shopify

jimmii

Has anyone used shopify for online and instore? Was thinking about switching to them in new year would certainly make keep track of stock etc having it all on a sync'd database. Are there any real downsides to it?

skimpydoo

Jimmii I am a co running a free event that's on tonight in the Wayra building that will interest you.

Using Facebook to Promote Webstores & Shopify Live Demo. The Shopify demo will answer any questions you may have.

You can find more details here http://www.meetup.com/E-Commerce-Ireland-How-to-Sell-Online-Better/events/152234382/

jimmii

Dam only seeing your post now! I think that only covered shopify online though by the looks of it was more interested in the real world shop system.

Zascar

I have recommended several people to Shopify and they are all extremely happy. Unless you have incredibly specific & specialised requirements, I think you'd be mad to go building your own. There are also some alternatives like BigCommerce, and then Magento which lets you get detailed in the customisation.

Can you tell us more about your existing site?

Peterdalkey

Shopify seems expensive to me for what you get. I have a couple of sites on this http://www.bluepark.co.uk/ecommerce-software.html and we are generally very happy. A full custom solution is way out of our budget, beyond our own capabilities and strikes me for many SMEs would be reinventing the wheel!

jimmii

At the moment I just have one set up using register365s site builder which is fine but it feels very clunky the main reason for shopify was so that the in store system and online system was working off the one database as its proving quite tricky to manage at the moment and are often getting online orders for things that have just gone out of stock from being bought off line.

Peterdalkey

jimmii wrote: »

At the moment I just have one set up using register365s site builder which is fine but it feels very clunky the main reason for shopify was so that the in store system and online system was working off the one database as its proving quite tricky to manage at the moment and are often getting online orders for things that have just gone out of stock from being bought off line.

The integration between CMS and our ERP system is so easy with Bluepark, a major stock management aid, as it also notiifier you of low stock when the online sales bring levels down to reorder threshold.

jimmii

Peterdalkey wrote: »

The integration between CMS and our ERP system is so easy with Bluepark, a major stock management aid, as it also notiifier you of low stock when the online sales bring levels down to reorder threshold.

That looks perfect thanks! Probably going to make the change in January so good to have more than one option cheers!

StupidLikeAFox

I'm aware that this thread is three years old, but considering jimmii is still knocking around it might be good to get an update, how did you get on on the end with this?

Currently giving Shopify a trial run and it's ticking all the boxes. The cost doesnt seem too bad when you consider it includes hosting, SSL certs and the great performance. Also, their built in payment option seems competitive. Seems to be a big outlay initially for the hardware which is a negative

We currently have 2 web payment processors, a website and a pos system so the opportunity to consolidate that into one is a massive plus.

jimmii

Yeh it's worked out well. Since I started with I have had zero down time, the back end UI is super straight forward and it's incredibly versatile I was able to add a custom wholesale login section myself instead of adding a 20/month option from the marketplace.

I'm web only with them so haven't seen the POS at all definitely a handy option though.

StupidLikeAFox

Cool - looks like we are going to go with the whole shooting gallery so I might come back in a month and let ye know how it goes

frozenfrozen

I'm web only with them too, not a single thing I would change. I recommended them to another business and they have had a similar experience of it being faultless.

One of the few things in life that has actually been hassle free

jimmii

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Cool - looks like we are going to go with the whole shooting gallery so I might come back in a month and let ye know how it goes

Be good to hear how you get on. I know a lot of people who have used them for web but not for POS.

jimmii

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I'm web only with them too, not a single thing I would change. I recommended them to another business and they have had a similar experience of it being faultless.

One of the few things in life that has actually been hassle free

I found the only hassle was figuring which of the great templates to start with!

Trojan

I've had really good reports back from non-techie business owners who wanted something turnkey.

The biggest criticism I've heard is that the monthly costs can skyrocket if you add certain features in.

It's definitely comparable to the initial cost + maintenance of a self-hosted site over the long term.

jimmii

Yeh the add-ons can certainly add a lot to it but if you're willing to do the work yourself you can add all those things for free. The wholesale solution I did was a better fit than the app that's available and I know f all about coding.

