Shopify vs Squarespace

June 26, 2023 | Author: Sandeep Sharma
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Shopify
Simple, Beautiful, and Flexible End-to-End E-Commerce Solution. Simply choose a stylish ecommerce website design, easily customize your online store, add products, and you're pretty much ready to accept payments. Whether you already have products, are looking to sell digital goods or are interested in drop shipping — Shopify has a complete solution for you.
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Squarespace
Whether you need simple pages, striking galleries, a professional blog, or an online store, it's all included with your Squarespace website. Unlike alternatives in Squarespace everything is mobile-ready right from the start. Creating your website with Squarespace is a simple, intuitive process. Just add and arrange your content and features anywhere you want with the click of a mouse.
Shopify and Squarespace are popular e-commerce platforms that enable businesses to create and manage their online stores. Here are some key differences between the two:

1. E-commerce Focus: Shopify is primarily designed for e-commerce and provides a robust set of features specifically tailored for selling products online. It offers extensive inventory management, payment gateway integration, shipping options, and marketing tools to help businesses build and grow their online stores. Squarespace, on the other hand, is a website builder that includes e-commerce capabilities as part of its overall offering. While Squarespace provides basic e-commerce functionality, it may not offer the same depth of features and specialized tools as Shopify.

2. Customization and Design: Squarespace is well-known for its visually stunning and modern website designs. It offers a wide range of professionally designed templates that are highly customizable, allowing businesses to create visually appealing websites. Shopify also provides a range of customizable themes, although its focus is more on functionality and e-commerce-specific features rather than intricate design options. While both platforms offer customization, Squarespace is often favored by businesses that prioritize aesthetics and design flexibility.

3. Ease of Use: Squarespace is recognized for its user-friendly interface and intuitive website building process. It offers a seamless drag-and-drop editor that allows users to easily create and customize their websites without requiring advanced technical skills. Shopify also provides an intuitive user interface, but its platform may have a slightly steeper learning curve, particularly for users who are new to e-commerce or online store management.

4. App and Integration Ecosystem: Shopify boasts a vast ecosystem of third-party apps and integrations, allowing businesses to extend the functionality of their stores. From marketing tools and analytics to inventory management and customer support, Shopify's app marketplace offers a wide range of options. Squarespace, although it has integrations available, has a more limited selection compared to Shopify. If businesses require extensive integrations and app support, Shopify may offer a more comprehensive solution.

5. Pricing: Shopify and Squarespace offer different pricing models. Shopify has a tiered pricing structure with various plans to accommodate businesses of different sizes and needs. While it does charge a monthly fee, it provides more flexibility in terms of features and scalability. Squarespace, on the other hand, offers website plans with integrated e-commerce capabilities included, making it a more straightforward pricing model. However, businesses should consider additional costs such as transaction fees, payment gateway fees, and any necessary app purchases when comparing the overall cost of each platform.

See also: Top 10 Online Store Builders
Shopify vs Squarespace in our news:

2023. Squarespace acquires Google Domains



Squarespace, a website building platform, has acquired Google Domains from Google for $180 million, leading to Google's exit from the domain name registration business. Squarespace will now take over as the domain name registrar for the existing 10.1 million domains registered with Google Domains. This acquisition positions Squarespace as one of the world's largest domain name registrars, trailing only GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Tucows in terms of total registered domains. Google initially launched Google Domains in 2014, but it remained in beta until March 2022. The service was primarily seen by Google as a means to enhance its business email and app product, Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite), as indicated by the sales copy on the Google Domains website.


2021. Google partners with Shopify on online shopping expansion



Google has recently announced a strategic partnership with Shopify, enabling over 1.7 million merchants on the e-commerce platform to effectively reach consumers through various Google services, including Google Search. This integration empowers merchants to effortlessly sign up and have their products featured across Google's extensive network, encompassing over 1 billion daily "shopping journeys" on platforms such as Search, Maps, Images, Lens, and YouTube. The collaboration comes as a response to Amazon's heightened investment in its advertising business, posing a potential challenge to Google's core ads business. In light of these developments, Google has made a series of updates to Google Shopping, ensuring its competitiveness in the evolving e-commerce landscape.


2021. Shopify expands its payment option, Shop Pay, to its merchants on Facebook and Instagram



Shopify and Facebook have joined forces to extend the availability of their payment option, Shop Pay, to all Shopify merchants selling on both Facebook and Instagram. This marks the first time that Shop Pay will be accessible beyond Shopify's own platform, signifying a significant expansion of the e-commerce platform's payment technology. Initially, Shop Pay will be introduced to Shopify merchants using Instagram's checkout feature in the United States, followed by its rollout on Facebook in the subsequent weeks. Prior to this launch, Facebook's platform has been widely favored among Shopify merchants as a prominent sales and marketing channel.


