In today’s digital marketplace, having a unique eCommerce system is crucial for businesses to differentiate themselves. Shopify, like several eCommerce platforms, provides companies with a flexible “sandbox” for creating a unique online presence, beyond the basic templates. This customization is made possible by Shopify Liquid, a templating language for developers. This discussion explores Shopify Liquid’s features, highlighting how it can elevate the eCommerce business.

What Is Shopify Liquid?

Shopify Liquid is a templating language that helps online stores show changing content on their pages. It connects the store’s data to what customers see. With Liquid, companies can make shopping feel personal, run their stores more smoothly, and increase sales.

While Liquid can help with smoother store operations through better content management, it’s not directly responsible for running the store itself. Although it can enhance the shopping experience, leading potentially to more sales, it doesn’t guarantee increased revenue. It’s a tool that, when used effectively, can contribute to a store’s overall success strategy.

Understanding the Basics of Shopify Liquid

Before diving into the basics of Shopify Liquid, it’s important to know the definitions of it. Liquid is a templating language created to safely generate and show changing content on websites. Liquid offers tools like tags and filters that help businesses manage and present their store’s information effectively.

Liquid Tags

Liquid tags are essential components in Shopify’s templating system, allowing businesses to direct their website’s structure. They execute a range of functions, from looping through data to displaying content conditionally. Key tags include:

• {% for %}/{% endfor %}: These tags loop through lists or groups of items.
• {% if %}/{% elsif %}/{% else %}/{% endif %}: These are used for making decisions in the code, showing different content based on certain conditions.
• {% assign %}: This tag is for setting up variables that can be used throughout the template.

These tags help in organizing and presenting the store’s data in a way that aligns with the company’s branding and customer engagement strategies

Liquid Objects and Filters

Shopify Liquid grants companies the ability to interact with different store components, like products, collections, and customer profiles. These components have attributes and actions that help in accessing and adjusting store information1.

In contrast, filters in Liquid are applied to change how objects or variables appear. They’re used for various functions, such as altering text format, organizing dates, and calculating figures. For instance, the | upcase filter transforms text to uppercase, and the | money filter arranges a figure to reflect the store’s currency preferences

Liquid Code Snippets

Shopify Liquid offers a feature for using code snippets—small, reusable code blocks that can be integrated across various templates. This functionality encourages a modular approach to coding and simplifies the process of maintaining and updating the design of the online store

Benefits of Using Shopify Liquid for eCommerce Businesses

Shopify Liquid is a valuable tool for eCommerce companies, offering several advantages:

1. Customization: It allows companies to personalize their online store, ensuring it showcases their brand through specially designed product pages, collections, and checkout experiences.
2. Dynamic Content: Liquid automatically refreshes store content based on customer actions, inventory changes, and current sales, making sure shoppers always see relevant information.
3. User Experience: The language aids in creating a pleasant and easy shopping environment, complete with custom recommendations and efficient navigation, which can boost customer happiness and increase purchases.
4. Growth: With Liquid, companies can easily introduce new features and integrate apps, allowing their store to grow while keeping its distinctive style.
5. Efficiency: Using Liquid helps save time and resources in updating the store, which means companies can spend less on upkeep and more on expanding their business.

These benefits make Shopify Liquid an essential part of building a successful online store that stands out and operates efficiently.

Advanced Techniques and Tips for Using Shopify Liquid

Exploring Shopify Liquid’s advanced features can greatly enhance an eCommerce platform:

1. Variables and Scope: Liquid variables store and modify data within templates. Understanding how to use these variables across different templates is vital for creating dynamic store features.
2. Operators: Liquid includes operators for math, comparisons, and logical decisions. These are key for developing intelligent, complex templates.
3. Loops and Iterations: Using loops, companies can manage and display groups of data, like product arrays or customer orders. Liquid provides various loop options for data handling.
4. Includes and Snippets: Code reusability is made easy with Liquid’s includes and snippets, helping to keep templates organized and easy to update.
5. Extensions and Apps: Shopify’s wide range of apps and extensions, compatible with Liquid, allows for enhanced store functionality and unique customer experiences.
6. Debugging and Testing: As Liquid usage grows, so does the need for debugging and testing. Shopify has tools to help identify and fix template issues, ensuring a seamless operation.

These advanced Liquid features support businesses in creating a more robust and personalized online shopping environment.

Troubleshooting Common Issues in Shopify Liquid

Shopify Liquid’s versatility in tailoring online stores is unmatched, yet it comes with its set of challenges:

1. Code Syntax Precision: Liquid’s coding requires meticulous attention to detail. Any small syntax error can disrupt the functioning of a template. It’s crucial for businesses to thoroughly inspect their code for any omissions, misalignments, or typing mistakes. The theme editor provided by Shopify is an excellent resource for detecting and fixing these errors.
2. Template Display Dilemmas: If a business’s templates are not displaying correctly, it may be due to interference with other Liquid scripts or third-party applications. It’s important to identify the specific section causing trouble and utilize Shopify’s diagnostic tools to find the solution.
3. Speed Snags: Complex or poorly written Liquid scripts can slow down a website, causing longer load times. Businesses should refine their scripts by eliminating unnecessary repetitions, caching data that is accessed often, and implementing Shopify’s recommended performance enhancement strategies.
4. Keeping Up to Date: Shopify frequently updates its platform and the Liquid language. Businesses need to ensure their Liquid scripts are up to date with Shopify’s latest releases, replacing any outdated tags or functionalities.
5. App Synchronization: When adding third-party apps to a Shopify store, companies must verify that the app’s Liquid scripts are compatible with their existing setup. Comprehensive testing and consulting the app’s documentation or support can help avoid integration issues.

By following these straightforward strategies, companies can enjoy a more seamless and efficient use of Shopify Liquid. Businesses need to stay updated and proactive to tackle these typical challenges effectively.

Final words

Shopify Liquid is a transformative tool for eCommerce companies, providing exceptional flexibility to tailor online stores. Mastery of this language enables a business to design distinctive and captivating shopping environments that align with customer preferences and distinguish the company’s brand in the marketplace. 

Need help with building an eCommerce system with Shopify? Contact SECOMM now!

Welcome to the final installment of our three-part series on brands that have successfully embraced international expansion with Shopify Plus. In the previous parts, we explored the journeys of ten dynamic brands that leveraged Shopify Plus to navigate the complexities of global growth. In this concluding chapter, we turn our attention to five more outstanding brands: Ellana Cosmetics, Dollar Shave Club, Daniel Wellington, BONIA, and AIMER.

Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club (DSC) is a renowned American company that revolutionized the personal care industry with its subscription model for razors and personal care products.

Initially, DSC built its own custom eCommerce platform, which provided flexibility and high customization. While this allowed DSC to shape its business model in the digital landscape, managing and maintaining it became complex and resource-intensive over time. As technological solutions like Shopify emerged, offering features and tools that DSC could leverage, the company explored available solutions to integrate them into its existing system. After careful consideration, DSC transitioned to Shopify Plus to better support its profit growth and international expansion goals.

Through Shopify Plus, DSC operates and manages its subscription business model more effectively, integrating multiple applications within the Shopify ecosystem to optimize marketing campaigns and customer care. As a result, DSC reduced system maintenance resources by 40%, reached over 100 million global consumers through ShopApp, swiftly converted international stores to Shopify Plus within weeks instead of months, and increased conversion rates using Shopify’s applications.

Website: dollarshaveclub.com

Industry: Men Health

Traffic: 3.148M/month

Rank: #9,907 (USA) & #50,278 (Global)

Daniel Wellington

Launched in Sweden in 2011, Daniel Wellington is known for its elegant, minimalist watch designs and superior quality. Before Daniel Wellington adopted Shopify, they faced significant operational challenges, particularly the complexity and cost of their current technology systems, which included an e-commerce platform lacking user interface from CommerceTools and Contentful as their chosen CMS platform. The development and rollout of new features were time-consuming and cumbersome, consuming substantial resources. Additionally, Daniel Wellington used an on-premise ERP system, which increased costs and complexity. With multiple stores and integrated systems, product changes took months or even years to implement, resulting in delayed time-to-market.

Since transitioning to Shopify Plus, all these issues have been thoroughly addressed. Website features that previously took months or even years to develop and launch now take only days or weeks. This practical approach allows for quicker decision-making and agile response based on market dynamics. Other notable outcomes include the rapid launch of 12 expansion stores, a 50% reduction in platform fees, and fewer resource expenditures on maintenance and development compared to before.

Website: https://global.danielwellington.com/

Industry: Fashion

Traffic: 2.773M/month

Rank: #78,900 (USA) & #63,785 (Global)

BONIA

Established in 1974, BONIA has gradually become a prestigious and irreplaceable fashion brand in Southeast Asia. After making the strategic decision to transition from Adobe Commerce to Shopify due to previous challenges with product launch speed and website responsiveness, BONIA aimed to leverage its online presence for international expansion. Recognizing the need to provide personalized experiences for customers while maintaining a consistent brand identity across different markets, BONIA also sought to ensure that managing multiple websites wouldn’t burden its team with excessive time and costs.

Therefore, BONIA upgraded to Shopify Plus. This strategic move enabled BONIA to harness the expansive capabilities of Shopify Plus storefronts, allowing them to establish multiple online storefronts alongside their flagship Malaysian website. Leveraging this capability, BONIA seamlessly integrated themes and layouts from its Malaysian store while ensuring each new store exudes its own distinct charm and is localized to specific locations. This localization was achieved through customized adjustments tailored to each specific region. Shopify Plus’s organizational admin also played a crucial role, providing BONIA with a centralized command center for all its stores.

As a result, BONIA increased its overall revenue by 10% through expansion into Singapore and saw a 25% annual increase in website traffic.

Website: https://bonia.com/

Industry: Fashion

Traffic: 108,842/month

Rank: #27,473 (Malaysia) & #1,510,285 (Global)

Ellana Cosmetics

In 2007, Ellana Cosmetics was founded with the goal of helping global consumers achieve better skin and improve their skincare knowledge. Recognizing the opportunity to reach more customers online, the brand initially started with a basic HTML website, then moved to Adobe Commerce and later WooCommerce. However, Ellana Cosmetics was dissatisfied with the results these platforms provided. The lack of robust data management tools made it difficult to personalize customer experiences across different markets, resulting in significant online sales losses.

Ellana Cosmetics switched to Shopify when their e-commerce marketing efforts were still in their infancy in the Philippines. This allowed Ellana to strengthen its technological foundation and accelerate growth and efficiency by upgrading to Shopify Plus shortly thereafter. The company leveraged various solutions to optimize managing multiple expanded storefronts, including Shopify Flow. As a result, the average order value increased by 17%, payment failure rates decreased by 40%, and online revenue increased by 50%.

Website: https://www.ellanacosmetics.com/

Industry: Cosmetics

Traffic: 88,075/month

Rank: #61,563 (Philippines) & #2,754,014 (Global)

AIMER

Founded in 1993, AIMER is one of the leading lingerie brands in China. With over 20 years of experience in designing and creating premium and luxurious lingerie, AIMER takes pride in its continuously evolving creative design team, which has developed more than 400 new products under its five main brands: AIMER, imi’s, LA CLOVER, AIMER Men, and Aimer Kids. Supported by these innovative products, AIMER has established an international presence far beyond its homeland, including regions such as North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

International sales are a crucial part of AIMER’s development strategy. However, the brand faced challenges regarding customization, taxation, and compliance with tax rules. AIMER migrated its platform to Shopify Plus, leveraging its customization capabilities to meet the needs of customers in international markets.

Additionally, utilizing Shopify Plus’s Avalara tax automation feature helped AIMER automatically calculate taxes based on the customer’s international address. Instead of manually calculating taxes, Shopify Plus accurately computed taxes for each order based on the latest tax regulations of the target market and automatically added taxes to the final checkout page, ensuring transparency in tax costs for consumers.

As a result, AIMER saw a 105% increase in monthly site visits, a 57% increase in monthly conversion rates, and a 62% increase in monthly page views.

