Last updated on February 13th, 2024 at 10:20 am
In today’s guide, you will find the best Shopify alternatives in South Africa. Read through to understand why they are the best options for you and your online business.
Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms on the market globally that help people create their very own online store. It is one of the best online store builders in South Africa.
At the same time, it is an excellent solution for growing and already established online businesses. It allows you to sell products directly on your website.
Shopify outperforms the majority of its competitors because of the following:
- Dedicated support 24/7: Shopify has an incredible certified support team available to you always. They help you in case you’re having technical issues.
- Assistance running your store: Every business owner aims to see their sales soar. Shopify provides eCommerce platforms that take care of your administrative tasks and business advice. It will also take care of your transaction processing time. As a business owner, you only focus on your business.
- SEO and Marketing tools: Shopify has powerful SEO features that will help your website rank higher and result in customers finding you. It also gives you marketing tools such as social media integration, email marketing, product reviews, and language translation.
- Large inventory management: Shopify has a variety of inventory management apps and integrations. This ensures the smooth running of all processes.
- Payment options: Shopify allows online store owners to use different payment options.
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Why Should You Switch from Shopify in South Africa?
However, these Shopify benefits come at a price. It has three pricing plans with a basic plan starting from $29 per month.
Despite Shopify being one of the best website builders in South Africa, it doesn’t mean it’s the perfect platform for all businesses and everyone’s go-to.
At this point, you might be wondering, do I really need a website builder for my business?
Well, the answer is yes.
See, for your business to be able to reach huge target clients you need a website. Website builder in South Africa is a tool that allows you to create websites.
Shopify itself is a website builder.
Many of Shopify’s competitors offer a free plan and trials a more reason to check them out. People are opting to use Shopify alternatives since they’re similar in terms of the key features and benefits and mostly because they’re :
- Easy to use
Shopify requires high coding and design skills. For you to be able to use Shopify, you require technical abilities. It has a steep learning curve and users find it over-complicated. Many Shopify alternatives are easy to use.
- Cheaper
Shopify is very expensive. No matter which pricing plan you choose, you will end up paying additional transaction fees and payment processing. It does not offer a free plan like most of its competitors.
- Own and control data
Shopify does not always allow you to own or control your data. If you decide to migrate to a different platform, you’ll follow certain steps to transfer your data. This might take a while. In Shopify alternatives, you always own and control your data. There is no restriction when you decide to migrate to another platform.
Who wouldn’t want that? Well, in this article we’ll share some Shopify alternatives in South Africa that might be better for your business.
8 Best Shopify Alternatives In South Africa
#1. OLITT
OLITT is the best online store builder that hands you a ton of great features to succeed online. It comes with drag and drops technology which empowers you to design a website of your choice.
OLITT should be your number one alternative for Shopify because, unlike other website builders, it allows you to connect the custom domain even if you’re using OLITT’s free plan. All websites created using OLITT load faster, thus giving you a higher search engine ranking.
Learn more about OLITT Online Shop.
#2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a popular open-source eCommerce platform built on WordPress. It allows any WordPress user to establish a business online for completely free, however, it has optional extensions which are paid for to increase functionality.
With WooCommerce, there is no restriction, you own and control your data always so if you decide to migrate to a different platform, you have your data.
On the flip side, Shopify does not give you complete control over your store.
WooCommerce allows you to build your database and customize the site to fit both your needs and that of your customers.
#3. Wix
Wix is a website-building platform popularly known for its drag and drop website editor that offers users HTML5 capabilities. It’s perfect for both business websites and personal portfolios as it has custom designs and tools to create anything you want.
Wix eCommerce is beginner-friendly and scalable. It allows for selling anything. However, Wix is perfect for small online stores but not for larger businesses. Wix offers an entirely free plan while Shopify offers a 14-day free trial.
#4. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a software as a service eCommerce platform that allows business owners to establish online stores that want a powerful solution because it is a more established and reliable platform.
BigCommerce allows unlimited product listings. With all the tools, tons of features, and technology, big commerce is suitable for growing and already established online businesses.
BigCommerce has no transaction fees on any of its pricing plans. Shopify charges between 2% and 0.5% depending on the pricing plan you choose. Both Shopify and BigCommerce offer powerful solutions but BigCommerce is more equipped to handle larger scale cross-channel growth.
BigCommerce comes with built-in features so no need of installing other apps. Shopify you would have to install a separate app which is additional charges.
#5. WordPress
WordPress is an extremely popular website creation tool that can be used to host and freely build any kind of website. It allows customizing any website to fit your online store. WordPress has an integrated statistics system that gives insight into website visitors.
#6. Squarespace
Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder designed to help users build their websites regardless of their technical ability. Despite beginning as a non-commerce platform, they have managed to get into the world of online commerce.
It has customization tools and templates that help you create a professional website. Squarespace has better flexibility and more SEO tools than Shopify. Shopify allows you to bring WordPress, BlogSpot, or Tumblr with their tool but with Shopify, you’ll need to use a paid app.
When you compare website design in Squarespace and Spotify, Squarespace is better because it was built with a focus on content first. Squarespace is more suitable for small inventors and online creators.
#7. GoDaddy
Godaddy is an all-in-one solution provider offering services such as web hosting, website builder, and search engine optimization. Godaddy allows you to create a website for free. It comes along with free web hosting and a free domain name.
With GoDaddy, you don’t need to create your website from scratch. Templates are already provided you only need to edit them.it has advanced security features to protect your website from malicious files and codes.
#8. Ecwid
Ecwid is a tool for building your online store. It allows you to add an online store to an existing website or online presence. It has many design themes optimized for a variety of industries, all ready to use with a single click.
Ecwid has a certified service provider which ensures all payment and transaction data is secure.
In Conclusion
Online store builders are tools that help you create websites. These platforms are the most convenient platforms to reach your clients. As we have seen above there are quite a several Shopify alternatives in South Africa worth checking out.
Besides having many website builders to select from, it is difficult to find one that fits all your solutions.
As such, choose one that closely aligns with your needs and budget.
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