Choosing the right platform for your online business can be bit of a task! As a seller, you have to consider a whole lot of things from listings, inventory management, website design to order tracking, delivery and payments. Assessing all these parameters can not just be difficult but overwhelming given the endless list of options out there. Let us make it simple for you. The next 8 minutes of reading will help you to realize which one between Shopify and Etsy can be the online store selling your products. Let’s get started with the basics! What is Shopify and Etsy?
Shopify is a global e-commerce platform used by more than 2.06 million merchants in over 175 nations. It allows sellers to create their online stores without having much technical knowledge. The popular platform has around 2.4 million live stores including globally admired brands like Kylie Cosmetics and Gymshark. Launched in 2006, Shopify has a lot of tools like Marketing, Sales, Customer Engagement, Shipping, Payment etc. which helps the Shopify sellers to not just sell their products but scale their business. With 15-days free trial, Shopify claims 30 per cent annual growth of businesses running on subscription plans.
Etsy is a global e-commerce marketplace for sellers who wish to sell handicrafts, DIY goods, crafts and unique art pieces. Launched in 2005, Etsy marketplace connects about 96.3 million buyers with 7.47 million sellers increasing every day. It has allowed creative brains to build actual businesses out of what would ideally have been a side hustle. Giving access to a variety of tools, Etsy sellers are assisted to build efficient businesses. One does not need much technical knowledge to start a business with Etsy, its simple interface allows anyone to get into the entrepreneurial world. About 80 per cent of the sellers on this marketplace are women.
Now, let's dig deeper into these platforms for comparison.
A website is the first impression that goes to your customer when it comes to online selling. The website has to be top-notch justifying your vision and in perfect alignment with your product.
Shopify allows you to build an independent online store, hence it offers more customization options. With 213 design options (200 paid and 13 free), Shopify stores are like virtual shops built according to the business, purpose and product. The highlight is that using all these themes is no rocket science, low to no technical knowledge works here.
Etsy on the other hand is an online marketplace, it sells like a store itself. Hence, it allows only limited customization of the website. There are only a limited number of options from which one has to choose. Looking at it from a different perspective, it also makes designing simple for people who have no skills when it comes to design and technology.
Establishing yourself online, in front of a global audience comes with a cost. It adds up to the cost borne by the business. Hence the choice has to be made carefully.
Shopify as an e-commerce platform charges a primary cost, that is its subscription fee. It is a monthly fee to be paid by the seller to access the platform. The starting plan comes at a menial cost of $5/month. Then comes:
There are other charges like:
Etsy charges the sellers for different kinds of facilities, but there is no subscription fee. Etsy Plus is available for sellers who are willing to grab the deal, coming at the cost of $10/month. It allows the seller to customize its shop and have access to the marketing tools.
Charges applied by Etsy:
The most important component of a business is its product. The online platform you choose has to support the product that you are willing to sell.
Shopify is an ocean platform in this case. It allows you to sell anything and everything you want to once you have built a store. The possibilities are endless here, hence you will be able to build a brand of yours after creating a store on Shopify.
Etsy, on the contrary, has a specific range of products which are sold on the marketplace. It is well known for selling artistic goods, crafts, sculptures, painting, and unique goods which are basically curated by someone. This limits the sellers from coming into this marketplace.
E-commerce tools are like coffee in cappuccino if we are discussing online selling platforms or marketplaces. These tools not just help you display better, but also make good sales.
Shopify is an all-rounder kind of platform which presents a buffet of features to its online store owners even with the most basic plan. You get gift cards, discount codes, Shopify point of sale, abandoned cart recovery, SSL certificate, SEO tools, Dropshipping, Overview dashboard, finance report, fraud analysis, blogging, inventory and order management, unlimited bandwidth and online storage etc. Also, not to miss, it allows multichannel selling to expose your brand to all prospect customers.
Etsy also gives a toolkit to help you manage your store. ‘Sell on Etsy’ app assists you in order management, item updates and customer response. It also gives you access to promotional tools, analytics reports, stats etc. If sellers choose to upgrade to Plus, they get features like:
Online stores are successful only if they are able to drive traffic and market themselves better than millions of other stores out there on the internet. Hence, the online stores which assist you to stand out from the crowd should be your choice
Shopify offers you a wide range of applications and integrated tools that helps you to enhance your implementation of SEO strategies, drive traffic and improve conversion rate. But the seller has to keep in mind that on Shopify, you own a complete online store so traffic also depends on the individual effort made to increase visibility of the brand. But the right strategy combined with Shopify’s SEO and marketing support can take your brand to the next level.
Etsy has built-in traffic to offer the sellers since it is a marketplace with many other sellers. Even though it has a traffic of its own, the seller needs to stand out amongst the gazillion products listed on the marketplace already. For that, Etsy leverages Etsy ads which are both onsite and offsite to promote. Sellers don't have to worry much about traffic but the marketing definitely has to be unique to attract onsite buyers.
Shopify is all up for helping sellers to solve their problems as quickly as possible. For higher plans, sellers can even provide support from their own support teams. There are various channels to select the best options for you. It offers:
Etsy provides limited options for support. However, the Help Center provides you answers in the information displayed in a very clean and clear way. Also, the discussion forums can provide great advice from other sellers. Support is also provided through email or direct phone contact.
Shopify is a very friendly e-commerce platform, given that it integrates more than 8000 applications. Shopify integrations gives sellers a chance to enhance their stores using any applications.
Etsy on the other hand has very limited integration and add-on capacity. Still there are a few Etsy integrations which can help you to improve your sales.
If you are a small business willing to sell handmade goods, art pieces, painting, sculptures and craft goods, you may opt for Etsy. The user interface and selling process is simpler and better for people not proficient with technology. Also, for better management of inventory, order fulfillment, and customer service you can integrate Etsy with ERP & fulfillment using MapMyChannel. With this, you will not have to worry and jump on different platforms to take care of orders and delivery.
Shopify, on the other hand, is definitely a more wholesome and appealing e-commerce platform for a seller with the range of features and facilities it offers. To further improve the scope of business and reach a wider audience you can also integrate Shopify’s immense brand building potential with Amazon’s delivery, using Amazon MCF (Multi-Channel Fulfilment) by Webbee.
