Shopify Professional Reporting
When it comes to reporting, every Shopify user can access the primary dashboard where they can see an overview of what's going on in the store. Additionally, with the Shopify plan, you get access to the following types of reports:
- Sales reports
- Profit reports
- Customer reports (5 out of 7)

Shopify Sales Reports:
Sales reports allow you to get information about the orders your customers have placed based on channel, time or staff member.
These reports can be extremely valuable for your marketing, as they can tell you which areas are bringing in the most sales.

You also have the ability to customize your sales reports by adding the following features:
- average order value
- ordered quantity
- returned quantity
The average order value is particularly important, as this can inform you about where you should set your free delivery threshold. Let's say your average order is $80, then try putting your free delivery at $100 and watch your average order value increase.
Shopify Profit Reports:
Profit reports calculate the total cost of your products and then work out your profits.
You can view profit reports based on a number of factors, including:
- product
- SKU number
- POS location
- discounts and refunds
We particularly like the profit reports based on discounts and refunds. Let's say you run a campaign and offer 10% off your whole site, the report will inform you what the margin is after the discount has been applied.

Shopify Customer Reports:
The customer reports really dive into your analytics, and can give you invaluable insight into the behavior of your customers.
The reports include info on:
- customers over time
- first-time vs returning customer sales
- customers by country
- returning customers
- one-time customers

These reports can help you turn those one-time buyers into returning customers. From your dashboard, you can see how much they've already spent and whether they will accept email marketing from you.
Other Things to Know About the “Shopify” Plan
With the Shopify plan, you can register up to five staff accounts as opposed to just two on the Basic Shopify plan.
Is the Shopify Plan Suitable for Me?
The Shopify Plan is a great choice for the following sellers:
- you have, or expect to start getting a high volume sales
- want to start taking advantage of gift cards and discount codes
- require more in-depth reporting on your customers' buying habits and your profits
- have a physical store location or a couple of them
Advanced Shopify
The next plan is the Advanced Shopify plan, which comes in at $299 a month.
You get all the features available in the main “Shopify” plan plus:
- set up to 15 staff accounts
- advanced report building
- third-party calculated shipping rates
- up to eight store locations in the POS module
- lower transaction fees and credit card processing fees

Advanced Shopify Report Building
The advanced report builder in Shopify allows you to create custom reports and then customize them.
First, you have the ability to choose which sort of report you like to set up, and then you can edit and filter the columns within that report. You can also share it with members of your team.

All of your custom reports are then saved in the Reports section of your Shopify dashboard so that you can easily access them whenever you like.
Advanced Shopify Third-Party Calculated Shipping Rates
With this feature, you are able to use your carrier account to apply calculated shipping rates at the checkout.
You also have discounted shipping labels provided by either USPS or Canada Post.
You have access to the shipping rates of FedEx, UPS, USPS and Canada Post. Within your shipping admin area, you can add a percentage markup to the price that's calculated to cover packaging costs.
You can decide which services of a particular carrier you want to offer, such as Expedited Parcel, Priority and XpressPost.
Is the Advanced Shopify Plan suitable for me?
The Advanced Shopify plan is very suitable for sellers who:
- process a big number of online transactions
- require advanced reporting with a particular focus on the business elements such as profit and margins
- use carriers to ship products and want a discounted rate
- have a larger team of people working with the store online
- have more store locations
Shopify Plus
Lastly, there is Shopify Plus, which is Shopify's enterprise solution for big business.
Shopify Plus is a bit separate from Shopify's main offering – you won't find it on the main pricing page – and it comes with its own focus on original challenges that big businesses tend to struggle with. Those challenges touch upon things like security, quality of fulfillment, and API integrations.

