Help your audience decide which commerce platform is right for them

What’s included in the playbookIncrease your affiliate earning potential by promoting Shopify to existing business owners. Thousands of merchants migrate to Shopify every year, and affiliates play a valuable part in helping them evaluate and decide between the various platforms that can host their store. You can support an existing merchant’s decision to migrate to Shopify from the one they’re currently selling, or create comparison content to help new entrepreneurs choose a platform to host their first store.

Entrepreneurs who sell on marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy move to Shopify to:

● Create their own brand● Collect and use customer data to make important decisions that can grow their business● Offer a customer experience that they can’t on marketplaces● Sell on multiple channels at once

Shopify offers omni-channel sales solutions, 3000+ apps, 24/7 support available around the world, and the world's most powerful checkout. Business owners who sell on other ecommerce platforms like Wix, Squarespace, or WooCommerce migrate to Shopify because they’ve outgrown the platform's functionality. Shopify has built-in solutions to help business owners with complex technical needs that other platforms require significant investment to solve.

Help your audience choose the commerce platform that’s right for their business. Use this resource as a reference guide to create content from, or share it directly with your audience to help them understand the important decision elements in choosing a platform to power their business.

Who you should target with comparison content

● Existing merchants selling on other platforms WooCommerce, Wix, Big Commerce, Squarespace, Magento or other SaaS solutions, who have outgrown the platform they’re selling on.

● Entrepreneurs who are new to commerce and are looking to decide on a platform that’s right for their business needs.

● Marketplace sellers on Amazon, Etsy, eBay or Walmart who want to create a branded experience for their customers and sell on multiple channels at once. With Shopify they can sell on their store, social media, email, marketplaces, wholesale, in person and retail

●

Shopify Tip: Reassure your audience they can preserve their SEO ranking when they migrate.

Guide them through the essential steps to protecting their ranking: Replatforming SEO Strategies to Protect Rankings, Boost Traffic, and Drive Sales

Here’s a collection of resources to help you learn more about replatforming with Shopify

● Growing a Handmade Brand: One Family’s Journey from Etsy to Shopify

● Migrating to Shopify with the Import Tool app

● Checkout these apps built to help your audience migrate their store to Shopify

Send your traffic to these landing pages to help your audience replatform

Shopify Tip: Deep-link by adding your referral handle to the end of the URL’s recommended in this guide. Example: www.shopify.com/dropshipping/?ref=YOUR_UNIQUE_REF_HANDLE

*Always test your links to ensure the traffic you send is successfully tracking your referrals. Try split testing different landing pages and content combinations to help optimize your conversion

rate.

Try split testing these high-converting sign up pages to see what converts best. They’re relevant to existing business owners looking to migrate, but can also be used to help new entrepreneurs decide where to launch their store.

● www.shopify.com/migrate● www.shopify.com/migrate/woocommerce-to-shopify● www.shopify.com/migrate/etsy-to-shopify● www.shopify.com/compare● www.shopify.com/plus/migration● www.shopify.com/free-trial/merchant● www.shopify.ca/compare/shopify-vs-bigcommerce● www.shopify.ca/compare/shopify-vs-magento● www.shopify.ca/compare/shopify-vs-wix● www.shopify.ca/compare/shopify-vs-woocommerce

Why Merchants Choose Shopify

● From reliable hosting to smooth checkouts and built-in analytics, Shopify has all the features merchants need to run and grow their business.

● The freedom and flexibility of running a business on Shopify allows handmade businesses to scale, and automates a lot of the commerce processes, allowing makers to focus on what they do best: making.

● They can build their own email list to drive sales, build loyalty, and grow repeat business. Help your audience bring their brand to new audiences and target new customers outside of the marketplace they’re currently selling on.

● Merchants can gain control over the design and function of their store. Shopify’s many theme options are designed to let brands shine.

● Whether it’s building a global business, or customizing it through our extensive app marketplace, Shopify gives merchants the functionality they need.

● Whether it’s easy theme customization, access to over 3,000 apps, point of sale integration, or cross-border selling, Shopify gives merchants more flexibility to grow their business.

● With a full suite of management tools and integrated POS, Shopify offers the next step in growing merchant businesses from hobby to business.

