Volusion vs Shopify: Which Is The Right Platform For Your Online Store?

This Volusion vs Shopify comparison was created to help my clients lean the basics of which platform is right for them and their situation. Since I originally wrote this article, many changes have occurred at Volusion that are unhandsome to say the least. I’m a bit dismayed to tell you, I stopped recommending Volusion as of late. Volusion was my first website, I made millions with them back in 2005, and eventually outgrew them due to ignored feature requests and their tech and compliance falling behind in 2010. They have unfortunately continued in this tradition to present day.

I’m leaving the article comparing Shopify and Volusion below as a reference in case it’s helpful to you and you are currently on Volusion and wondering about moving to Shopify etc.

I’ve worked with Volusion extensively over the last 17+ years and hate that they have fallen on hard times and fallen apart. If you know me, you know I have a passion for helping people with their businesses and I reached out to Volusion many times to help them address some of these issues. To their credit, they finally modernized their checkout in 2021 based on recommendations I originally offered to them in 2010 (around the time the founder went on sabatical for 7 years…yikes). As I digress.

I have a client/ecommerce merchant currently moving from Volusion to Shopify shortly and can give you a quick rundown on why merchants are leaving Volusion.

1. Volusion Support was great years ago…but has fallen apart as of late. Shopify has great support for even their lite merchants, Shopify Plus is the best support in the industry.
2. Volusion Structured Data markup/Rich Snippets for variant products isn’t compatible with Merchant Center
3. Volusion isn’t compatible with Klaviyo, even though they say they are. Volusion’s Klaviyo abandoned cart system integration doesn’t work at all, and yes Klaviyo helped a bunch but Volusion failed on their end and gave up even after I brow beat the shit out of them about how important it was to all Klaviyo Volusion users.
4. Volusion websites are NOT meeting Google Core Web Vital standards. This is super important these days to Google Merchant Center health and the customer experience. Volusion refused to help and doesn’t understand how important this is or doesn’t have the resources to solve it.
5. Volusion removed their Slack Channel for premium support so you’re on your own with their chat support which is super general and weak at best.
6. Volusion is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. We all realize shit happens, but combining this with their lack of innovation, it makes a strong case for moving to a more stable, modern platform.

This is just the beginning, but it’s a great starting point when you’re making the decision to migrate from a dated e-commerce platform or maybe starting up a new venture. This article is intended for new store owners as well as experienced online merchants looking to migrate.

If you’re planning to set up an online store, the good news is that you don’t need to be an expert coder or web designer to create a beautiful and functional website. You’ll find an array of “carts” or turnkey online store template services ready to launch, just add products, content and marketing. Choosing the right e-commerce platform can be vital. Basically it’s a type of software that lets you choose a theme, list your products, and start selling right away. There are many e-commerce carts to choose from, I’ve used dozens of them over the years. I’ll review Shopify and Volusion carts below for comparison.

Volusion vs Shopify compared

Oh man, that’s a very loaded question. Shopify is more modern with lots of optional bells and whistles but Volusion has a solid support team dedicated to your success. Volusion also has an inhouse design agency ready to help you launched quickly. Shopify has a ton of plugins available…that come at a price. Looking for an affiliate plugin…sure there are some really oddball ones that kinda work poorly for Shopify but… Volusion has a full blown affiliate system built in! That was one of the pivotal features I personally used to build my 5MM a year company and it worked great.  That’s just the tip of the iceberg between these two.

Shopify and Volusion are two of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the marketplace today. Both are “software as service” solutions, meaning that you don’t need to install any software to run them. They are cloud-hosted services, so all you need is an internet browser. For a monthly subscription fee, you get free hosting, templates, e-commerce functionality, and support. They’re both designed to help you get started quickly, without having to learn any special computer programming or web design skills. Both platforms also offer a 14-day free trial.