Website: https://aimeronline.com/

Industry: Fashion

Traffic: 32,449/month

Rank: #51,992 (Hong Kong) & #1,948,207 (Global)

Final Words

In this final part of our series, we’ve delved into the inspiring journeys of Ellana Cosmetics, Dollar Shave Club, Daniel Wellington, BONIA, and AIMER. These brands exemplify how leveraging Shopify Plus can transform the challenges of international expansion into opportunities for growth and success.

As we conclude our series, it is evident that the journey to international expansion is complex but highly rewarding with the right tools and strategies. For brands looking to embark on this path, the experiences of 15 success stories will provide valuable insights and inspiration.

Need a deep consultation? Contact SECOMM for free!

In Part 2 of our series, we delve into the journeys of Oh My Cream, Koh, LSKD, Glamlite, and GIVA. Each of these brands brings unique offerings to the global market, from skincare and household products to activewear and gourmet cosmetics. We explore how these companies have navigated the complexities of international expansion, overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities with the support of Shopify Plus.

GIVA

GIVA is India’s leading brand for providing luxurious and elegant gold and silver jewelry at affordable prices. Since its launch in 2019, the brand has been loved by both domestic and international customers. Consequently, within just four years, the company achieved remarkable growth, leading to the need for a more robust eCommerce system.

Initially, GIVA’s D2C system operated on Shopify, but to handle the large and increasing volume of transactions, the company upgraded to Shopify Plus. Through Shopify Plus, GIVA quickly launched additional stores in the USA and Sri Lanka, and also set up an expansion store for its sub-brand, AVNI.

GIVA leveraged the exclusive Shopify Plus feature, organizational admin setting, to seamlessly and efficiently perform actions across multiple stores, rather than managing each store individually. As a result, GIVA experienced a 100% year-over-year revenue increase compared to 2021, a 193% increase in its global customer base from April 2021 to April 2022, and reached customers in three different geographical regions.

Website: https://www.giva.co/

Industry: Jewelry

Traffic: 7.160M/month

Rank: #1,523 (India) & #21,585 (Global)

LSKD

Founded in 2007, LSKD (short for ‘Loose Kid’) is an Australian-based apparel brand specializing in high-quality athletic wear with a street style and a focus on fitness functionality. Although LSKD began as a wholesaler, it has since reinvented itself as a vibrant consumer-oriented brand with online retail at the core of its operations. The company has also made a name for itself in physical retail, opening several stores both domestically and internationally.

As LSKD planned its international expansion into the United States, the brand aimed to ensure a highly personalized customer experience. Despite having a system capable of serving shoppers in multiple countries, LSKD needed a more flexible and easily manageable system. Consequently, LSKD transitioned to Shopify Plus and used the expansion store feature to quickly and easily create a new store targeting the US market. Using the online store in the US as a springboard, LSKD opened a physical store in San Diego and pop-up shops at sports events nationwide. All these operations were smoothly run on Shopify POS.

Website: https://www.lskd.co/

Industry: Fashion

Traffic: 2.112M/month

Rank: #1,182 (Australia) & #70,075 (Global)

Oh My Cream

Oh My Cream is a French cosmetics brand founded in 2012, with an omnichannel strategy as its core focus. Oh My Cream currently operates both physical stores and an eCommerce website. As of now, the company has expanded internationally with over 20 retail stores, including two in London, and a bilingual website.

To customize and optimize the omnichannel experience, Oh My Cream implemented Shopify Plus. The unique and superior omnichannel features of Shopify Plus met Oh My Cream’s expectations. Additionally, Oh My Cream transitioned its outdated payment system to Shopify POS to collect more comprehensive customer data. After optimizing the omnichannel experience with Shopify Plus, Oh My Cream increased the average customer lifetime value by 50%, the average basket value by 25%, and enhanced data collection to implement a loyalty program.

Website: https://www.ohmycream.com/

Industry: Cosmetics

Traffic: 602,976/month

Rank: #7,537 (France) & #180,940 (Global)

Glamlite

Glamlite, a cosmetics brand founded in 2018 in Los Angeles, is renowned for its colorful lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes. Glamlite launched its e-commerce website using Shopify Plus from the beginning and initially sold products internationally. However, their growth rate was not promising due to high USPS shipping costs, long delivery times, and the inability to track international packages.

The lack of international tracking by USPS left Glamlite and their customers unaware of the whereabouts of shipments, with some customers never receiving their orders. Unsurprisingly, Glamlite’s customer retention rate and international sales were significantly lower than expected. However, after implementing Shopify Market Pro, Glamlite overcame these issues, resulting in:

• 2.25 times growth in international sales
• A 24% increase in the average order value of international sales
• A 65% increase in conversion rates in the UK market
• A 77% increase in conversion rates in the German market

Website: https://glamlite.com/

Industry: Cosmetics

Traffic: 376,734/month

Rank: #56,604 (USA) & #316,746 (Global)

Koh

Koh is a brand specializing in producing and supplying chemical-free, eco-friendly cleaning products. Two years after its establishment, Koh achieved $50 million in revenue. The eCommerce website was converting well but started to look outdated. The product line was also expanding, creating opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and promotions that were not being fully utilized. Global expansion was also on the agenda, and Koh’s founder, Alexander, wanted a solution that would allow Koh to grow without limitations.

After operating on Shopify for some time, Koh decided to upgrade to Shopify Plus. The expansion store feature of Shopify Plus enabled Koh to scale seamlessly into new regions with custom payment tools to improve conversion rates. For example, Koh could customize the checkout process using third-party apps like Rebuy for comprehensive personalization, upselling, and cross-selling with A/B testing, and Klaviyo for better product recommendations. Finally, the Launchpad scheduling tool allowed the team at Koh to quickly set up and schedule promotional and sales events.

Website: https://koh.com/

Industry: Home and Garden

Traffic: 371,270/month

Rank: #5,902 (Australia) & #310,539 (Global)

Final Words

The stories of Oh My Cream, Koh, LSKD, Glamlite, and GIVA showcased in Part 2 of our series exemplify the dynamic possibilities that emerge when innovative brands embrace Shopify Plus for international growth. From pioneering new markets to enhancing customer experiences through tailored eCommerce solutions, these brands have demonstrated resilience, creativity, and strategic foresight in their expansion efforts.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of our series, where we’ll uncover more success stories and strategies as brands continue to thrive with Shopify Plus on their path to global expansion.

In today’s digital age, eCommerce automation not only helps businesses optimize their sales processes but also creates a seamless shopping experience for customers. Shopify Plus has become one of the most popular SaaS eCommerce platforms, helping both large and small brands automate and enhance their business efficiency. Below is a list of leading brands that have successfully automated their eCommerce with Shopify Plus.

1. Good American

Good American, the renowned fashion brand co-founded by Khloé Kardashian, achieved $1 million in sales on the first day of operating its sales system on the Shopify Plus platform. Building on this success, the brand established multiple automated processes to eliminate manual tasks, allowing its team to focus on providing customers with a rich shopping experience and excellent support services.

Good American utilized Shopify Flow to automatically tag products as “Out of Stock” on their website for items that are sold out and “Low Stock” for items that have reached a certain inventory threshold. This not only improved inventory management but also encouraged customers to purchase items that were running low. Additionally, for out-of-stock products, customers could sign up to be notified when the items were back in stock, helping Good American reclaim potential lost sales.

With Shopify Flow, Good American was able to create nine automated processes in less than a day, significantly contributing to the overall efficiency of their eCommerce operations.

Website: https://www.goodamerican.com/en-vn/

Industry: Fashion

Traffic: 2.9M/month

Rank: #9,462 (USA) & #48,565 (Global)

2. Boody

Boody is an Australian brand specializing in eco-friendly clothing, founded in 2012. After operating on the complex Magento platform for several years, the brand decided to switch to Shopify Plus for its specialized solutions and user-friendly interface. This transition allowed Boody to easily customize and provide their customers with a more engaging and seamless online shopping experience while expanding into international markets.

After switching platforms, Boody leveraged Shopify Flow to automate several key eCommerce processes, including order processing, email marketing, payments, and inventory management. This automation enabled Boody’s team to focus more on business strategies and market expansion. As a result, Boody has expanded to 10 different international stores and increased its online revenue share from 0% to 70%.

Website: https://www.boody.com.au/

Industry: Fashion

Traffic: 1.1M/month

Rank: #1,420 (Australia) & #85,881 (Global)

3. Paperlike

Paperlike is known for producing and supplying accessories for iPads. Given the small team and limited technological resources at Paperlike, operational efficiency is a top priority for their eCommerce activities. After running their eCommerce website on the standard Shopify platform for a long time, Paperlike switched to Shopify Plus to find solutions to handle their increasing sales volume.

Despite having a small team, Paperlike successfully operates their Shopify Plus store thanks to unique automation tools such as Flow, LaunchPad, and Script.

• Website: https://paperlike.com/
• Industry: iPad accessories
• Traffic: 1.1M/month
• Rank: #68,046 (USA) & #149,026 (Global)

4. Mandaue Foam

Since its establishment in 1971, Mandaue Foam has become an indispensable name in the furniture industry in the Philippines. After four years of using the standard version of Shopify, Mandaue Foam upgraded to Shopify Plus to seek solutions for expansion and customization.

The brand utilized LaunchPad—a feature exclusive to Shopify Plus—to schedule marketing campaigns and automate product price updates and discounts. Since LaunchPad allows real-time tracking of each campaign’s performance, the Mandaue Foam team could understand customer behavior and adjust their campaigns accordingly.

Additionally, using Shopify Flow, Mandaue Foam automated their order management process. They created a workflow where, once an order is placed, one of their 28 physical locations with inventory for that product is notified to process the order. This ensured swift order fulfillment while eliminating the need for manual order tracking.

The platform switch and the implementation of eCommerce automation helped Mandaue Foam achieve a 200% increase in order volume, a 151% year-over-year increase in total sales, and a 16% increase in customer return rate.

• Website: https://mandauefoam.ph/
• Industry: Furniture
• Traffic: 486,503/month
• Rank: #2,745 (Philippines) & #170,520 (Global)

5. Fathead

Fathead is a provider of decorative products and decals featuring famous cartoon characters, superstars, and top athletes. The eCommerce system at Fathead encountered numerous issues over time, including frequent errors, poor performance, and time-consuming manual processes.

To address these challenges, Fathead decided to migrate to Shopify Plus for its easy and flexible customization options on a user-friendly interface. Fathead leveraged Shop Pay to simplify the checkout process, providing a streamlined shopping experience and boosting conversion rates. The brand also utilized Shopify Flow to set up multiple automated processes, including optimizing order processing. As a result, Fathead increased average order value by 46%, conversion rates by 10%, and overall revenue by 50%.

Website: https://fathead.com/

Industry: Sport

Traffic: 478,683/month

Rank: #45,624 (USA) & #268,411 (Global)

6. Doe Beauty

Doe Beauty is a beloved Korean cosmetics brand across Asia. From the early days of eCommerce, Doe Beauty built its website on the Shopify platform. Later, witnessing rapid growth and the need for system expansion, Doe Beauty decided to switch to Shopify Plus. Since then, 80% of the operations on their Shopify Plus store have been automated.

Thanks to Shopify Flow, Doe Beauty’s team can focus on creative and strategic business aspects. The order processing and inventory management are optimized and automatically monitored, enabling faster delivery. As a result, Doe Beauty provides customers with a smooth and convenient shopping experience. E-commerce automation with Shopify Plus has helped the Doe Beauty team save an average of 4 hours and increase the average order value by 5%.

• Website: https://doebeauty.com/
• Industry: Cosmetics
• Traffic: 294,315/month
• Rank: #47,193 (USA) & #291,920 (Global)

7. Jack Rogers

For over 60 years, Jack Rogers’ sandals and shoes have been loved by generations of consumers across the United States. Dissatisfied with their existing eCommerce system, Jack Rogers switched to Shopify Plus. This move provided access to a comprehensive infrastructure and outstanding solutions, optimizing inventory management—a persistent issue for Jack Rogers over the years.

