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Shopify is an ecommerce solution designed to help users build their stores and sell products online. It is one of the best platforms for large online stores that need more robust ecommerce tools.
Squarespace is an excellent website builder with unique ecommerce features for users looking to sell online.
Choosing which ecommerce platform is best for your business depends on many factors including your product, budget, and brand.
Perhaps you're trying to find out which of these platforms is best for business, we are here to make the decision process easier for you.
In this article, we will zoom into Shopify vs Squarespace, comparing them side by side to help you decide on the right ecommerce platform for your business.
Founded in 2004, Shopify is a powerful ecommerce platform designed as an online store solution. With Shopify, you can grow your online store using its sophisticated tools and features. With more than 4.2 million live websites, Shopify stands out as one of the best ecommerce platforms in the world.
Squarespace is a user-friendly website builder and hosted CMS solution that helps you create online stores, blogs, portfolios, and websites.
Both Shopify and Squarespace allow you to create the online store you want without any coding or programming knowledge.
Let's look at some key differences between Shopify and Squarespace to help you decide which ecommerce platform is best for your business.
Shopify is a top ecommerce website builder with comprehensive features and apps that allows you to sell on multiple platforms. But how easy is it to use Shopify?
Well, Shopify has a drag-and-drop feature that allows you to move different elements on your page. It has a great interface with visual cues, shortcuts, and customized themes making it easy to build your online store from scratch.
With a basic template, you can build your online store on Shopify in only a few minutes.
Although Squarespace doesn't have visual cues like Shopify, it has a beginner-friendly dashboard and template editor that makes it easy for newbies to build their online store easily.
Overall, both Shopify and Squarespace are quite easy to use. However, Squarespace is more beginner-friendly.
Having a good-looking online store is good for business. Customers will move towards an attractive store rather than a messy one.
So which platform can give you a better design?
Shopify has about 135 website templates including free and paid options. These templates are mobile-friendly and attractive. You can easily choose any template and make changes to them later. You can make custom edits using codes like HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) on the Shopify Admin page.
However, Squarespace tops Shopify with beautiful modern designs that are also mobile responsive. If you're in the creative industry, you will find unique designs tailored specifically for you on Squarespace. You will also find templates for almost every industry.
With Squarespace, you can include HTML using Code Block and CSS using CSS Editor.
If you want a professional storefront with sophisticated features, Shopify is the way to go. However, if you want a more artistic and modern-looking storefront, Squarespace has all you need to build an online store that grabs all the attention.
The only way to get more customers to your store is to do some marketing. What marketing features do Shopify and Squarespace offer?
Shopify allows you to create email campaigns right from your admin page. To enhance your campaign, Shopify also offers some useful apps like Omnisend Email Marketing.
On the other hand, Squarespace has an add-on called Email Campaigns which allows you to manage your mailing list in one location. They have four pricing plans, with the Starter plan for $5 per month with 500 emails and the Max plan for $48 per month with 250,000 emails. What's more, the e-newsletter has a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to edit.
On Shopify, you can integrate up to 10 social media platforms (including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, etc) making it easy to expand your audience reach.
On the other hand, you can only sell on Instagram via Squarespace and put up content on LinkedIn, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter.
When it comes to blogging, you can access features on Shopify without installing any apps. However, you only get basic functionalities. There are no advanced features and may not be the best option if you want to focus more on content.
On the other hand, Squarespace excels where Shopify lacks. Squarespace has a built-in blog page that allows you to create blog posts, and even push them on social media platforms.
The ultimate goal of any online store owner is to drive traffic and ultimately sales and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one way to achieve this.
With Shopify, you have access to its in-built SEO features and apps.
In comparison, Squarespace only provides basic SEO functions.
Shopify offers three main monthly pricing plans:
With the yearly plan, you get a 25% discount, cutting down on monthly costs.
You get access to numerous features including abandonment cart recovery, professional reports, 24/7 support, and multi-channel integration on the basic and advanced plans.
Now, here's Squarespace monthly pricing plan:
Like Shopify, you get a 30% discount and cut down on monthly costs.
However, you can only access full features on the advanced plan.
Overall, Squarespace delivers more value for your money than Shopify, as they are more affordable and come with a great service.
Squarespace and Shopify both offer good customer support. However, Shopify exceeds Squarespace thanks to its 24\7 support via email, phone, and live chat.
On their Plus Level plan, they offer a dedicated support agent. As you expand, you can also hire a Shopify Expert to assist you with your ecommerce site.
In contrast, Squarespace has limited customer support options with community forums and a time-bound live chat option.
To improve your online store and constantly boost sales, it is important to monitor your store’s performance. With analytics, you can monitor and gain useful insights that will help you enhance your business’s performance.
Squarespace comes with its analytics software called Squarespace Analytics. With this tool, you can monitor your total number of orders, conversion rate, and revenue.
Shopify on the other hand is well-equipped with all the analytics you need. It stands out thanks to its stock-level report email feature which is not available on Squarespace. Shopify also allows you to integrate your site with Google Analytics to get a more in-depth report.
Shopify automatically applies tax registration for some regions including the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. With Shopify, you have control over your tax settings and can automatically handle tax calculations.
However, with Squarespace, only merchants in the US can access its tax calculation feature. This means that many users will need to set up their sales tax manually. This process can be time-consuming.
Shopify also gets a win when it comes to currency. With Shopify Payments, you can use third-party apps to sell with multiple currencies. On the other hand, Squarespace doesn't support the use of multiple currencies.
Shopify allows you to sell in different parts of the world thanks to its different language versions. If you are subscribed to the Basic or Advanced Shopify plan, you can access five different languages. This means you can create five different versions of your ecommerce site. What's more, the Shopify Plus plan allows you to create up to 20 language versions of your ecommerce site.
In contrast, Squarespace uses auto-translate tools which can be quite cumbersome to manage.
Overall, if you're looking to sell in different countries, Shopify will be your best option.
Shopify easily beats Squarespace with over 8000 apps and extensions available on the Shopify App Store. You can find whatever app or extension you need to enhance your store. They are also very easy to integrate. You can choose between free apps and premium apps.
In contrast, while Squarespace has what is called Squarespace Extensions which offer the relevant apps you need, they are limited. Some of these extensions are only available in some countries.
And now for the final verdict. Which of these ecommerce platforms is best for your business?
Shopify is a comprehensive platform with more sophisticated features best suited for larger online stores. If you're looking to scale your business, Shopify may be the best option for you.
But if you only want to sell a few items and are looking for an affordable platform with great features, Squarespace is the way to go.
Before choosing one of these ecommerce platforms, it is important to consider various facets of your business to ensure it is the best fit.
You’ve probably already considered selling on Amazon but its way easier than you think.
Call Us Now