While the platforms have many similarities, there are also some important distinctions. Each platform has its advantages, and they appeal to different types of users. The following comparison will help you understand what each platform has to offer and how well it might fit your needs. We’ll be examining the main features of each platform, the themes available, their ease of use, apps and add-on features, payment processors, and costs. But first, let’s start with a brief overview of the two companies.

Shopify Overview

Shopify was first introduced in 2004 by a group of Canadian entrepreneurs who needed a better platform for the online snowboarding equipment store they were trying to set up. One of the entrepreneurs, Tobias Lutke, wrote his own open-source web application, which later became Shopify. Lutke is now Shopify’s CEO.

Headquartered in Ottowa, the multinational company is currently the second most popular e-commerce platform in the world, supporting more than a million businesses in 175 countries as of June 2019. Shopify users run the gamut from small businesses to large corporations, and they include such well-known brands as Hasbro, Heinz, Bulletproof, and Penguin Books

In addition to providing a platform for an online store, Shopify also has a point-of-sale system and many other services to support online retailers, including payment processing, marketing, shipping, and customer engagement tools. The platform is known for its large app store and ease of use.

Link to Shopify Current Pricing

Volusion Overview

Created in 1999 by CEO Kevin Sproles, then a 16-year-old high school student, Volusion is one of the oldest e-commerce platforms for small- to medium-sized businesses. Currently headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company hosts over 30,000 active businesses and boasts  $28 billion in sales on Volusion stores.

The platform went through a major redesign in 2016 to update both its look and functionality. Its most recent update, as of 2020, is Volt, a version that adds more features and removes some integration issues.

The platform offers many built-in tools and is known for its advanced data analytics, SEO, and customer relationship management capabilities. Some of its best-known clients are Intel, 3M, Slickwraps, and Peterbilt.

Volusion vs Shopify: Head to Head

We’ll go into a lot of detail later in the review, but for now, let’s start with a quick visual comparison of how these two platforms stack up against each other.

As you can see, both Shopify and Volusion get pretty solid ratings, but Shopify wins out in most categories. It’s no surprise that Shopify is often cited as an industry leader. That doesn’t mean it’s automatically the best fit for every business, however. The following comparisons will give detailed information that can help you make the best choice for your business and the features you’re looking for.

Comparing Features

As e-commerce platforms, Volusion vs Shopify shares a set of common features. For example, both offer an array of attractive templates to choose from. In addition, they allow users to manage their content with a simple dashboard, create product pages and catalogs, accept credit payments, and get some data on the website’s performance. However, each platform also has some features that the other lacks or has not developed as fully. The following is a comparison that highlights what we consider to be the most important functions of an e-commerce platform. These include both sales features and marketing tools.

Shopify Upsell App Example

1-Click Upsells

A one-click upsell makes an offer to the customer at the point of sale, and it’s one of the most effective means of increasing online sales. The customer can make a spur-of-the-moment decision and act on it without having to make any extra clicks or re-enter the credit card information. While neither Shopify nor Volusion has this feature built-in, Shopify allows you to add it to a plan at an extra cost. Volusion doesn’t offer this feature, however. Adding an Upsells type feature is a great way to get more $ out of your existing customer base and traffic that’s already converting.

Reward Points

Another important selling tool in e-commerce is a customer loyalty program. By rewarding customers with points that they can exchange for a discount or free products, businesses can retain more customers, make more sales, and get more referrals. Volusion offers reward points as a built-in feature that is simple and works great. With Shopify, you get can still get this functionality, but you’ll have to pay for a third-party app and set it up yourself. Loyalty programs can be super effective in increasing sales and repeat customers if setup right.

Point-Of-Sale Functionality

I’ve setup both of these systems and used both in a production environment.  Volusion is super simple, basic and functional. However; Volusion vs Shopify for POS features… well Shopify wins hands down. Shopify has way more options, integrations and intelligent design. Clear win for Shopify here.

Just for clarity, a point-of-sale transaction is a sale that takes place in the real world rather than online, website etc. By adding this feature to an e-commerce store, sellers can take their products into a real-world marketplace, such as a pop-up sales event or a trade show. Super handy!

