Square Online Store vs Shopify - Which is the best ecommerce platform?

Square Online Store vs Shopify, which is the better option for building an ecommerce store?
If you want to try either of these two platforms for yourself, you can by clicking the links below:
Square → www.ecommerce-gold.com/square
Shopify → www.ecommerce-gold.com/shopify
These are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you sign up to either platform but this comes at no extra cost to you but helps me out a lot.
Well that is what we are looking at in this video and doing a somewhat deep dive into both Square and Shopify and comparing many of the important factors and you can see the timestamps for these below:
00:00 Intro
00:24 Pricing
02:28 Features
05:53 Themes
10:19 Support
11:33 Hosting
12:46 Getting Started
16:54 Inventory Management
23:15 Order Management
24:53 Final Thoughts
But I would recommend watching the whole video to really get a feel for what these two platforms offer.
I have also include a link to the full written comparison between these two platforms, which can be found on the EcommerceGold website:
www.ecommerce-gold.com/square-vs-shopify/
I really hope that you found this comparison helpful and if you did, a like would be awesome. Also, if you would like to support the channel, you can do so by buying me a coffee using the link below:
www.buymeacoffee.com/ecommercegold
We also have a Facebook Group where we discuss all things ecommerce and you are welcome to join: groups/ecommercegoldgroup

[@EcommerceGold]

You can try both Square (www.ecommerce-gold.com/square) and Shopify (www.ecommerce-gold.com/shopify) out for yourself, for free by clicking either of these links (and it helps me out a lot, so thank you)

[@abdillahrafi7992]

Another great video from Paul, thank you this is so helpful.

[@EcommerceGold]

Thank you and I'm glad it was helpful

[@Paulypics]

Thank you Paul, very insightful!

[@EcommerceGold]

No problem and I hope it was helpful.

[@marissaarmas4355]

This was a really helpful and well produced video! Thank you for making it! I'm about to start up a website for my small business and really didn't want to do all the research myself, haha, so thanks again!

[@EcommerceGold]

No problem and I'm glad it was helpful. Its my job to make it easier (hopefully) for you to start/run your own business.

[@mikemcminn6866]

Excellent Intro, Im sold... Nice presentation and demonstration...

[@EcommerceGold]

Thank you but I hope it was helpful.

[@danielgoldberg1371]

Yo man. You are surprisingly better than I thought you would be. Nice job.

[@EcommerceGold]

I think that is a compliment so thank you.

[@richardkelly19]

First time listening, interested in starting a small (very small) business... For now lol... Good info and thank you

[@EcommerceGold]

Thank you and I hope it was helpful. They all start small but who knows where it could go!

[@melaniemcquinn4660]

Nice videos, Paul, helpful. I had a square for farmer's market sales, but had started Shopify last year for expanding footprint. I boughta custom theme from affiliated out-of-the sandbox. Unfortunately, when Shopy upgraded to 2.0, they discontinued my theme, thus all my work went to waste. I cancelled Shopify to avoid losing all my invested work as a small farm business to sell online, and am now evaluating Square online as an alternative, since I already use Square. I agree terms and conditions needs to be added. I'm investigating online query option (which may not be present), because my nursery has so many categories (perennial/annual, medicinal/query...). I'm also curious if my branding and content belong to my company or to Square once posted. Don't want to lose my brand by posted to Square or any other platform. But also, want to insure stability of website once I've made such an investment in setting everything up-not losing all support because provider changes standards one day and throws out my website. As a small farm I cannot be rewriting my website and inventory at every whim of the web provider. We just don't have the tiome and resources to do this every few months, as experienced w Shopify.

[@EcommerceGold]

Thank you and I'm glad they are helpful. Would it not have been a better option to switch to one of the free 2.0 themes rather than cancelling your Shopify store? As this would have meant that you didn't lose everything, you would have just had to make some design changes. What do you mean by online query option? Your branding and content are your companies intellectual property but with the likes of Square and Shopify, you are renting a website off them and they can choose to cancel your subscription at any time if they feel that you have breached their t&c's.