After transitioning to the Shopify Plus store, the brand leveraged Shopify Flow to automate several operational processes, freeing their team from time-consuming manual tasks. The intuitive and user-friendly interface of Shopify Plus allowed the Jack Rogers team to easily add and edit products and categories, set up sales campaigns, and run advertisements. This led to remarkable growth in a short time, with website traffic increasing by over 60% and conversion rates by more than 30%.

• Website: https://www.jackrogersusa.com/
• Industry: Fashion
• Traffic: 257,196/month
• Rank: #54,465 (USA) & #340,679 (Global)

8. Cozykids

Cozykids is a popular destination for children’s products in Greece. The old WordPress-based system at Cozykids faced numerous issues due to manual operations and inadequate performance. As a result, Cozykids switched to Shopify Plus in search of a solution for performance and automation problems.

By using Shopify Flow, Cozykids automated inventory management for out-of-stock and low-stock products, eliminating the need for staff to manually monitor inventory levels. Additionally, Cozykids used Flow to automate customer interactions with out-of-stock products, allowing customers to pre-order at a discounted price and sign up for notifications when the products were back in stock. This automation was particularly important for the marketing team, as it helped them know when to stop promoting low-stock items and focus on other products.

For launching and promoting new products, Cozykids used Shopify LaunchPad to automate these processes. With both Flow and LaunchPad, Cozykids increased eCommerce website traffic by 40% and revenue by 80%. Additionally, the automated processes significantly reduced the time staff spent monitoring inventory levels, decreased errors from manual operations, and enhanced operational efficiency.

Website: https://cozykids.gr/en

Industry: Children’s products

Traffic: 61,781/month

Rank: #12,177 (Greece) & #1,386,032 (Global)

Final Words

eCommerce automation not only helps brands optimize their operational processes but also creates a better shopping experience for customers. The aforementioned brands have successfully used Shopify to enhance business efficiency and build customer trust. Shopify has proven to be a powerful and flexible tool, supporting businesses of all sizes and across various industries.

Need advice on implementing eCommerce automation with Shopify Plus? Contact SECOMM today!

In the fast-paced digital world, eCommerce automation and efficiency are key to staying ahead of the competition. With countless tasks to manage, from inventory updates to customer engagement businesses need reliable tools to streamline their operations. Enter Shopify Flow, a powerful automation tool designed specifically for Shopify users. Shopify Flow allows merchants to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable time and resources to focus on growing their business.

In this blog, we’ll explore how Shopify Flow works, its key features, and the benefits it can bring to your eCommerce operations. Whether you’re a seasoned Shopify user or new to the platform, understanding how to leverage Shopify Flow can be a game-changer for your business.

1. What is Shopify Flow?

Shopify Flow is an innovative automation tool designed exclusively for Shopify merchants, enabling them to streamline and simplify their business operations. It provides a visual interface where users can create custom workflows to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks without the need for any coding skills.

Shopify Flow is available at all plans: Basic, Shopify, Advanced and Plus.

2. How does your workflow automation work on Shopify Flow?

At its core, Shopify Flow uses a combination of triggers, conditions, and actions to build the workflows. A trigger initiates the workflow, a condition specifies criteria that must be met, and an action defines what happens when the criteria are met.

For example:

• The order is placed (Trigger)
• The order value exceeds a certain amount (Condition)
• An email notification is sent to the sales team (Action)

This tool is particularly valuable for automating processes such as inventory management, fraud prevention, loyalty and retention, fulfillment management and marketing campaigns. By automating these tasks, Shopify Flow helps businesses improve efficiency, reduce human error, and ensure consistent execution of key operations.

Shopify Flow also integrates seamlessly with a variety of Shopify apps and third-party tools, making it a versatile solution for businesses looking to optimize their workflows. Whether you’re running a small online store or managing a large eCommerce enterprise, Shopify Flow offers the flexibility and scalability to meet your automation needs.

3. How to create and manage workflow automation with Shopify Flow

Creating and managing workflow automation with Shopify Flow is a straightforward process that can significantly enhance your eCommerce operations.

• To start the new workflow, you’ll follow these steps:

Step 1: Open up the Shopify Flow editor, then select “Create workflow”

Step 2: Click “Select a trigger” from a searchable list of native triggers of Shopify or those from 3rd-party apps to start the workflow.

Step 3: Click on the Blue button to choose to add either condition or action

Step 4: Select “Condition” to set rules to determine if the action executes.

Step 5: Click “Then” to set action for the true condition. Or “otherwise” to set action for the false condition.

Step 6: Click “turn on”, the button in the top right corner will turn green and show is on.

You can also leverage the templates library. Here, you’ll find the pre-made workflows that you can use right away or edit to fit your business needs.

• To modifying the existing workflow, you’ll follow these steps:

Step 1: To add new action items by clicking on any blank space in the editor, select the “Action” button. All of available options will appear

Step 2: Search specific action on the search bar and simply select the action
Step 3: Connect the new action to the existing workflow by selecting the “Then” button from your condition and linking it to your new action.

• To deleting and reordering any unnecessary pieces of the workflow, you’ll need:

Step 1: Click on remove the action

Step 2: Some actions now no longer connected. You’ll need to link them back to the rest of your workflow.

Step 3: You can link them to the condition or to other actions.

4. Key features of Shopify Flow

Shopify Flow is packed with features that make it a powerful tool for eCommerce automation. Here are 3 core features you should notice

4.1 No-code building blocks

At the heart of Shopify Flow are its intuitive building blocks: triggers, conditions, and actions, which allows you to create your custom eCommerce automation processes. Triggers initiate workflows based on specific events, conditions set criteria that must be met for the workflow to proceed, and actions define what tasks will be executed. This modular approach helps you create highly customized workflows tailored to your unique business needs, enabling precise automation of complex processes without any coding knowledge.

4.2 Plug-and-play templates

Shopify Flow offers a variety of pre-built templates that cover common eCommerce scenarios such as inventory management, customer segmentation, and order processing. These templates provide a quick and easy way to implement automation, allowing you to get started with minimal effort. Each template can be customized to fit specific requirements, making it an excellent starting point for those new to automation.

4.3 Connector apps

To extend its capabilities, Shopify Flow allows you to integrate seamlessly with numerous third-party apps. This feature allows you to automate workflows that span multiple tools and platforms. For example, you can connect Shopify Flow with email marketing apps, CRM systems, and inventory management software to create comprehensive, cross-functional automations. This integration capability ensures that all aspects of your eCommerce operations are synchronized and efficient.

5. Benefits of using Shopify Flow

Utilizing Shopify Flow for eCommerce automation offers a multitude of advantages that can significantly enhance business operations. Here are some of them:

5.1 Time-Saving

Shopify Flow automates repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as inventory updates, order processing, and customer follow-ups. By automating these processes, you can save valuable time that can be redirected towards strategic activities, such as marketing, product development, and customer engagement.

5.2 Error Reduction

Manual data entry and repetitive tasks are prone to human error, which can lead to costly mistakes. Shopify Flow minimizes these risks by ensuring that tasks are performed consistently and accurately. Automation reduces the likelihood of errors in critical processes like order fulfillment, inventory management, and customer communications.

5.3 Improved Efficiency

Automation streamlines workflows, making business operations more efficient. With Shopify Flow, tasks are executed automatically based on predefined triggers and conditions, eliminating the need for manual intervention. This efficiency leads to faster processing times, better resource allocation, and improved overall productivity.

5.4 Scalability

As your business grows, managing increasing volumes of orders, customers, and data can become challenging. Shopify Flow provides a scalable solution that can handle higher workloads without additional effort. Automated workflows can easily be adjusted and expanded to accommodate growth, ensuring that your business operations remain smooth and efficient as you scale.

5.5 Consistency and Reliability

Automated workflows ensure that processes are carried out consistently, adhering to the same standards every time. This reliability is crucial for maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and operational excellence. Consistent execution of tasks also helps in building trust with customers and partners.

6. Limits of using Shopify Flow

While Shopify Flow is a powerful tool for automating eCommerce operations, it’s important to be aware of its limitations and challenges. Here are some key considerations:

6.1 Limited Customization

Although Shopify Flow offers a variety of triggers, conditions, and actions, there may be scenarios where the available options do not fully meet specific business needs. Advanced customization might require additional development work or third-party apps to fill in the gaps. This can lead to increased complexity and potential costs.

6.2 Integration Challenges

While Shopify Flow integrates with many third-party apps, there can be limitations in compatibility or functionality with certain tools. Businesses relying on specialized software may find it challenging to create seamless workflows without encountering integration issues. In some cases, additional middleware or custom API development may be necessary.

6.3 Scalability of Complex Workflows

As businesses grow and their operational needs become more complex, managing a large number of workflows can become challenging. Ensuring that workflows are optimized and do not conflict with each other requires careful planning and ongoing maintenance. Overly complex workflows might also become difficult to troubleshoot and update.

7. Real-world examples

Several successful businesses have leveraged Shopify Flow to streamline their operations and achieve impressive results. Here are a few real-world examples:

7.1 Good American

Good American, a leading fashion brand co-founded by Khloé Kardashian, uses Shopify Flow to automate various aspects of their eCommerce operations. By implementing workflows that manage inventory levels, segment customers, and trigger personalized marketing campaigns, Good American has been able to enhance efficiency and improve customer engagement. These automations have allowed the brand to focus more on growth and less on manual administrative tasks.

7.2 Cozykids

Cozykids, an online retailer specializing in children’s furniture and decor, utilizes Shopify Flow to streamline their order processing and inventory management. Automated workflows ensure that stock levels are updated in real-time, reducing the risk of overselling and improving order fulfillment accuracy. Additionally, Cozykids uses Shopify Flow to send automated follow-up emails to customers, enhancing their post-purchase experience and increasing customer satisfaction.

7.3 Mandaue Foam

Mandaue Foam, a furniture and home decor company, has adopted Shopify Flow to manage their complex supply chain and customer service processes. With automated workflows in place, Mandaue Foam can efficiently handle large volumes of orders, track shipments, and manage customer inquiries. This automation not only improves operational efficiency but also provides a seamless shopping experience for their customers, contributing to higher customer retention and satisfaction.

Final Words

In this blog, we explored Shopify Flow’s capabilities, including its automation of workflows and key features such as building blocks, templates, and connector apps. We also discussed its benefits like time-saving and improved efficiency, as well as potential limitations.

Need more advice? Contact SECOMM today!

International eCommerce platforms are shaping the shopping trends of modern consumers worldwide, where geographical boundaries are no longer barriers to business activities. With the continuous development of technology and the internet, businesses have the opportunity to reach millions of customers around the globe more easily than ever. However, to succeed in the international market, choosing the right eCommerce platform is crucial.

In this article, let’s explore the top 5 platforms that effectively meet the needs of many businesses for implementing international eCommerce.

1. Shopify

Shopify is a well-known SaaS eCommerce platform for businesses worldwide. It offers an all-in-one solution called Shopify Markets, allowing businesses to start selling in over 150+ different markets and manage efficiently on a single dashboard. Shopify Markets comes in two versions:

• Markets:

Integrated into all Shopify plans, providing core features including:

• Translate and Adapt website content
• Theme Editor
• Custom domain or subdirectory settings
• Product pricing customization by market

• Localized checkout forms
• Product catalogs by market
• Managing multiple markets on a single dashboard

Fees are incurred per international transaction, including:

• 3.9% per transaction for processing local payments
• 0.85% per transaction for using tax and import duty calculation tools
• 1.5% per transaction for currency conversion fees.

• Markets Pro:

Includes all core features plus additional advanced features such as:

• Exclusive shipping rates
• Compliance with local taxes
• Fraud prevention
• Tax setup and labeling
• Automatic tax remittance
• Managing restrictions on international sales

The cost of Markets Pro is 6.5% per transaction, including local payment processing fees, so businesses do not need to pay this fee separately. Additionally, businesses will pay 2.5% per transaction for currency conversion fees.