The price of Shopify Plus isn't set, but rather negotiable on a per-customer basis – depending on the business' needs. Usually, prices start at around $1,500 – 2,000 a month.
You will be given a dedicated account manager who will help you with the onboarding process, as well as manage your account and offer support throughout your journey.
Shopify Plus Multi-Channel Sales
Shopify Plus allows you to integrate 20+ channels within your Enterprise dashboard, including Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Amazon, eBay, and more.
Your customers also get to use 100+ payment providers, which helps you generate more sales since no one is left behind.
Shopify Plus Scalability
If you experience spikes in sales during certain times of the year, such as Black Friday or the holiday season, then you'll be happy to know that Shopify Plus can handle any amount of peak traffic you throw at it.
Shopify Plus processes over 10,000 transactions per minute and has a 99.98% uptime when doing so.
Shopify Plus Integrations
If you have your own custom app solution, or you want one of Shopify's technology partners to bring your idea to life, then Shopify Plus can help you with that. There are 1,500+ professionally built apps and plugins available.
Is Shopify Plus Suitable for Me?
Shopify Plus is for enterprise businesses that meet the following criteria:
- an extremely high volume of sales
- have a bespoke CRM system and need Shopify to speak to it
- want to automate workflows for the team
- have peak sales periods and need guaranteed uptime and security
- want an account manager they can speak to whenever needed
Ultimately, Shopify Plus is not something that a lot of users will need to ever trouble themselves with. The three main plans – Basic Shopify, Shopify, Advanced Shopify – are going to be a better fit for 99% of the users.
If you want to learn more about this, check out our full guide on Shopify pricing.
Shopify Reviews: Ease of Use 😌
So, how intimidating is it to enter Shopify for the first time and start working?
Not intimidating at all – is the answer.
In fact, Shopify is one of the easiest to use ecommerce platforms out there, especially if you're a business that's just getting their ecommerce adventure started.
As soon as you sign up, you'll see a user-friendly dashboard, and you'll be taken by the hand through all of the main steps on your way to configuring your store and making it available to the public.
As of June 2017, Shopify overhauled their backend and even gave it a new color scheme. This was done to improve the user experience by introducing more contrast into the UI.

Besides the colors and fonts, Shopify added a prominent new search bar in the dashboard, helping you quickly type in keywords and find what you're looking for without much thought.
For example, you might want to find a certain product or customer. In that case, all you have to do is punch in the right words, and Shopify will return everything that matches – be it a product, an order, customers, etc.

Adding products to your catalog is also quite straightforward.
All of the necessary fields are there, and everything is nicely laid out on the screen.

Setting a new design for your store is similarly easy to do. The template directory comes categorized based on niche, purpose, design style, and Shopify also lets users know which templates are the most popular. Then, installing your theme takes only a couple of clicks. (More on Shopify templates in one of the sections below.)

Theme aside, you'll probably want to craft some of the key pages of your site by hand – pages like the homepage or the about page.
Shopify lets you do that in a simple way with something called the Shopify Sections.
The visual editor offers a wide variety of content sections that you can insert onto your page. For example, you might want to place a slideshow, button and product carousel toward the top of that page.

It's all done with the click of a button. After that, you can adjust the order of the sections by dragging and dropping them into place. It's a relatively easy way to completely adjust the look and order of the modules on your page. We like this feature for all experience levels, but especially beginners.

The same sentiment transfers over to other areas of the platform. For instance, when you're ready to install new apps and extend your store, you'll see that most of them need only a couple of clicks to be enabled.

In terms of pre-publication, Shopify gives you the opportunity to test your store before it goes public, and the live editor is pretty nice for seeing your changes immediately after a setting is adjusted.
The company is pretty much hell-bent on making their interface the easiest in the industry. What's interesting is that they are walking a fine line, since it's still a platform that can also satisfy those more experienced with coding.
I don't really see any beginner or intermediate developer having a problem with Shopify. At the same time, most advanced developers are going to be just fine since Shopify also comes with many features that those types of users require.
Shopify Reviews: Shopify Themes and Design 🎨
One area where Shopify really excels are the themes and designs available. The company offers some of the most professional-looking themes of any ecommerce platform. At the time of writing, there are eight free themes available and more than 60 paid ones (in the range of $160-$180 a piece).
There used to be more themes in the catalog before, but Shopify decided to purge the old ones and stick to only modern stuff that's optimized for modern audiences and search engines.
That being said, each theme is not just “a single theme,” but actually comes with a handful of styles included. For example, a theme called Icon comes with four distinct styles that differ not only in the color scheme, but also in how the elements on the page are presented.

