Shopify vs Squarespace: Which is Right for Your eCommerce Store?

You’re just about to launch your dream eCommerce business. The digital marketplace is buzzing with opportunities in 2024, and you’re ready to get started in your niche. With global eCommerce sales projected to hit $6.3 trillion this year, there’s never been a better time to dive in. The perks are enticing – from the flexibility of running your business from anywhere to the potential for passive income and scalability.

But before you start getting online sales, you have to make a crucial decision: which eCommerce platform to choose? This choice can make or break your online venture, impacting everything from your store’s aesthetics to its functionality and growth potential. While many entrepreneurs opt to partner with eCommerce development services for a custom solution, some choose these platforms for a quicker start.

Shopify and Squarespace are some of the most popular eCommerce platforms you can trust. But which one is the perfect fit for your unique needs? In this blog, we’ll compare both Shopify and Squarespace. By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of which platform can give your eCommerce dreams a good start. Let’s get started!

Overview of Shopify

Shopify is a top eCommerce platform, allowing business owners to easily create and manage their online stores. Its user-friendly interface and powerful features make it a popular choice for entrepreneurs aiming to build a successful online business.

A major benefit of Shopify is its simplicity. Even without extensive technical skills, you can swiftly set up your online store and begin selling products.

Shopify offers a diverse selection of customizable, premium themes and templates, allowing you to design an attractive storefront that reflects your brand identity. This flexibility and ease of use have made Shopify a preferred solution for many looking to venture into eCommerce.

Overview of Squarespace

Squarespace is a powerful website builder that combines ease of use with robust eCommerce capabilities. Renowned for its beautiful templates and intuitive interface, it has become a favorite among creatives, artists, and small businesses.

With Squarespace, anyone can design a professional-looking website without any coding skills. The drag-and-drop editor makes it simple to customize your site’s layout, fonts, colors, and more. Its extensive template library offers a variety of designs that highlight your products or services beautifully.

Whether you’re an artist looking to showcase your portfolio or a small business owner wanting to sell products online, Squarespace provides the tools to create a visually stunning and functional website.

Shopify vs. Squarespace: A Detailed Comparison

Feature	Shopify	Squarespace
eCommerce capabilities	Sellers can operate long-term using the comprehensive tools included in the basic plan. Mid-range and high-budget plans offer advanced reporting capabilities and automated workflows.	The basic plan includes only the truly basic eCommerce features; so you need to upgrade for access to a more comprehensive suite of tools. Automation isn’t an option in any plan.
Content management	Content management isn’t the true strength of Shopify, but it offers adequate tools to produce content with many integrations.	Squarespace is a content-ready platform with a wide range of templates, user-friendly coding capabilities, and intuitive UX.
Design	Shopify provides various tools to create a professional-looking store	Squarespace offers a huge template library, along with advanced product display options, and add-ons to create high-quality visual content.
Apps and integrations	It has an extensive app marketplace with thousands of integrations for sales, marketing, fulfillment, store management, etc.	It integrates well with many platforms and offers some extensions as well. It also allows custom-coded integrations.

In reality, you can’t go wrong with any of these platforms. While both offer useful features to run an eCommerce store, the difference is they cater to different needs.

Here’s a comparative analysis of Shopify and Squarespace, which will help you choose the right platform for eCommerce development:

Ease of Use

Shopify offers a diverse range of website theme templates. These themes are easily editable, and Shopify’s editor makes the customization process simple.

As a dedicated eCommerce platform, Shopify excels in building online stores. Its intuitive design simplifies the process of setting up and managing a store.

Squarespace is a platform designed for ease of use, allowing users to create attractive and professional websites. It offers a range of templates that can be customized to fit different businesses.

While Squarespace isn’t specifically geared towards eCommerce, it still offers a user-friendly interface for creating online stores.

Verdict: Both platforms offer excellent user experiences. Shopify has a slight edge in product management due to its eCommerce focus, but Squarespace compensates with an accessible and straightforward editor. Whether you’re looking to build a general website or an online store, both Squarespace and Shopify provide robust and user-friendly tools to help you achieve your goals.