Advantages:

• Intuitive, user-friendly interface
• Allows setup, optimization, and management of multiple international markets on a single dashboard
• Supports multi-language, multi-currency configurations and setting specific prices for each market
• Comprehensive solution without the need for third-party system support
• Automates tax calculation and collection, optimizing expenditure planning
• Offers local payment options without restrictions
• Optimizes international SEO

Disadvantages:

• Implementation costs may increase over time
• Requires the Shopify Markets Pro version to access advanced features
• Shopify’s website does not support language variants (e.g., Simplified/Traditional Chinese, Brazilian/European Portuguese)
• High currency conversion fees: 1.5% per transaction for the standard version and 2.5% per transaction for the Pro version
• Requires knowledge of international trade and a well-defined business strategy
• Advanced or Plus plan upgrades are needed for complex customizations
• Depend on the platform.

2. Magento

Implementing international eCommerce involves many challenges related to language, currency, and taxes, requiring websites to be optimally customized to provide the most engaging customer experience. This is why Magento is on this list.

Some standout features of Magento that support international commerce include:

• Multi-store, multi-language, multi-currency, and multi-region management
• URL localization, Meta Description, and targeted keywords
• Currency selection and automatic conversion
• Region-based tax calculation
• Customizable formats
• Efficient multi-location inventory management

Advantages

• Open-source code allows for easy customization and expansion of international stores.
• Efficient centralized management of stores.
• Optimization for international SEO.
• Partnerships with hundreds of leading global payment gateways, enabling easy integration via API.
• Partnerships with top shipping companies worldwide, allowing seamless integration via API.
• Collaborations with reputable currency exchange services, ensuring competitive rates and providing customers with the best shopping experience.
• Large Magento community, including developers and businesses, facilitating quick and effective support and collaboration.
• In-depth technical support.

Disadvantages:

• High initial implementation costs.
• Complex implementation process with a typically long deployment time.
• Requires knowledge of international trade and a well-defined business strategy.
• Requires good technical skills for complex customizations.

3. BigCommerce

Similar to Shopify, BigCommerce is also a SaaS eCommerce platform that provides international eCommerce solutions. The platform offers features and tools to help businesses expand their operations in the international market simply and effectively.

Some standout features of BigCommerce supporting international eCommerce include:

• Easy and quick setup of multiple stores, multi-currency, and multi-language options
• Localization and personalization of the shopping and checkout experience for each international store
• Management of all international stores on a single dashboard
• Support for B2C and B2B deployment with customizable shopping experiences for each customer segment
• A wide range of integrations for order processing and shipping

Advantages:

• Intuitive, user-friendly interface
• Quick setup and efficient centralized store management
• Easy integration of international payment and shipping methods
• Optimized processes for calculating and collecting taxes
• Mobile-optimized design to reach a broader customer base
• Support for implementing localized marketing strategies
• Multilingual customer support services
• Optimization for international SEO

Disadvantages:

• Initial implementation fees are not disclosed, making it difficult to estimate costs
• Requires knowledge of international trade and a well-defined business strategy
• Dependence on the platform
• Limited customization options compared to Open Source platforms
• Restrictions on interface customization

4. OpenCart

Similar to Magento, OpenCart is a popular open-source eCommerce platform used for international eCommerce implementation. This platform offers many useful features and tools, allowing businesses to better serve global customers.

Some standout features of OpenCart supporting international eCommerce include:

• Management of multiple stores on a single dashboard
• Customizable localization settings for international stores
• Support for over 40 different languages
• More than 36 integrated payment gateways and seamless integration with many other payment gateways available on the OpenCart marketplace
• A wide range of popular global payment options integrated by default

Advantages:

• High customization and scalability
• Support for multiple languages and currencies
• Partnerships with many leading global payment gateways, allowing easy integration via API
• Partnerships with top global shipping companies, allowing seamless integration via API
• Optimization for international SEO
• Rich library of themes and extensions
• Large user community

Disadvantages:

• High initial implementation costs
• Complex implementation process with typically long deployment times
• Requires knowledge of international trade and a well-defined business strategy
• Requires good technical skills for complex customizations

5. PrestaShop

Another widely used open-source eCommerce platform for international e-commerce implementation is PrestaShop. With excellent customization and scalability, as well as outstanding tools and features, PrestaShop is the perfect choice for businesses looking to expand globally.

Some standout features of PrestaShop supporting international eCommerce include:

• Unlimited product and inventory management
• Order and customer management
• A wide range of global payment and shipping options
• Management of multiple stores on a single dashboard
• Advanced reporting and analytics

Advantages:

• High customization and scalability
• Partnerships with many global payment gateways, allowing integration via API
• Partnerships with major global shipping companies, allowing seamless integration via API
• Optimization for international SEO
• Optimized tax calculation and collection

Disadvantages:

• High initial implementation costs
• Complex implementation process with typically long deployment times
• Requires knowledge of international trade and a well-defined business strategy
• Requires good technical skills for complex customizations
• Occasional performance issues

The Bottom Line

The above provides an overview of the top 5 platforms for implementing international eCommerce, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the scale, budget, and technical requirements, businesses can choose the most suitable platform for themselves.

Regardless of the choice, investing in a robust and flexible eCommerce platform will help businesses effectively reach international markets, increase sales, and expand their scale.

Need advice on implementing international eCommerce? Contact SECOMM today!

In the digital age, eCommerce is the key to helping businesses quickly and effectively reach global customers. Shopify, a renowned SaaS platform supporting online business, has launched the Shopify Markets solution to assist businesses in expanding into global markets. So, what is Shopify Markets? What benefits and challenges does this solution bring to your business when implementing international eCommerce? Let’s explore in the article below.

1. What is Shopify Markets?

Shopify Markets is a new solution from the Shopify platform, designed to help you easily and efficiently expand your business into global markets. This tool allows you to manage multiple stores from a single dashboard, customizing each market with specific settings for language, currency, taxes, and payment methods. Moreover, Shopify Markets integrates with international shipping and logistics services, enabling you to optimize your operations and meet the demands of global customers.

Previously, multi-store setups have been done by using Shopify Plus, allowing merchants to establish and operate separate Shopify stores for each target market. This approach gave merchants full control over individual stores, such as running market-specific marketing campaigns, promotions, and inventory management.

However, this approach had several drawbacks. First, operating multiple standalone stores meant discrepancies in inventory levels, requiring data synchronization between stores. This process was time-consuming and prone to errors. Many merchants addressed this issue by integrating systems like PIM or ERP. Second, the workload increased due to the need to update content for each store individually. Third, many merchants complained about having to pay for the same app or integration across multiple stores, leading to inefficiencies in financial management.

Thus, the advent of Shopify Markets serves as a remedy for these three issues. Now, you can apply multi-language, multi-currency, international pricing, domain or subdirectory, and Geolocation features for the stores, all managed efficiently from a single dashboard.

2. Top features of Shopify Markets

2.1 Multi-language

When deploying international eCommerce, the importance of multi-language support cannot be overstated. According to CSA Research, 76% of online shoppers prefer to purchase products with information displayed in their native language. Meanwhile, 40% will never buy from eCommerce websites in a different language.

By using Shopify Markets and the built-ịn Translate & Adapt app, your website can be automatically translated into the languages of your target markets. Beyond mere translation, Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app can customize store content to better connect with local customers. This ensures that your eCommerce website maintains cultural, regional, and seasonal relevance—even when markets share the same language—the app can adjust for variations in vocabulary, spelling, and messaging.

2.2 Multi-currency

Global customers want to see product prices in their own currency when shopping on eCommerce websites. A PayPal report supports this, showing that 76% of survey participants prefer to pay in their local currency. Shopify Markets can automatically convert product prices into over 130 different currencies to cater to your target customers. From product pages to shopping carts, and from checkout to refunds, Shopify Markets can create a seamless multi-currency shopping experience for customers, which will boost conversion rates and sales.

2.3 Localized domain & subdirectories

Shopify Markets can help create localized domains linked to specific languages and countries. For example, “myshop.com” could be the main site operating in the US, “myshop.ca” for the Canadian market, and “myshop.co.uk” for the UK. This not only increases credibility and optimizes SEO but also enhances brand recognition in each market.

Shopify Markets allows the setup of subdirectories for each language or region under the same main domain, such as “myshop.com/en” for English, “myshop.com/fr” for French, and “myshop.com/de” for German. Using subdirectories helps easily manage local versions of the store, improve user experience, and optimize costs related to maintaining multiple domains.

2.4 Localized payment methods

Payment methods significantly influence purchasing decisions. According to a Worldpay report, 27% of users will abandon the checkout process if they cannot find their preferred payment method.

With Shopify Markets, you can offer your customers a variety of local payment options, alongside familiar choices like credit/debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Some examples of local payment method integrations include:

• China: AliPay, WeChat
• Singapore: PayNow
• Australia: Klarna, Afterpay
• Vietnam: ZaloPay, VNPay

2.5 Estimate & collect duties and tax

When selling in international markets, pricing can be affected by duties and import tax. In many cases, unexpected costs for customers can lead to a negative shopping experience.

The Shopify Markets solution can help address this issue. This tool can calculate taxes based on the shipping address and the legal regulations of each country, including value-added tax (VAT), sales tax, and other import duties. When customers proceed to checkout, the system clearly displays these taxes, helping them understand the total shopping cost and avoid unpleasant surprises.

Shopify Markets also collects and remits these taxes to the appropriate tax authorities, saving your time and effort in handling tax procedures. This feature also integrates with shipping services to ensure all tax-related costs are accurately reflected, allowing you to plan expenses more effectively. Therefore, you can comply with legal regulations, enhance the customer shopping experience, and optimize your operations.

3. Shopify Markets and the plans

Shopify Markets is included in all Shopify plans, but the features available to merchants vary by plan. Here are the core features that all Shopify merchants can use when embracing Shopify Markets:

• Support for selling in 136 currencies and 20 languages
• Customize domains and subdirectories to optimize search engine performance for each market
• Integrate with a variety of local payment options

For the higher-tier plans, Advanced and Plus, merchants can access exclusive features. This is particularly beneficial for larger enterprises looking to establish and maintain a strong, competitive presence in international markets:

• Automatic tax calculation
• Calculate and collect import tax at checkout
• Manage fulfillments in each market

4. Shopify Markets Pro

Shopify Markets Pro is the upgraded version of Shopify Markets, designed to offer more advanced features. This solution aims to support large-scale merchants in efficiently and flexibly managing complex international operations. The “Pro” version helps sell in over 150 different markets, providing powerful tools to optimize operations, manage taxes and costs, and enhance the international customer experience.

Some special features exclusive to the Pro version include:

• Exclusive discounts on international shipping, order tracking, and expedited delivery worldwide within 1-5 days.
• AllowShopify to handle compliance with legal and tax procedures.
• Recommend top payment methods for each market.
• Suggest to remove products that are prohibited for import in each market.
• Protect fraud for international orders.
• Ensure stable exchange rates to avoid financial risks associated with currency fluctuations or refund variations.

5. Benefits of using Shopify Markets

• Quickly set up and optimize international stores
• Manage all target stores from a single dashboard
• Simplify currency localization by displaying product prices in the target market’s currency
• Localize language and web content to optimize SEO
• Offer local payment options without restrictions
• Localize the website interface to create a familiar and engaging shopping experience
• Localization boosts conversion rates, sales, and customer satisfaction
• Automate tax estimation and collection to optimize budget plans

6. Limits of using Shopify Markets

• You need to use the Shopify Markets Pro version to access more advanced features.
• The Shopify website does not support translations of language variants. For example, Simplified/Traditional Chinese and Brazilian/European Portuguese.
• Currency conversion fees are quite high: 1.5% per transaction for the standard version and 2.5% per transaction for the Pro version.

Final Words

Shopify Markets is truly a robust solution for going globally and manage target stores efficiently and flexibly. However, alongside its strengths, this solution also has several notable limitations.

Depending on the scale, number of target stores, and the need to create a customized shopping experience, you can weigh the standard version against the Pro version. Nevertheless, you must carefully consider cost factors and management capabilities to ensure these solutions align with your strategies.

Need more advice? Contact SECOMM today!

eCommerce in Singapore is continuously evolving with the emergence of new technological solutions. As a result, the options for eCommerce platforms are becoming increasingly abundant and diverse. This presents both opportunities and challenges for every merchant, as selecting the right platform to build an eCommerce website is a crucial first step.

