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With over 2 billion people shopping online on a regular basis, launching an e-commerce store makes more sense than ever. But it's not enough to simply build an online store and hope your ideal customers will find it. As a business owner, you need to include top-notch design, easy-to-navigate menus, maximized SEO, and eye-pleasing aesthetics. Many platforms offer e-commerce options, and most are integrated into your website for one-stop service.
Squarespace is a popular website builder with e-commerce capabilities, while Shopify is an entire platform aimed at helping customers sell online. Both are solid options, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. In this guide, we'll take a closer look at Squarespace and Shopify to help you choose the right platform.
Featured partners
starting price
$17/month
E-commerce (low price plan)
yes
starting price
$1.95 per month
Distinctive features
Customizable templates, easy drag-and-drop technology, SSL certificates
starting price
$23/month
E-commerce (low price plan)
yes
Squarespace and Shopify: An Overview
Squarespace is a beginner-friendly website builder designed for people who want everything in one place. Subscriptions offer different pricing plans and include templates, site management, and plugins. Squarespace offers e-commerce integration at three different levels
Shopify was created specifically as an online store solution and later added a website building component. Each of its plans offers ways to grow your e-commerce site with unlimited products and multiple sales channels. Users can choose from a variety of templates and themes to customize their online store site.
Shopify and Squarespace each offer the ability to start, maintain, and grow an online store within your website. Both platforms allow users to create exactly what they want thanks to the wide range of designs and options available. Neither requires any coding knowledge or programming expertise. Making the right choice for your business is a personal decision based on the features you need and how you want to connect with your customers.
square space
starting price
From $16
monthly, yearly
From $16
monthly, yearly
Advantages and disadvantages
- Powerful blog functionality
- Unlimited bandwidth and storage
- Integrated design options
- Non-intuitive design options
- Limited e-commerce functionality
- Not many apps or add-ons
Shopify
starting price
From $29
Monthly (annual payment)
From $29
Monthly (annual payment)
Advantages and disadvantages
- Powerful e-commerce capabilities
- Helpful setup tutorial
- Automatic updates and backups
- limited storage space
- Not ideal for non-commercial websites
How to stack the platform
products and sales
Both Shopify and Squarespace allow users to create online stores that offer physical and digital products along with services. Platforms differ in how they organize and display products and how easily they transition to an in-person, physical point of sale (POS).
Squarespace has a stylish system for selling products, managing online orders, and processing transactions. The store page is beautifully designed, customizable to your brand, and includes express checkout functionality.
There is also a 360 degree zoom feature, allowing you to see the product up close.
Squarespace has an in-person sales option that utilizes the Square card reader for in-person cash or card payments integrated with your online store. These POS transactions are only allowed within the United States.
Shopify doesn't focus too much on the aesthetics of your online store, preferring to pay close attention to the functionality of your site. The store page has attractive templates and design options, but is focused on enhancing growth and extensibility. It does not include built-in zoom functionality, but there is an option to add this functionality using a third-party app.
Shopify has offered an in-person sales option since the beginning, allowing merchants to purchase POS kits that include barcode scanners, card readers, cash drawers, and receipt printers.Additionally, POS transactions are allowed outside the US
SEO tools
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) uses keywords and high-quality content to help your online store reach more users and potentially have your site viewed by buyers from all over the world.
Getting the most out of SEO is essential to your business success, but it can be a daunting task without the help of supporting tools. Shopify and Squarespace both offer their users integrated SEO support, but they do it in two different ways.
Shopify is set up to meet the objectives of Google's Core Web Vitals requirements. These include three metrics: page load time, responsiveness, and visual stability. Additionally, Shopify saves your users time by taking the page's content and generating suggested titles and meta descriptions based on what they see. There are also best practice prompts and built-in marketing tools to boost your SEO.
Squarespace also allows you to control meta titles, descriptions, and custom URLs. Google Analytics is available on all plans, but some older Squarespace templates have issues that prevent users from customizing page titles. That said, there is also a third-party downloadable plugin called SEOSpace that provides his SEO tools for Squarespace.
Are you considering a business blog?
Creating a blog can promote your business, increase traffic to your website, and provide another source of income. Adding a blog to your website is adding another item to your to-do list, but blogs created in conjunction with e-commerce sites can be very effective for marketing.
If you decide to pursue this, Squarespace makes the process easy. The platform offers blogging features such as analytics, post scheduling, and post archiving capabilities.
Shopify's services also offer blogging functionality. Building, publishing, and managing a blog works in a very similar way to Squarespace. This is useful if you want to add written content to your online store that tells your audience more about the products you sell. We can also provide tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your product.
conclusion
Shopify leads the way in most e-commerce categories, including POS, customer support, and SEO tools. This is mainly due to the fact that it was originally designed to power online stores, has been around long enough and has perfected many elements. Squarespace, on the other hand, is more focused on general website building of all the different pages with some additional e-commerce features for sales. The best choice for you ultimately depends on what you want from your online presence.
FAQ
Which is better for dropshipping: Shopify or Squarespace?
Shopify and Squarespace both offer integrations with major dropshipping companies. However, Shopify offers more services, making it a better choice for those building a dropshipping business who want maximum choice when it comes to sourcing products.
How much do Shopify themes cost?
Shopify offers free themes and premium themes. Many businesses choose to purchase premium themes because free themes tend to require more customization and therefore take more time. Themes can be purchased directly from Shopify for about $200 to $300, or from third-party sites like Themeforest, Creative Market, and Etsy for about $30 to $100.
Is Squarespace suitable for e-commerce?
Squarespace is a great option for businesses looking to add e-commerce functionality to their website. Users can quickly set up an online store without having to spend months or years developing it from scratch. Squarespace not only provides users with a robust platform to design her website, but also offers inventory management, shipping options, and discount codes for e-commerce stores.
How do I build an e-commerce website?
There are several ways to build an e-commerce website. Ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce give you everything you need to get started. Alternatively, you can use WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin or the Ecwid plugin. Finally, you can also use a do-it-yourself (DIY) website builder like Squarespace.
Will using a website builder help my business?
Website builders like Squarespace and Shopify make it easy to design your website using a process that lets you create the look you want for your site. When you're ready to publish your site, you can choose when and where to go hot instead of being forced to use a specific hosting site. Squarespace and Shopify both offer the website building tools you need to create a memorable website.
