Shopify vs. Volusion

Volusion and Shopify appear similar at first, focusing on usability and cost. Shopify is widely recognized, whereas Volusion, established in 1999, is not as popular as Shopify. This comparison of Shopify vs. Volusion aims to point you in the right direction. Whether you are an experienced business owner considering a new platform or someone planning to start an online store, this post aims to provide valuable information to guide your choice.

What Does Shopify Offer?

Shopify is an e-commerce platform designed to simplify starting and managing online stores. It offers a comprehensive features suite, allowing users to build, manage, and expand their e-commerce operations, even without coding or design expertise. By 2024, Shopify will have become the largest e-commerce platform, supporting digital and physical sales and payments.

As a SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform, Shopify provides integrated tools for e-commerce success. Since its launch in 2006, Shopify has become the preferred e-commerce website builder, known for its ease of use and extensive feature set. Although it entered the market after Volusion, Shopify has quickly surpassed it in user numbers. Today, Shopify hosts millions of online stores worldwide, catering to small and large businesses.

Shopify offers a comprehensive array of business management tools, including store and inventory management, multiple payment options, shipping, customer service, marketing, and analytics. Users need not purchase separate hosting, as Shopify stores are accessible via a web browser. Additionally, installing any software to start and run an online store is not required.

Pros and Cons of Shopify

What Does Volusion Offer?

Like Shopify, Volusion is another e-commerce platform offering online business tools and services. With Volusion, users can build, design, and customize their websites, manage inventory, process payments, and oversee online business operations. The platform also features customer relationship management tools, options for gathering customer feedback, a mobile app, SEO enhancement tools, analytics, and a suite of developer resources.

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Founded in 1999 by Kevin Sproles, Volusion predates Shopify. Sproles developed Volusion as a comprehensive solution that included hosting services and essential e-commerce tools like a virtual shopping cart. Since its inception, more than 185,000 stores have been created using Volusion. The platform was originally launched as Volusion V1 and was later upgraded to Volusion-2. This new version improved upon the original by enhancing performance and usability.

Today, Volusion is a user-friendly hosted e-commerce platform and website builder. It provides a straightforward approach for those who set up, host, manage, and expand their online stores.

Pros and Cons of Volusion

Shopify vs. Volusion: Features

Features Offered by Shopify

• Payment Gateway:

Shopify supports over 100 payment gateways and also provides its own, powered by Stripe. Merchants using Shopify’s payment gateway are exempt from transaction fees and benefit from reduced credit card charges. Additionally, merchants don’t need a separate merchant account to utilize this service.

• Store Management:

Shopify enables administrators to gain insights into customers’ shopping behaviors and facilitates repeat purchases by offering a guest checkout or account creation during checkout. Administrators can also organize and export customer data based on purchase history, location, and other criteria.

Merchants can implement dropshipping on the Shopify platform without maintaining inventory. Shopify connects with applications like Ordoro, eCommHub, and Inventory Source to help set up dropshipping operations. The platform simplifies the refund process, allowing partial or full refunds directly through the payment method used, with automatic updates to store inventory.

• Abandoned Cart Recovery:

Shopify includes features for abandoned cart recovery that automatically track abandoned carts and send emails to customers, prompting them to complete their purchases. This feature helps in increasing revenue by recovering potentially lost sales.

• Marketing and SEO:

Shopify provides robust SEO services that enhance your store’s visibility in search engine results. To boost sales, consider enabling customers to write SEO-friendly product reviews on your site. Additionally, you can enhance sales and build customer loyalty by offering gift cards, discount codes, and various promotions.

Shopify also integrates with social media, allowing you to market products through sales channels such as Facebook Shops, Instagram Shops, and Pinterest.

• Product and Inventory Management:

Shopify allows you to add an unlimited number of products to your online store and manage different product variations such as size, SKU, weight, and price. Administrators have the option to upload several images for each product.

Additionally, administrators can handle inventory and track stock levels using the backend panel. Products can be imported or exported using CSV files.

• Analytics:

Shopify’s comprehensive dashboard presents crucial analytics such as orders, sales reports, and visitor data for the online store. Administrators can access important financial details, including sales overviews, pending sales data, and payment information through finance reports. Additionally, Shopify provides product reports that allow administrators to analyze and understand which products are most in demand.

Features Offered by Volusion

• Customer Management:

Volusion provides a robust dashboard designed for managing customer interactions and data, streamlining the monitoring of customer history and updating contact information. It features integrated analytics that helps track key metrics and offer insights into shopper behavior. These insights are crucial for developing more effective marketing strategies and better understanding customer preferences.