Shopify has a full-fledged powerful POS that’s pretty dang intuitive and can be built out for regular retail store use. It’s much more configurable and comprehensive than Volusion’s POS solution. Shopify users can order POS tools, like a barcode scanner and a receipt printer, directly from Shopify. In addition, a full range of POS functionality is available for an extra $89 per month.

Volusion offers a basic POS through the Admin panel of the website. If your internet goes down you can’t ring customers up….so that’s something to consider. With Shopify, you can run the POS on an Ipad offline which is huge! Once you’re logged in using the internet you can lose internet and continue to use the POS. I’m not 100% sure on how CC transactions would fly though since you can’t verify them. However; you have the option, and that’s worth a lot.

Analytics

Analytics refers to the use of data to understand how well your store is reaching your target audience, how and when customers visit the store, and how they engage with the website. User reviews of Volusion often cite analytics as one of the primary strengths of the platform, and what Volusion offers is integration with Google Analytics (GA).

This tool collects data automatically from your website, and it tracks the behaviors of visitors. Insights about who your visitors and how they interact with your business can help you understand what’s working well and what can be tweaked for better performance. Shopify has its own analytics feature, but it is considerably different than GA (Google Analytics) and may not be as accurate.

Both platforms have useful metrics and reporting on the Dashboard but Shopify wins in my opinion. It takes more factors into consideration like Most Viewed, Most Added to Cart, New Search Terms, Most Popular Cities, Facebook referrals, Email Subscribers, and a few more nuggets. Good stuff! The Volusion Reporting is more boilerplate, still useful…but I like Shopify much better in this respect.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization, or SEO, refers to the aspects of both web design and website content that get your site to show up at the top of your customers’ search results. Anyone with a website in 2020 needs to have a basic understanding of SEO and know how to take advantage of it as a marketing strategy. Out of the box, both solutions have the basics in place and there are some add on’s for Shopify that can juice you up a bit and help with JSON Structured Data.

Volusion is pretty limited with config options but uses canonical and all the basics and I have clients ranking well in the top 3 positions of google on Volusion. Either platform can perform well with SEO depending on the skill and dedication of the user.

Both Shopify and Volusion include built-in SEO features, but their services are somewhat limited. For example, neither allows customization of all URLs, and both add their own strings of text, such as “/products/“ to a user-created URL. Both allow alt text, and both allow 301 redirects, although Shopify redirects automatically while Volusion requires you to update manually.

These features are only a small part of what SEO comprises, however. To make sure your SEO is on point, consider working with e-commerce experts who specialize in SEO. Our team can help you stay on top of Google’s ever-changing algorithms and research the best keyword phrases for you to rank for. Whether you choose Shopify or Volusion, we can provide a platform-specific SEO review.

Blogging

Here is a huge difference with Volusion, you can’t create a blog directly on the same domain. You can do it on a subdomain but what does that mean? It means that it’s a separate website basically not directly helping your main shop domain. That sucks.
A blog can be used by online sellers to provide how to type articles and new product features with rich content. This is just the tip of the iceberg with content marketing where you try and rank various pages for specific keyword phrases with high buying intent and useful content.

This is a highly effective and low-cost way to draw in customers by providing content that they value. Creating “evergreen” type content is an art form and people that are good at it make a lot of money in e-commerce.

Shopify offers a simple built-in blogging tool that’s already part of your store, ready to rock. With Volusion, the only option is to create a blog on another platform, such as WordPress, and then link the blog to the e-commerce site. However, the integration isn’t seamless, and it requires a certain level of technical know-how to set up the blog in a sub-domain and you’ve won’t get the link juice. Volusion does allow you to manually create CMS pages or Volusion “Articles” which can host your content and then you manually link that into your navigation, pages, and other applicable areas of your website. It can totally work but the links and presentations aren’t automated and pretty like Shopify.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping refers to selling products that are housed in a supplier’s warehouse. The seller routes an order to the supplier, who ships out the product to the customer. This is an increasingly popular method of doing online sales because sellers don’t have to invest in their own storage. Both Shopify and Volusion offer dropshipping tools, but Shopify’s options are more extensive. In addition to its well-reviewed in-house app, Oberlo, Shopify offers over 100 other options, including Printful, Sprocket, Printify, and Modalist. Volusion just offers two dropshipping options: Kole Imports and Doba.

