What is Shopify? (Complete Guide + 2025 Reviews)

Shopify Is a e-commerce platform comprehensive that allows entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes to create, manage and develop their webshop. It is aimed at both beginners who are launching their first business and large established brands looking for a robust and scalable solution.

Its promise is simple: to provide you with all the tools you need to sell everywhere, whether online, on social networks, or in person via a physical point of sale (Shopify POS).

In 2025, Shopify asserts itself as one of SaaS solutions (Software-as-a-Service) the most popular and efficient on the market, thanks to its intuitive interface and its very rich ecosystem of applications.

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What is Shopify for? (Use case)

Shopify is used to build and manage an online store without requiring technical programming skills. The platform centralizes the management of products, orders, payments and shipments in a single dashboard that is easy to use.

Users benefit from an all-in-one solution that simplifies the complexity of e-commerce, allowing them to focus on growing their sales. For SMEs, it's a quick way to get started online. For larger e-commerce sites, Shopify offers advanced analytics and marketing tools to optimize performance. Large businesses, on the other hand, can opt for Shopify Plus, a tailor-made offer designed to manage very high transaction volumes.

The key features of Shopify

Shopify offers a wide range of features to cover all aspects of selling online. Here are the most important ones:

• Store creation: Choose from dozens of customizable themes (free and paid) to create a design that fits your brand.
• Product Management: Easily add products, descriptions, images, and manage your inventory in an unlimited way.
• Payment processing: Accept credit card payments with Shopify Payments, or integrate with dozens of other external payment gateways.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Automate the sending of emails to customers who haven't completed their purchase to increase your conversions.
• Multi-channel sales: Sell directly on social networks (Facebook, Instagram), marketplaces (Amazon) and in stores with Shopify POS.
• SEO and Marketing Tools: Take advantage of integrated tools to improve your SEO, create marketing campaigns and offer discount codes.
• Shopify App Store: Access thousands of apps to add features specific to your store, like email marketing, customer review management or logistics.

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Advantages and limitations of Shopify

✅ Advantages:

• Ease of use: Its intuitive interface is ideal for beginners, no code knowledge is required.
• All-in-one solution: The accommodation, security and maintenance are entirely managed by Shopify, freeing you from technical constraints.
• Powerful ecosystem: The Shopify App Store allows you to extend the functionality of your store endlessly to meet specific needs.
• Responsive customer support: 24/7 support is available to help you resolve your issues.

❌ Boundaries:

• Monthly costs and fees: In addition to the subscription, Shopify charges transaction fees if you don't use Shopify Payments.
• Limited customization: Although flexible, customizing code (Liquid language) can be complex for very specific needs without the help of a developer.
• Application Dependency: Many advanced features require the installation of applications, which are often chargeable and add to the monthly bill.

How much does Shopify cost? (Prices 2025)

Shopify offers several plans that are tailored to the size and needs of your business. Prices may vary slightly and are often offered at a discount for an annual payment.

• Basic: Ideal for new online retailers, this plan starts at around €27-36 per month. It includes a comprehensive online store, unlimited products, 2 employee accounts, and higher transaction fees for external payment gateways (around 2.0%).
• Shopify: Designed for growing businesses, this plan is offered at around €79-105 per month. It offers 5 employee accounts, professional performance reports, and reduced transaction fees (around 1.0%).
• Advanced: For established businesses that want to expand, the cost is around €289-384 per month. This plan includes 15 employee accounts, advanced reports, shipping calculations by third-party carriers, and the lowest transaction fees (around 0.5%).
• Shopify Plus: It is the solution for very large businesses with significant sales volumes. The price is available by quotation only and generally starts around $2,300 per month, varying according to the specific needs of the business.

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Our opinion on Shopify (Test & Recommendations)

After analysis, Shopify proves to be an extremely reliable and efficient platform for the vast majority of e-commerce projects. Its main asset is its ability to make online sales accessible to everyone, while providing the depth needed by growing businesses. The handling is quick, the dashboard is clear and the daily management of operations is a real pleasure.

The strengths we observed are its stability, the richness of its App Store that overcomes almost all initial limitations, and its integrated payment system, Shopify Payments, which greatly simplifies transactions. The main limitation remains the overall cost, which can increase rapidly with subscriptions to third-party applications.

We recommend Shopify to entrepreneurs who want a “turnkey” solution to get started quickly, as well as to SMEs who are looking for a platform that can support them in their growth without worrying about technology. For very large businesses, Shopify Plus is a must-have option.

Final grade: 4.5/5

Alternatives to Shopify

While Shopify is a leader, other platforms may suit different needs:

• WooCommerce: Ideal if you already have a WordPress site and want to add e-commerce functionality with maximum flexibility. It is an open-source solution, so it is more technical to set up.
• BigCommerce: A solid alternative for large businesses and those selling internationally, offering plenty of native features without requiring additional apps.
• Wix: A very simple option for beginners and small businesses, known for its “drag-and-drop” editor that offers great design freedom.

Integrations available with Shopify

The strength of Shopify also lies in its ability to connect to thousands of third-party tools to automate and enrich your processes. You can connect your store to CRM, emailing tools (like Mailchimp or Klaviyo), accounting software, and much more. In addition, Shopify integrates natively with automation platforms like Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom workflows between your various applications. A robust API is also available for developers who want to create custom integrations.

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How do I get started with Shopify? (Quick guide)

Getting started on Shopify is a quick and easy process:

1. Create your account: Head over to the official Shopify site and start your free trial.
2. Add your products: Start filling out your catalog with photos, descriptions, and prices.
3. Personalize your store: Choose a theme you like, add your logo, and customize the colors to match your brand image.
4. Set up legal information and payments: Fill in your policy pages, payment and delivery information.
5. Launch your store: Choose a paid plan, connect your domain name, and start selling!

If integrating Shopify into your project seems complex to you or if you want support to exploit its full potential, do not hesitate to call on experts. The TurnK team is available to help you, contact us.