Shopify or Squarespace?
If you are opening a new business, or dreaming of updating your current website and are wondering what online platform is best for your business, this post is for you. Every business is unique and has specific requirements for their website and point of sale. There are many options that might do the trick, but our preferred platforms are Shopify and Squarespace. We like these platforms because of their ease of use once the site has been built and functionality.
Generally speaking, I highly encourage online retailers with a high-volume physical store (or stores) to opt for Shopify. It’s cohesive experience from online to point of sale is jam-packed with native functionality making it simple to create and merchandise products, manage inventory, and basic marketing capabilities.
Squarespace is a perfect platform for non-retail brands (restaurants, professional services, artists, non-profits) to create a branded website that gives your customer a sense of who you are and what you do. Sure, you can also sell products online and offer in-store pickup. Squarespace partners with Square to create a point of sale of sorts, so if you do not have a high volume physical location, or only sell at occasional markets or pop-ups, it’s still a good solution.
PRICING
Squarespace is a more affordable option, especially if you do not have a retail location or need for a point of sale (POS).
Shopify is a powerhouse with oodles of functionality. You can opt for an online store only option (which does include a “lite” version of POS), or you can also add on POS Pro. If you have a store, or multiple locations POS Pro is a necessity. You will also need to select a Shopify “theme” to get started. Theme pricing varies from $0 - $400+. And, if you have specific business requirements (local delivery, complex inventory, etc.) you may want to research their vase third party App Library.
PAYMENT PROCESSING
Shopify offers their own payment processing, but you can also choose other processing partners.
Squarespace also now offers their own payment processing, but you can also use Stripe, PayPal, or Square.
SHIPPING/IN STORE PICKUP
Both Shopify and Squarespace have in store pickup functionality, with Shopify being more robust.
CUSTOMIZATION
Shopify used to be more difficult to customize. They offer hundreds of well-designed “themes” that you can choose from. Most themes have a one time cost of $200 - $400, however, they do have a handful of free theme options.
Themes are basically web design templates with a pre-determine structure and elements that can be used to display your content/products in different ways. You can customize colors and fonts to fit your brand guidelines.
Each theme comes with standard “sections” used for many Shopify themes. They differentiate themselves sometimes by creating specific types of “sections” for specific business needs. For example, some themes may have “sections” that you can use to display in-store events, while most do not. So, when picking a theme, have your end use functionality in mind to make sure the theme will be able to support your needs.
Squarespace offers basic building blocks that you can place on the page wherever you’d like, which is really nice if you have a good eye and understanding how the design will translate to mobile and other devices. The flexibility is nice, but if you are not experienced in designing websites, the outcome can not match your expectations.
The blocks are the same for all Squarespace users, so sometimes basic Squarespace sites are easily identifiable.
MERCHANDISING
Shopify has by far the best product merchandising tools, especially now with the availability of Metafields and Metaobjects to fine tune your products to the smallest detail and provide and display product details in a user friendly way.
I may be sounding like a broken record here, but Squarespace is perfect if you have basic product merchandising needs.
BOOKING/APPOINTMENTS
Squarespace shines here! With their partnership with Acuity, you can integrate scheduling appointments or booking classes and events here.
There are workarounds for booking events natively in Shopify, and there are also third party apps that might be viable.
RESERVATIONS
Squarespace integrates with Tock for reservations. Shopify is retail focused and does not have any native functionality for reservations. However, you can create links to whatever you use for website platforms.
VIDEOS
Both platforms support videos. If your videos are uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo, you can simply embed a link in a video section on your website.
ANALYTICS
If you love to slice and dice data and are comfortable with running custom reports, Shopify wins here. However, Squarespace has very simple - everything you need and not much you don’t - analytics for running a simple business.
INVENTORY
Again, Shopify is built for retail. If basic inventory management for a small catalog is all you need, both will work well. There are many third party apps for Shopify for more complex inventory needs.
So, in a nutshell: If you primary focus is retail both in-store and online, Shopify is for you. If you just need a branded website, Squarespace is a nimble choice.
