If you’re considering Shopify for your e-commerce business, there are crucial factors to ponder. From the insights of a Marketing Executive and a President, discover why many users face increased costs from third-party apps and limited checkout and URL customisation. This article gathers seven invaluable insights from industry experts. Don’t miss the final perspective on the risks of platform dependency.
- Increased Costs from Third-Party Apps
- Limited Checkout and URL Customisation
- SEO Issues for Variant Products
- SEO Limitations and Custom Coding Needs
- Additional Fees and Limited SEO Capabilities
- Complexity from Third-Party Apps
- Risks of Platform Dependency
Increased Costs from Third-Party Apps
One downside of Shopify is its reliance on apps for advanced functionality, which can quickly increase costs. While the platform offers a solid foundation, scaling often requires integrating third-party apps, each with its own subscription fee. This can make running a Shopify store more expensive than anticipated, especially for small businesses. We’ve seen how this adds complexity to budgeting and maintenance.
Another limitation is the restricted control over back-end customisation. For businesses with unique needs, Shopify’s proprietary system may lack the flexibility that open-source platforms provide. My advice is to assess your long-term goals before committing—Shopify is excellent for ease of use and quick setups, but ensure its cost and customisation limitations align with your business’s growth plans.
Elia Guidorzi, Marketing Executive, Techni Waterjet
Limited Checkout and URL Customisation
When building client sites on Shopify, I’ve found the platform really restricts how much you can customise the checkout process and URL structures for better SEO. Last month, I couldn’t implement a custom shipping calculator for a client because Shopify’s API wouldn’t allow the modifications we needed.
Kevin Pike, President, Rankfuse
SEO Issues for Variant Products
I’ve found Shopify’s limitations really apparent when working on SEO for variant-heavy products like clothing sizes and colors—Google simply doesn’t recognise these as separate pages, which tanks our keyword rankings. While using a development store last month, I also hit a wall with their templating system when trying to create a custom category layout, forcing us to spend extra on hiring a Shopify expert.
Praveen Kumar, Founder, Wild Creek Web Studio
SEO Limitations and Custom Coding Needs
The SEO limitations in Shopify have been a constant headache for my clients, especially with the platform’s rigid URL structure and lack of advanced meta tag controls. Just last month, I had to tell a client they couldn’t implement certain schema markups without custom coding, which meant either compromising their SEO strategy or paying more for development work.
Joe Davies, CEO, FATJOE
Additional Fees and Limited SEO Capabilities
Based on my experience, it charges additional transaction fees if you don’t use Shopify Payments, which can impact profit margins. While it offers customisable themes, achieving advanced design often requires coding skills or costly third-party apps. Many essential features also depend on paid apps, increasing operational costs. For larger businesses, Shopify’s scalability can become a challenge, as its performance and pricing might not align with the needs of high-traffic or complex stores. IMO, its SEO capabilities are somewhat limited, with restrictive URL structures and less flexible blogging tools that could hinder organic traffic growth.
Dylan Young, Marketing Specialist, CareMax
Complexity from Third-Party Apps
While Shopify’s app store extends its functionality, reliance on multiple third-party apps can lead to increased complexity and potential security vulnerabilities. Each additional app integrates with your store’s backend, which can slow down your website and lead to disjointed user experiences. Additionally, these apps often come with their own subscription fees, significantly increasing the cost of maintaining your e-commerce platform.
Marc Bishop, Director, Wytlabs
Risks of Platform Dependency
Using Shopify can sometimes mean getting too locked into the platform, which poses risks in terms of data portability should you decide to migrate to another platform in the future. The process of moving your store from Shopify to another e-commerce system can be complex and data loss is a real risk, especially with respect to the SEO value you have built up over time. This platform dependency can make it difficult for businesses to adapt or evolve their e-commerce systems in response to new market demands or opportunities. It’s crucial for businesses to consider this long-term aspect when choosing Shopify as their primary e-commerce platform.
Jason Hennessey, CEO, Hennessey Digital
