Shopify vs Square : Expert’s Opinion

digitalengage blog April 6, 2023 0 Comments

Shopify VS Square Online. These are two popular, dedicated eCommerce platforms you can use to create an online store, sell online, manage inventory, ship products, and market your business. Choosing between Square Online and Shopify can be tricky – the right platform for you will depend on your business, and we’ll help you discover which suits your needs in this article.

We conducted in-depth research into each one, examining pricing, sales tools, website and marketing features, design, and ease of use. That means if you want a quick answer to whether Square Online or Shopify is better overall, we can tell you based on which performed better in our research categories.

Onboarding the Online Store

The fact that Square Online is quicker and simpler to set up than Shopify is one of the key reasons our users consider it easier. Square Online does much of the work for you, whereas Shopify requires a little more time to construct, tweak, and configure your settings. Square Online will first request the name and address of your company. Next, it walks you through steps where you choose the features you want for your business while viewing a demo store. If you already have a logo, add it next, after which you can pick the design and color palette you prefer.

Shopify, in comparison, gives you complete control. Shopify offers a checklist to help you build your store and asks you a few questions initially, which is a great touch. It is simple to start a store, but it takes longer because you must choose a theme, personalize it, and take other steps. This contrasts Square Online, where you can create a store instantly. If you select one of Square Online’s annual subscription plans, you’ll also get an accessible name for a year. You no longer need to worry about looking for, registering, and paying for a domain name separately, making things easier.

Both Shopify and Square Online are opposites to Brick and Mortar Stores, making it much easier for potential customers to purchase from retail businesses in the comfort of their homes.

Managing The Store

In the long run, Shopify will probably be simpler to operate than Square Online if you have a large or complicated inventory with numerous product versions. This is because of its cumbersome inventory system, designed to handle larger companies’ catalogs. But Square Online makes things very simple for small and local businesses with services like curbside delivery, customer SMS alerts, and POS integrations.

Square Online’s design process makes it incredibly simple to use; however, the scoring design fell short in our testing. However, Shopify’s completely adjustable, feature-rich templates look great and provide much flexibility over your branding and product presentations.

The Choice In Templates

As we’ve already seen, Square Online builds a site for you based on your design decisions during setup. Because of this, unlike Shopify, you cannot view a template library. Square Online gives you five style options and a choice of 15 color palettes during setup. This expedites the process but also restricts your ability to express yourself creatively. In comparison, Shopify includes an extensive theme library with 81 store themes, nine free, where you can explore and preview various store themes.

Whereas Square Online only offers retail and restaurant designs, Shopify gives templates for most major industries. The only one we were unable to find was DIY. In conclusion, Square Online’s template selection is even more constrained than Shopify’s, with only five layouts. Shopify is a better option if you want a lot of creative control over the specifics of your design.

Customization

Both Square Online and a Shopify online store allow you to change templates, which is ideal for future rebrands. Still, Square Online will enable you to establish and edit your store on a mobile device, while Shopify does not. Suitable for active sellers who are on the run! Shopify offers more in-depth design customization options than Square Online regarding your template. As a result, this can increase your online sales.

Both are simple to customize and don’t require coding or other technical knowledge, but Shopify gives you more artistic freedom. Shopify is a little more sophisticated; once more, you explore and change your theme via the left sidebar. In the end, Square Online is quicker because it has fewer features.

Transaction Fees

Square Online and Shopify impose processing fees, albeit Shopify’s are less expensive and completely optional if you use Shopify Payments on POS Systems. Transaction costs are charged unless you use Shopify Payments, its internal payment channel. Your plan’s price determines the transaction charge level, which decreases the more expensive your goal is. Technically, you can reap the benefits of both apps by using Shopify just for its eCommerce platform while using Square Payments for your POS needs. Square Payments uses its payment processor, while Shopify Payments relies on third-party payment processing solutions. You can also integrate the two apps with the help of Zapier and automate the POS system workflow.

Although it’s more of a processing fee than a transaction fee, Square Online also levies a cost for every transaction. Regardless of the situation, you still pay 2.9% + $0.30 for each purchase made through your store. The price, again, is determined by your plan. The Square Terminal boasts the same flat rate transaction fee as the Square Reader. The most crucial distinction to be aware of is that by selecting Shopify Payments, you can eliminate Shopify’s transaction costs, in addition to the fact that Square Online’s price is higher than Shopify’s. With Square Online, this is not a choice.

SEO in Shopify VS Square Online

Regarding SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is essential for raising your store’s ranks in search engine results pages, Square Online and Shopify are comparable. Due to its SEO-specific app and better social media connectors, Shopify narrowly edges Square Online out. Shopify provides over 2,000 integrations that help with product design, SEO, and social selling.

Email Marketing

Regarding email marketing, Square Online VS Shopify is a close competition. Both offer a wide range of third-party integrations and have built-in email marketing capabilities. We’d suggest it just because Shopify offers more third-party apps in this situation.

Switching To Other Platforms

You probably don’t want to start from scratch on a new platform if you have an internet store. This is when the simplicity of transferring your store to Square Online or Shopify comes into play. Unfortunately, neither platform offers to handle the move of your inventory management for you. Yet moving your current store over is as simple as possible with Shopify. It contains particular instructions, such as how to switch to Shopify.

Conclusion

For a good reason, Shopify VS Square Online has a stellar reputation in eCommerce. Both platforms offer users comprehensive tools to build and run their online stores. Also, both provide offline point-of-sale (POS) solutions to complement their online offerings. Shopify POS offers Reports and Analytics, Smart Inventory Management, and one-ups the Square POS. When it comes to choosing between the two, it ultimately comes down to your specific needs as a business owner. Both Shopify and Square offer SSL certificates and have app marketplaces for integrations.

Square offers a pay-as-you-go solution, and Shopify provides a discount for paying for a year at a time, although you can pay month-to-month. Shopify is an eCommerce platform that allows users to create an online store, manage inventory, process payments, and sell through social media. It also has a POS app that can be used in brick-and-mortar businesses.