I’ve designed and built a lot of ecommerce sites during my career and have even built my own ecommerce platform. But, recently I started using Shopify as my chosen system and have been very impressed with how it all works.
The designers and developers at Shopify have put a lot of thought into their product and you can see this by its design.
Since I’ve been using Shopify, I’ve found it to have some really good features baked in. Here are five of my favorite:
1. SSL
SSL is installed by default so there’s no need to buy and install a certificate. Installing SSL certificates can be a pain at times – you have to ensure the chain is in the correct order and you have all the correct files to generate the certificate. Shopify does away with all this hassle.
2. The Integrated Cart
Ecommerce is a complicated business and when it comes to working out carts there are so many factors that need to be considered; tax, discounts and shipping to name just a few. Shopify has a built-in cart/checkout so designers and developers no longer need to build the checkout process. It does cause a few issues when there are bespoke requirements involved, but in most cases you can find a workaround solution.
3. The Admin
The Shopify admin is one of the best I have seen. A lot of thought and attention to detail has gone into it which makes it simple and a joy to use.
4. Products JSON
This is one I discovered recently! All products come with a JSON view so you can pull the data into js or to another system. For example, if you have a product at /products/example-item by simply appending .json to the url will present you with json data for that product.
5. Collections
I know some don’t like this structure, but I find this to be a really good way of organising products. Instead of nesting categories, which in the long term can become very messy, collections keep things simple. They can then be added to a custom menu which can be nested as much as you need.
Shopify is definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a quality, easy to use ecommerce system with global support and an active community.