Shopify is arguably one of the most popular e-commerce solutions in the world. Already popular in many parts of the world, Shopify has a strong presence in the Netherlands as well.
But ‘popular’ has never meant ‘the best. While Shopify certainly has widespread acceptance, it has issues that could affect your e-commerce operations.
If you’re a business owner, it’s advisable to consider other alternatives to Shopify. Want to find e-commerce solutions even better than Shopify? Keep on reading!
What Exactly Does Shopify Do?
Shopify is an e-commerce solution that allows you to operate an online store with little effort. Part of Shopify’s appeal lies in its simplicity and flexibility; anyone can set up an e-commerce site even with zero programming knowledge.
With Shopify, you can build your online shop, manage inventory, estimate shipping fees, sell across borders, and so on. Shopify has two major pricing categories for customers: Shopify and Shopify Plus.
Shopify is a hosted e-commerce solution and operates as a cloud-based software-as-a-service (Saas) tool. This makes it significantly different from free, open-source e-commerce solutions like WooCommerce.
Since its arrival, Shopify has become the go-to solution for millions of businesses across the world. enthusiasts. This is not surprising, as Shopify has some cool benefits, some of which we discuss below:
- Performance:
Shopify offers fast-loading pages, which enhances overall user experience (UX) and boosts sales. - Great design:
Through its huge collection of themes, Shopify allows site owners to pick great-looking designs for their sites. Even with zero design expertise, you can still create a sleek, eye-catching online store with Shopify. - Ease of use:
Shopify is undoubtedly one of the easiest e-commerce software to use. This makes it a great option for non-programmer business owners who don’t have funds to pay a developer. - Useful apps:
Shopify’s popularity means you have a larger pool of useful add-ons and plugins to select from. These apps and plugins increase your site’s functionality and boost sales.
What are the Disadvantages of Using Shopify?
Shopify wouldn’t be the most popular e-commerce software in the world if it wasn’t good. However, there are a few problems with Shopify that may encourage you to consider another option. Here are some:
- Rigidity in the payments gateway system
Shopify has its in-house payment gateway called Shopify Payments which merchants are expected to use for accepting payments. If you use another payment provider, Shopify will charge a 2% fee on transactions.
This can be problematic, as some customers may prefer other payment gateways for personal reasons. Also, Shopify Payments isn’t available worldwide, which leaves business owners asking, “Why can’t I use Shopify Payments?” - Limited control over SEO optimisation
Many have remarked that Shopify offers users limited control over their site’s search engine optimisation. For e-commerce sites that depend on organic traffic, Shopify may be a bad idea.
As an example, you cannot tweak robots.txt files on a Shopify-based site. This will affect how Google crawls and ranks your site in search results. - Poor scalability
Shopify is more scalable than most free e-commerce solutions, like WooCommerce or Wix. But it still has limited scalability if you compare it to other Saas offerings out there.
For the uninitiated, scalability is the ability of an e-commerce platform to accommodate changes in your online business’s size. Scalability is very important for e-commerce websites.
As your online business grows, the e-commerce site will need to add new features to respond to the business’s needs.
Shopify’s limited scalability means your site may be unable to handle astronomical increases in demand and sales. This is where some better alternatives to Shopify come into the picture. - Issues with customer support
Shopify has well-publicised issues with its customer support practices. Search “Is Shopify customer support poor?” and you’ll get your answer in the form of various complaints littered on various platforms.
What are the Best Alternatives to Shopify in the Netherlands?
By now, you must be familiar with the common issues with the Shopify e-commerce platform. You can avoid some, or all, of these issues if you use these great alternatives to Shopify:
- BigCommerce
BigCommerce is one of Shopify’s biggest rivals in the e-commerce space. Launched in 2009, BigCommerce is a highly flexible SaaS solution that helps business owners build scalable online marketplaces.
Shopify is great for small businesses trying to enter the world of online shopping. However, BigCommerce is a better option for larger businesses that need to handle peak demand.