StupidLikeAFox

Trojan wrote: »

I've had really good reports back from non-techie business owners who wanted something turnkey.

The biggest criticism I've heard is that the monthly costs can skyrocket if you add certain features in.

It's definitely comparable to the initial cost + maintenance of a self-hosted site over the long term.

I would consider myself kind of techie and I had my heart set on Woocommerce - I found an add-on for POS, installed a few plugins and designed a nice looking site. When I came to testing it I found that enabling or upgrading one plugin would knock another one out etc. Got fed up of searching through forums for answers so decided to go with Shopify.

Im also aiming to go for the LEO grant mentioned in your signature to fund some of this, so I will let you know how I get on with that too

tubos

I'm using the shopify trial to see if a move to shopify from a wordpress based store is the way to go. So far so good.

Does anybody know if the retail package is available to Irish based businesses? Does anyone have the retail package with POS hardware and software?

tubos

tubos wrote: »

I'm using the shopify trial to see if a move to shopify from a wordpress based store is the way to go. So far so good.

Does anybody know if the retail package is available to Irish based businesses? Does anyone have the retail package with POS hardware and software?

The Retail Package is available worldwide. You won't be able to buy the hardware direct from Shopify however as it doesn't currently ship to Ireland. There are tonnes of places you can buy the hardware however.

Beanzy

Hi there, a search through Boards brought me to this thread. Just starting to put our shop onto Shopify, with the intention to use it on and offline. We should have done this a few years ago, but there was never the time/resource - I've been made redundant from my job, so suddenly we have both. But I'm a total newbie to all of this.

For anyone using Shopify, how are you managing inventory management. The shop doesn't currently have a POS system - destroyed in a flood a year and not yet replaced. So I'm building an Excel product database with the intention to upload this to Shopify via CSV files. Can I continue to manage this centrally via Excel (re-uploading when I make changes) or is it best to manage from original upload point via the actual Shopify admin?

Appreciate any views on how anyone else has done this. Many thanks!

Beanzy

anyone...??!

DaveJoyce

Beanzy wrote: »

Hi there, a search through Boards brought me to this thread. Just starting to put our shop onto Shopify, with the intention to use it on and offline. We should have done this a few years ago, but there was never the time/resource - I've been made redundant from my job, so suddenly we have both. But I'm a total newbie to all of this.

For anyone using Shopify, how are you managing inventory management. The shop doesn't currently have a POS system - destroyed in a flood a year and not yet replaced. So I'm building an Excel product database with the intention to upload this to Shopify via CSV files. Can I continue to manage this centrally via Excel (re-uploading when I make changes) or is it best to manage from original upload point via the actual Shopify admin?

Appreciate any views on how anyone else has done this. Many thanks!

You can maintain products using CSV (which you can open and edit in Excel, or Notepad).



https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/import-export/import-products#import-products-after-making-changes-to-your-csv-file


The only thing with using Excel is that there will be a lot of manual work especially of you are selling in a shop and online.


If you want to drop me a DM I might be able to help you with a cloud invoicing system and create a link to Shopify that will automate everything


Regards
Dave

StupidLikeAFox

Beanzy wrote: »

Hi there, a search through Boards brought me to this thread. Just starting to put our shop onto Shopify, with the intention to use it on and offline. We should have done this a few years ago, but there was never the time/resource - I've been made redundant from my job, so suddenly we have both. But I'm a total newbie to all of this.

For anyone using Shopify, how are you managing inventory management. The shop doesn't currently have a POS system - destroyed in a flood a year and not yet replaced. So I'm building an Excel product database with the intention to upload this to Shopify via CSV files. Can I continue to manage this centrally via Excel (re-uploading when I make changes) or is it best to manage from original upload point via the actual Shopify admin?

Appreciate any views on how anyone else has done this. Many thanks!

You know shopify has a POS app? It will cost about 1500 for all the hardware but it is fully synced up to your website automatically. This used to cost 50e a month extra but it's included in the base package now.

Also, shopify admin has a bulk product editor in the products section which you might be able to look into

n.d.os

I'm looking to add a new .ttf to my font library in Shopify, specifically so I can use it for headers and descriptions. Can anyone help with some easy to follow steps?