Abandoned Checkout Recovery

Customers frequently abandon items in a cart before checking out. One common reason for this is that they are shopping on their phone and then decide to complete the transaction on their laptop or desktop computer. However, once a transaction is interrupted, there’s always a chance that it will never be completed. Both Shopify and Volusion offer solutions to this problem.

Shopify automatically saves abandoned carts if the customer has entered an email address. Once abandoned cart recovery is set up, you can email the customer with a link to complete their order or offer a discount code as an enticement to return. This feature is available on all plans. Shopify also has abandoned cart apps that do a little more, like making an exit offer as the customer is leaving the site. Volusion also offers an abandoned cart recovery tool, but it is only available to users who subscribe to the Professional plan or higher.

Features: The Bottom Line

Both Shopify and Volusion offer all the necessary tools for starting an e-commerce business. While Volusion has more robust built-in tools for search engine optimization and data analysis, Shopify offers a wider range of sales-related features, like one-click upsells, POS functionality, and blogging. On the whole, Shopify has more of the features that are most useful to online sellers, especially those who are new to e-commerce.

Comparing E-commerce Templates

Interior design is just as important for an online store as for a brick-and-mortar business. The visual impression your virtual store creates has a huge impact on how customers feel about your brand and products and how likely they are to make a purchase. That’s why choosing a template is the first and most important step in setting up an e-commerce business. The right template should represent your brand and appeal to the customers you’re targeting.

Both Shopify and Volusion include a range of attractive themes, and they both provide a theme editor that allows users to customize the design. However, there are some differences in the templates they have to offer. The following are a few points of comparison.

Design Quality

Both Shopify and Volusion offer a fairly wide array of pre-made themes to choose from along with some customization tools. Both platforms offer high-quality themes that are professionally designed, and all templates are responsive, meaning that they automatically resize for mobile devices.

While Volusion’s designs are attractive and modern, many of the themes are very similar. Shopify has a larger selection of themes to choose from (73, compared with Volusion’s 17), and each of Shopify’s templates is available in 3 different styles.  Shopify offers much more customization with their templates via a Themes section. Depending on which template you choose you’ll get various features you can enable and configure which include different page presentations, hero banners, and more. Volusion is lacking in this area and is fairly locked down but… if Volusion is more stable and faster loading in general because of this.

Themes Customized for Different Types of Businesses

Both platforms have designs for a wide range of industries. For example, Shopify lists the following industry categories (in addition to “Other”):

• Art & Photography
• Clothing & Fashion
• Jewelry & Accessories
• Electronics
• Food & Drink
• Home & Garden
• Furniture
• Health & Beauty
• Sports & Recreation
• Toys & Games

Volusion lists the following industry categories on its website:

• Accounting & Finance
• Construction & Development
• Consulting
• Healthcare
• IT & Computer
• Insurance
• Legal
• Real Estate
• Travel

While both platforms group themes into categories, Shopify offers more filters for narrowing down the search for the perfect theme.

Cost of Templates

In terms of cost, Volusion shows 15 free templates and two paid ones ($180 each) on their themes page. Shopify offers 9 free templates and 64 paid ones, all of which are available in three different styles. Their paid themes range from $140-$180.

E-commerce Templates: The Bottom Line

While both platforms offer a variety of attractive themes, Shopify has more designs to choose from and includes lower-cost paid options. In addition, according to some reviewers, Shopify sites get a higher mobile UX score on Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. However, Volusion offers some really nice designs as well, and it includes themes for certain industries that Shopify doesn’t cater to. In terms of templates, Shopify and Volusion both have a lot to offer, but the big difference is Shopify actually has different functionality built into each template (theme) as opposed to just page layout.