Website Features

Shopify is a robust and adaptable platform for creating eCommerce websites. However, it can be complicated sometimes. Customizing Shopify’s templates often requires several apps, which can make the setup process complex. If you have existing branding, you might need to hire Shopify developers to achieve the desired look for your site.

Shopify Website Features:

• Third-party apps: When Shopify lacks certain native features, its app store offers thousands of third-party plugins to fill the gaps. These apps can modify everything from the layout and appearance of product pages to adding functionalities like live chat. However, many of these apps come at a cost, which can quickly add to your monthly expenses.
• Updates: Shopify’s standard sites and templates are designed for quick setup, allowing you to start selling without delay. Updating product information, such as photos and descriptions, is straightforward. The platform also supports basic blogging. However, with more plugins, the likelihood of encountering complications increases.
• Blogging and email: Shopify’s blogging feature is an easy way to showcase new products, announce sales, and share information. The platform also includes built-in email marketing functionality, enabling you to engage with customers directly.

Squarespace started as a straightforward website builder and has since evolved, offering a polished and professional look to your content. Its later addition of eCommerce features has enhanced its capabilities, though it still falls short in some areas compared to other platforms.

Squarespace Website Features:

• Third-party apps: Squarespace boasts a variety of third-party apps that enhance your site’s layout and functionality. Extensions allow you to add dropshipping features, connect to online marketplaces like eBay, and even assist with tax preparation for your business. These apps provide versatility and customization to meet various business needs.
• Updates: The platform’s drag-and-drop editor is user-friendly and meets most design requirements. For greater flexibility, Squarespace offers in-house plugins known as integrations. These integrations expand beyond design, offering additional shipping options, form creation, and connectivity to Google Analytics, thereby broadening the scope of what you can achieve with your website.
• Blogging and email: Squarespace excels in blogging and content creation, areas where it originally focused. You can create multiple blogs centered around your products or services, each filled with relevant posts that are easily searchable and indexed. The platform’s built-in email marketing tools provide cohesive and impactful branding, mirroring your site’s design and content features.

Verdict: Shopify is ideal for large, predominantly online businesses, offering robust eCommerce functionalities. On the other hand, if you have a physical store and are venturing into eCommerce, Squarespace provides a balance between an online presence and in-person operations. Understanding your business model is crucial in making the right choice for your website platform.

Digital Marketing Features

Once you finish your eCommerce store setup and start getting some sales, you might want to start digital marketing to boost your reach. You can consider eCommerce SEO tactics or even social media marketing campaigns to promote your products.

Shopify is designed specifically for online stores, ensuring that websites built on this platform are optimized for search engines. Each product page on Shopify comes with built-in SEO features, using formats that search engines prefer. This means your products have a better chance of being discovered by potential customers without requiring extra effort.

Additionally, Shopify makes it simple to integrate email marketing and social media advertising. These are essential digital marketing strategies that many business owners utilize to reach their audience and boost sales.

On the other hand, Squarespace also allows seamless SEO integration for every product listing. This ensures that your products are easily discoverable in search engine results.

Moreover, Squarespace simplifies sharing products on social media. Each product page includes a share button, allowing you to quickly distribute product information across your social channels. This feature eliminates the need to constantly create new posts, saving you time and effort.

Verdict: It is difficult to decide which platform is better for digital marketing between these two. Both offer SEO features and options to share posts on social media.

Data Security

To maintain trusted relationships with your customers, keeping their data safe is important. That’s why you shouldn’t take eCommerce security lightly. And both Shopify and Squarespace offer eCommerce security features for businesses.

Shopify offers the following security features:

• Fraud Filter: This feature prevents fraudulent orders before they can be completed, protecting your business from potential losses.
• PCI Compliance: Shopify adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), ensuring that payment data is secure and minimizing the risk of fraud.
• SSL Certificates: These certificates provide an encrypted connection to your website, enhancing security and demonstrating to web browsers and search engines that your site is authentic and trustworthy.

Squarespace provides the following security features:

• DoS Protection: Squarespace includes protection against Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, helping to keep your site operational even under attack.
• PCI Compliance: Squarespace meets or exceeds PCI DSS standards. It connects customers directly to payment processors, ensuring Squarespace does not handle any card data and reducing the risk of payment fraud.
• SSL Certificates: These certificates encrypt connections to your site and verify its authenticity with web browsers and search engines, ensuring your site is secure and trusted by users.

