Selling Online? What's the Difference in Cost Between Shopify and Squarespace?
Running an online business has never been easier with so many platforms to choose from including Squarespace, Wordpress, Wix, Shopify and others.
One of the biggest concerns we hear from clients is usually the cost of running an eCommerce site; choosing the wrong platform could harm the profitability of your venture especially if you have a strict budget.
So in this blog we cover the major differences in cost between choosing Squarespace or Shopify as an eCommerce platform and considerations you should factor in.
Both Squarespace and Spotify do offer lower tiered eCommerce options but without all the major features of a full eCommerce site. For this reason we cover their major plans only.
eCommerce Hosting Cost - Squarespace v Shopify
Follow this link for more information about Paypal fees and this link for information about Stripe fees.
Information taken from Shopify and Squarespace 6 August 2019.
Other Costs - Squarespace v Shopify
Both platforms offer beautiful customisable themes. In Squarespace these are all free, in Shopify some are chargeable, so do factor this into your cost.
Consider factoring in the cost of a domain name too which is free if setting up in Squarespace for the first time and around £16 per year from year two onwards depending on the name you have chosen. In Shopify the cost for a domain name is around £10.
Email is often overlooked; a customised email address is a necessity to look professional especially when communicating with customers. In Squarespace, the first year of Google’s GSuite is free which comes with 30GB storage and access to connect in your website to Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
With Shopify you will need to buy an email service direct from Google, Office 365, Zoho or others.
Squarespace now offer their own integrated newsletter service built-in with your website, something which Shopify doens’t offer although does offer integration with hundreds of other services. It’s not a huge deal-breaker to be honest as there are easy work arounds for both Shopify and Squarespace if you wish to use your own newsletter service such as MailerLite which is what we use or integrate your site with other apps such as Zapier.
Conclusion - Squarespace v Shopify
Starting and running a business involves many costs and this article highlights a multitude of hidden costs such as currency conversions, domain name costs, hosting fees, card transaction costs etc which all need to be taken into account to determine if your venture will be profitable.
The answer on which platform you choose we feel depends on what stage your business is at. If you’re just starting out or within the first few years of your business then Squarespace has everything you need, it’s very easy to use, lots of support and the lowest cost barrier to open a professional eCommerce site.
If your business is turning over 6 figure sums or more, when talking about price, the focus should be on the payment gateway as that’s where a significant difference card payment processing charges lie between using Paypal or Stripe on either platform and using Shopify’s Payment option.
Otherwise perhaps review the features as there will be significant differences between paying $299 a month on Shopify to £37 a month for Squarespace to ensure your business can scale. That being said, maybe your business is ready to move to a different platform altogether which can offer more customisation.
If you have any questions on this article or would like more information about eCommerce please get in touch.