Additionally, the customer management tools work seamlessly with services like Mailchimp, enhancing the effectiveness of targeted email marketing campaigns by utilizing customer and shopping history data.

• Mobile Responsiveness:

Volusion ensures that its website themes and elements adapt smoothly to devices such as mobiles, tablets, and desktops. This adaptability is essential for providing a consistent user experience, enabling customers to navigate and shop easily on any device.

With mobile traffic becoming increasingly important, this feature helps retain customers and offers a flexible shopping experience.

• Inventory Management:

Volusion simplifies the inventory management process through a user-friendly interface. You can easily add new products by inputting basic information, uploading images, and crafting descriptions. The platform guides you through these steps, making it straightforward to maintain a well-stocked and organized online store.

This streamlined process is especially beneficial for businesses that aim to manage large product inventories with minimal technical expertise.

• Onboarding:

Volusion supports new users right from the start of their setup process. When signing up, the platform poses a series of questions to identify the most appropriate type of site and offerings tailored to your business needs. This guided setup is designed to eliminate any uncertainty and ensure a clear, straightforward start, aiming to make the initial setup phase as easy as possible.

• SEO Capabilities:

Volusion provides an extensive SEO toolkit to enhance the performance of your e-commerce site, covering everything from the homepage to category and product pages. The platform discourages the use of duplicate content, such as manufacturer-supplied product descriptions, because it can hurt your search rankings. Instead, it encourages the creation of unique, conversion-oriented content for each product.

Volusion offers features to fine-tune metadata, handle redirects for obsolete products, and use keywords effectively, including long-tail keywords important for targeting specific niches. Carefully rewriting product descriptions is essential to improving their search engine visibility while avoiding search engine penalties.

• Email Marketing:

Volusion mainly facilitates email marketing through its integration with Mailchimp, a well-known service. This integration enables effective utilization of your customer and shopping history data.

You can automate emails after purchases and send targeted promotions to maintain your brand’s presence in customers’ minds. The connection between Volusion and Mailchimp is designed for easy data synchronization and streamlined management of email marketing campaigns within the Volusion platform.

• Speed:

The speed at which pages load is critical for both user satisfaction and search engine rankings. Pages that load slowly can result in higher bounce rates and lower positions in search engine results. Volusion tackles this issue with servers optimized for high traffic and fast loading times, ensuring that your e-commerce site performs well, even during periods of high demand.

This is crucial since faster websites are more likely to retain customers and achieve higher rankings in Google due to improved user experience metrics.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Ease of Use

Both Shopify and Volusion offer free trials, beginning with a straightforward sign-up process. Shopify requires an email address, password, and store name to register. In contrast, Volusion requires additional information such as a name, phone number, and country and includes a pre-checked option to receive promotional texts.

After signing up, Shopify asks for some business details to set up the online store, whereas Volusion does not request further information. The setup time for Volusion is noticeably longer than for Shopify. Once the initial setup is completed, users are taken directly to Shopify’s dashboard, where they can immediately start adding products and accessing tools. Volusion, however, directs users to a store editor to begin designing their storefront, which can be less intuitive and slower in updating changes.

Shopify’s dashboard makes it easy to find and customize themes directly within the interface, whether free, premium, or third-party. In contrast, Volusion presents its themes (free and premium) directly in the storefront editor, but changing themes can be sluggish, with a delay before changes appear.

Shopify’s storefront editor is user-friendly, with clear sections for customizing site elements and theme settings such as colors and fonts. It allows easy navigation between features and viewing options for desktop or mobile. Volusion’s editor is less user-friendly, with separate sections for style adjustments and often clunky functionality, making customization frustrating.

Adding products is straightforward on Shopify, with clear options and a preview of how products will appear in search engine listings. Volusion’s product addition process is less seamless, with many options hidden in sub-menus, complicating the workflow.

Shopify provides a more efficient and user-friendly experience than Volusion, from sign-up and theme customization to product management and overall usability. This makes Shopify the preferred choice for those seeking ease of use on an e-commerce platform.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Themes and Customization Options

Shopify provides around 150 contemporary, responsive themes for setting up an online store, designed to display effectively on both desktop and mobile devices. Some themes are available at no cost, while others range in price from $170 to $380. These themes offer extensive customization, allowing businesses to tailor their storefronts as needed.

In contrast, Volusion offers 14 free and 38 paid themes, each priced at $180. All these templates are mobile-responsive, ensuring that your online store operates smoothly on various devices. However, modifying these themes requires a solid understanding of HTML and CSS, making them less adaptable than Shopify’s offerings.

