KickstarterForum.org

Hey guys!

I put out an article on my personal blog, which is more focused on online business, about some of the tools that you can use in place of Shopify. I hope this article helps!

http://www.salvadorbriggman.com/best-sh ... ernatives/

Sal

I am currently using Shopify. I don't have inventory yet and was referred to shopify. What is the difference between shopify and others? I read the article and they all seem to be about the same with only slightly different pricing and one or two different features. Is shopify the most popular? Thanks

Shopify is definitely the most popular. They vary in ecosystem, ease of implementation/customizability, price, and themes. I'd say that Shopify is a great choice for a beginner/intermediate level ecommerce entrepreneur. I tend to see more advanced ecommerce entrepreneurs to migrate away from it, but they do also offer some enterprise-level functionality.

Something worth noting is that Shopify is one of the fewnmajor ecommerce sites with packages that include mobile, online, and in-store solutions.

Sites like Volusion or Big Commerce generally do not have in store functionality or mobile. You should definitely do your research though and compare pricing, see where your niche tends to flourish the most and which has the best interface for your needs.

I haven't used Shopify but it is clearly very popular.
Most basic hosting accounts come with free online store builders which are a decent option.
We have recently integrated WooCommerce which seems good so far.

Something that I have set up which combats a few issues is outlined below.

Wordpress website
- Provides unlimited manipulation and many more free HQ templates than available at Shopify.
- Hosted on Godaddy

Shopify buy box
- $9.99 a month
- much more secure than using woocommerce on wordpress and it has an SSL certificate

You can check it out here - CentriDesigns.com

Many sites that offer website builder offer online shops as well. For the start, most sites will be more than enough. In conjunction with Kickstarter, you might want to checkout BackerKit. They have an integrated fulfillment and pre-order store.

Thanks for sharing!