There are multiple collections and industries highlighted in the Shopify theme store, so we're fairly confident you'll be able to find something that fits your business model.

Each theme has its unique set of features and abilities, plus a set of general features that you'll find in every Shopify theme.

You can also check out a quick shortlist of other stores using the same theme:

Lastly, there are multiple user reviews for each theme, so you can always see what other people think of the theme and what its strong and weak points are.

Not to mention, every theme has a fully functional demo, so you can examine things pretty in-depth before making a decision.
Can those Shopify Themes Get you Sales?
My main concern with ecommerce design is how quickly people can check-out and get through the shopping cart process.
Shopify themes have both two- and three-step checkouts, and you can also use additional tools for things like social and guest checkouts.
Once you've found the right theme, you can easily customize the look and feel to your heart's desire, simply by opening the template editor and editing your theme until you feel like it's exactly what you are looking for. On the other hand, the “Shopify Sections” feature is sure to speed up your editing, since it's a rather simple drag-and-drop editor, basically.
Above that, and if you feel confident with such things, you can make your own modifications via HTML and CSS.
None of the Shopify themes have Shopify branding. In fact, it's not going to be that easy to find any trace of the Shopify brand in your online store. This is a wonderful thing for beginners and everyone else who doesn't want to advertise the technology that's behind their online store.
Shopify Reviews: Security 🔐
Security should be taken very seriously when you run an ecommerce site. After all, you're going to be dealing with credit card info of your customers', their order details, your own product details, and many more sensitive pieces of data.
Shopify knows this and understands the responsibility. Shopify has its system hosted on a Level 1 PCI DSS compliant server. In other words, your data, and the data of your customers is always secure. In addition, all pricing plans (besides Lite) offer 128-bit Free SSL certificate at no added cost.

Specifically, Shopify:
- Maintains a secure network
- Protects cardholder data
- Maintains a vulnerability management program
- Has strong access control measures
- Monitors and tests their networks
- Maintains an information security policy
Moreover, while data security is very important to retailers, many also worry about their store always being available. For example, it's reported that just one hour of downtime on Prime Day may have cost Amazon up to $100 million in lost sales.
Shopify provides their customers with a 99.98% uptime guarantee and helps you avoid losses due to your store being unavailable. Furthermore, Shopify takes care of backing up your store securely and then gives you access to those backups if needed.
Some other things that come into play with security include vulnerability management and access control. With that, you get to specify which users are able to access certain content on the backend of your store.
Overall, Shopify is very security-conscious and seems to always stay up-to-date with what's going on in the world of online security, and implements all the best practices.
Shopify Reviews: The Shopify App Store 🔌

Shopify has had their app store online for more than ten years now.
There are more than 2000 apps available in total, and they come in all kinds of different shapes, sizes, and divided into a handful of helpful categories.

You'll find apps to help you with marketing your store, apps for emails, push notifications, SEO, access control, finances, and a lot more.
Also, in 2018, Shopify shifted focus to a new breed of machine learning algorithms, so that they could provide today's users with a more intuitive and immersive experience. Therefore, the app store now helps you to discover the specific tools that are the most likely to appeal to your individual scenario and business model. Handy right?
Basically, the App Store is a collection of premium and free applications intended to extend and improve the functionality of your Shopify store.
When conducting this review, one thing we liked most about Shopify's app store was the fact that you don't need to be a developer to use any of the tools you find there. Everything is plug-and-play.
That being said, if you happen to be comfortable tinkering with websites under the hood, you can become a Shopify App Merchant yourself, and join thousands of other developers already in the marketplace.
Shopify even offers a bunch of extra resources to get you started, including a high-level overview of the Shopify development space, and access to the Shopify APIs.
Shopify Reviews: Customer Support 👐