Here are the five most commonly used eCommerce platforms in the Lion City.

1. Shopify

Shopify is a popular SaaS eCommerce platform with over 4.8 million active websites. In Australia alone, over 8 thousands live stores are operating on the Shopify platform.

Recently, the premium version of Shopify, ‘Plus,’ has garnered attention from businesses across various sectors in Singapore. These merchants may have previously deployed different eCommerce platforms and later switched to Shopify Plus to seek a superior solution. Some merchants initially launched websites with standard Shopify packages and later upgraded to ‘Plus’ to optimize their operations.

Key features:

• Point-Of-Sale (POS)
• Email Marketing
• Blogging
• SEO
• Multi-marketplace selling
• Headless Commerce
• Automation (for Shopify Plus merchants)
• Composable Commerce (for Shopify Plus merchants)
• Omnichannel (for Shopify Plus merchants)

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Provides drag-and-drop builder
• High scalability and customizability, especially with the ‘Plus’ package
• Diverse range of unique themes suitable for various industries
• Extensive app store
• Supports multiple local payment gateways
• 24/7 customer support
• Rich learning resources
• Large user community

Cons:

• On-going costs increase over time
• Limited customizability and scalability in core Shopify plans
• The eCommerce system relies on Shopify

Pricing:

Shopify Pricing

2. Magento

Magento is a globally popular open-source platform, and its prevalence extends to Australia as well.  According to BuiltWith, there are currently about 661 e-commerce websites operating on the Magento platform in the Lion Island.

With its high flexibility, merchants can effortlessly tailor features and scale the system according to their unique business requirements.

Presently, Magento provides two versions: Open Source (Free) and Adobe Commerce (Paid).

Key features:

• Multi-brand solution
• Inventory management
• Headless Commerce implementation
• Loyalty program development
• Advanced search
• High-security measures
• Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
• Enhanced SEO

Pros:

• Best for large businesses with complex customization needs and high-budget investments.
• High customization and scalability capabilities.
• Rich built-in features and advanced functionalities compared to SaaS platforms.
• No limit on sales volume.
• Diverse range of extensions available.
• Large user community.

Cons:

• Requires a high level of technical expertise.
• Deployment time is relatively long.
• Initial costs are high.

Pricing:

• The cost to implement Magento Open Source is approximately $20,000 – $50,000 per project in the first year and the time to go live ranges from 3 to 6 months depending on the project’s complexity.
• The estimated cost to implement Adobe Commerce is around $100,000 – $150,000 per project in the first year, with the time to go live ranging from 6 months to 1 year depending on the project’s complexity.

3. WooCommerce

WooCommerce, a free and open-source WordPress plugin, enables brands to integrate eCommerce functionality into their existing WordPress websites. With just a few clicks, the WooCommerce plugin helps convert a standard WordPress site into a fully-featured eCommerce platform, complete with essential features and easy customization. At the time of writing, there are over 13,000 WooCommerce eCommerce websites operating effectively in Singapore.

Key features:

• Multi-marketplace selling
• Selling a diverse range of products
• Remote operation with a mobile app
• Customization and expansion
• Blogging
• SEO

Pros:

• Free and open-source
• Seamless integration with WordPress
• User-friendly interface
• Large user community
• In-depth analytics and reporting
• Support for various products and payment methods

Cons:

• Lack of support for technical and security issues
• Some integrations demand advanced technical skills
• Relies on the WordPress system
• Multilingual deployment may sometimes have limitations.
• Potential costs may accrue over time

Pricing: Free to use. However, some integrations with other plugins may incur charges.

4. Open Cart

OpenCart is a globally popular open-source eCommerce platform, powering over 900 thousand active websites worldwide. In Singapore, it has gained popularity with more than 1,600 live OpenCart sites, establishing itself as a favored open-source platform in the country, following Magento.

Founded by Daniel Kerr in 1998, OpenCart operates as open-source software, utilizing the PHP programming language. It currently offers two versions: Free (Free-to-use version) and Cloud Store (Paid version).

Key features:

• Diverse payment and delivery methods
• Multilingual capabilities
• Multi-marketplace selling
• Seamless management of products, orders, and inventory
• Headless Commerce deployment
• Blogging
• SEO

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Extensive library of themes and apps
• Flexible customizability and scalability
• No transaction fees

Cons:

• Requires strong technical skills
• Lacks advanced extension features
• Many hidden costs

Pricing:

Free for the Free version. For the Cloud Store version, the specific costs are as follows:

The ‘Cloud Store’ version pricing plan

5. PrestaShop

Another open-source platform that is equally popular in Singapore is PrestaShop, with over 270 eCommerce websites currently in operation. The strength of PrestaShop lies in its flexibility and high customization capabilities, allowing users to easily adjust functionalities and interfaces to meet their specific needs. Additionally, with a vibrant developer community and thousands of available modules and themes, PrestaShop not only provides a comprehensive eCommerce solution but also continuous support to ensure that websites run smoothly and efficiently.

Key features:

• Flexible module approach
• Advanced product management
• Advanced order and customer management
• Multi-language and multi-currency support
• SEO integration
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• High customization and scalability
• Free license
• Large user community
• Multilingual customer support services

Cons:

• Costs may arise during deployment
• Require technical skills for optimization and customization
• Performance and page load speed issues may occur with increased traffic if not well-optimized
• Official support from the provider is limited

Pricing: Free to use, but charges apply for complex requirements

Choosing The Right eCommerce Platform

These are the five popular eCommerce platforms in Singapore that many merchants choose to build their eCommerce websites. Depending on specific implementation needs, businesses can consider the most suitable platform.

Need more advice? Contact SECOMM today!

Shopping on multi-vendor marketplaces has become an essential part of modern life, particularly in Singapore, one of the busiest commercial hubs in Asia. As such, building and efficiently managing an eCommerce marketplace is crucial for businesses. However, selecting the right platform can be challenging. This article will introduce the five most reliable platforms that many businesses in Singapore use to build their own.

1. Yo!Kart

Yo!Kart is a leading self-hosted eCommerce solution that businesses can consider for building a custom multi-vendor marketplace. Designed to be user-friendly, Yo!Kart allows businesses to have full control, customization, and flexible scalability to manage and operate their eCommerce platform more effectively.

Key features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Customer features
• Built-in analytics and reporting
• Advanced search
• SEO
• Mobile apps for both sellers and buyers

Pros:

• Full control over the system
• Flexible customizability & scalability
• User-friendly interface
• 1-year technical support
• Good customer services
• SEO-friendly architecture

Pros:

• Require high technical skills
• Resource-intensive, especially for large-scale marketplaces

Price: Starting from $1099/year. However, costs may vary based on specific requirements.

2. CS-Cart Multi-Vendor

CS-Cart Multi-Vendor is known as a specialized platforms for building multi-vendor marketplaces with robust customization and scalability. With over 26 integrated languages and numerous unique features, this platform is an all-in-one solution suitable for various industries and deployment needsneeds.

Key features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Buyer features
• Advanced order management
• Commission fee system
• Seamless integration with multiple payment gateways
• Real-time estimated shipping costs
• SEO

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Mobile-friendly design
• Diverse payment methods
• High scalability for businesses of all sizes
• Rich learning resources
• Good customer services

Cons:

• Require high technical skills
• Resource-intensive, especially for large-scale marketplaces

Price: Pricing may vary depending on specific needs

3. Yelo

Yelo is flexible multi-vendor marketplace designed to help businesses of all sizes easily create and manage their online store. With Yelo, businesses can quickly build custom eCommerce marketplaces equipped with comprehensive features for administrators, sellers, and buyers.

Key features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Buyer features
• Support 50+ languages, 100+ payment gateways and 500+ integrations
• Provide various UI/UX themes
• Intuitive dashboard for streamlining business process

Pros:

• Ease of use
• Diverse and comprehensive features
• High customization
• Multi-channel support services

Cons:

• Some advanced features and integrations require additional fees
• Some integrations requires high technical skills

Giá: Costs start at $12/month

4. Omnyfy

Omnyfy is a powerful multi-vendor marketplace designed to meet the needs of both B2B and B2C businesses. With its multi-channel management support and flexible integrations. Omnyfy enables businesses to create a comprehensive eCommerce ecosystem, from product management to customer service.

Key features:

Pros:

• Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
• Multi-device compatible design
• Multi-channel sales management
• Strong support for both B2C and B2B models
• Highly customizable
• Easy integration

Cons:

• Complex implementation
• Resource-intensive for large-scale eCommerce marketplaces
• Lack of published pricing makes cost estimation difficult
• Requires high technical skills for customization and integration

Price: Pricing may vary depending on specific needs

5. Nautical Commerce

Nautical Commerce is favored by businesses in Singapore for providing a range of comprehensive solutions to make managing and operating multi-vendor marketplaces easier. With Nautical Commerce, businesses can leverage the latest technologies to improve business efficiency and enhance user experience.

Key features:

• Admin features
• Seller features
• Buyer features
• Advanced inventory management
• Seamless integration with 3rd-party systems

Pros:

• High customization and scalability
• Multiple integrations
• High security

Cons:

• Complex deployment
• Lengthy deployment time
• Requires technical skills during deployment
• Lack of published pricing makes cost estimation difficult

Price: Pricing may vary depending on specific needs but 14-day free trial available

Final Words

Here are 10 popular and reliable multi-vendor marketplace platforms widely deployed in Singapore. From Yo!Kart, CS-Cart Multi-Vendor, Yelo to Omnyfy and Nautical Commerce, each platform has its own pros and cons, suitable for different needs.

Need advice on deploying an eCommerce marketplace? Contact SECOMM today!

Using Magento extensions isn’t just a trend; it’s a critical factor for the success of an eCommerce website. With the ever-growing market, delivering an optimized online shopping experience has become a must for attracting and retaining customers.

In this context, integrating best-suited Magento extensions into the website system will enhance performance, streamline management, and enrich customer engagement. Let’s explore the top 10 Magento extensions worth integrating to ensure your eCommerce website stands strong amidst fierce competition.

1. What are Magento extensions?

Before delving into the list of top Magento extensions, let’s gain a deeper understanding of this concept. Magento extensions are simply additional software integrated into the Magento platform to extend the functionality and capabilities of Magento websites. These extensions can provide new features, enhance user experience, optimize management, and upgrade core functions such as marketing, payments, shipping, and more.

These extensions are developed by the Magento community, including software development companies and eCommerce service providers. Most of them are available in both free and paid versions. While the free versions typically offer basic features, the paid versions often include advanced features and deeper support services.

2. Benefits of using Magento extensions

Choosing the right Magento extensions is a crucial part of building and managing a successful eCommerce website on the Magento platform. Let’s explore four benefits that using Magento extensions brings:

2.1 Extend functionality

Extensions help expand the functionality of Magento websites by adding new features and capabilities that the core system doesn’t provide. For example, businesses can integrate advanced search features to make it easier for customers to find products, add filters for customers to sort products based on various criteria, or integrate social features to encourage sharing and interaction on social media. As a result, Magento websites can offer a more engaging shopping experience, retaining and attracting more customers.

2.2 Optimize management

One of the significant challenges of managing eCommerce websites in general and Magento websites in particular is efficiently managing inventory, orders, and customer information. Magento extensions provide smart inventory management tools, user-friendly order management interfaces, and integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Thus, businesses can save time and effort in managing daily business operations and focus on more critical development goals.

2.3 Enhance customer engagement

eCommerce websites are not just places for online shopping but also forums where customers can interact with each other and with the brand. Magento extensions offer interaction features such as product review and rating systems, loyalty points programs for loyal customers, and CRM software, helping businesses create a rich and engaging online shopping space.

2.4 Boost conversion rates

Lastly, using Magento extensions helps improve business performance by enhancing conversion rates, increasing sales revenue, and optimizing marketing strategies. Thanks to the flexibility and diversity of these extensions, businesses can customize and adjust their business strategies to meet market needs and achieve sustainable growth.