Shopify limits each product to three options, with 100 unique variations possible. This restriction is generally manageable, and for products requiring more options, it’s advisable to list them separately on Shopify for easier management. On the other hand, Volusion provides a variety of customization features for e-commerce product pages. Users can adjust product descriptions, images, and videos to present their products better. The platform also supports customization of options and variants, like size and color, making the product selection process more detailed and user-friendly.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Sales Features Comparison

Shopify and Volusion offer a range of sales features to improve the performance of online stores, each targeting different types of businesses and needs.

Shopify is noted for its broad array of tools that increase sales and encourage repeat customers. Its offerings include gift cards, discount codes, abandoned cart recovery, and a wide variety of payment gateway options, which simplify the checkout experience for customers. Additionally, Shopify supports global commerce with multi-currency functionality and advanced SEO tools to enhance online visibility.

In contrast, Volusion provides basic sales tools necessary for order processing and inventory management, making it suitable for smaller businesses or those with straightforward requirements. Volusion also offers strong customer account management features that support easy access to order history and improve the shopping experience for returning customers. However, compared to Shopify, it falls short in the range of integrations and advanced features, like SEO and marketing tools.

Shopify proves to be the superior option in this comparison. Its wider and more adaptable range of sales features is better suited for businesses looking to increase sales and grow their online presence.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Overview of the Pricing

Pricing of Shopify

Shopify offers a range of pricing plans for its e-commerce platform. The Starter plan costs $5 per month and includes transaction fees starting at 5%. This plan allows users to sell on social media and via messaging apps, though it does not support the creation of an online store. The Basic plan costs $39 per month, with transaction fees beginning at 2% for third-party providers. It includes all essential e-commerce features but offers limited reporting capabilities and supports only one account.

The Shopify plan, available for $105 per month, reduces transaction fees to 1% and offers enhanced reporting features, support for five accounts, and discounted payment processing rates. The Advanced Shopify plan is $399 per month and includes transaction fees of 0.5%, advanced reporting, enhanced customer service, and a more robust checkout experience. Additionally, Shopify provides an enterprise solution, Shopify Plus, starting at $2,300 monthly. This plan includes a dedicated account manager and full access to site coding and customization tools tailored to meet more complex business needs.

Pricing of Volusion

Volusion offers several pricing tiers for its e-commerce platform. The Personal plan costs $35 per month and includes a sales cap of $50,000 per year and a limit of 100 products. It provides one staff account, live chat and email support, and all essential store-building features. There is a transaction fee of 1.25% when using third-party gateways. The Professional plan is available at $79 per month, allowing up to $100,000 in sales annually with a limit of 5,000 products.

This plan includes five staff accounts and additional features such as CRM tools, import and export capabilities, email newsletters, and abandoned cart reports, with a reduced transaction fee of 0.65%. The Business plan costs $299 per month and supports maximum sales of $400,000 per month with no product limits. It includes 15 user accounts, phone-based customer support, API access, and customer loyalty programs. Additionally, Volusion offers a custom-priced enterprise plan known as Prime, which removes the selling cap and includes access to more advanced features.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Payment Processing Charges

Shopify’s payment processing fees vary by plan. For the Basic Plan, charges are 2.9% plus $0.30 per online transaction and 2.7% for in-person sales. The Shopify Plan has slightly lower rates at 2.6% plus $0.30 for online transactions and 2.5% for in-person sales. The Advanced Plan further reduces these rates to 2.4% for both online and in-person transactions, with an additional $0.30 charge for online payments. Shopify also applies extra fees when using payment gateways other than its own.

Volusion, on the other hand, offers a versatile e-commerce platform that supports various payment gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe, and its proprietary Volusion Payments, which is designed for US-based merchants. The platform stands out for its low transaction fees, which depend on the chosen subscription plan.

Volusion also provides POS capabilities, facilitating online and physical transactions. Additionally, Volusion imposes a gateway maintenance fee ranging from 0.35% to 1.25% per transaction when using alternative service providers, alongside a standard transaction fee of 1.25%.

Shopify vs. Volusion: AI Capabilities

Shopify is notable for its AI-driven features, significantly improving the e-commerce experience. Its AI Builder offers personalized design suggestions, helping users craft unique store designs that reflect their brand. Shopify also provides AI-powered SEO recommendations to enhance search engine visibility. Its advanced analytics tools offer detailed insights into customer behavior, helping businesses to adapt their strategies based on customer preferences. Additionally, Shopify’s AI capabilities support sales predictions and inventory management, promoting more efficient operations and improved forecasting.

On the other hand, Volusion does not include integrated AI capabilities, which restricts its functionality in areas like personalized customer experiences, automated content generation, and advanced sales forecasting. This limitation affects the overall user experience, positioning Shopify as the more effective option for businesses aiming to use AI to optimize their online stores.

