Is switching to Shopify the right move for a growing e-commerce business?

[bigwillie]

Back in 2011(ish) I became a Shopify partner. I worked with a few agencies, and was also making a reliable passive income from partner referrals. This allowed me to work on other things.

However, Shopify moved the goal posts - placing new conditions on the commission. Bring a new customer to Shopify every six months or lose ALL commission. Moving the goal posts annoyed me, and I vowed to never build a Shopify site ever again.

Fast forward, my sister’s e-commerce site is growing, and she’s eyeing Shopify to expand. Her current site is super cheap to run (I built it). Shopify is going to cost more - but if it frees up my time, it might be worth it.

Shopify has changed a lot - the api's look good now. I have a few must-haves before we jump ship:

1. My sister offers promotional deals, such as four items for £10. These items can be spread across categories (collections) and tags. It appears possible to implement this through a custom (previously private) app using Shopify Functions. However, does she need a Shopify Pro plan to enable this functionality.
2. In the past, offering a flat 10% discount to selected customers required complex workarounds with discount codes. I've noticed that Shopify now supports cart-wide discounts without the need for a discount code. Is this feature exclusive to the Shopify Pro tier?
3. Given the high value of her current subscription base—five subscribers each spending approximately £500 monthly—I'm in search of a subscription plugin. The ideal solution would be cost-effective for a small subscriber count while offering scalability. Currently, she's hesitant to expand her subscription offerings due to the intensive management they require, along with a reluctance to hire additional help.
4. My sister's business integrates with various third-party applications. I've developed a desktop application using Electron to streamline product selection and stock updates. I assume Shopify's API still supports the integration with custom desktop applications, enabling us to maintain this efficient workflow without the need for hosting.
5. Her current site integrates with Ebay. What are the options for ebay?

Thanks.  I want to make sure Shopify can handle these needs without breaking the bank or making things too complicated.

As I write this - my sister has discovered https://apps.shopify.com/every-possible-discount - will this address 1 and 2?

[Xipirons]

Hi there,

It's great to hear you're considering moving your sister's e-commerce site to Shopify, there's so much you can do with Shopify these days .

Let me address your questions and concerns:

1. Promotional deals across categories/tags:
   Shopify does allow creating complex discount rules without needing the Pro plan. The "Every Possible Discount" app you found should be able to handle your 4 for £10 type promotions across collections and tags. Many other discount apps provide similar functionality on regular Shopify plans too.
2. Cart-wide discounts for selected customers:
   Shopify now has native functionality to create automatic discounts that apply to the entire cart, without needing discount codes. This is available on all plans, not just Shopify Plus. So you can easily set up a 10% off cart-wide discount for specific customer groups.
3. Subscriptions:
   There are several good subscription apps that integrate with Shopify, like ReCharge, Bold Subscriptions, Seal Subscriptions, etc. Most have pricing tiers based on your sales volume, so you can start small and scale up as needed. These automate the subscription management process to reduce the manual work.
4. Custom integrations:
   Shopify has robust APIs that allow integrating with custom apps, including desktop apps built with Electron. So you can maintain your streamlined product and inventory workflows. The APIs are available on all plans.
5. eBay integration:
   Shopify has a direct eBay integration as a sales channel. There are also many eBay sync apps available if you need more customization of the integration. So syncing products and orders with eBay is definitely possible.

Overall, Shopify should be able to handle your key requirements without needing the enterprise-level Shopify Plus plan in most cases.

The app ecosystem provides a lot of flexibility to customize functionality.

The "Every Possible Discount" app looks promising for your discount needs based on the description.

I'd recommend testing it out, along with some subscription apps, to confirm they work for your specific use cases before fully migrating.

Shopify's core features have definitely evolved over the years to make complex setups easier without as many app workarounds.

The APIs are also much more extensive now for custom integrations.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[bigwillie]

I have cracked on - I see bulk delete still fails like it did 10+ years ago... so I've knocked up a little script to wipe the store, and another script to handle bulk meta-fields import. Shifting thousands of products over in no time. Will make her a little desktop app to manage this. Skinning the site was easy peasy. Have 1 day left of trial - hope to be done before then.

Might even knock up a discount app - I guess it depends if Shopify allow it... I tried to launch an app years ago and they said no cos it competed with an existing one.

[Xipirons]

Hi @bigwillie 

Sounds like you're making great progress on the Shopify migration! Scripting the bulk operations and building custom tools will streamline the process. Shopify is more open to custom apps now 🙂 so developing a tailored discount app is a good idea if existing ones don't quite fit.

Keep up the efficient work !

[bigwillie]

From what I've read - to make a custom app that can handle the build discounts, I gotta pay shopify £2k for pro... that is not happening... I don't really want to build an app for the store - as supporting it will be a time sink.