Really the costs of a template aren’t the main issue here, you’ll be building out your site based on this template so research and select the perfect one that makes matches the presentation and features you want. You can load up any of these templates for free to test in either platform using a trial.

Comparing Ease of Use

Both Shopify and Volusion are designed for use by people who have little or no experience with programming or web design. Consequently, both platforms provide a fairly accessible and intuitive user interface. Both are set up with an intuitive central dashboard, and both provide a lefthand menu of options to add or edit the content on the right side of the page.

Adding Content

Both Shopify and Volusion make it simple to add new products or page content. Volusion takes the user step-by-step through a decision-making process that more experienced users might see as excessive. For new users, however, answering a series of questions can be a simple and clear way to learn how to use the platform and make the right decisions as they add elements to their store.

Adding Sections To The Website

Users may want to add a section or a page that doesn’t already exist in the template. According to many user reviews, this is much easier to do in Shopify than in Volusion. In addition, users who want to add a blog will have to go through a significantly more complex process in Volusion to link an existing blog created on a third-party platform and integrate it with the e-commerce site. Shopify has a blogging option that users can simply select and add.

Getting Support

Customer support is crucial, especially for new users. When you’re learning to use a new tool, it’s inevitable that you’ll feel confusion or frustration at some point, and it’s really helpful to be able to reach out for help when you need it. Fortunately, both Shopify and Volusion offer 24/7 support either by chat, email, or phone. However, it’s worth noting that Volusion’s phone support is only available for customers on the Professional plan or higher, and their phone support hours are limited. Shopify offers free 24/7 phone support at all plan levels.

Ease Of Use: The Bottom Line

Both platforms offer intuitive dashboards and simple controls, but Shopify is generally considered the easiest platform to use. Shopify makes it simple to add new sections to the website, including a blog, and it offers more customer support for all users.

Comparing Apps and Add-Ons

Apps and other add-ons, like extensions and plugins, can add a lot of extra functionality and help you to customize your online storefront. These features are sold by third parties, but they can be purchased in either platform’s app store, and they integrate automatically with your online store.

Third-Party Apps

Shopify is well known for its extensive collection of third-party apps, and it currently features more than 2000 in its app store. Some are free with a Shopify subscription, but most are offered at an additional charge. Customers use Shopify apps for email marketing, social media marketing, referral programs, subscriptions, upsells, push notifications, print-on-demand drop shipping, order updates, and many other functions. With so many to choose from, there is an app to meet almost any need.

One criticism of Shopify, however, is that the platform relies too heavily on third-party apps, and customers can end up spending a lot more than they expected in order to get all the features they need.

Volusion, on the other hand, offers more built-in functionality and fewer third-party apps. One notable advantage of Volusion over Shopify is its built-in integration with some valuable services, including MailChimp, one of the most popular email marketing tools, and eBay. Its built-in affiliate and subscription programs are also popular features. At this time, Volusion just lists 21 apps in their online marketplace. These apps are mainly geared toward providing accounting, shipping, legal, payment, and email marketing services.

Quick Wins

Volusion offers several add-on services that bring in expert knowledge, and these are known as Quick Wins. They include training in Google Analytics, set-up of Google Analytics, an SEO audit, image ad asset creation, and marketing consultation, to name a few.

Apps and Add-Ons: The Bottom Line

While Volusion provides more built-in features and a small but well-curated selection of apps, Shopify’s much larger app store is one of its top selling points. With over 2,000 apps to choose from, Shopify users can create a customized website, and they can keep adding more features as their business grows.

Comparing Payment Processors and Gateways

Payment processors are companies that handle transactions for an online store, allowing customers to pay with a credit card, debit card, rewards points, or other forms of electronic payment. A payment processor verifies that credit card data is correct and serves as a barrier to fraud.