It offers better SEO performance, thanks to advanced features like customisable URLs. Also, it comes with many built-in features, so you don’t have to spend add-ons like you would for Shopify.
The BigCommerce e-commerce platform supports over 55 payment gateways and never charges ‘transaction fees’. Support is also great, with a 24/7 help centre available to address complaints.
The downside to BigCommerce is that it takes some getting used to, because of its out-of-the-box features. It also has fewer free themes compared to Shopify. - 3dCart
Like Shopify, 3dCart is a cloud-based shopping cart software. But it boasts more features, along with flexible pricing.
If you love getting increased organic traffic, 3dCart has advanced SEO tools like Google AMP to help optimise your site for better rankings. 3dCart also has fast loading times, which reduces bounce rate and increases rankings.
With 3dCart, you can accept payments using more than 100 payment gateways with no additional transaction fees. It also comes with unlimited storage and product listings, increasing site scalability.
But 3dCart has its fair share of issues as well. It is harder to use compared to Shopify and navigating the store builder can be tough.
Moreover, Shopify has a better user experience (UX) than 3dCart. You may also find it easier to run drop-shipping with Shopify than 3dCart. - Magento
Magento is an open-source e-commerce software that’s great for those running mid-sized or large businesses. But you must know that Magento isn’t the plug-and-play, no-code solution that Shopify is. You must have extensive coding language or be ready to pay a developer.
Beyond its requirement for coding expertise, Magento offers incredible optimisation, scalability, and flexibility. You can easily modify the software’s source code to fit your site’s needs.
Magento offers robust SEO functionalities, accepts multiple payment gateways, and inventory management features. It also offers advanced customisation options, API for web services, and highly responsive designs.
A common issue with Magento is its steep learning curve, which makes it bad for novice business owners. Moreover, you’ll need to pay for hosting, unlike Shopify that’s cloud-hosted. - WooCommerce
For those already familiar with using WordPress, WooCommerce is a welcome option. It is an open-source e-commerce plug-in designed to turn your WordPress site into an online store.
WooCommerce is incredibly easy to use and will integrate with your WordPress site with minimal difficulty. So, if you’re a small online shop owner lacking in coding skills, WooCommerce is highly recommended.
The WooCommerce software is fully customisable so you can modify your site’s operations by adding plugins. This e-commerce is also notable for enhancing search engine rankings and a user-friendly interface.
Nevertheless, you may want to avoid WooCommerce if you plan to grow your store at some point. It has limited scalability, and even extensions will only slow down your site and affect customer experience. Plus, WooCommerce is notorious for failing to fix issues with sites, something Shopify hardly does. - Daalder
Daalder is a Dutch Laravel-based e-commerce solution that focuses on three important areas: great service, low total cost of ownership (TCO), and flexibility. Daalder uses Laravel, considered the fastest PHP framework, so e-commerce sites built by Daalder rarely have complaints about performance.
Daalder has Omnipay functionality, which grants access to dozens of payment gateways. Still, it won’t charge any fees on transactions carried out on a site like Shopify.
Site owners also get a powerful search feature that makes it easier for customers to find what they need. Since customers have a fast and seamless experience, they are more likely to buy your products.
Worried about scalability with Shopify Netherlands? Then Daalder may be a better option. Its reliance on the Laravel framework ensures that your developers can tweak the e-commerce site’s architecture to adjust to changes in demand and traffic.
Daalder’s Laravel-based architecture requires that you have extensive programming expertise if you want to modify the site. You’ll also have to spend more on creating the site since you have to pay Daalder developers.
Aside from these issues, Daalder remains a great option for building an e-commerce site. It is a better option than Shopify which offers more scalability, customisation, safety, and performance.
Conclusion
There’s no denying that Shopify has revolutionised the e-commerce industry with easy-to-use and reliable solutions. However, the alternatives explored in this article may be more suited to your online store’s needs.
Daalder.io is one of the foremost e-commerce solutions in the Netherlands. Need a Laravel-based e-commerce site that’s flexible, affordable, and reliable? Get in touch today!