Verdict: Here also, making a choice between Shopify and Squarespace is hard. They both offer efficient security features and follow the latest data privacy laws.

Products and Sales

Shopify is known for its focus on site functionality. Its store pages offer attractive templates and design options, prioritizing growth and scalability. While Shopify doesn’t include a built-in zoom function, users can easily add this feature through third-party apps.

Since its inception, Shopify has provided in-person sales options. Sellers can purchase a point-of-sale kit, which includes a barcode scanner, card reader, cash drawer, and receipt printer, making it easy to handle physical transactions.

Squarespace, on the other hand, is recognized for its stylish system designed to sell products, manage online orders, and process transactions. Its store pages are beautifully designed and can be customized to align with brand aesthetics. Squarespace also includes an express checkout feature and a 360-degree zoom option for detailed product viewing.

In terms of in-person sales, Squarespace utilizes a Square card reader to handle cash or card payments. This integrates seamlessly with the online store, providing a smooth experience for both online and offline sales.

Verdict: Both Shopify and Squarespace focus on different business needs when it comes to product features. If your business needs efficient store functionality, Shopify might be the right choice. If you prioritize website aesthetics, Squarespace can be a good choice.

Pricing

Shopify offers four pricing plans ranging from $29 to $2300 per month. The cheapest plan offers basic features like 10 inventory locations, localized global selling with 3 markets, etc. The most expensive plan offers advanced features for enterprise eCommerce businesses, such as 200 inventory locations, customer reports & analytics, fully customizable checkout, etc.

Shopify’s cheapest plan charges transaction fees of 2.9% plus 30 cents when you use Shopify Payments. If you aren’t using Shopify Payments, then it will charge you a 2% transaction fee. These transaction costs get lower as you upgrade your plan.

Squarespace has three pricing plans for eCommerce businesses. Ranging from $23 to $52 monthly, you start getting advanced features as your pricing plan upgrades. While the cheapest plan offers features like website analytics, checkout processing, and invoice sending – the advanced plan offers additional features like subscription selling, merchandising features, and free shipping on orders that meet the criteria.

In the cheapest plan, Squarespace charges 3% transaction fees for physical products and services like ebooks. These charges get waived when you upgrade your plan. Fees for digital products like courses and memberships will vary.

Verdict: Both Shopify and Squarespace offer essential eCommerce features in their basic plans. If you are running a small business, there will not be a huge difference in costs whether you choose Shopify or Squarespace. So, make your choice based on your needs.

Which One Should You Choose?

In the comparison of Shopify vs Squarespace, no tool seems perfect for every business. Both offer different eCommerce features and cater to diverse business needs. Your choice should solely depend on your business requirements and budget.

Here are some things to look for:

Want to scale the business in the future? Consider:

• Great product tools for managing a large inventory
• Multiple shipping options
• Support for international selling
• Detailed analytics for website insights

Running on a tight budget? Consider:

• Free templates
• Lower transaction costs
• Good value price plans
• Strong features per plan

Want to improve your online presence? Consider:

• Email marketing
• Strong SEO capabilities
• Sufficient social media integrations
• Analytic tools for tracking website visits

These considerations will help you select a platform that ticks all the boxes. If you are still confused between Shopify and Squarespace, let us simplify it for you:

Choose Shopify when:

• You want a scalable shop that can grow or expand globally
• You need multilingual store capabilities
• You’re looking for extra apps and features
• You’re planning to build a dropshipping business
• You sell and ship physical products to individual customers
• You frequently list products on social media and third-party marketplaces

Choose Squarespace when:

• You want an easy-to-manage, small store
• You need a great-looking website or blog with an attached store
• You only sell digital products or services
• Your revenue comes from memberships or exclusive content

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FAQs on Shopify vs Squarespace

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Conclusion

When evaluating Shopify and Squarespace for eCommerce, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. You need to make the decision considering what you are trying to build in the upcoming years and what will help you engage the audience.

Each platform is best in its own way, so assess properly to check which aligns with your needs well.
If you want to build a fully customized eCommerce store, hiring an eCommerce development company is better. They can help you develop a platform of your choice and create an engaging customer experience.