If you find yourself struggling to do something with your online store then Shopify has one of the best customer support teams in the industry.
Regardless of which pricing plan you pick, the company has 24/7 full customer support, which includes phone support (not on the Lite plan) as well as chat and email support. Another great form of help offered by Shopify is access to a sizable support section directly through their website, including user forums, tutorials and FAQs.
Overall, you have the ability to either speak to a professional or learn about the system yourself. Obviously, some people hate waiting on the phone for a Shopify support rep, so we feel like the forums, courses, and videos are enough for you to figure out most things.
A note on Shopify development request:
When working with an online platform, app or software, it's nice to have access to the developers or at least some sort of feedback system for letting them know what Shopify features you would like to get in the future.
With that, we like to see that the Shopify developers actually respond to the requests with new features being released on a consistent basis.
We consider this a type of support since a company that doesn't listen to customers is bound to lose them eventually.
Shopify thrives in this department, seeing as how they regularly share blog posts about the feature requests they have listened to and implemented.
For example, many ecommerce professionals worry about images slowing down their sites since media is usually what causes website slowness. Well, Shopify responded by optimizing and updating all previously uploaded images, while also providing file modification instructions for future image optimization. This not only helps with SEO, but it speeds up the user interface for all Shopify merchants.
Shopify Reviews: Frequently Asked Questions 📋
Here are some of the most common questions that people tend to have about Shopify:
Should you use Shopify?
That is a quick and easy yes.
Shopify is arguably the best ecommerce platform out there. When we looked at the top 6 ecommerce systems in the market a while back, Shopify came out on top with a perfect score of 10/10.
You can see that comparison here.
Is Shopify secure?
We've talked about this a bit more in-depth in one of the sections above. Click here to see the full discussion.
Or, here's the TL;DR:
Shopify is certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant. In fact, Shopify meets all of the six categories of PCI standards which include:
- Maintaining a secure network
- Maintaining a vulnerable management program
- Regular monitoring and testing networks
- Protection of cardholder data
- Implementing strong access control measures
- Maintaining an information security policy
Additionally, some of the most notable brands out there use Shopify. Do you think they'd do that if Shopify was not secure?
Is Shopify safe for customers?
- Yes, it is. The same mechanisms that protect the sellers also protect the customers.
- Shopify has good fraud-detection algorithms running under the hood, and no transaction data is being sent via unencrypted channels.
Can I make money with Shopify?
Absolutely! That's the whole point, isn't it?
Shopify has a ton of success stories and, ultimately, your success is all on you. Shopify won't impede your growth in any way or prevent you from implementing a given business strategy.
How much does it cost to set up Shopify?
You can find a list of all the pricing packages higher up in the article (click here to find out the exact Shopify cost).
In short:
- If you're just starting out, and want to build yourself a simple yet fully functional online store, get on “Basic Shopify” which is $29 a month.
- If you want to test out Shopify's tools for selling on social media and third-party sites, you can try out “Shopify Lite” at $9 a month.
Does Shopify have good SEO?
It does indeed.
Shopify is a great platform that allows you to take care of the basic SEO parameters of your online store.
Among other things, you can:
- add keywords to product pages
- optimize your site structure
- submit a sitemap
- hide pages to emphasize your crawl budget
Then, if you need more SEO features, you can install some of the specialized SEO apps that are available in the Shopify app store.
How many people use Shopify?
- At the time of writing, there are more than 1,000,000(!) online stores running on Shopify.
- That number includes everything from small craft shops to big brands.
- You can see a showcase of Shopify stores here.
Does Shopify include web hosting?
Every pricing package available from Shopify comes with hosting included.
You don't need to pay for an external host, and you can even set up Shopify with your existing domain name. Alternatively, you can purchase a new domain name through Shopify as well.
In short, Shopify is your one-stop package for building and launching your own ecommerce store – no other third-party solutions required.
Does Shopify host domain names?
Yes, you can buy custom domains through Shopify for prices starting at $11 per year. Your domain will be set up for you automatically, and you'll retain ownership even if you leave Shopify.
Does Shopify offer email inboxes?
- Shopify doesn't offer email inboxes as part of your online store setup. What you can do, however, is set up an unlimited number of email forwarders.
- For example, you can create forwarders for addresses like
[email protected]
or [email protected]
and direct them to your inboxes at Gmail or other places.
Do I need a business license to sell on Shopify?
According to the Shopify reviews we've read and the official docs on the Shopify site, whether or not you need a business license depends on your local regulations and laws.
To quote the official docs:
Depending on the type of business you run, you may need a local, county, state or federal license – or none at all. Where your company is located will determine the type of license you need and where to obtain it.
Does Shopify accept PayPal?
- Store owners can accept payments via PayPal through their Shopify stores.
- Apart from that, you can also sign up to Shopify Payments – Shopify's own payment module, which will allow you to sell with no extra transaction fees (above the credit card fees).
- Shopify also supports more than 70 different payment gateways.
Is Shopify good for beginners?
This will be a matter of personal perspective and opinion for most people. However, Shopify is generally seen as a hassle-free and intuitive platform for any shape or size of business (from small businesses to large corporations).
We talked about this topic in-depth in one of the sections above. Click here to read it.
In short, Shopify provides its users with a straightforward interface that makes adding products and then managing customer orders and sales easy to grasp.
Working on your store's design is also very user-friendly. You get to choose from a selection of modern themes and then customize the details how you see fit.
Lastly, if you ever need help, there are countless guides and resources available on the Shopify website and throughout the web to solve any problem imaginable.
How to migrate to Shopify from another ecommerce platform?
With Shopify being one of the most popular ecommerce systems out there, it's often that people decide to abandon their previous ecommerce platforms and move over to Shopify.
Shopify is ready to help users with this move and has a whole guide outlined in the official docs. You can read it here.
From a bird's eye view, migrating to Shopify is done in 11 steps:
- Configure your basic administrative settings – Shopify's ecommerce migration system will guide you through this process. Essentially, it's all about deciding who's going to have access to your Shopify services. You'll also need to add staff accounts so your teams can also get their own personal log-in details.
- Import your store's content and data to Shopify – You can use a Store Migration app to do this. Shopify has a handful of free options to choose from, including Bulk Discounts and Product Reviews. There also options from third-parties in the Shopify App Store.
- Organize your products after migration – After you've migrated, make sure that all of your information has transferred into your system correctly by updating product details and checking through your inventory.
- Make your website look great – There are plenty of fantastic themes and extras to choose from. Remember to customize your Shopify theme, or ask for help from a Shopify Expert.
- Set up your domain – If you want to upgrade your domain, you can buy a new one directly from Shopify. Alternatively, there's the option to transfer your existing domain into your Shopify account.
- Set up your shipping
- Configure your taxes
- Set up a payment provider
- Place some test orders
- Invite your customers to create accounts on your new site
- Set up URL redirects
👉 This guide elaborates on setting up Google Analytics to your Shopify Store.
What about Shopify Experts?
One interesting feature you might have noticed when reading up on Shopify reviews, is Shopify Experts.