3. Top 10 leading Magento extensions

At the time of writing, the Magento platform offers over 4000 eCommerce extensions across a range of functions including marketing, payment processing, shipping, reporting, and analytics. Here are the top 10 most powerful extensions to consider adding to your Magento website:

3.1 Klaviyo

Klaviyo is a powerful tool for email and SMS marketing. With Klaviyo, businesses can create custom and automated email campaigns based on customer behavior, track performance, and interactions to optimize conversion rates and establish closer customer relationships.

Key features:

• Seamless integration with 300+ third-party systems. Top integrations with Klaviyo include Facebook, Trustpilot, Zendesk, Ordergroove, Stamped, and many more.
• Provides an easy-to-use email and SMS builder with customizable templates, allowing personalized form customization for each customer segment.
• Real-time data synchronization with Magento websites, including order data, cancellations, refunds, and order fulfillment for all customer segments

Pricing:

• Free version available
• Paid version: starts from $20/month depending on the number of email contacts.

3.2 HubSpot Contact Sync

This extension integrates Magento with HubSpot CRM, allowing businesses to automatically synchronize customer information between the two platforms. This facilitates more efficient tracking and management of customer information and enables optimized marketing campaigns.

Key features:

• Synchronize new customer data registered on the Magento website to HubSpot
• Synchronize newsletter subscriber data from the Magento website to HubSpot
• Synchronize previously existing data to the HubSpot system
• Be compatible with Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce

Pricing: Free to use

3.3 LiveChat

LiveChat is a powerful online customer care solution for Magento. LiveChat helps businesses enhance interaction and provide quick and professional support. This helps businesses improve the shopping experience for customers and increase conversion rates.

Key features:

• Ability to send personalized messages to website visitors on Magento
• Enable cart tracking while chatting with customers.
• Improve the efficiency of customer service by conducting multiple chat sessions simultaneously
• Seamless integration with third-party systems: Zendesk, Messenger, HubSpot CRM, WhatsApp, Mailchimp, Salesforce, etc.

Pricing:

• Free version: allows for a 14-day free trial
• Paid version: starts from $20/month

3.4 eDesk

eDesk is a preferred centralized customer service and support management platform by many Magento businesses. This tool helps efficiently manage and respond to customer inquiries in an automated manner. This improves the efficiency of customer service teams and enhances customer satisfaction.

Key features:

• Providing a unified inbox and allowing centralized management of all support channels
• Segmenting customers based on products, order history, and lifetime value
• Integrating automated response features
• Responding to customers faster with pre-made templates
• Personalizing customer service with a 360° view feature

Pricing:

• Free version available
• Paid version: starts from $69/month

3.5 Payment services

This is an Adobe Commerce extension that simplifies the payment process for businesses and allows customers to pay for orders the way they prefer. This extension ensures security for payment data and transactions, allowing admins to manage orders and payments in one central location while still providing a seamless payment experience.

Key features:

• Deployment of multiple payment methods including debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Buy Now Pay Later
• Provides an integrated payment experience, where all transaction and payment data can be easily accessed in the Adobe Commerce admin interface
• Offers comprehensive reports on orders and payments on the Magento website, including detailed information on processed orders, payment balances, and transaction-level reports for financial reconciliation

Pricing: Free to use

3.6 Stripe payments

Stripe Payments is a prominent extension of the Magento platform, allowing for easy and secure online payment integration via Stripe, one of the leading payment gateways in the market. Stripe enables businesses to accept various forms of payment, providing convenience and flexibility for both customers and businesses.

Key features:

• Increase conversion rates by automatically adding payment information and shipping addresses.
• Automatically convert to the appropriate language, currency, and payment methods for each customer segment. As of the time of writing, Stripe supports over 25 languages, more than 135 currencies, and over 20 payment methods.
• Allow selling subscription packages on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, while supporting promotions and free trials to encourage subscription purchases.
• Handle refund processes, returns directly within the Magento Admin interface.

Pricing:

• No free version available
• Pricing structured for every business scale: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction with local debit/credit cards.

3.7 Smart One-Step Checkout Subscription

This extension provides a quick and convenient payment experience for customers, helping to reduce the time and steps required to complete an order. This contributes to increasing order completion rates and reducing cart abandonment rates.

Key features:

• Allows for one-page checkout deployment
• Enables configuration of the checkout page based on the specific needs of each business
• Provides in-depth reports on the performance of the checkout page

Price:

• No free version available
• Free version: $13.99/month

3.8 ShipStation

ShipStation is an integrated shipping platform that helps businesses easily manage and ship orders from various sources. By automatically integrating with leading carriers, businesses can save time and effort in processing and shipping orders.

Key features:

• Automated synchronization and centralized management of order data from various sales channels: Magento website, offline stores, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Alibaba.com
• Streamlines the order fulfillment process, automating the selection of shipping service providers
• Supports integration with a variety of carriers
• Allows printing of hundreds of shipping labels with just a few clicks
• Provides marketing tools such as branded order tracking pages, custom confirmation emails, branded stickers, and custom packing slips to enhance the customer experience.

Pricing:

• No free version available
• Paid version: starts from $9.99/month

3.9 Google Tag Manager & Analytics

One of the noteworthy Magento extensions to consider integrating is Google Tag Manager & Analytics. This is a Google management and analytics tool that seamlessly integrates with the Magento website system, allowing businesses to track and analyze customer behavior on the website more effectively. With this extension, businesses can easily manage tags and track the performance of marketing campaigns.

Key features:

• Simplifying the tag management process
• Supporting remarketing strategies
• Seamless integration with Google Analytics. Providing detailed reports on purchase behavior, payment behavior, sales performance, etc.
• Seamless integration with Facebook Pixel, allowing businesses to track conversion rates to enhance sales funnel and marketing strategies.

Pricing:

• No free version available
• Paid version: $149 one-time payment

3.10 Reward Points

This extension allows businesses to create attractive reward point programs on the Magento website. This contributes to encouraging customer loyalty and increasing conversion rates. By providing rewards for every shopping action, customers are incentivized to return and shop more frequently.

Key features:

• Allowing the setup of rules and conditions for the point system
• Providing advanced options to efficiently manage loyalty programs
• Personalizing programs for specific customer segments
• Using CSV files to transfer reward point data between stores

Pricing:

• No free version available
• Paid version: $199 one-time payment

Final Words

Above are the 10 best Magento extensions, ranging from free options to paid solutions. Using extensions provides many opportunities to improve business performance and create the best shopping experience for customers.

Need advice on choosing the best-suited extensions for your Magento store? Contact SECOMM today!

Online shopping has become an indispensable trend in Singapore. Therefore, consumers in this city have set higher demands for their online shopping experience, driving businesses to strive for optimizing their eCommerce websites to provide a unique and best shopping experience for customers.

Below are 10 brands heavily investing in the online shopping experience in Singapore, as collected by SECOMM from BuiltWith, AfterShip, and Similarweb.

1. Charles & Keith

Charles & Keith, a leading fashion brand in Singapore, was founded in 1996 by two brothers Charles and Keith Wong. Focusing on footwear, handbags, and fashion accessories, Charles & Keith quickly gained attention in the market for its modern, youthful fashion style at affordable prices.

Charles & Keith has chosen Salesforce Commerce Cloud to build its website. Thus, Charles & Keith’s website features a range of functions to create the most convenient and comfortable online shopping experience for users. These include advanced search with filtering and sorting, detailed product views with high-quality images and customer ratings, secure shopping cart and payment, along with order tracking and purchase history. Additionally, customers can enjoy loyalty rewards, seek customer support, read fashion blogs, and connect on social media to stay updated on the latest trends. With this diversity and convenience, Charles & Keith’s eCommerce website in Singapore has provided an excellent online shopping experience for users.

• Website: https://www.charleskeith.com/
• Industry: Fashion
• Platform: Salesforce Commerce Cloud
• Traffic: 2.412M/month
• Ranking: #18,543 (Singapore) & #24,487 (Global)

2. FortyTwo

FortyTwo is a furniture and home accessories brand established in Singapore in 2007. FortyTwo offers a range of products from bedroom furniture, living room, kitchen to household items and interior decoration. The brand is known for providing quality products at competitive prices with fast delivery and attentive customer service. FortyTwo regularly updates and expands its product portfolio to meet diverse customer needs.

FortyTwo’s website is built on the Magento Open Source platform (Adobe Commerce free version). With this website, users can easily search and filter products, explore a variety of product categories from furniture to household items. Additionally, the website offers the ability to integrate attractive promotional campaigns and customer support, along with fast and secure delivery services.

• Website: https://www.fortytwo.sg/
• Industry: Furniture
• Platform: Magento Open Source
• Traffic: 625,855/month
• Ranking: #493 (Singapore) & #107,563 (Global)

3. COURTS

COURTS is a leading electronics retailer in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. With over 40 years of experience, COURTS offers customers a wide range of product choices, convenient services, and competitive prices.

COURTS uses Magento Open Source to build its eCommerce website. This website provides diverse and convenient online shopping experiences for users with functions such as product categories, specific product search, store information, and order tracking on the website. COURTS also provides support services and information about promotional programs and product news.

• Website: https://www.courts.com.sg/
• Industry: Electronics
• Platform: Magento Open Source
• Traffic: 510,240/month
• Ranking: #502 (Singapore) & #105,498 (Global)

4. Guardian Singapore

Guardian is a retail chain specializing in health care, cosmetics, and other consumer products. Guardian has a presence in many countries and regions around the world, including Singapore, with a range of products from famous and reliable brands.

Guardian’s website is built on the SAP Commerce Cloud platform, offering many useful features for users. Customers can easily search and purchase products, manage their shopping carts, and make convenient payments. At the same time, the website offers promotions and online support services to help customers have a comfortable and safe online shopping experience. Moreover, customers can also rate and provide feedback on products, providing useful information for other users.

• Website: https://www.guardian.com.sg/
• Industry: Cosmetics
• Platform: SAP Commerce Cloud
• Traffic: 429,041/month
• Ranking: #462 (Singapore) & #110,350 (Global)

5. Sephora Singapore

Similar to Guardian, Sephora is a global retail chain of cosmetics and beauty products, known for offering a range of cosmetics, skincare, and beauty products from leading brands worldwide. Currently, Sephora has a presence in the Singapore market with physical stores in major shopping centers and an eCommerce system, including a website and app for customers. Sephora is favored for its product diversity, customer care services, and innovation in the online cosmetics shopping experience.

Sephora’s eCommerce system in Singapore is built on the Vue.js and Nuxt.js programming languages. With this system, Sephora customers can quickly search and explore products through smart search and various filters. The online shopping experience is optimized with detailed product information, sharp images, and customer reviews.

Sephora’s app is also highly rated, making shopping easier for customers with features like “Virtual Artist” and receiving notifications about promotions. In general, Sephora offers a range of features and services to meet customers’ cosmetics shopping needs, creating a professional and convenient online shopping experience.

• Website: https://www.sephora.sg/
• Industry: Cosmetics
• Programming Languages: Vue.js, Nuxt.js
• Traffic: 396,282/month
• Ranking: #714 (Singapore) & #136,020 (Global)

6. Pet Lovers Centre

Pet Lovers Centre is a leading pet products and services retailer in Asia. Established in 1973 in Singapore, Pet Lovers Centre now has over 160 stores in 5 countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Pet Lovers Centre is committed to providing quality products and services from reputable brands at competitive prices.

The Pet Lovers Centre website is built using PHP programming language and has outstanding features to provide users with a convenient online shopping experience. Users can search for products based on various criteria and use filters to select suitable products. The multi-layered product categories are classified by pet type, ensuring diversity and richness. The VIP Member program brings benefits to customer loyalty strategies. Integrating customer reviews on Google Maps helps users evaluate the quality of products and services provided by Pet Lovers Centre. Additionally, the website builds a quick shopping function to save time, customer management feature, and reorder support to efficiently manage customer information and orders.

• Website: https://www.petloverscentre.com/
• Industry: Pets
• Programming Language: PHP
• Traffic: 221,220/month
• Ranking: #2,256 (Singapore) & #310,418 (Global)

7. HipVan

HipVan is an online retail website specializing in furniture and home decor, headquartered in Singapore. The brand was founded in 2013 with the aim of providing customers with high-quality furniture products at affordable prices, along with a convenient shopping experience and excellent customer service.

