Built-in marketing tools and Shopify Payments	Free themes are limited
Supports dropshipping and print-on-demand	Some advanced features may require additional apps or upgrades
Global expansion features for international selling	Scaling businesses with premium add-ons is costly

Shopify plans and pricing

Shopify’s pricing structure includes five main plans, each designed to meet the needs of different types of businesses.

1. Starter Plan

Priced at $5 per month, this plan is ideal for individuals who want to sell through social media without building an ecommerce store. It offers an easy, no-code setup that allows you to share products on Instagram, WhatsApp, and other social media sites, while handling transactions with Shopify checkout.

Based on our Shopify starter plan review, we recommend it for creating a small store. It lacks an actual storefront and advanced features like inventory management, which limit scalability.

Pros

• Low setup cost for beginners
• Quick and easy selling through social media without a website

Cons

• Limited functionality with minimal features
• No storefront or cart management
  

2. Basic Plan

It costs $39/month or $29/month if billed annually and targets solo entrepreneurs or small businesses. It enables store management with Shopify’s core ecommerce tools, including inventory management and Shopify Payments. 

The plan comes with Shopify POS lite for free and Shopify POS Pro at $89/month. However, the online standard card rates and the online premium card rates are the highest in this plan, priced at 2.9% and 3.5%, respectively.

Pros

• It’s affordable compared to other ecommerce platforms
• Comes with all essential ecommerce tools

Cons

• There is no option to add additional staff accounts
• No advanced reporting and shipping features
  

3. Shopify Plan

The Shopify plan is meant for small teams and costs $105/month or $79/month if billed annually. It offers additional functionality, including better reporting tools, shipping discounts, and enhanced staff management features.

It allows you to add five additional staff accounts for managing larger stores that require more support. The online standard card rate of 2.7% is slightly lower than the Basic plan.

Pros

• More robust features for business growth
• The ability to add five staff accounts

Cons

• The cost goes higher for basic functionalities
• Additional apps might be needed

 4. Advanced Plan

As your business scales, you’ll need the Advanced Shopify plan, priced at $399/month ($299/month if billed annually). It provides custom reports, advanced analytics, and more sophisticated features like third-party shipping calculations.

It’s ideal for larger businesses with more complex needs. It offers 10x checkout capacity for growing businesses and lets you add up to 88% shipping discount.

Pros

• Robust features for growing businesses
• Better visibility into store performance

Cons

• It can be potentially excessive for smaller businesses
  

5. Shopify Plus

The most advanced plan starts at $2,300 per month. The Plus plan is ideal for large enterprises requiring advanced customization and support. It’s perfect for wholesalers and B2B business owners who need to manage, track, and report bulk orders.

You can have unlimited additional staff accounts. One of the biggest advantages of basic Shopify vs Shopify Plus is the priority support by phone or live chat, which keeps you going without any setbacks.

Pros

• Highly customizable for managing high-volume stores 
• 40x checkout capacity

Cons

• The costs can add up, particularly for smaller businesses looking to scale

Key features of Shopify

Shopify has an abundance of features that have brought many ecommerce owners to the platform. The user interface, SEO, marketing, customization options, and core ecommerce functionalities allow users to create and manage an online store efficiently. 

Let’s discuss some key features in this Shopify review.

User interface & ease of use

One of the main reasons why Shopify is loved is due to its simplified process of designing, setting up, and managing an online store. However, you may have to buy a Shopify domain later to establish your brand and make it easier for customers to find you online.

The setup is easy, and  beginners can get started quickly with a guided walkthrough. The intuitive dashboard is the heart of Shopify’s user interface, providing access to all essential functions.

Once you get started, everything is visible on the dashboard – from order management to store settings. The clear menu structure allows users to manage their store’s content and operations efficiently.

With a few Shopify tips and some Shopify landing page examples to get inspiration from, you can get your ecommerce store up and running.

Here are the different sections of the Shopify admin available in the sidebar:

Customization & design options

Shopify’s online store builder offers various customization options to create a unique online presence. On Shopify’s basic plan, you can create multiple stores (up to 10), and each store can have its domain name, products, and settings. 

