Is Shopify Worth It in 2025? A Fractional CMO’s Take on Pros, Cons & Growth Potential

Shopify has long been the go-to ecommerce platform for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to establish an online store. With increasing competition from platforms like WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Squarespace, is Shopify worth it and still the best option in 2025? As a Fractional CMO who has worked with brands on ecommerce strategy, I’ll break down Shopify’s pros, cons, SEO capabilities, and real-world use cases to help you decide whether it’s the right platform for your business.

What is Shopify? A Quick Overview

Shopify is a cloud-based ecommerce platform. Shopify allows businesses to customize, create, and manage their online stores and sales channels. Rather than outsourcing all of your work to third-party apps, you can manage and develop your online stores through one platform.

Shopify provides web hosting, payment processing, and integrations to work with thousands of third-party apps. Working with a wide range of third-party apps means that business owners can manage product listings, take payments, and even improve the customer experience from a single platform.

Shopify is a popular platform, used by millions of businesses worldwide. Small startups and enterprise-level brands alike can see business growth through using Shopify, and can enjoy a wide range of advanced features from which to choose.

Shopify Pros and Cons

As is always the case, there are some pros and cons for business owners to consider when looking at Shopify for ecommerce needs. Shopify’s online stores have some advanced features available to recommend them over their competitors, as well as having some drawbacks to consider. I have gone over both in greater detail below.

Pros

• Ease of Use: Shopify boasts an intuitive dashboard, with no coding required, and fast store setup, even with a basic plan.
• Scalability: The platform grows with your business, from small stores to Shopify Plus, the higher-tier plan for enterprises.
• Multi-Channel Selling: Sell on your website, social media, Amazon, and even in-person with Shopify POS, one of the benefits of having an online business.
• Extensive App Marketplace: Shopify offers over 8,000 apps from the App Store for customization and added functionality. Shopify Academy also helps users understand how to leverage the platform effectively.
• Security & Reliability: Shopify is PCI-compliant, delivers automatic updates, and has built-in fraud protection.
• SEO & Marketing Tools: Shopify stores have basic SEO features for basic and higher-tier plans, abandoned cart recovery, and email marketing integrations.

Cons

• Transaction Fees: Shopify does require additional fees for using third-party payment gateways, making some product listings potentially out of reach for some customers–if external payment gateways are the only gateways available.
• App Dependency: Many advanced features of the platform require paid apps, incurring extra cost for business owners.
• Limited Customization: Shopify can be less flexible than open-source solutions like WooCommerce, which can incur additional costs and alter your necessary marketing strategy.
• Higher Costs Over Time: Shopify offers a monthly subscription and additional costs for apps, themes, and processing fees. Over time, these additional costs can quickly add up.

Further Reading: How Does Shopify Work? The Complete Beginner’s Guide

Shopify Pricing Plans: Which One is Right for You?

Plan	Monthly Cost	Credit Card Fees	Best For
Basic Shopify	$39	2.9% + 30¢	New businesses, solopreneurs
Shopify	$105	2.6% + 30¢	Growing businesses with higher sales
Advanced Shopify	$399	2.4% + 30¢	Large businesses with high transaction volume
Shopify Plus	Custom Pricing for Shopify Plus customers	Custom	Shopify Plus designed for Enterprise-level companies

Shopify Features Breakdown

From product descriptions to key features, and payment methods to gift card availability, I have put together a definitive guide regarding Shopify’s features and business model. All online marketplaces have their own unique SEO capabilities and important features, so let’s take a close look at Shopify and how Shopify compares to its competitors.

1. Website & Storefront Customization

Shopify has both free and paid themes available to customize your storefront. Whether you sell digital products or physical entities, your storefront is the face of your business, and customization options are invaluable. Larger businesses and smaller businesses alike need a user-friendly storefront.

To make it easy to work with Shopify, the platform has drag-and-drop editors. These editors make customization options easy, without the need to rope in additional features or even an advanced plan and significant product bundles. Instead, Shopify provides novices and established businesses with an easy-to-use shop creation tool.

That being said, there are limited deep customization options without some coding knowledge. If any of the available customizable templates do not meet your needs, you will need some technical expertise or technical skills.

Further Reading: The 15 Best Shopify Themes (Free & Premium) for eCommerce Success in 2025

2. Inventory & Order Management

Shopify has a comprehensive range of inventory tracking tools, to help keep real-time stock updates. By tracking inventory, you can always stay up to date on the content of your store, and make sure that your product listings are kept current.

Shopify also offers integration with third-party fulfillment services, which is a wonderful feature for any online business that also functions as a dropshipping business. Order management features can help keep shipping rates low, can help print on demand, and can make sure that all inventory locations are kept in the loop.

3. Payment Processing & Checkout

Payment processing can be difficult to manage, but Shopify makes it easy. When you use Shopify Payments, there are no extra transaction fees associated with payments, whether your customers use credit cards or debit cards.

Shopify also accepts PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, and other common external payment gateways accepting credit card payments and bank account payments. There may be options for payment through social media platforms, as well, for advanced plans. This is an ideal situation for businesses, as accepting a wide range of payments can help improve conversion rates.

Further helping with conversion rates is Shop Pay’s one-click checkout. By using Shop Pay, your customers can shop quickly and easily, reducing the likelihood of doubts or clicking away from your online business.

