Small fashion brands use Shopify and WooCommerce. It improves business management, sales, and website traffic.
But the eCommerce business is very competitive, and choosing the right platform can make or break your online fashion business, especially if you don’t have a lot of money and want to do big things.
This article will look at the main fashion website templates problems with Shopify and suggest a better platform for creating and hosting your fashion brand’s online store.
5 Reasons to Move Your Fashion Brand Off Shopify
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Hidden costs
Shopify is very open about its prices and plans, as well as what each plan includes and which size business it works best for. Basic plans cost $39 a month and are good for one-person businesses. Shopify plans cost $105 and are good for small businesses. Advanced plans cost $399 and are best for bigger businesses that are growing.
The eCommerce platform also offers a 25% discount on the above plans if you pay for the whole year in advance. They also have a Plus plan, which is to be agreed to on a one or 3-year term at $2,300 a month.
However, these Shopify subscription fees aren’t the only costs you’ll pay while running your online fashion business. Here are some of the hidden costs associated with building and hosting your fashion brand on Shopify:- App fees. Many of the most-desired and most-used apps on Shopify’s app store aren’t available for free. The fees can vary widely, with some apps costing just a few dollars a month while others can cost more than $30 per month.
- Template fees. Not all of the Shopify templates are free either. You can search for free-only templates if you are on a budget. However, if you want a more professional look, some templates can be as much as $500.
- Transaction fees. You will have to pay extra transaction fees on every sale if you don’t use Shopify Payments, which is Shopify’s own payment processor. The fees range from 2% for the Basic plan to 0.2% for the Plus plan.
- Domain name. People will trust you more and come to your site more often if you use a domain name that fits with your fashion brand. You can buy a domain from Shopify or another company that sells domains if you want to change your store’s web address from “myshopify.com” to something that fits your brand.
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No email hosting service
Email is now an essential tool for online businesses to communicate and market themselves. It enables them to communicate with both new and existing clients, provide order confirmations and delivery updates, offer discounts to customers to entice them to return, and retain clients.
Unfortunately, Shopify does not host emails. A third-party email hosting service like Gmail or Zoho Mail is needed to make email marketing campaigns look more real, polished, or personal.
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Limited marketing options and support
Shopify is a great eCommerce platform, but its marketing tools aren’t very good. Shopify lets you run a blog for your store. It has simple tools for making posts, adding tags, and organizing content.
These features are fine for articles that are mostly about content marketing or products. The blog editor is out of date, you can’t link to related posts in new content to get more traffic to old posts, and you don’t have access to useful SEO tools, custom post templates, or a lot of plugin support.
The commenting system is also very basic, which makes it hard to talk to your customers and get them to talk about your products.
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Difficult and limited customization options
Easy setup and use are Shopify’s hallmarks. Platform’s drag-and-drop editor simplifies editing.
You do need to know how to code to make more complicated changes, like changing how a product page is set up, changing how the checkout works, or making more complicated discount rules. You must be proficient in Liquid coding, which is what Shopify uses.
You may spend more than you anticipated if you hire developers or specialists who are proficient in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and who can create custom Shopify stores. Budget-conscious small fashion brands may find this challenging.
You can also get more advanced customization options by upgrading your plan. But this may not be a good choice for small businesses and startups either, which limits the fashion brands that can and can’t customize their online stores and product pages. -
App dependency
The large number of apps available for Shopify is one of its best features. You will need to use several third-party apps to get the full range of features, such as inventory management, product reviews, customer loyalty programs, and advanced reporting.
Many of these apps require you to pay a monthly fee, which, as we said above, can quickly add to your monthly expenses.
What To Do Next?
Unfortunately, after registering, business owners find it difficult to move to another eCommerce platform due to Shopify’s and many other platforms’ lock-in feature.
The difficulty of moving to a different platform is among Shopify’s worst features. You may need to manually move or rebuild key components such as product pages, blog posts, theme customizations, order history, and URL structures, but you can export data about your customers and products.
This migration process costs more money, takes more time, and requires more work, especially if you are also putting money into the new platform.
Before you sign up for Shopify, think about using a web hosting service like Hostinger to build and host your online store. Here’s why:
- Utilization of artificial intelligence (AI). Many web hosting providers use AI technology to help business owners create a website in minutes without using any code. Some also include access to AI-powered image builders, writing tools, product generators, SEO tools, and logo makers.
- Access to templates. Many web hosting providers give you free access to hundreds of fashion website templates, helping you achieve elegant designs that appeal to your desired audience and match your branding goals. In addition, these templates are often a lot more customizable than Shopify templates.
- Cost-effectiveness. Many web hosting providers have cheaper monthly subscription fees than Shopify. In addition, many plans include zero transaction fees.
- Professionalism. Many web hosting plans come with a free domain name and a bespoke business email for a number of employees, making your website and email marketing campaigns look authentic, professional, and personalized.
- Full control. Many web hosting providers give you full control over your fashion store from one admin dashboard.
- Inventory management features. Many web hosting providers have dedicated ‘eCommerce website builders’, which come with in-demand features like inventory management, which will better help you run a fashion brand and sell products online.
Wrapping Up
There are some bad things about using Shopify to market your fashion brand, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any good things about it. The platform is flexible and lets online store owners do a lot of different eCommerce tasks, like shipping and sales, all from a dashboard that is simple to use.
But picking the right platform is key to your business’s success. It’s great to see that many web hosting companies have added eCommerce features and functions that can really help you turn your fashion brand into a retail empire.
Before you sign up for a dedicated eCommerce platform, think about using a web hosting service to build your website. If you are already locked-in to Spotify, think about the hidden fees, limited marketing and customization options, and app dependency. Maybe it’s time to migrate?