With multiple templates and themes, Shopify can cater to various industries and aesthetics. These Shopify themes are easily customizable, allowing users to tweak colors, fonts, and layouts without needing advanced coding skills.

For those seeking more customization, Shopify allows custom codes (CSS) to style HTML according to their preferences.

However, adding images and products to Shopify collections requires a slight learning curve. Moreover, the lack of drag-and-drop functionality limits creativity for those without coding skills.

Ecommerce functionality

Shopify’s core ecommerce features are designed to streamline store management. These help in inventory management, providing tools to track stock levels, manage product variants, and set up automated inventory alerts.

Order processing is efficient, with features that facilitate easy order tracking, returns, and customer communication. Shopify also connects with multiple dropshipping apps that make orders and shipping easy for someone who doesn’t want to manage their inventory just yet.

Shopify comes with a built-in capability for calculating shipping rates, printing labels, and integrating with major carriers.

It also supports multi-channel selling, allowing businesses to reach customers through various platforms, including social media and online marketplaces. 

Automation tools are integral to Shopify’s ecommerce functionality. It offers automated marketing campaigns, sales promotions, and customer service responses to improve efficiency and drive engagement. 

The abandoned cart recovery feature was easy to configure and proved effective in recapturing lost sales, but it can only be activated by upgrading to a paid plan.

Payment processing

Shopify Payments is Shopify’s built-in payment processing solution. It offers merchants a seamless way to accept payments directly through their stores without needing third-party integrations. 

The platform supports 100+ payment gateways, including PayPal, Klarna, Amazon Pay, and Stripe, allowing businesses to offer various payment options to their customers.

Shopify offers 680+ third-party apps for managing payments and 64 apps specifically built for Shopify. Theseapps help you sell more and offer a seamless checkout process to the customers.

The third-party transaction fees might be waived by activating Shopify Payments if you are a Shopify Plus merchant. Here are Shopify’s transaction fees depending on the plan: 

• Basic plan: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• Shopify plan: 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction 
• Advanced plan: 2.4% + $0.30 per transaction 
• Third-party payment providers: 2% per transaction 
• Currency conversion: 1.5% in the US and 2% in other countries and regions 

For international businesses, Shopify Payments supports multi-currency transactions, allowing merchants to sell worldwide while offering localized checkout experiences. 

Based on our Shopify payments review, we found that some users prefer to avoid the fact that it charges transaction fees for using third-party payment gateways.

Shopify POS review: In-store integration

Shopify POS (point of sale) is crucial for businesses that want to integrate in-store and online sales seamlessly. It’s easy to set up,manage, and integrate seamlessly with your online store.

It also accepts payments through all major cards and UPIs, including Gpay, Apple pay, American Express, and Visa cards.

Here’s a closer look at its features:

• Hardware integration: Supports various devices, such as receipt printers, barcode scanners, and cash drawers, ensuring a cohesive in-store experience
• Payment processing: Accepts a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, and mobile payments, either through Shopify Payments or third-party processors
• Inventory tracking: Provides automatic count updates whenever an order is fulfilled to maintain accurate inventory
• Customer management: Allows businesses to create and manage customer profiles, track purchase history, and offer personalized service
• Mobile access: Shopify POS app can be downloaded onto any smartphone that you can easily access
• QR codes: Allows you to add QR codes to products so customers can simply scan through phones to learn more and purchase online

While Shopify POS provides valuable integration between in-store and online sales, it does have some drawbacks:

• Additional hardware costs: Investing in compatible hardware like receipt printers and barcode scanners can be expensive
• Limited customization: Less flexibility compared to specialized POS systems, which may not meet all advanced needs
• Feature limitations: Lacks advanced features like detailed analytics or extensive loyalty program options

During our Shopify review, we found that users have mixed opinions on Shopify POS. A key issue is that card readers and scanners sometimes stop responding or freeze. Some users also complain about slow startup and limited customizations.