Overall, Shopify’s extensive suite of AI tools positions it as the preferable choice for businesses aiming for growth and efficiency, while Volusion might be adequate for simpler e-commerce needs but lacks the advanced features provided by AI integration.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Blogging Tools

Adding a blog to your e-commerce store can significantly enhance its value. Blogs improve search engine optimization (SEO) and can lead to more organic traffic and higher conversion rates, making content marketing a useful strategy for e-commerce businesses.

Blogging Features of Shopify

Shopify includes a basic blogging tool. It’s convenient because it’s integrated, though it might only sometimes produce the best outcomes. Since Shopify’s primary focus is e-commerce, its blogging features can seem secondary. Its URL structure is not optimized for SEO, and making customizations requires knowledge of Liquid coding, which may be a barrier if you lack programming skills.

A notable limitation is the inability to easily link products directly in blog posts, which would be beneficial for an e-commerce site. Adding products directly to posts is only straightforward with additional integrations.

For a more advanced blog that is content-rich and offers better SEO features, DropInBlog is an effective alternative. It integrates smoothly with Shopify and adopts your store’s CSS, eliminating the need to reformat pages.

Blogging Features of Volusion

Unlike Shopify, Volusion does not offer any built-in blogging capabilities. You must use a third-party service to add a blog to a Volusion store. There are suitable apps available in the app marketplace, or you can implement DropInBlog using an HTML integration method, which involves simply copying and pasting a piece of HTML code.

Due to its built-in blogging capabilities, Shopify has a clear advantage over Volusion in terms of blogging functionality. If you prefer to use an external blogging service like DropInBlog, Shopify also supports easier integration of such platforms.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Apps and Integrations

Volusion provides numerous built-in features that would require third-party apps on other e-commerce platforms. For those needing additional functionalities, Volusion’s App Market offers about 70 apps, which include marketing tools and customer support platforms.

However, Shopify offers a much broader range of third-party integrations with access to over 8,000+ free and paid apps. This extensive selection includes everything from dropshipping and live chat applications to loyalty programs and countdown timers. Apps are organized into various collections for easier navigation.

Regarding payment integrations, Volusion supports over 30 payment gateways, such as PayPal and Stripe, though availability varies significantly by region. The USA has more options than Europe.

Shopify supports more than 100 payment gateways globally and also offers its own payment solution, Shopify Payments, which is available in 17 countries. Using Shopify Payments eliminates transaction fees typically charged when using other payment gateways. In contrast, Volusion does not charge transaction fees. Still, users must pay a monthly fee to use Volusion Payments, which is only available in the US and does not support transactions in multiple currencies.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Support Comparison

Volusion offers notably responsive live support but lacks email support options. It provides live chat on all subscription plans and phone support starting from the Professional plan. Additionally, Volusion has a range of useful articles and guides to assist users. Their customer service team is known for being approachable and prompt in addressing issues, as demonstrated by quickly receiving detailed information about site export.

On the other hand, Shopify provides support through email, live chat, and phone, but its response times can be slower due to handling a larger volume of inquiries. Shopify also enriches its support system with a community forum and a help center. The help center offers comprehensive how-to articles covering a wide range of topics, from designing dynamic color schemes to tailoring email notifications for clients.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Security

Shopify stores comply with Level 1 PCI DSS, ensuring strong data and customer information security. Each Shopify store includes SSL certificates, enhancing the security of data transfers between customers and the website by encrypting this information. This encryption is critical for protecting payment details and other sensitive data from potential breaches. Features enabled by SSL on Shopify include:

• Using HTTPS to strengthen store security.
• Displaying an SSL padlock icon next to the store’s URL to enhance customer trust.

Volusion also adheres to these security standards. Each Volusion store is PCI compliant, and SSL certificates are provided with every plan, safeguarding transaction security.

Conclusion: Which One to Choose?

In deciding between Shopify and Volusion, Shopify stands out as the more comprehensive and user-friendly e-commerce platform. Its extensive features, including robust sales tools, advanced customization options, and integrated AI capabilities, make it a superior choice for businesses looking to grow and scale. Shopify’s ease of use, especially in theme customization and product management, further solidifies its position as the preferred platform for new and established online businesses.

Volusion offers a solid set of basic tools and no transaction fees, but it falls short in comparison due to its less intuitive interface, limited third-party integrations, and absence of built-in blogging capabilities. Its offerings may be adequate for smaller businesses with straightforward needs, but it lacks the advanced features and flexibility that Shopify provides.

Ultimately, Shopify’s broader range of tools, better scalability, and strong support system make it the better option for most online retailers, especially those looking for a platform that can grow with their business.

Frequently Asked Questions