Shopify vs Shopline: Which is the best platform in 2021?
Sky-high rents affects many businesses in Hong Kong and owners are starting to look for alternatives to reach new markets by embracing the digital world and increasingly moving their businesses online and instead adopting a more affordable co-working space strategy.
With popular E-commerce platforms like Shopify and Shopline shifting the waves of shopping, opening an online store has never been easier, but choosing the right platform that is best suited for your market is not as easy as most anticipate, therefore, here is a quick guide for you to understand which platform has the best functions for running an online business in Hong Kong and how you can create your space and market to attract consumers using these platforms.
Credit: https://shoplineapp.com/
SHOPLINE
Shopline is Asia’s biggest E-commerce store, where thousands of entrepreneurs share a mutual platform to sell their products and services. Over the past few years, it has emerged as one of the most popular online platforms within Asia, encouraging affordable shopping and providing over 200,000 sellers with a customized and organized online store.
Credit: https://shopifycom/
SHOPIFY
Shopify is a Canadian international e-commerce platform with their primary market being in the US, UK and Canada. The company reported that more than 1,000,000 businesses are operational on Shopify, making it one of the leading e-commerce platforms in the world.
Both platforms are extremely popular, but choosing the right platform for your market is not so straight forward. Your target customers are unique and without the right functions, logistic and payment options suited to the preferences of your consumer, it will be difficult to have an edge over your competitors.
- Pricing plan
Both platforms offer a convenient free trial to their sellers who are looking to build an online store and want to try out the service.
After the trial period, both Shopify and Shopline offer different price plans suited for small stores to large sophisticated e-commerce brands, however, Shopline’s price plan is more affordable, ranging from $29-148USD, whereas Shopify ranges from $29-299USD with the priciest plans offering more functions and storage space.
- Transaction charges
The transaction charges for Shopline are free regardless of the plan, which makes it more convenient for sellers.
Shopify however has standard charges for each transaction that varies from 3.1 – 3.9% depending on the plan you choose.
- Language
Both of the platforms are globally known, so the language preferences are usually in English, but since Shopline’s dominant market lies in Asia, it has a very useful bilingual platform where both Chinese and English languages are available for users.
This has helped Shopline to build a large following throughout Asia, since people who prefer Chinese as their main language in Hong Kong and Asian regions can use the system to its full potential.
Although Shopify’s market prioritizes US, UK and Canada, their FAQS, support, admin panel also support multi-languages, but not as comprehensive as Shopline, with some areas only supporting English.
- Marketing Tools
Both platforms have a wide range of tools that enable its customers to grow their store.
Standard tools like free coupons, discounts, limited time offers, promo codes, free delivery are available within Shopline, the platform has also partnered with Google to enable users to boost their online store through google search and platforms.
Shopify, being a market leader in the e-commerce space, also has a wide range of tools to enable customers to boost their website and attract customers. Along with the free delivery options, promo codes, flash sales and other discounts, Shopify has also acquired a system called Kit CRM which is a virtual assistant to help further boost sales and handle marketing tasks.
Although the system costs an extra $10USD per month, with Kit CRM by its side, Shopify has a distinct advantage – the virtual assistant can help store owners with many tasks, including sending standard emails to customers, running Ads on Facebook and Google and advising them with useful marketing advice.
- Design and customization
Both Shopify and Shopline have all the necessary tools and features needed by the seller to set up their stores – including a range of ready made design templates to choose from and with an option to further customize the template to suit your brand.
What sets Shopify apart though, is the wide range of design options available from the Shopify template page, as well as many other designs from designers and developers that you can choose to purchase from.
The customization area is also more sophisticated on Shopify, enabling brands or even small owners to modify the store to fit their business needs and with Shopify having such a large customer base, forums and knowledgebase are also widely available online for further support.
- Customer service
Good customer service has been a seed of growth to Shopline, with a base in Hong Kong, the one feature that sets them apart is that contacting Shopline is not only convenient and responsive, but they will also understand your local market.
Shopify also has a great customer care system with email, live chat and call support. The platform also provides a great knowledgebase for general enquiries and support.
Both platforms work actively towards a viable customer service since it is the main determent of their growth.
- Logistics and payment
Since Shopify’s prominent market lies in the US and UK, collaboration with UPS, FedEx, and USPS has been well established on the platform, Shopify has also partnered with Amazon, Shipwire, and Rakuten.
If your target market is mainly Hong Kong and Asian regions, Shopline is the clear choice. Local payment gateways like Payme, Alipay are available for integration and local logistical integrations are also available with 7-11, and self-pickup options easily set up through the Shopline platform.
If you choose to target international customers, Shopline does also support this with Paypal, Google Pay and other major credit card gateways.
Final words
Shopify and Shopline are both great options to getting your business online and with an ever growing need for businesses to go online, both platforms will be constantly improving with new features and functions to help your boost your business. We hope from the comparison, you can choose the right platform that is best suited to your target market!