2020. Squarespace adds support for memberships and paywalled content



Squarespace is introducing a new revenue-generating feature for websites built on its platform: Member Areas, enabling businesses to monetize exclusive content. This opens up possibilities for various scenarios, such as online publications implementing article paywalls, chefs offering paid access to cooking videos and recipes, or fitness instructors generating income from online classes. Squarespace supports different membership levels and facilitates the creation of member-only podcasts and newsletters. Moreover, site creators gain access to CRM data pertaining to each member, with plans to introduce additional segmentation tools in the future.


2018. Shopify now allows to fulfill orders directly from your phone



The Shopify app for iOS and Android has introduced a new feature that enables users to purchase and print shipping labels directly from their mobile devices. With this functionality, you have the convenience of creating and printing labels instantly or saving them for future printing. Additionally, you can efficiently manage your entire shipping workflow from the convenience of your palm. The app provides full access to all the features available in Shopify Shipping, including access to discounted rates with supported carriers such as UPS, DHL Express, USPS, and Canada Post, all within the Shopify app itself. This update empowers you to handle your shipping needs seamlessly and efficiently while on the go.


2018. Squarespace introduced Conversion Metrics



The introduction of new Conversion Metrics in Squarespace provides valuable insights into the performance of buttons and forms, allowing you to assess visitor engagement and interaction on your website. These metrics enable you to understand how visitors engage with your website, whether it's by contacting you, booking services, subscribing to your mailing list, or responding to an event invitation. The Conversion Metrics offer features like Pinpoint engagement, Spot patterns, and Filter by device, providing comprehensive information to identify opportunities for optimizing conversions. Armed with this data, you can confidently make informed changes to forms and buttons, test alternative versions, refine their placement, choose effective wording, and experiment with different styling options. By leveraging these metrics, you can enhance the user experience and maximize the conversion potential of your website.


2017. Shopify adds new shareable discount links



To enhance your holiday shopping experience, Shopify has introduced a convenient new feature that enables you to attract eager deal-seekers to your store. With Shareable Discount Links, you can direct customers to your homepage while automatically applying a discount code to their shopping carts. These links eliminate the hassle of searching for or entering a code, providing customers with an enticing invitation that can be shared via email, Facebook, or other social media platforms.


2017. Shopify Mobile adds Discounts, Product Collections, Live View, and More



During the Black Friday Cyber Monday event last year, a greater number of Shopify merchants accessed their accounts through mobile devices compared to desktop computers. This trend has prompted the developers to prioritize the inclusion of essential features required for your success during the #BFCMWin on your smartphones and tablets. Now, you have the capability to create, customize, and manage discounts directly from your mobile devices. Additionally, one of the noteworthy new additions is the availability of Product Collections, which significantly aids your customers in swiftly finding their desired items. With the Shopify app on mobile, you can effortlessly set up and modify Product Collections. Moreover, the Live View feature on mobile enables you to monitor your store's performance in real-time, proving to be particularly advantageous during high-traffic periods such as the BFCM weekend.


2017. Shopify integrates with UPS



UPS is now available as a fresh choice in Shopify Shipping, enabling Shopify merchants based in the United States to provide an exceptional delivery experience akin to that of large-scale retailers. By utilizing UPS in conjunction with Shopify Shipping, you can take advantage of competitive rates with discounts of up to 52% off the standard rates, perfectly timed for the holiday season. Regardless of the size of your business, you now have the ability to access UPS' shipping options with guaranteed delivery dates at rates that lead the industry. Additionally, UPS extends exclusive discounted rates to Shopify merchants, particularly for heavier packages. During the holiday period, Shopify will cover any peak surcharges on UPS Ground shipments.


2017. Shopify introduced real-time visitors monitoring



Shopify has introduced an exciting feature that empowers store owners to monitor the live activity taking place in their online stores. With Live View, you now have the ability to track the real-time performance of your store conveniently from your mobile device. This innovative feature allows you to stay updated on the number of current visitors on your site and their geographical locations. You can witness the conversion of visitors into customers and celebrate sales as they occur. Additionally, you can monitor key metrics such as daily total visits, orders, and sales. Stay informed about the progress of your purchase funnel as visitors add items to their carts, initiate the checkout process, and successfully complete purchases. Live View also enables you to observe the number of pages being viewed at any given moment.

Author: Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep is a marketing expert with a wealth of knowledge in various domains: customer relationship management, social media management, advertising, search engine optimization, website building, Sandeep has established himself as a multifaceted professional. He honed his skills while working at Salesforce and Hubspot, where he gained invaluable insights into the industry. Now, as the proud owner of a small advertising consulting agency, Sandeep continues to provide innovative and effective strategies to businesses, helping them thrive in the competitive landscape of digital marketing. You can contact Sandeep via email sandeep@liventerprise.com