Volusion vs Shopify: Choose the better platform

Many e-commerce platforms exist now. Businesses need help to choose the best one. We understand the challenge for businesses. They must find the strengths and weaknesses of each platform and compare them. Today, we will write about Shopify and Volusion. We will help you do this with 2 platforms

What are they exactly, and what are their differences? Let’s dive in right now!

Understand Shopify and Volusion

What is Shopify?

We first ensure everyone knows that Shopify was founded in 2006. It is also a cloud-based solution. It will help businesses focus more on strategy, marketing, and selling. They can do that instead of infrastructure and development. This is seeing Shopify become a game changer. It has changed how merchants approach e-commerce. 

Shopify has over 600,000 e-commerce stores. It has $82 billion in sales. Shopify is used by famous brands like the New York Times, Nestle,… When building your Shopify store, you must go through a process. This process includes 5 steps including arranging your shipping, taxes, payment processing, site design, and product catalog.

What is Volusion?

Maybe you already know this: Volusion is an E-commerce platform that allows you to sell almost anything, including handmade goods and digital products. First, you need to enter basic info about yourself and your business. After that, it will guide you through many steps to set up your store. 

You’ll need to set tax, payment, and shipping options. You’ll also customize the look of your store and make your product catalog.

Volusion vs Shopify: Quick Assessment

Volusion and Shopify both have simple setup processes. They let you launch your store in a day. However, the primary disparity between Shopify and Volusion lies in their business approach

• Shopify is best for retail businesses. It is also good for merchants who want to grow a standalone online store.
• Volusion is best for small retailers and online merchants. They are interested in trading fees with low payments.

Volusion vs Shopify: The comprehensive comparison

Monthly fees

Shopify

Shopify’s plans start at $9 per month. But, they quickly increase to $25 per month ($19 per month if paid yearly) for online store builders. Indeed, the costs associated with Shopify extend beyond its subscription price. You’ll also need a domain name. It costs $10 to $15 per year. You might also need a premium theme and plugins to maximize your store’s abilities.

Here is the overview of Shopify’s cost plans, and you’ll see there’s a big difference

Shopify Lite

• Monthly Cost: $9
• For those who want to add a buy button to their website. Or, for those who want to sell in person and need a point-of-sale (POS) processor. 
• Transaction Fees: With online credit card rates of 2.9% + 30 cents, or just 2.7% for offline transactions
• Features: Order management, analytics and customer support

Shopify Basic

• Monthly Cost: $25 and $19 if paid annually
• Suitable for: Looking to build a comprehensive online store with omnichannel selling capabilities
• Transaction fees: With online credit card rates of 2.9% + 30 cents, or just 2.7% for offline transactions
• The software has many features. It has an online store, with both a website and a blog. It has solutions for businesses that want to offer in-store transactions. They include card readers.

Shopify Standard

• Monthly Cost: $65 and $49 if paid annually
• Suitable for: Need to begin any international selling
• Transaction fees: 2.6% + 30¢ for online credit card rates or 2.5% + 0¢ for offline
• You will get everything in Basic, plus performance reports. You will also get up to five staff accounts and support for gift card purchases.

Shopify Advanced

• Monthly Cost: $399 and $299 if paid annually
• This is for businesses that sell large volumes both online and in person. They need more advanced features.
• Transaction fees: With online credit card rates of 2.4% + 30 cents, or just 2.4% for offline transactions
• Features: Adds on advanced reports, third-party shipping and international duties and import taxes

Shopify Plus

• Pricing: Custom pricing based on specific enterprise needs
• These solutions are for high-volume merchants. They have features like dedicated account management, customizable checkout, and advanced security.

In addition to the cost of Shopify plans, you often pay for a domain name ($15 per year) and premium theme ($75 – over $300 per year).

Volusion

You can check easily on the website. Volusion offers a selection of plans at different prices, from $29 to $299 per month. They also offer a “Prime” plan for large businesses. You must request a price quote for this plan. All 4 plans have no transaction fees. We’ll begin by taking a closer look at Volusion’s different plans and what each comes with

Personal Plan

• Monthly Price: $29
• You get Unlimited products, storage, and bandwidth. Plus, coupons and discounts. And, up to $50,000 in online sales per year.
• Shipping Rates: Standard
• Third-party processors: No
• Online only support
• Transactions fees: 1.25% 

Professional Plan

• Monthly Price: $79
• You get unlimited products, storage, and bandwidth. You also get abandoned cart reports, advanced coupons, discounts, and newsletters. You can have up to $100,000 in online sales per year.
• Shipping Rates: Competitive
• Third-party processors: No
• Online and phone support
• Transactions fees: 0.65% 

Startup Plan

• Monthly Price: $179
• You get Unlimited products, storage, and bandwidth. Plus, advanced coupons and discounts. Also, newsletters and $25/mo in “Quick Wins” credits. And, up to $250,000 in online sales per year.
• Shipping Rates: Competitive
• Third-party processors: Yes
• Online and phone support
• Transactions fees: 0.35% 

Business Plan

• Monthly Price: $299
• You get Unlimited products, storage, and bandwidth. You also get API Access, Advanced coupons, and Discounts. Plus, Newsletters and $100/mo in “Quick Wins” credits. You can have up to $500,000 in online sales per year.
• Shipping Rates: Premium
• Third-party processors: Yes
• Priority Support

Payment Processing

Shopify

If you want to process payment in Shopify, you can have 2 choices: Shopify Payments and Shop Pay. You don’t need to apply for Shopify or connect a separate merchant account. You can still accept payments. Shopify Payments is the easiest option for almost all businesses. Its transaction fees are quite low. 