SEO and marketing tools 

During our Shopify SEO review, we found that it has 75 SEO apps and 8,000+ apps for customizing the store. It also offers automation for basic SEO tasks, such as optimizing URLs, generating sitemaps, and adding alt text for images. For other SEO functionalities, you have to download SEO apps from the app store.

Shopify’s marketing tools overview

Shopify provides a suite of powerful marketing tools to help you create effective marketing workflows. Here are some keytools that Shopify offers:

• Shopify email: It allows users to set up emails and manage email campaigns and also lets you integrate other email marketing apps
• Shopify forms: A lead capture tool that helps grow marketing lists and convert new leads into customers
• Automated workflows: Allows businesses to set up automatic marketing workflows, saving time and improving efficiency
• Risk-free ad campaigns: Offers targeted ads on platforms like Meta and Google, where businesses only pay for conversions
• Shopify collabs: Helps businesses leverage influencer marketing by connecting with social media creators to promote products and expand reach

Shopify stands out for multichannel marketing automation and SMS marketing.

In contrast, platforms like WooCommerce and BigCommerce often require third-party plugins for advanced marketing automation, which can complicate workflows. However, Shopify’s built-in tools, such as email automation and ad management, make managing everything in one place simpler.

How to monetize your Shopify store with Omnisend 

Integrating Omnisend – an SMS and email marketing platform for ecommerce stores – with your Shopify store is an effective way to drive sales on Shopify.

Trusted by 100,000+ customers, Omnisend integrates easily with Shopify and allows you to automate communication, deliver personalized messages, leverage data-driven marketing tactics, set up newsletter signup forms, and enhance customer engagement and conversion rates.

One of Omnisend’s key features is its pre-built templates for almost everything and automated workflows. By sending trigger-based abandoned cart emails, push notifications, order confirmations, and post-purchase follow-ups, you can nurture leads and encourage customers to complete their purchases.

Omnisend also offers automation splits and A/B testing to create optimized email workflows.

Here are some successful monetization strategies using Omnisend for your Shopify store:

• Cart abandonment emails: Send automated reminders to customers who leave items in their carts, encouraging them to complete the purchase
• Welcome series: Engage new subscribers right after they sign up with personalized welcome emails, building trust and driving early sales
• Promotional campaigns: Create targeted, seasonal campaigns with discounts or special offers to boost sales during high-demand periods like Black Friday
• Upsell and cross-sell opportunities: Suggest additional products or upgrades to customers based on their previous purchases or browsing behavior
• Order confirmation emails: Include upselling options or discount codes in order confirmation emails to encourage repeat purchases
• Product reviews: Build trust with your customers by showcasing product reviews with the listed products in your store

Like product reviews, social proof instils confidence in other buyers and can help you amplify sales. The video on how to grow sales on Shopify with product reviews explains this in detail:

Shopify’s new and notable features

Shopify is an ever-evolving platform with innovative features that empower businesses to grow and scale continuously. 

Here’s a closer look at these new standout features and how they benefit businesses.

Shopify Audiences review

Designed to increase the return on ad spend (ROAS) and drive better retargeting conversion, Shopify Audiences is a powerful tool that helps businesses with targeted marketing and customer segmentation. It allows you to create custom audience lists that can be used for advertising on platforms.

By reducing the guesswork in targeting, Shopify Audiences lead to successful ad campaigns and higher ROI.

This feature leverages data from Shopify’s algorithm to help you find potential customers likely to convert based on their online shopping behavior.

Use cases

• Targeted marketing: Businesses can optimize their social media ads, increasing the chances of conversion
• Better ad performances: This feature allows tracking the ad performance, optimizing them and exploring ad trends

Benchmarks available in Shopify audience compare your ad performance on Meta to other stores and give you a clear picture of the metrics:

Managed Market (Shopify Markets Pro review)

Managed market (formerly Shopify Markets Pro) is Shopify’s solution for cross-border commerce, simplifying the complexities of international selling. 

It offers tools for global fulfillment and shipping, currency conversion, international taxes, language translation, and compliance with local regulations.