A payment gateway, on the other hand, is a tool that approves a transaction and provides seamless integration between a payment processor and an e-commerce store. Both Shopify and Volusion offer their own payment gateways, Shopify Payments and Volusion Payments.

Shopify Payments

Shopify Payments is available in 27 countries, and there are no transaction fees for using this payment gateway. In addition, Shopify integrates with over 100 payment processors all over the globe. If you use another payment gateway, however, Shopify will charge additional transaction fees, ranging from 0.5% to 2%, depending on the subscription plan.

Volusion Payments

Volusion Payments is available only in the U.S., and Volusion does not charge any transaction fees on top of what credit card payment processors charge. Volusion also lists 34 supported payment gateways, including PayPal, BluePay, Skrill, and Stripe.

Payment Gateways: The Bottom Line

While both Volusion and Shopify offer easy-to-use payment gateways, Shopify has more versatility. Not only is Shopify’s gateway available for customers in many other countries, but its ability to integrate with other payment gateways around the world also makes it the best choice for anyone who is selling to international customers.

Comparing Costs

When you’re deciding which platform to use for your e-commerce business, cost is, of course, a major consideration. There is not only the monthly subscription fee to consider but also other fees, like transaction costs.

Pricing Plans

Both Shopify and Volusion offer several pricing options beginning with low-cost entry-level plans with a limited range of features and extending to VIP plans geared toward large enterprises.

Shopify’s Pricing (Link to Current Pricing)

1. Shopify Lite. Shopify offers the lowest entry-level plan, called Shopify Lite, for just $9 per month. This plan allows users to add a Buy button to any website, accept credit card payments, and send invoices, but it doesn’t include an online store.

2. Basic Shopify. This plan is geared toward new businesses. For $29 a month, users get an e-commerce website with a blog and many other features, including online marketplace and social media sales channels, multiple staff accounts, multiple inventory locations, discounts, and gift cards, to name a few. This plan and all Shopify plans offer unlimited bandwidth.

3. Shopify. The standard plan costs $79 a month, and it includes up to 5 staff accounts, up to 5 inventory locations, a higher shipping discount, and professional reports. The company targets growing businesses with this plan.

4. Advanced Shopify. According to Shopify, this $299-per-month plan is ideal for successful businesses that are ready to scale up. The features include additional staff accounts and inventory locations, lower transaction fees, an advanced report builder, and a third-party shipping calculator, among others.

5. Shopify Plus. This top-level plan starts at $2000 per month, and it is designed for enterprises that do a high volume of business and/or sell from multiple locations and platforms. This plan offers more customization of the shopping experience and includes built-in video, augmented reality, and 3D images on product pages.

Volusion’s Pricing

1. Volusion Mini. Volusion Mini is a limited entry-level plan, comparable to Basic Shopify. For $15 per month, users get 1 GB of bandwidth and many individual tools, such as a credit card payment processor, inventory management, SEO and reporting, and social media integration.

2. Volusion Personal. This basic plan costs $29 per month, and it includes unlimited bandwidth, storage, and products. Some of the other features users get are coupons and discounts, an automated tax calculator, and free https/SSL security.

3. Volusion Professional. For $71 per month, users get several additional features, such as bulk order processing, fulfillment centers, and advanced discounts.

4. Volusion Startup. This plan is priced at $161 per month, and its extra features include 3rd party processors and $50 a month toward other professional services known as Quick Wins, such as graphic design and Google Analytics training.

5. Volusion Business. For $269 per month, this plan offers priority support, either online or by phone, a traffic growth consultant, a dedicated success team, and $150 per month toward Quick Wins.

6. Volusion Prime. Volusion does not advertise pricing for its top-tier plan, which features executive Slack support and multiple admin users. Furthermore, prime members get VIP support from a team of experts in marketing, finance, engineering, and executive leadership.