You want to compare Shopify and Volusion for payments. Of course, Shopify wins. Shopify partners with over 100 payment gateways. Volusion’s integrations are more limited.

Volusion

Volusion also provides built-in payment processing through a partnership with Stripe Payments. Its transaction fees are very competitive—never more than 1.25% of the transaction value. You can also choose to use a third-party option with its fee structure. Volusion collaborates with various payment processors including Stripe, PayPal, Fort Point Payments, Authorize.net, and NMI.

Ease of use

Shopify

In short, Shopify is easier to use than Volusion. Why is that? When it comes to simplicity, Shopify excels by offering straightforward editing tools and a prominently placed ‘undo’ button. A user’s comment on Shopify’s ease of use reflects this sentiment: “I was pleasantly surprised. I can see why people opt for this builder.”

In conclusion, Shopify is easier to use than Volusion. It keeps the editing interface simple. It has lots of visual cues and a clearly labeled ‘undo’ button.

Volusion

But, Volusion tries to do too much. The editing interface splits in two. One part is the storefront, which your customers see. The other part is the backend. This means you’re always clicking from one to the other. They don’t have any keyboard shortcuts. In conclusion, Volusion is too tricky to navigate. It lacks obvious cues or a simple menu.

Customer service

Shopify

With 24/7 phone and live chat assistance, along with email and social media support, Shopify ensures comprehensive customer service. Moreover, their Plus Level price plan includes a dedicated support agent, exemplifying their commitment to going above and beyond. With round-the-clock support via phone and live chat, Shopify stands out for providing the best customer help.

Volusion

On the other hand, Volusion provides phone support, available from 7 am to 10 pm CST. However, they do not offer email assistance. But, they do use phone contact to offer a more personal experience. Volusion likes to call each customer for a personal experience. But, its service cannot match Shopify’s. Shopify has dedicated support agents, available on the Plus Level price plan.

Apps & Integrations

Shopify

One of Shopify’s strengths is its over 8,000 integrations, which are in the Shopify App Store. The store also has many marketing and SEO apps that can solve business problems like boosting site traffic or increasing sales. When we compare Shopify and Volusion, nothing is surprising; Shopify wins.

Read more: Top 16 Shopify B2B Apps You Should Try Now

Volusion

Volusion has smaller app stores than Shopify. But don’t worry, they still provide some high-quality apps. These apps focus on email marketing and automation. Volusion, with over 80 integrations, pales in comparison.

Design & Templates

Shopify

In terms of quantity, Shopify provides 10 free themes along with over 50 premium options priced between $140 and $180 each. Additionally, every template offered is designed to be mobile responsive. They look good on any screen size. They’re suitable for almost any business. But, the platform doesn’t provide DIY or art industry themes.   

All Shopify templates have their settings. They are easy to use. You can customize every part of your storefront. The Shopify theme store is set up to make finding the right template for your online store easier. You can browse using many filters, such as price, industry, catalog size, and features.

Volusion

Volusion’s selection includes 11 free templates and 34 paid options priced at $180 each, rendering them more expensive with a smaller variety compared to Shopify. Moreover, Volusion’s platform lacks the capability to manage your site from a smartphone, limiting design flexibility. Still, for branding, variety sets your store apart from the web. Volusion provides no filters. They only have tabs. The tabs let you choose free or paid products.

Volusion vs Shopify: Which is the best for you

Considering to use Shopify or Volusion, it is hard for your business to choose. You need to understand each platform’s strengths and weaknesses. You must see how they fit your specific business.

Shopify is best for:

• Small businesses where online sales are the primary revenue source
• Selling on social media platforms and conducting occasional in-person sales.

Volusion is best for: 

• Small retailers and online merchants focus on low payment fees over e-commerce features.
• Online merchants need strong analytics for their online stores.

Wrap up

Overall, Shopify emerges as the clear victor in a comparison between Volusion and Shopify. Several factors contribute to this outcome. Firstly, Shopify boasts a larger selection of templates, incorporates a sophisticated point-of-sale system, facilitates selling in multiple currencies, and integrates blogging capabilities. Additionally, Shopify is notably more user-friendly. In summary, it’s challenging to deny that Shopify represents a significantly stronger and more valuable platform overall.