Squarespace vs. Shopify for E-Commerce: Which is Right for Your Business?
It’s the ever-evolving debate amongst the creative community and retailers alike: should you build your website on Squarespace or Shopify for e-commerce?
As a studio that builds custom websites on both Squarespace (like our own website!) and Shopify, we’ve had the unique opportunity to learn the ins and outs of both platforms, test their weak spots and truly see how powerful both platforms are – when used correctly depending on a business’s goals. So, what’s our take?
Our studio believes that Squarespace is the best website platform for service providers who also may sell a small number of SKUs (<30), and we believe that Shopify is the best website platform for commerce brands who have a large number of SKUs or variants, plan to scale and desire an in-depth analytics dashboard.
Now, let’s dive into three key areas for Squarespace vs. Shopify more in depth: each platform’s backend, design capabilities and analytics availability.
Squarespace vs. Shopify: Platform Backend Comparison
It’s difficult to compare Squarespace vs. Shopify’s backend setup, because the platforms are so markedly different. In our experience, Squarespace’s backend interface is much more intuitive – upon login, users are redirected into their website’s simple backend interface, which includes the Squarespace editor view along with quick access to Pages, Design, Commerce, Marketing, Analytics and more.
Shopify’s backend view is less intuitive and may involve a bit of a learning curve for new users who are more accustomed to Squarespace or Wix. Upon login users are redirected into a backend dashboard that includes news updates from Shopify along with quick links to Orders, Products, Analytics, Apps and more. To make design changes, users must access a separate Themes area of the backend to update the look and feel of their website.
Squarespace vs. Shopify: Design Capabilities Comparison
When it comes to design capabilities, there has been a lot of chatter in the creative business community about how Shopify isn’t inherently design-friendly. We’re here to debunk that! With the recent release of Shopify Online Store 2.0, Shopify stores are now more modular and customizable than ever before. But before we dive into those details, let’s take a moment to compare Shopify vs. Squarespace in terms of design capabilities.
Squarespace is the best website platform for businesses and retailers who may have a small number of SKUs and also don’t have the time or budget to invest in implementing custom code into their website. Squarespace offers beautiful, easy-to-customize website templates that look professional and are launch-ready in just a few clicks. Our studio custom develops and codes all Squarespace websites, but we also acknowledge that Squarespace websites can also look beautiful without a single line of custom code!
On the other hand, Shopify is the best website platform for businesses and retailers who are seeking a custom website experience and also may be open to further customizing their website design with custom code. Shopify offers an array of fully customizable website templates in its Theme Store, but to tailor a store to each individual business’s needs, custom code or apps are typically needed to meet these goals. For new Shopify users, we highly recommend the free Dawn theme, which is the new standard as a part of Shopify Online Store 2.0.
Squarespace vs. Shopify: Analytics Comparison
In our studio’s opinion, the biggest point of differentiation between Squarespace vs. Shopify is each platform’s approach to e-commerce analytics. While Squarespace has certainly made big strides in improving its reporting metrics in the last few years, Shopify’s analytics dashboard is still superior.
Currently, Squarespace’s analytics dashboard pulls e-commerce data for Sales By Product, Purchase Funnels and Abandoned Carts along with website-wide data for overall sales, traffic, geographic location for website visitors and more. Shopify’s analytics dashboard is much more robust, featuring real-time reporting for specific products, customer acquisition, customer behavior reports and more.
Still wondering if Squarespace or Shopify is the best website platform for your business?
We’re here to help! Since 2017 our studio has designed and developed custom Squarespace and Shopify websites for our clients, and we love consulting business owners on their needs and recommending a website platform based on their goals. Reach out to request a consultation for your own website and we’ll be in touch soon.