HipVan’s website is built using the Ruby on Rails and React framework, with Ruby being the primary programming language. Its notable features include building a community for sharing interior design ideas, image-based product search, and allowing customers to upload images of desired products. Particularly, the augmented reality (AR) feature enables customers to view products in their real-life space before making a purchase. Additionally, HipVan offers free interior planning services to help customers conveniently plan and design their living space.

• Website: https://www.hipvan.com/
• Industry: Furniture
• Frameworks: Ruby on Rails, React
• Traffic: 215,919/month
• Ranking: #1,034 (Singapore) & #225,419 (Global)

8. The Hour Glass

The Hour Glass is a premium watch retailer in Singapore founded in 1974. Currently, The Hour Glass has over 50 stores worldwide and is an authorized distributor for many leading watch brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Omega, Cartier, and more.

The Hour Glass’s online store is built on the WooCommerce platform and CMS WordPress, providing a convenient platform for customers to explore and purchase watches from renowned brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and other luxury brands. In addition to product offerings, the website also provides detailed information about the services offered by The Hour Glass, including repairs, maintenance, and polishing of watches, to help customers maintain and preserve their products effectively. Furthermore, the website continuously updates the latest news in the watch industry along with special events organized by The Hour Glass, creating a comprehensive and immersive experience for users.

• Website: https://www.thehourglass.com/
• Industry: Watches
• Platform: WooCommerce
• Traffic: 206,204/month
• Ranking: #3,305 (Singapore) & #201,956 (Global)

9. Megafurniture

Megafurniture is a furniture retail company in Singapore, specializing in providing a range of furniture products for living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, and various other spaces in homes. Megafurniture is known for offering affordable and high-quality products, attracting the interest of many consumers. Additionally, the furniture brand is also renowned for its early investment in the online store, allowing customers to conveniently shop for furniture online.

Megafurniture’s website is built on the leading Shopify Plus platform, with basic and advanced features optimized for the furniture industry. The purchasing process is designed to be simple and straightforward, providing a convenient online shopping experience for customers. Secure online payment support through various methods increases flexibility for consumers. Megafurniture also offers multiple delivery and installation options to meet customer needs. Moreover, features like quick product view and product comparison assist users in making smart and efficient purchasing decisions. This, combined with fast checkout features, significantly enhances the online shopping experience.

• Website: https://megafurniture.sg/
• Industry: Furniture
• Platform: Shopify Plus
• Traffic: 145,329/month
• Ranking: #3,630 (Singapore) & #382,030 (Global)

10. Skin Inc

Skin Inc is a skincare brand specializing in manufacturing and distributing high-quality skincare products. The company focuses on providing skincare solutions, including brightening, moisturizing, anti-aging, and treating various skin concerns.

Skin Inc transitioned from the Magento platform to Shopify Plus in 2019, aiming to enhance the customer experience by deploying multiple website versions for different markets and customer segments. Using the LaunchPad feature, Skin Inc employees can create sales events without developer assistance. Additionally, Shopify Plus seamlessly integrates with marketing tools and loyalty programs, enabling personalized communication and data-driven marketing strategies.

• Website: https://www.iloveskininc.com.sg/
• Industry: Cosmetics
• Platform: Shopify Plus
• Traffic: 14,243/month
• Ranking: #11,439 (Singapore) & #1,609,988 (Global)

Conclusion

The above is a list of the top 10 eCommerce websites in Singapore. By implementing leading platforms such as Magento Open Source, Shopify Plus, and various others, these brands provide optimized online shopping experiences, attracting the interest of customers both domestically and internationally.

During its development process, SECOMM has collaborated with numerous clients from Singapore to create notable eCommerce websites, with the most prominent being the project to develop an online liquor supply system at Changi Airport.

Over the past decade, Magento has solidified its position as one of the leading eCommerce platforms in the market. With its robust capabilities, the platform serves not only B2C businesses but is also a popular choice for enterprises.

By combining Magento’s strength with the specific requirements of B2B Commerce, you can leverage this platform’s powerful benefits. In the following part of the article, let’s explore 10 reasons why Magento is the ideal choice for deploying this great business model.

What is B2B Commerce?

Business-to-business commerce (B2B Commerce) refers to the buying and selling of goods or services between businesses rather than between a business and end consumers (B2C). In the B2B environment, transactions often occur on a large scale and involve large orders, long-term contracts, and strategic partnerships.

This business model has distinct characteristics and requirements compared to B2C Commerce. In the B2B world, businesses typically have more complex demands regarding product management, order management, customer management, and compatibility with enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and other systems.

Additionally, the business model often requires features such as order confirmation, complex payment processes, batch ordering, and wholesale pricing. For B2B enterprises, choosing a suitable eCommerce platform is crucial to ensuring business efficiency and delivering the best user experience for their partners and customers.

What is Magento?

Magento is a powerful and flexible eCommerce platform developed by Magento Inc., a subsidiary of Adobe. Launched in 2008, it quickly became one of the top choices for you looking to build and operate professional online stores.

It allows you to create custom eCommerce websites. This platform provides a range of features, including product management, order management, payment integration, customer management, and many others, enabling you to easily manage and operate your online stores efficiently.

It is built on open-source code, meaning that you can access and customize the platform’s source code based on specific technical requirements.

Ten reasons why you should choose Magento for B2B Commerce

Reason 1: Customization and scalability

Magento’s open-source platform characteristic enables businesses to easily and effectively expand their business scale. This is particularly important as businesses grow and must enhance the system’s scalability.

Additionally, the platform provides high customization capabilities, allowing businesses to adjust to their specific business needs flexibly. This also means that the shopping experience can be customized to become unique and tailored to the target customers.

Reason 2: The Comprehensive B2B platform

In addition to offering built-in Magento B2B features, the platform allows businesses to seamlessly and quickly integrate with many third-party applications and systems, thereby creating a comprehensive and automated eCommerce system. Some integrated systems may include:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems
• Product Information Management (PIM) systems
• Point of Sale (POS) systems, and so on.

Reason 3: Order management

Magento B2B provides a variety of order management features, from creating and editing orders to tracking and processing orders efficiently. This helps B2B businesses easily monitor and manage their orders accurately and consistently.

Additionally, it offers tools and features that allow tracking and analysing their orders’ performance. From generating overview reports to tracking order history and purchasing trends, the eCommerce model deployed, you can better understand your activities and make informed strategic decisions.

Reason 4: Payment and shipping options

Implementing Magento B2B allows you to offer more payment methods to customers, from online payments through electronic payment gateways to cash on delivery (COD).

Additionally, you can integrate various payment gateways through Magento, such as PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, and many more. This ensures security and convenience in the payment process for both businesses and customers.

Reason 5: Segmentation

Magento B2B provides features and tools to implement customer segmentation strategies effectively. Among these, the most notable is the Advanced Reporting feature, which provides a dashboard for tracking and analyzing sales data.

With this feature, businesses can segment customers and customize experiences based on web browsing behavior, purchase history, and various other criteria.

Reason 6: Custom user roles and permissions

Customizing user roles and permissions is an important part of optimizing the B2B purchasing process. This feature allows B2B customers to create multiple accounts with different contact details for purchasing, ordering, quoting, negotiating, and payment. Additionally, Magento B2B allows sellers to create and assign admin accounts to manage specific customers.

Reason 7: Manage pricing through shared catalogs

In B2B Commerce, Magento helps manage quotations through shared catalogs, which effectively provides product information and prices to B2B partners and customers. These catalogs can be created based on criteria such as product type, product group, or other suitable business needs.

Within each shared catalog, administrators can define prices and special conditions for each product or product group. This helps create customized quotations that meet the specific requirements of each customer.

Reason 8: Advanced inventory management

Inventory management is a challenging task for businesses implementing B2B Commerce. The eCommerce platform provides advanced features to effectively manage and control your inventory levels. These features allow administrators to track inventory quantities and forecast future inventory needs.

Additionally, Magento B2B helps manage special types of inventory such as damaged goods, special inventory items, or batch inventory.

Reason 9: Enhanced security

Security is an important issue when building and developing online stores in general. Magento provides many advanced features to help B2B businesses to secure their eCommerce systems. Among these, PCI Compliance, 2FA, WAF, DDoS protection, and preventing CSRF and XSS attacks are notable.

Reason 10: Technical support

Technical support plays a crucial role in maintaining and operating an efficient online store. Magento B2B provides tools and support services to help users address technical issues and optimize the performance of their eCommerce websites.

This includes expert support via phone, email, or online. Additionally, Magento has a large and vibrant community of developers, experts, and end-users. You can search and ask questions on the forum to receive assistance from the community.

Build your first Magento B2B site today!

In the context of the increasingly developing and fiercely competitive eCommerce market, using a powerful eCommerce platform is extremely important to ensure the success. With its unique features and superior flexibility, Magento has proven to be a top choice for building and developing B2B stores.

Need more deep advice? Contact SECOMM or call (+84)28 7108 9908 now!

Upgrading to Shopify Plus is a strategic decision for growing ecommerce enterprises. Many merchants have encountered the challenges and opportunities this upgrade brings along their journey.

From optimizing business performance to expanding operations globally, upgrading to Shopify Plus isn’t just a technical step but also an opportunity to transform ecommerce activities into a springboard for market breakthroughs.

In this article, let’s explore the steps to upgrade to Shopify Plus and some critical considerations.

What is Shopify Plus?

This is the premium version of the Shopify platform, specially designed to meet the needs of large and rapidly growing ecommerce businesses. With Shopify Plus, you can experience many powerful features and services that help optimize operations, expand scale, and enhance customer experiences.

One notable aspect of Shopify Plus is its flexibility and ease of customization. You can leverage features such as multi-store management, integration with ERP and CRM systems, creating multilingual and multi-channel websites, as well as adjusting interfaces and features according to your specific needs.

In particular, Shopify Plus provides a secure and easily scalable infrastructure that is capable of handling large volumes of traffic and online transactions robustly. With Plus, you can ensure that your website operates smoothly and seamlessly, even during peak shopping seasons.

Why upgrade to the Shopify Plus plan?

Upgrading from the standard versions of the Shopify platform to the Plus version is a significant milestone in the transformation of ecommerce businesses. Below are eight benefits and also eight main reasons driving businesses to undergo the transition:

Enhanced customization & scalability

Shopify Plus offers a range of powerful features and tools to customize and expand ecommerce websites flexibly and efficiently. These include customizing checkout pages, personalizing customer experiences, and customizing product displays.

Additionally, you can utilize some exclusive solutions, such as LaunchPad, Shopify Scripts, and Shopify Functions, to customize shopping experiences and automate sales processes.

Increased bandwidth and staff accounts

High traffic volumes will require a large amount of bandwidth to maintain a stable website. Shopify Plus allows you to access unlimited bandwidth, 200TB of storage, and unlimited staff accounts to handle large transaction volumes efficiently.

Optimized transaction costs

Upgrading to Shopify Plus can help optimize transaction costs. If you use Shopify Payments, transaction fees are the lowest in all Shopify pricing plans but will be customized based on geographical regions. Conversely, Plus merchants must pay 0.2% per transaction for security and compliance costs.

Deploy Headless Commerce

In the Plus version, you’ll be provided with tools and solutions to build a Headless ecommerce website. Through the Hydrogen + Oxygen solution, you can leverage the power of Headless architecture to create more customized and flexible customer experiences.

Deploy B2B Commerce

Shopify Plus provides features and tools to expand your B2B operations. The recent Shopify Editions Winter ’24 update introduced new features to optimize B2B Commerce activities.

From Headless B2B and advanced order management to integrated payment systems and unique features for B2B customers, Shopify Plus helps you streamline your operations and enhance customer relationships.

Expand international sales

With Shopify Plus’s multilingual and multi-channel capabilities, you can efficiently expand your operations to international markets. Shopify Plus provides tools and features to customize websites according to each market’s needs, from handling currencies to managing orders and shipping.