Shopify Experts are the brand's community of carefully cultivated Shopify ambassadors.
So, what does that mean for you?
Experts are there to help you grow your business with high-quality support and end-to-end services. The program was originally designed to support and empower companies who partnered with Shopify directly. However, anyone can find and use an Expert today.
To hire an expert:
- Visit the Shopify Experts page: You'll find potential Experts listed by location, or specific talent. You don't need to be close to your Expert to hire them – there's no need to meet face to face.
- Choose someone with the right talent: There are five categories of Shopify Expert, including Store Design, Store Setup, Marketing, Photography, and Development. You can also find a small group of Experts dedicated to other mini tasks like setting up your Facebook tracking pixel.
- Check out the profile of your intended Shopify Expert: This usually includes a link to their pre-existing Shopify store. The profiles also showcase the Expert's minimum project budget. This is how much you'll need to pay to get the Expert working for you.
- Examine their testimonials: As with most purchasing decisions today, it's always a good idea to check out testimonials from other customers that hired the expert before you.
If you can't find exactly what you're looking for on the Shopify Experts page, Shopify also added a “Post a Job” function, which can help to match you to the right person automatically.
So, what if you want to become a Shopify Expert?
Well, you can do that too.
You'll need to be a brand ambassador for Shopify, and make sure that you're always delivering high-quality work for people who request your services. Shopify holds its Experts to stringent standards, so you'll be under scrutiny all the time. You'll also have to make sure that you're always active within the Partner Community. That means hosting and attending meet-ups and driving new merchants into the Shopify and Shopify Plus environments.
Can I do dropshipping with Shopify?