Key features

• Currency conversion: Automatically converts prices into local currencies, allowing you to sell in local currency with Shopify Payments
• International taxes: Adds duty and tax estimates at checkout that simplifies tax compliance
• Local Language translation: Allows you to offer content in the local language, ensuring that customers can shop in their preferred language
• Global compliance: Ensures adherence to local regulations, reducing the complexity of international selling

Shopify Collabs review

Shopify Collabs is a tool for businesses that want to get started with influencer marketing. It can help you find creators with highly engaged audiences.

Both SMBs and big businesses can benefit from Shopify Collabs as it manages all aspects of influencer collaborations.

Pros

• Influencer discovery: Simplifies the process of finding relevant influencers to promote your products
• Easy collaboration management: Manage collaborations, track performance, and handle payments all within the platform
• Increased reach: Tapping into influencers’ established audiences to expand visibility and drive conversions

Cons

• Some users find that results may vary depending on the influencers’ engagement and authenticity

With Shopify Collabs, you can easily track the sales, status, order date, and creators all in one place:

The Shopify reviews are mixed regarding Collabs. While some found it helpful to work with creators on a gifting or affiliate basis, others faced issues with the delivery of content and payments from collaborators.

Shopify Capital review: Financing options

Shopify is all about empowering businesses and has gone above and beyond with its financing service – Shopify Capital. It provides merchants with access to funds to help grow their businesses.

Through hassle-free, online application, it offers flexible funding options that don’t require a lengthy approval process or traditional credit checks.

Eligibility & terms

1. The store must be operational for at least three months or have had its first sale more than three months ago
2. The store must be compliant with Shopify’s Terms of Service
3. Merchants must have a good track record of repaying funds or remittances for financial services
4. Available to merchants who either use Shopify Payments or approved third-party payment providers
5. The store should not be dealing with prohibited products, including those dealing with cannabis and drug

If you are eligible, you can choose the capital that fits your business needs. Every offer comes with a different repayment option: 

As per Shopify reviews, many business owners appreciate the simplicity of the process. However, some users mention that their eligibility rates fluctuate, which can limit scaling projects.

Customer support and resources 

Shopify offers excellent customer support options to assist users at every stage of their ecommerce journey. 

With 24/7 live chat, email, and phone support, Shopify ensures that help is always available, whether you’re troubleshooting a technical issue or need advice on optimizing your store.

The platform’s community forums are also informative.  Active groups provide a space for users to share experiences, ask questions, and receive guidance from other Shopify users.

In addition to direct support, Shopify offers an extensive library of resources, including detailed tutorials, comprehensive documentation, and on-demand webinars. These resources help users of all experience levels and are handy during store setup.

Overall, Shopify’s combination of direct support and self-help resources ensures users have the tools they need to succeed.

Is Shopify right for your business?

Shopify remains a powerful and versatile ecommerce platform in 2025, offering a wide range of features tailored to businesses of all sizes. Some of the best Shopify stores are a testament to its ability to build a company that scales.

From advanced marketing tools to app integrations, Shopify is ideal for setting up a jewelry store, fashion and lifestyle business, clothing shop, and more.

While it may only be affordable for some, the new feature set and customer support justify the investment for most online retailers. If you’re ready to explore how Shopify can elevate your business, sign up for a free trial and experience the platform firsthand.

FAQs

1. Is it a good idea to use Shopify?

Yes, Shopify is an excellent idea for businesses building their online stores. It offers a wide range of customizable templates, marketing tools, and seamless integrations, making it ideal for companies to scale quickly.

2. How trustworthy is Shopify?

Since 2006, Shopify has supported millions of businesses worldwide. SSL certificates, two-factor authentication, TLS, and other security features provide secure payment gateways and protect customer data.

3. What are the downsides of Shopify?

Transaction fees for non-Shopify payments can add costs, and Shopify’s relatively limited customization options without coding add to its downsides. Additionally, scaling up may require more advanced, expensive plans.

4. Do you actually make money on Shopify?

Shopify stores help business owners make substantial money by leveraging that platform’s ecommerce tools. Its powerful analytics can help optimize sales and drive profitability for committed entrepreneurs.