Shopify UK Review
Fast online stores & converting checkouts99.9% uptime globally during sales events
10K+ checkouts & no transaction limits
Resilient app: 1000s of service partners
100+ product updates every 6 months
Pros & Cons
- Getting started is super easy and fast
- Data encryption, fraud and bot protection
- Shipping integrations with major vendors is easy
- Certified Level 1 PCI compliant
- Not a multi-lingual platform
- Difficult customizations
Plans & Pricing
Basic
Perfect for solo entrepreneurs, the Basic plan is priced at £19 per month (billed annually) and offers a comprehensive starter package. With card rates starting at 2% + 25p GBP for online transactions, 1.7% + 0p GBP for in-person transactions, and 2% for third-party payment providers, this plan is ideal for smaller businesses. Key features include 10 inventory locations, 24/7 chat support, localised global selling in up to 3 markets, and access to POS Lite. Try it for £1 for the first month.
Shopify
Designed for small teams, the Shopify plan costs £49 per month (billed annually) and provides expanded capabilities. Card rates start at 1.7% + 25p GBP for online transactions, 1.6% + 0p GBP in person, and 1% for third-party payment providers. This plan includes 10 inventory locations, 24/7 chat support, localised global selling in 3 markets, and 5 additional staff accounts, along with POS Lite. Get started with £1 for the first month.
Advanced
Ideal for scaling businesses, the Advanced plan is priced at £259 per month (billed annually). Card rates start at 1.5% + 25p GBP for online transactions, 1.5% + 0p GBP in person, and 0.6% for third-party payment providers. This plan offers advanced features such as custom reports and analytics, 10 inventory locations, enhanced 24/7 chat support, and localised global selling in 3 markets. It also includes 15 additional staff accounts, 10x checkout capacity, and POS Lite. Try it for £1 for the first month.
Overview
Shopify is a leading commerce platform that empowers businesses of all sizes to start, grow, and manage their stores. With a user-friendly, all-in-one solution, Shopify simplifies everything from setting up your website to handling secure transactions, marketing, and shipping. Trusted by millions of users in over 175 countries, Shopify offers a flexible and reliable infrastructure that supports your business across multiple channels, whether online, in-store, or on mobile.
With Shopify, you can choose from a variety of free, customisable templates to create a professional website that aligns with your brand. The platform is built for speed, security, and flexibility, allowing you to adapt your store to meet customer needs. For added peace of mind, Shopify provides 24/7 support, ensuring you have access to assistance whenever you need it.
Whether you’re a new entrepreneur or an established business, Shopify’s comprehensive suite of tools, scalable features, and dependable support make it an excellent choice for building a successful retail business.
Features & Functionality
Drag-and-Drop Website Builder
Choose from over 70 professional, free store templates and customise colours, imagery, and fonts effortlessly. With Shopify’s intuitive drag-and-drop builder, you don’t need any design skills to create a beautiful storefront. More templates are available but may incur an additional cost.
Online Store Editor
Easily build your eCommerce site by selecting from a range of themes, allowing you to create a unique and professional shopping experience without any coding.
Hydrogen & Oxygen
For advanced users, Shopify offers Hydrogen for building headless storefronts and Oxygen for global deployment—ideal for developers seeking greater control over design and functionality.
Shopify Checkout
Optimise your checkout process with Shopify’s fast, secure, and reliable system designed to maximise conversions and handle high traffic smoothly.
Shopify Shipping
Manage your shipping in one place with Shopify’s integrated shipping solution, which offers fast and cost-effective options for sending orders.
Shopify POS
Connect your online and in-person sales with Shopify POS, allowing you to manage transactions across all sales channels seamlessly.
Free Themes
Get started quickly with Shopify’s selection of free themes tailored to various industries, providing a customisable foundation for your online store.
Paid Themes
For enhanced customisation and a more polished look, Shopify offers premium themes that provide greater flexibility and a richer customer experience.