Ultilize POS Pro

The Plus merchants can utilize the exclusive POS Pro system for free. With advanced features, POS Pro allows seamless integration of multi-channel sales operations into the website, enables unlimited staff account access, and provides professional retail reports. This helps enhance customers’ shopping experience and optimize your offline and online sales activities.

Advanced customer support

When upgrading, you can expect more in-depth customer support services, especially in terms of consultation and technical support by a team of experts. Through hotlines, emails, and live chat, you can access the 24/7 support team.

Additionally, to help clients better understand this platform, Shopify offers a free learning program called Shopify Plus Academy. There, you can access detailed tutorials on setting up stores, customizing store interfaces, and much more.

When to upgrade to the Shopify Plus plan?

You currently on one of Shopify’s standard pricing plans may consider upgrading to Shopify Plus under the following circumstances:

• Monthly revenue exceeds $800,000 with over 100 transactions per minute. In such cases, a more robust system is needed to handle high traffic volumes without compromising user experience, and to effectively manage and optimize business performance.

• Expanding sales to international markets requires flexibility in managing multilingual, multi-currency, and region-specific inventory.

• Desire to harness the advantages of Headless Commerce architecture to enhance user experience and achieve deeper customization of user interface and technical infrastructure.

What to prepare before upgrading to Shopify Plus?

Before deciding to upgrade to Shopify Plus, there are four important steps that businesses need to take to ensure a smooth and effective upgrade process:

Define business goals

Firstly, you have to clarify your needs and wants. This includes evaluating the current and future growth of the business, as well as the necessary features to meet specific needs.

Prepare the data and Infrastructure

Next, you’ll need to prepare data and technical infrastructure for the transition process. This may involve backing up current data, checking the compatibility of current applications and features, as well as ensuring that the technical infrastructure is robust enough to satisfy your requirements.

Define features and tools in need

Finally, you’ll identify the specific features and services you desire from Plus. This may include considering features such as multi-store management, integration with ERP and CRM systems, multi-language and multi-currency support, as well as special features like deploying Headless Commerce and accessing POS Pro systems.

Set up a Shopify Plus store

Setting up a Plus store will differ from deploying previous standard pricing plans. Plus usage fees start from $2,300 per month, and this price isn’t fixed but customized based on each case’s specific needs. Therefore, you’ll need to contact the Shopify Plus team for advice. When collaborating with a Shopify Plus agency, the developer will work with the platform to provide a specific pricing quote.

The six-step process to upgrade to Shopify Plus

Below are six specific steps for the entire process of upgrading your ecommerce website system from a lower version to Shopify Plus:

Step 1: Partner with a professional Shopify Plus agency

The first and most important step is collaborating with experienced teams specialising in Shopify Plus to optimize the upgrade process and post-operation, especially concerning costs.

To select a suitable Shopify Plus development partner, you should consider previous Shopify Plus projects they have completed, how they identify and solve problems in each project, and feedback from previous clients regarding those projects.

Step 2: Evaluate and plan

The next step is equally important as it determines the effectiveness of the conversion and future operations. You and your development partners need to clarify business goals, identify necessary features and data to be transferred, and develop a specific deployment schedule based on these goals.

You’ll also need to ensure data backup and updates are safely conducted to avoid data loss during the conversion process.

Step 3: Execute deployment

After assessment and planning, proceed with upgrading to Shopify Plus. The development partner will set up and configure new features, migrate data from the old platform to the new one, and test compatibility to ensure the website operates smoothly.

Step 4: Test and adjust

After deployment, test and adjust the Shopify Plus website to ensure all features and functions work correctly. The development partner’s QA/QC team will collaborate with you to check the quality of the website experience as actual end-users and correct any issues that arise.

Step 5: Golive

Once testing is complete, the new ecommerce website will be launched into the market, and promotional campaigns will be deployed to attract initial traffic and orders.

Step 6: Train staff

Finally, employees should be trained to use and manage the new website on the Shopify Plus platform. You’ll provide detailed instructions on new features and how to use them to optimize the performance. Additionally, since Plus has unlimited staff accounts, personnel allocation should be reasonable and planned accordingly.

The Final Words

While upgrading to Shopify Plus can be complex, it significantly benefits business growth. From high flexibility and customization to scalability and deep customer service, Shopify Plus is the perfect choice for expansion.

Various insights and a systematic 6-step deployment process make the upgrade process more manageable. However, to increase efficiency and maintain the stability of the new website, businesses need a professional development partner to accompany them.

Contact SECOMM or call us at (+84)28 7108 9908 to plan your deployment today!

Shopify Plus vs Salesforce Commerce Cloud are two leading platforms chosen by large enterprises worldwide to build eCommerce websites. Each platform has its advantages, from the flexibility and user-friendliness of Shopify Plus to the comprehensive solutions offered by SFCC. 

Understanding each system’s differences and strengths is crucial before deciding between these two platforms. Let’s explore and compare the capabilities of Shopify Plus and SFCC in detail to make the most suitable decision.

Read more: Shopify Plus vs Advanced: Which one is right for you?

What is Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is a premium scalable platform version tailor-made for large enterprises. Launched in 2014, It rapidly emerged as the preferred option for those seeking efficient and adaptable expansion of their online operations. Unlike a fixed pricing model, Shopify Plus is customized according to specific deployment needs.

Pros of Shopify Plus

• User-friendly interface: The user-friendly interface of Shopify Plus allows you to quickly set up online stores with just a few simple steps
• High customization and scalability: You can customize many aspects of the eCommerce website, integrate apps, and expand bandwidth to handle large transaction volumes. However, effective customization requires high technical skills.
• Support for Headless Commerce deployment: Plus provides many tools and features that enable businesses to deploy Headless Commerce effectively. Businesses can build custom Headless eCommerce websites through the Hydrogen solution to deliver a unique customer experience. 
• Shopify B2B: With exclusive solutions, businesses can quickly build B2B eCommerce systems with a simple customer experience similar to B2C systems. 
• Shopify POS: The integrated Shopify POS Pro tool allows Plus merchants to create seamless online and offline shopping experiences. 
• Bán hàng quốc tế: The integrated Shopify Market Pro tool allows Plus merchants to expand operations to global markets and explore new opportunities.

What is Salesforce Commerce Cloud?

Salesforce Commerce Cloud (formerly known as Demandware) is a robust cloud-based eCommerce platform built on Salesforce’s infrastructure, one of the world’s largest CRM software companies.

SFCC provides a comprehensive system for operating online stores, from building and deploying shopping websites to managing orders, marketing, and customer service. With robust integration capabilities and intelligent analytics tools, SFCC helps businesses create unique online shopping experiences and enhance customer interaction.

Pros of Salesforce Commerce Cloud

• Support for Headless Commerce Deployment: SFCC allows you to seamlessly integrate with your favorite tech stack to develop custom website interfaces to optimize the customer shopping experience.
• Building personalized experiences with AI: SFCC’s Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT enable you to eliminate repetitive tasks, save time in workflows, and provide personalized campaigns and shopping experiences on a large scale.
• Support for Omnichannel Commerce Deployment: SFCC makes it easy for you to develop and maintain multiple effective and consistent sales channels.
• High Scalability: SFCC operates on a cloud platform, allowing you to quickly scale their eCommerce operations without worrying about investing in hardware and software.

Shopify Plus vs Salesforce Commerce Cloud: Detailed

License fee

• Shopify Plus

The Plus version costs from $2300/month but is not fixed and will be customized based on specific needs. For merchants reaching a revenue threshold of $800,000/month, the Plus usage fee will gradually increase based on GMV (0.25% GMV for months with revenue exceeding $800,000). Merchants often must spend an additional $1K – $5K/month to integrate third-party applications.

• Salesforce Commerce Cloud

There are no exact figures for SFCC, as the cost is determined based on each merchant’s requirements. However, SFCC merchants with revenues around $20 million may have to pay about $200,000 – $600,000/year. Larger-scale enterprises with higher revenues may have platform fees totalling millions annually.

Target audience

• Shopify Plus: It targets large-scale merchants with complex needs, but it’s best for those just starting out and those rapidly expanding their business..
• Salesforce Commerce Cloud: It targets large enterprises with complex needs, especially those already using other Salesforce products and services and seeking to integrate e-commerce functionality into their existing systems.

Customization

• Shopify Plus:

+ Customizes unique storefront with Hydrogen.

+ Seamless third-party integrations

+ Ultilize cutting-edge technologies like AI, VR/AR for enhanced customer experience

• Salesforce Commerce Cloud:

+ Offers flexibility for complex customizations

+ Requires expertise in SFCC and specific technical skills

Scalability

• Shopify Plus:

+ Easily scales without slowing down website performance.

+ Provides a clear roadmap with over 100 product updates released twice a year

+ Continuously improves to keep your business ahead in eCommerce

• Salesforce Commerce Cloud:

+ Integrates seamlessly with other Salesforce systems but struggles with third-party apps

+ Updates regularly but at a slower pace compared to Shopify

Features and Functionality

Both platforms have rich features, differing mainly in focus and approach

• Shopify Plus

Plus focuses on flexibility and ease of use, providing merchants with a more intuitive interface than SFCC. This platform is renowned for its seamless integration with various payment options, marketing tools, and sales channels. This flexibility has made Plus attractive and accessible to most merchants.

Additionally, Shopify Plus offers their merchants exclusive and custom solutions to effectively handle various aspects of eCommerce, such as Shopify POS, Shopify Market, Shopify Hydrogen, Shopify Checkouts, B2B on Shopify, and more.

• Salesforce Commerce Cloud

SFCC, on the other hand, emphasises enterprise-level features such as integrated sales management tools, advanced search, order management, and promotion creation. Additionally, this platform excels in supporting international sales, advanced customer segmentation and personalization, as well as real-time dashboards and reports.

All of these features help businesses optimize eCommerce operations and drive growth.

When choosing Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus will be the ideal choice in the following cases:

• Large-scale and fast-growing

Plus is designed specifically for large retailers with high demands for scale. With a range of exclusive solutions developed and continuously updated, this flexible eCommerce platform can effectively meet growth needs, allowing for easy scalability and customization.

• Budget and time limits

With lower license fees compared to SFCC and the ability for quick deployment, Shopify Plus is a suitable option for businesses with moderate budgets or those needing to implement projects in a short time frame.

• Priority on flexibility and ease of use

Plus is known for its user-friendly interface and high flexibility. Its drag-and-drop builder ensures that users of all technical levels can easily and efficiently set up an online store.

• Need for rapid integration with third parties:

Shopify Plus’s infrastructure provides a seamless integration system with third-party applications and tools. This is a significant advantage if you need to integrate quickly with CRM applications, marketing tools, or other online sales channels.

• Focus on customer experience

If customer experience is a top priority, Shopify Plus offers many tools and features to easily and effectively optimize shopping experiences and customer interactions.

When choosing Salesforce Commerce Cloud?

SFCC is a suite of solutions your eCommerce system needs to grow rapidly. If the following criteria apply, SFCC may be the more suitable choice:

• Already using SFCC products and services

If you have already used other Salesforce products and services such as Salesforce CRM, Marketing Cloud, or Service Cloud, choosing SFCC will optimize workflows and integrate customer data across your entire system.

• Requires deep integration and complex customization

SFCC is often the top choice for large enterprises with high deployment demands requiring flexibility in managing online stores. The platform provides powerful tools and features for customizing interfaces, managing complex product catalogs, and integrating with distinct business processes.

• Prioritizes security and reliability

Built on the infrastructure of Salesforce, one of the world’s largest cloud technology service providers, SFCC offers high levels of security and reliability, best for those with important customer data and information.

• Wants to leverage intelligent analytics features

SFCC provides tools to help you better understand customer shopping behavior and optimize business strategies. This enhances the shopping experience and increases sales revenue.

The Final Words

In today’s highly competitive eCommerce landscape, selecting the appropriate platform is crucial for your business success. This article has provided an overview of the top two choices, Shopify Plus and SFCC.

When it comes to making a decision, careful consideration of the specific needs is essential, from scale and goals to budget and technical requirements, to make the most appropriate choice.

Need help making the right decision? Contact SECOMM or call (028) 7108 9908 immediately!