Other Pricing Considerations

When comparing pricing between Shopify and Volusion, there are a few other factors to consider. One is transaction fees. Shopify charges a fee for each transaction using payment providers other than Shopify Payments, which are only available in 17 countries (including the U.S.). These fees are 2% on the Basic Plan, 1% on the standard Shopify plan, and just 0.5% on the Advanced plan. Volusion has eliminated all transaction fees apart from those charged by credit card payment processors.

Another thing to consider is limitations on earnings and product listings. Volusion caps sales at each plan level, and it also limits the number of products a business can list for sale. For example, their Personal plan allows sellers to list up to 100 items and earn up to $50,000 per year. The Professional plan allows 5,000 products and caps sales at $100,000. On the Business plan, stores can list up to 10,000 items and earn up to $500,000. Shopify, on the other hand, does not place any limits on products or sales.

One more cost to take into consideration is the cost of the SSL certificate, which Shopify provides for free. Volusion only offers a free certificate for some of its subscribers. Subscribers to the Volusion Mini plan will have to purchase a certificate separately. The cost of SSL certificates varies widely, but the average price is around $90-$100.

Pricing: The Bottom Line

Shopify and Volusion offer similar pricing plans with some differences in features. Shopify offers a lower-cost entry-level plan with no caps on sales, though Volusion’s Professional and Start-up plans are lower than Shopify’s comparable plans. In addition, Shopify offers a free SSL certificate at all subscription levels.

However, Shopify users will need to pay transaction fees if they use third-party payment gateways, and they will likely need to purchase more third-party apps, while Volusion offers a wider array of built-in tools. Thus, Volusion ultimately wins out as the least expensive choice.

With Shopify you’ll be paying for a ton of add ons to get the features you want. WIth Volusion some are baked in which is awesome, like their affiliate program, very cool stuff. However; if you want to add additional advanced features to Volusion you’re limited to what can be done. I have however; worked with clients doing 7 figures on Volusion and helped them grow even more within the Volusion framework and limitations. Volusion will charge you more for server hosting as you grow and start hitting higher traffic numbers but you’ll be generating more revenue so it should be in the budget to increase your Volusion server resources.

Shopify vs. Volusion: Pros and Cons

While the above article has gone into detail about some specific aspects of the two platforms, the following section will provide an extensive list of pros and cons for each.

Shopify Pros

1. Variety of templates. Shopify has a huge variety of attractive and professional designs to choose from. The 73 themes (including 9 free ones) are all available in 3 different styles.

2. Variety of 3rd-party apps. Shopify offers more apps in its store than any other e-commerce platform. With so many options available, users can fully customize their online store.

3. Built-in blogging. Another major advantage of Shopify is the fact that blogging is a built-in feature. By adding a blog, users can take full advantage of the benefits of content marketing.

4. POS functionality. Shopify’s POS tools allow retailers to expand their reach and take advantage of real-world sales opportunities.

5. International sales. Not only does Shopify offer a wide range of international payment gateways, but it also allows users to sell in multiple currencies. It also has more than 50 languages available.

6. No sales caps. While other e-commerce platforms cap earnings at different plan levels, Shopify places no limits on what its users list or sell, regardless of subscription plan.

7. Excellent customer support. Shopify offers 24/7 customer support by email, live chat, and phone. In addition, it provides a useful help center with video tutorials and user guides along with a community discussion forum.

8. Simple user interface. Shopify’s user interface was intentionally designed to be similar to WordPress since many sellers start their business in a WordPress environment.

9. Free SSL certificate. Shopify includes a free 256-bit SSL certificate with all subscription plans. The certificate uses the same level of encryption as a bank.

10. Large user base. Finally, the fact that more than a million users worldwide have built their businesses on Shopify indicates that the platform is not likely to go anywhere anytime soon.

Shopify Cons

1. Added costs. Shopify really has a lot to offer with its huge collection of third-party apps, but these apps come at a cost that can add up significantly.

2. Transaction fees. Shopify charges an extra fee for any transaction that doesn’t go through its in-house payment gateway.

3. Weak analytics. While Shopify offers its own data collection and analysis tools, those tools don’t measure up to Google Analytics.