Shopify Theme Store
Access a wide variety of free and paid themes designed by professionals, giving you plenty of options to find the right fit for your store.
Custom Storefronts
Design a storefront that resonates with your brand, enhances customer loyalty, and boosts sales through Shopify’s customisable options.
Metafields
Store custom structured information about products, collections, and more with Metafields, providing flexibility to tailor your store’s data.
Liquid
Utilise Shopify’s open-source programming language, Liquid, to customise your store’s appearance and functionality or to integrate additional microservices.
Shopify App Store
Explore the Shopify App Store for free and paid plugins to expand your store’s functionality, enhance marketing efforts, and streamline operations.
Design & Templates
Shopify provides over 200 professionally designed, sales-optimised themes, allowing you to create a visually appealing and effective online store. Each theme is optimised to enhance the shopping experience and drive conversions, giving you a strong starting point. With Shopify’s intuitive drag-and-drop visual editor, you can easily customise colours, fonts, imagery, and layouts—no design experience required.
For those who want even more control, Shopify also supports custom designs and headless commerce setups, enabling you to use your own tech stack and APIs for a fully tailored experience.
Shopify’s AI tools further simplify the content creation process by generating store headlines, product descriptions, chat replies, and blog posts, so you can keep your store engaging and up-to-date without needing to write everything from scratch. Whether you’re looking for a quick, professional setup or a fully customised design, Shopify’s design and template options make it easy to build a store that fits your brand.
Ease of Use
You don’t need any coding knowledge to build your store, as Shopify is designed to be user-friendly. It features an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to get started.
As a popular eCommerce platform, Shopify has established a professional customer support system. A comprehensive manual is available on their site, answering many of the questions you might have. There is also a forum where you can interact with other eCommerce store owners and developers. Shopify’s agents are available 24/7 via live chat, email, or phone should you wish to contact them directly.
Customer Support
Shopify offers a range of support options to help you manage your store effectively. For quick assistance, you can chat directly with Shopify’s AI chatbot, available 24/7, where you can ask questions and receive instant guidance. If you need to speak with a human agent, simply type that you’d like to “speak with a human,” and the bot will transfer you to a support specialist.
To access your account before reaching out, go to accounts.shopify.com to log in. Once logged in, you can head to the Shopify Help Centre at help.shopify.com to find further support options. In addition to chat support, Shopify provides a comprehensive Help Centre, a community forum for discussions with other users, and a thorough FAQ section to address common questions.
Please note that Shopify does not offer phone or email support, but the Help Centre and community resources provide valuable insights and answers. Whether you’re troubleshooting or looking for tips to grow your store, Shopify’s support channels are designed to provide you with the help you need.
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24/7 Help & Support
The Shopify support team is available 24/7 by live chat. -
Live Online Chat
You can chat directly with Shopify support 24/7. -
Video Tutorials
There are visual guides available as well as many video tutorials. There are also webinars. -
FAQ
The FAQ comes in the form of questions & solutions. -
Community Forum
There are many different forums available. -
Blog
There is a large blog available with many useful articles.
Final Word
With Shopify, you have an all-in-one platform designed to make starting, running, and growing your business easier, whether you’re just launching or scaling an established brand. Trusted by millions of users in over 175 countries, Shopify provides the essential infrastructure to manage all aspects of your business, from payments and marketing to secure transactions and shipping. With customisable, free templates, you can create a professional store quickly, even without design experience.
Shopify is built for reliability, security, and flexibility, offering 24/7 support so you’re never left on your own. Their dedicated support team is always on hand to help you troubleshoot, set up new features, or provide guidance, allowing you to focus on growing your business. Shopify supports you across all sales channels, from online to in-store, making it easy to reach customers wherever they prefer to shop.
Whether you’re a small business or a growing brand, Shopify’s user-friendly tools, robust security, and round-the-clock support make it an ideal partner for businesses looking to expand with confidence.