[@sophiex2227]

Nice insight Paul! Thanks for your presentation! I am opening my new spa and is still at the stage of comparing which should go for. We would sell some related products in spa , which one you would recommend for spa business?

[@EcommerceGold]

No problem and hope it was helpful. Honestly, the type of business doesn't make much difference, it is more what features you need and which platform you find easier to use.

[@mrs.shartlesartroom]

Thank you for the comparison. Are there any ecommerce sites that include the terms & conditions page? Can you add one in either of these sites?

[@EcommerceGold]

Some platforms include templates that can be edited and Shopify is one of these. Yes, you can add a terms and conditions page to both as they both allow you to create site pages.

[@angieg0nzalez]

Very informative thank you. I currently use Shopify. I’m having trouble with inventory when it comes to selling in person. I use square pos and have to go in and manually update inventory after events. Do you have a better suggestion? TIA

[@EcommerceGold]

Thank you, there are apps you can get that allow you to sync inventory between the two but I haven't tried them personally.

[@DavidLynott-bo5em]

Hey Angie I am wondering who you chose as well as I have a Shopify website. Do you recommend just going with Shopify pos system what did you end up doing to resolve this issue?

[@thehomesteadchallenge]

Hello! I am researching for a company that already uses the Square POS for bar sales. We currently have a separate retail operation (brick and mortar and woo commerce). We are looking to move away from woocommerce on our wordpress site and have been looking at both Shopify and Square. SInce we already pay for square for the bar, can we just add the retail to it and create the online store? Would there be any way of separating the two for financial reporting even though they are on the same square account? Thank you! This video was very helpful!

[@EcommerceGold]

No problem and I'm glad it was helpful. Yes, you should just be able to add the online store to your existing account as for the separate reports, you may be able to but it would be worth asking them directly as the POS isn't something I know much about.

[@jermichaelmccallie3581]

I have a square operating in my store now but I have a Shopify website. Is there anyway I can integrate them so inventory on my Shopify website would be able to be tracked on the square pos? Or would I have to change my square pos to a Shopify pos system ?

[@EcommerceGold]

There are apps you can get to sync between the two such as Skuiq or autosync but they are both paid options.

[@innovacocreative952]

Which site is better for blog as a supplement to digital product sales? I am trying to figure out more ways to drive organic traffic to my store. Not currently advertising and only using Pinterest to drive traffic now and it's slow growing.

[@EcommerceGold]

Out of the box, I would give the edge to Square as you can add sections to the page (they call them stories instead of blogs), which allows for more custom looking pages. But Shopify does always have the option of installing apps, which can add similar functionality, which you would need for digital products anyway.

[@innovacocreative952]

@@EcommerceGold thank you!

[@raylang2996]

Hello Paul. Thanks for your most helpful videos. I currently have a WordPress website and am using Square and PayPal for purchases. Lately the Square payments have gotten buggy; not sending notices of sales, etc,. No problems whatsoever with PayPal. So I am giving serious thought to using Shopify Lite for my primary payment processor but I would like to keep PayPal. Is this doable? Thank you for your response. Ray.

[@EcommerceGold]

Hi Ray, no problem and I'm glad they are helpful. Shopify lite isn't a payment processor, it is a version of Shopify that lets you add a checkout to your WordPress site, this video shows how it works kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYm4e4ONidV4aZo. What is your set-up for ecommerce on your WordPress site, are you using WooCommerce or something else?

[@raylang2996]

@@EcommerceGold I am using wool commerce.

[@EcommerceGold]

Are you sure it is Square itself being buggy or an issue with the plugin? You could also consider Stripe for credit card payments.

[@mariahcadena-ortiz8774]

What do you think about Wix?

[@EcommerceGold]

Not a fan, I will be doing a review soon.

[@jamesgfg6043]

Does Square Online charge additional transaction fees for PayPal?

[@EcommerceGold]

No, you just need to be on one of the plans that allows you to use PayPal

[@Plank8]

👍

[@EcommerceGold]

Thank you :)

[@ajcart]

Square uses stripe

[@EcommerceGold]

I don't think so