4. Higher monthly cost. Shopify’s subscription plans are priced somewhat higher than Volusion’s comparable plans, and their plans include fewer built-in features.

Volusion Pros

1. Analytics tools. By integrating with Google Analytics, Volusion offers powerful data analytics and reporting tools.

2. Many payment gateways. Another benefit of Volusion is its integration with many popular payment gateways, such as PayPal and Amazon.

3. Plenty of guidance. Volusion offers a lot of onboarding support for new users and step-by-guidance when adding content to an online store.

4. Lower monthly cost. Comparing similar plans, Volusion costs less than Shopify and offers more built-in features.

5. Quick Wins. Volusion offers valuable add-on services from experts in marketing and Google Analytics. They are available at all plan levels, but Startup and Business plan members get a discount.

6. Account specialists. Volusion provides trained account specialists who are available for customer support online. They reach out to new users and offer individualized assistance in getting a store set up.

7. More product options. Unlike Shopify, Volusion places no limits on the number of product options (e.g., size or color) and variants (e.g., small, medium, and large, or heather gray and cobalt blue) users can add to a product listing.

Volusion Cons

1. No blog feature. One of the top complaints about Volusion is its lack of a built-in blog. While it’s possible to link to a WordPress or other blog, the integration is not seamless and can be challenging for inexperienced users.

2. No multi-currency selling. The default setting is US dollars, and although it is possible to change the default currency, the software will only recognize one currency at a time.

3. Caps on earnings. Volusion places limits on the amount of money the store can make in a year. Limits increase with subscription plans, and sales caps range from $50,000 to $500,000.

4. Caps on product listings. Limits range from 100 products on the Personal plan to 10,000 on the Business plan.

5. No SSL certificate for some subscribers. Volusion Mini subscribers will have to purchase a certificate from a third-party source.

6. No digital sales. Volusion does not support e-commerce businesses that sell digital downloads.

Choosing Between Shopify and Volusion

There are many successful e-commerce businesses that currently run on both Shopify and Volusion. Ultimately, the choice comes down to what you need from a platform and what you want to do with your business.

Who Should Choose Shopify?

If you prioritize flexibility in designing your store, or if you need seamlessly integrated point-of-sale functionality, a Shopify plan is the best option for you. With over a hundred templates and thousands of apps, Shopify makes it easy to create a unique store with the exact set of features you need.

In addition, Shopify is the best choice for merchants who sell internationally. With Shopify, you can enable in multiple languages and sell in multiple currencies, using a wide range of payment gateways outside the U.S.

Who Should Choose Volusion?

If keeping costs low is your number one consideration, the Volusion Mini plan may be a good bet. You’ll get all the tools you need to get your business up and running for a lower cost than Shopify’s Basic plan. With so many built-in tools, you probably won’t need to spend too much on apps, but be prepared to shell out for an SSL certificate.

Volusion is also a good choice if you want to integrate Google Analytics and use data to better understand your customers and improve your sales. Volusion doesn’t just integrate the app, it also provides training to help you get the most out of your data.

Choosing a platform is only the first step in creating a successful online store. If you want to make sure your business starts off on the right track and stays successful, consider getting expert help from our e-commerce consultants. We can help you choose the best platform for your needs and make sure you have the right set of features to sell your products and market your business to the right audience. We also help you identify barriers to success and break them down.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Travis Romine

Ecommerce Consultant at Sharp Commerce

Travis has been working in e-commerce since 2005 and now consults for SMB and Enterprise eCommerce brands. Travis is a dog person and Mountain Bike's daily. He's been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, ecommerceconsulting.com, Webretailer.com, Inspired Insider Podcast & Facebook For Business.

Latest posts by Travis Romine (see all)

• Shopify Meta Fields Tutorial: A Comprehensive Guide - May 18, 2023
• Magento vs Big Commerce vs Volusion vs Shopify - May 18, 2023
• How to Hire a CRO Expert for Conversion Optimization - May 3, 2023