this video is sponsored by no no no this video is not sponsored by squarespace or shopify
instead this is a complete and honest head-to-head comparison of shopify versus squarespace now for
years you've seen ads and i often get questions from our community on which platform they should
consider using to launch their ecommerce store the reality is that both shopify and squarespace
have the ability to be great platforms for your brand and business so in this video
we're going to cover seven things you need to know before choosing shopify or squarespace
and at the end i will give my opinion on which platform is best for your brand and business
so if you're a new visitor to this channel hit that subscribe button right down below and turn
on post notifications to be alerted of our latest video drops on this channel we help entrepreneurs
build brands that impact the world from the ground up first off let's begin by talking about design
now both platforms have the ability for you to create an elegant looking website however one
thing squarespace themes do a phenomenal job at is that they are tailored for creative entrepreneurs
whether you're a band looking to sell merch or promote your tour or you're a maker who is making
their products by hand the themes help you tell your story and share the journey while allowing
you to sell it's a great out-of-the-box solution allowing you to focus on marketing and driving
loyal customers to your brand now when it comes to fashion and boutique brands shopify has five
free theme options but also has numerous themes from third party sellers and you can expect to
pay around 140 bucks and up although the amount of choices can be overwhelming so for someone who is
just getting started and wants to begin as quickly as possible squarespace wins this comparison as
you can customize it to your liking quickly and easy and elegant from their positioning in the
market they are definitely tailored into creatives by making their brand shine with the layouts they
offer for this reason web design and functionality goes to squarespace now the next thing you need to
know about both platforms is the transaction fees in this comparison we are only going to compare
shopify's entry level price with the cheapest business package that squarespace has to offer
we will discuss more on plan pricing at the end of the video but one thing shopify has
up its sleeve is the fact that they have their own payment processor built into the platform
where with squarespace you will need to integrate stripe square or paypal when selling your products
on your website but the thing you need to know is that let's say you go with shopify and a customer
purchase a product from your site as of the shooting of this video they will charge you 2.9
percent plus 30 cents for every online transaction this means if you guys are buying somebody buy
something for 100 bucks you're essentially gonna pay two dollars like three dollars and 20 cents on
that transaction now if you go with squarespace and integrate stripe as your payment processor
you will actually be paying more since the most popular business package that squarespace
offers charges a three percent fee on top of that transaction so in order to get around that extra
fee to make it comparable with shopify you would actually need to upgrade to the basic ecommerce
package which is more expensive but more on that later when we compare both of these plans side by
side both platforms tie but one thing to keep in mind is that shopify has the edge since they have
built their platform with e-commerce in mind where squarespace is just getting into the e-commerce
game now one of the most important things to consider when choosing either platform is which
one is better to optimize for search engine optimization kind of sounds redundant but this
means how likely is your store or product going to be coming up online as a search result when
somebody goes to like google or something when it comes to all things google in order for a site to
be seo friendly you need to be able to modify and describe as many things as you can on the site
this is where shopify is king the ability to add more metadata to the site means that google and
other search engines like bing or duckduckgo can crawl through your site for your products
or your services to show up in search squarespace currently does have some seo capabilities but is
not up to par with shopify so if you're looking for the best seo capabilities the clear winner
here is shopify now when it comes to managing inventory with shopify you have the ability to
manage four to eight different locations where you store your products so whether you have a
warehouse full of items or a storefront open to the public you can easily manage your inventory
across all channels you have an instant snapshot of the items that are in stock and those that you
need to place new orders for now when it comes to squarespace in order to have the same level
of control that shopify comes pre-loaded with you will have to install a third-party plug-in which
is an additional cost so if you're looking for the best way to manage your inventory without having
to purchase plugins shopify is a clear winner here now this leads us into the next big point which is
actually a big deal for online stores which is plugins and extensions whether you're looking to
drop ship or add an automated messaging plugin to your site being able to add plugins to your
website is key to growing your empire shopify offers over 1200 plugins to their official shopify
app store whereas squarespace only offers a handful of plugins that you can use you could also
use plugins that are not listed on the shopify and squarespace marketplace but you will have to pay
an additional monthly fee and hand over your data to companies that have not been certified by them
so if plug-ins and extensions are important to you shopify is a clear winner here
now when it comes to shipping squarespace does have the ability to connect to a third-party
extension but at an added cost where with shopify not only do you have the ability to print and
ship labels for your products but you also get a discount of up to 74 off dhl express ups and usps
there is no need to create an extra account or sign up for a third-party service squarespace
does offer rates based on data from usps ups and fedex but is only available in real time through
their most expensive advanced e-commerce plan also those rates are not discounted like shopify has
for this reason shopify is a clear winner here now finally let's talk about pricing you heard
me mention a few of the different plans that shopify and squarespace offer so let's begin
with squarespace squarespace as of this video offers four different plants all of these plants
come with a free 14-day trial now keep in mind pricing differs if you choose to pay month to
month versus paying for the full year up front in this comparison we're only going to be reviewing
the monthly plan side by side we begin with the personal plan it comes in at 16 per month this is
not recommended for e-commerce applications since there is no ability for you to add products rather
it is more for showing your portfolio photography or if you're an influencer to promote your
personal brand if you're looking to do e-commerce but want to save a couple of dollars a month and
incur an additional three percent per transaction then the business plan from squarespace is for you
but if you want to avoid the added transaction fee and also want more features the 30
a month basic commerce plan is a better fit now the advanced commerce plan at 46 dollars a month
comes with features you will need to get the most out of the platform so if you want squarespace to
have a similar function that comes with shopify you will need to download additional plugins and
incur charges from them now for those of you who are looking to start an ecommerce business
and have as many features as possible at an affordable price this is where shopify has the
edge the basic shopify package will run you 29 a month and includes everything you need and more
compared to the 46 advanced package that squarespace has this is definitely the better deal
shopify has their own payment processor with fraud analysis abandoned cart recovery and discounted
shipping rates as well as over 1200 apps that you can download via the shopify app store
now the clear winner between the shopify versus squarespace comparison is shopify however if
you're a creative that's focusing on a custom line of handmade products or if you're a photographer
musician or artist looking to promote additional services and events then squarespace is a great
platform to build a brand and business they have a variety of free themes to help get you started on
and they reduce the level of anxiety and may take a creative to launch a store by minimizing the
amount of features to the ones you need where you are right now squarespace is a great platform for
beginners to get their start on now this is not to say that shopify doesn't have themes that can
help creative entrepreneurs accomplish the same you could definitely find them but this is where
the overwhelming amount of choices can sometimes prevent creatives from actually getting started
now my biggest concern for those of you who are considering a squarespace plan versus a shopify
one is that the 26 dollar basic e-commerce plan that squarespace advertises as their most popular
plan is definitely a ripoff the three percent fee on top of the 2.9 percent fee is almost six
percent you are giving away to people for every transaction so that means out of every hundred
dollars you earn you're paying somebody six dollars that you could have used to buy a more
expensive plan so in summary squarespace is a great platform to test the waters of a single
product or service offering if you're on a tight budget to establish an online presence although
there are better options available if you're on a tight budget so comment down below if we should
create a video on how to create an e-commerce store on the low low appreciate you guys for
watching if you decide to use any of the platforms we mentioned in this video if you could please use
the links right down below as they'll actually help us produce more content to help you navigate
the entrepreneur journey if you're a new viewer of ours we welcome you to join the community
the mission of this channel is to bring clarity to the unknown and equip you to act in return we only
ask that you pay it forward by building a brand that impacts the world see you on the next one