There are many different ways to sell with Shopify.
One of the most popular ones? Yep, it's dropshipping.
With dropshipping, you don't have to worry about finding somewhere to store your cargo before you ship it out to customers. Instead, you get someone else to do the shipping for you.
Dropshipping is one of the easiest ways to get started in the ecommerce world.
Shopify offers a range of dropshipping apps from their marketplace that help you source and sell goods. Many regard Shopify to be the best option for dropshipping.
- Shopify is packed full of solutions that make managing your dropshipping relationships with suppliers easier. One common option is Oberlo – which is a dedicated dropshipping app designed to work exclusively with Shopify.
- Brimming with excellent features: Shopify comes with everything you need to create an entire ecommerce business. Alongside your store builder, you also get solutions to manage your payments, marketing, sales, shipping methods, and more.
- Simple to use: Shopify is one of the most user-friendly ecommerce and CRM solutions in the market. It's packed with functionality – but it isn't overwhelming or challenging to use. If you ever have any trouble, you can turn to an expert for help, or check out a webinar.
- It's completely extensible: If you want to add any new features to your Shopify solution, there's an entire marketplace dedicated to apps.
We have a whole separate guide on dropshipping with Shopify here.
What are the Alternatives to Shopify?
Shopify is incredibly popular for a reason – it's effective.
However, if you want to check out what else is out there in the market, you have the right to do it. Here are our picks for the top Shopify alternatives:
- BigCommerce: Simple drag-and-drop editor with beautiful themes.
- WooCommerce: Ideal for WordPress users, but more difficult to set up than Shopify.
- Volusion: Popular for smaller companies.
- 3dcart: A good shopping cart platform, but doesn't come with the marketing tools that Shopify and Shopify Plus offer.
- BigCartel: An affordable solution with limited features.
- Magneto: An open-source tool with some of the best reviews on the market – but still has a steep learning curve.
- Wix: One of the simplest website creators online, also allows you to build an online store.
- Squarespace: Similar to Wix.
- PrestaShop: Ideal for people with a limited budget, but not nearly as comprehensive as Shopify.
Here are the top 10 Shopify alternatives for your ready reference, with a brief review of each.
Shopify Reviews: Conclusion 🏁
Let's answer the main question; who is the Shopify ecommerce platform built for?
Shopify works for beginners, intermediates and advanced users (the ones looking to speed up the development process by not spending much time on coding or more complicated processes).
We also like it for business owners who simply want to introduce an ecommerce component to their existing websites, and especially if what they want to sell are digital goods.
What's great about Shopify is that it's really easy to start with. You literally only have to sign up, go through a couple of settings panels, and your store is going to be up and running.
What comes afterwards is also equally user-friendly. You can customize your design, add products, set the payment details, even install new features through apps in the Shopify app store.
We would gladly recommend Shopify to anyone who wants to sell online. Plus, there's a 14-day free trial available, so you don't have to commit until you're sure that Shopify will work for you.
Try Shopify free for 14 days
So what do you think of our Shopify reviews and Shopify itself? Let us know in the comments area below.