4. SEO & Marketing Tools

The SEO tools are key features of any Shopify store. Because SEO is essential for reaching your audience and can be implemented via your product descriptions and landing pages, having SEO tools can make a huge difference for your store. Shopify allows you to create customized meta titles and descriptions for your products, which are vital ecommerce tools.

Shopify offers automatic sitemap generation, lessening the need for additional features or additional considerations when you open your store. Sitemaps are necessary to rank well in organic search, so this is a must-have feature.

Shopify also offers a built-in blogging platform. While the blogging platform through Shopify is quite limited compared to WordPress, it is one of the additional features that can recommend it over its peers in the industry. Email marketing is another available feature to consider for marketing your custom products.

Ultimately, the flexible options associated with Shopify for both SEO and marketing set it a cut above the rest, with robust customer appreciation. Potential users looking for a multifaceted platform may enjoy the marketing features built in to Shopify’s platform.

Further Reading: Shopify SEO Checklist: 11+ SEO Tasks to Increase Store Sales without Paid Ads

5. Multi-Channel Selling

Shopify also allows multi-channel selling. Having a wide range of platforms through which to sell is a huge boon for online business owners. Shopify delivers in spades. Shopify users can take payments and sell on Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, and eBay, all of which can be found in the App Store and Play Store. This range of options provides a far larger customer base than some competitors.

Shopify also has POS availability for in-person sales. This is a business model not always available for ecommerce platforms, so this can be among the key features for businesses who offer both digital products and physical products. Inventory management can be particularly useful when you sell both online and in stores.

6. Shopify App Store

The Shopify App Store has over 8,000 apps for automation, analytics, and marketing. It may be more affordable in the higher-tier plans, as many of the apps require additional monthly fees. That being said, if you are interested in apps to streamline the process of creating your product descriptions, meeting your unique business model, or even generating and accepting gift cards, you may benefit from looking into one of these 8,000+ apps.

Further Reading: Shopify Apps: The Definitive 25 You Need to Know

Shopify vs. Competitors: How Does It Compare?

Platform	Best For	Pros	Cons
Shopify	Most businesses	Easy to use, scalable, multi-channel selling	Higher costs, app dependency
WooCommerce	Customization & flexibility	Fully customizable, low cost	Requires WordPress, steeper learning curve
BigCommerce	Large product catalogs	No transaction fees, built-in features	Fewer themes, can be complex
Wix Ecommerce	Small stores & beginners	Simple setup, drag-and-drop design	Limited scalability
Squarespace	Design-focused brands	Beautiful templates, built-in SEO	Limited ecommerce features

Who Should Use Shopify?

Shopify is not only for those who sell digital products. The platform has a wealth of options, many of them with low monthly costs, to meet the needs of business owners. Shopify is a useful option for people looking to sell on social media platforms, those with a dropshipping businesses, and even those looking to impress Google Analytics. As you evaluate the platform for your own needs, consider your own needs and the advanced analytics and offerings provided by your shopping platform.

To help determine whether or not Shopify is likely to suit your needs, I have identified the businesses most likely to benefit from Shopify’s range of products and those who may need to look elsewhere.

Shopify is Ideal For:

• Small & Medium Businesses looking for a quick, easy ecommerce setup. Drag and drop editing and customizable templates make Shopify a dream to work with for small and medium businesses needing essential tools and ease of use.
• Scaling Brands needing multi-channel selling & enterprise-level support. Selling across multiple channels can drive monthly costs sky-high, but Shopify provides this service at a value for business and commerce growth.
• Dropshippers who want easy integrations with suppliers like Printful and Oberlo. Print on demand businesses and drop shippers who need to keep a close eye on inventory locations and shipping rates may benefit from using Shopify.
• Brick-and-Mortar Stores that need an online store + POS integration. Even without a plethora of technical expertise, stores with physical locations can offer numerous payment methods and a comprehensive range of services, as well as robust content marketing tools.

Shopify Might Not Be Right If:

• You need complete customization & control (consider WooCommerce or Magento). Customization is limited without technical skills, so if you want a significant level of control over your storefront, you may need to select products and platforms better suited to your needs.
• You want lower ongoing costs (self-hosted platforms like WooCommerce can be cheaper). Costs can rise when you begin adding some of the apps available with more advanced tools for your business. Self-hosted platforms may offer some of the same tools–think cart recovery tools and SEO tools–without the higher price point.
• Your business relies heavily on blogging for SEO (WordPress is better for content-heavy sites). While Shopify SEO is certainly useful and does have some ecommerce tools to complement SEO tools, WordPress will deliver far more in the area of SEO tools and performance for content-driven businesses.

Further Reading: Is WordPress or Shopify Better for SEO? 7 Important Things to Consider

Conclusion: Is Shopify Worth It?

Shopify remains one of the best ecommerce platforms in 2025 due to its ease of use, scalability, and built-in sales tools. However, its costs can add up, and customization is limited compared to open-source alternatives whose native features favor creativity and customer input.

If you prioritize convenience, scalability, and a strong ecosystem, Shopify is a fantastic choice. If you need full control over your site and want to avoid recurring fees, platforms like WooCommerce may be a more convincing option to meet all of your needs, including keeping operating costs low.

Further Reading: Shopify Blogging: 17 Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Shopify Store

Next Steps

Thinking of starting a Shopify store? Make sure to optimize your setup for long-term growth with scalable plans and wise marketing features.

Do you also need help crafting a winning ecommerce strategy for your ecommerce business or physical store with content-driven strategies? Let’s connect!