● From customizable product pages to customer chat, Shopify offers more ways to help merchants grow and build a brand that is loved.

● Allows merchants to build their own online brand.● Offers multiple built in features and apps to seamlessly expand the store experience.● Sell across multiple marketplaces and social media.● Sell online and offline while managing inventory within one system.● Makes marketing easier: manage all marketing campaigns and measure analytics through the

online store.● Be able to sell everywhere under one platform: online marketplaces, social media, and

in-person with Shopify point of sale.● Tiered pricing for businesses at every stage and size.● Accept credit cards, local payment methods, and accelerated checkouts with Shopify

Payments, or choose from over 100 third-party payment gateways.● Simple shipping: Fulfill one or multiple orders with a single click and give your customers

negotiated shipping rates with Shopify Shipping.● Customer Support: Connect with Shopify support over online chat, the phone, or email. Help is

available 24/7.● Shopify App Store: Over 2,200 apps to add even more features and functionality to your store.● Shopify Experts: Hire a trusted Shopify Expert to get professional help with everything from

store setup and design to marketing and photography.

Sample messaging to help your audience re-platform with Shopify

● The Shopify platform allows merchants to sell wherever their customers are, including online, in person, and everywhere in-between. Through multiple sales channels, merchants can connect with their customers anywhere. Some of the sales channels available to Shopify merchants include: Social media, Online Store, Buy Button and Retail

● Running a business means staying on top of lots of moving parts. Shopify makes this easier for merchants by providing one mission control for their business. From their Shopify Admin, merchants can keep an eye on all components of their business, and ensure things are running smoothly.

● Trusted by over 1,000,000 businesses worldwide

● With more sales channels, payment providers, and shipping features than other ecommerce platforms, it’s easy to see why businesses choose Shopify.

Merchant quotes you can reference in your marketing:

“Shopify is tried and true - the platform is a proven performer. It’s so nice being able to trust that when you flip the switch nothing is going to break.”- Katrina High, Fit for Life

“Shopify is 100% the best platform for ecommerce. We have loved our experience with Shopify and will never leave.”-Scotty Arellano, Raging Mammoth

Shopify vs. WooCommerceWooCommerce to Shopify migration page

Shopify is a highly customizable, easier-to-use option for WooCommerce merchants. With Shopify, you get a reliable platform and all the tools and apps you need to manage, market, and grow your business.

Shopify offers:

● Shopify Basic ($29) beats the Ecomm plan on price and out of the box functionality. ● Ease of use - one point of contact for support● More reliable platform - without having to choose and pay third party hosts, no need to

manually update themes/plugins● Reports and analytics - most woocommerce reporting plugins are pricey● App marketplace - extend beyond basic ecommerce functionality

Compare Shopify to other platformsIdentify common differentiators between commerce platforms with these comparison guides and use them as a reference to create your own comparison content.

Shopify Tip: Comparison guides and visuals are a great way to help users evaluate their options quickly. Check out the comparisons details and tables below for ideas.

Shopify vs. SquareSpace

Shopify is a highly customizable, easier-to-use option for Squarespace merchants. With Shopify, you get a reliable platform and all the tools and apps you need to create a unique store experience for your customers. SquareSpace caters to selling services/subscriptions and is limited by its payment gateways, multi-currency selling, manual SEO alt text and URL redirects.

Shopify offers:

● Better ease of use, more customization/flexibility through apps, greater control over my brand● More functionality to grow a business.● New online store editor to level the playing field on content and editing the look and feel of their

online store● Promote cross-border business growth on Shopify over Squarespace with multi-currency +

more payment options. ● Promote customization through extensive app marketplace● Highlight ability to offer Subscriptions through trusted apps ● Promote automated SEO alt text and URL redirects

Shopify vs. Wix

Shopify is a highly customizable, easier-to-use option for Wix users. With Shopify, you get a reliable platform and all the tools and apps you need to manage, market, and grow your store.

Shopify offers:

● Greater platform reliability, more customization/flexibility through apps, better ease of use● More flexibility to grow their business● Easy customization - theme updates, apps marketplace● Integration of offline/online - POS● Cross border selling - multilingual, multicurrency

Shopify vs. Amazon

While Amazon offers global global brand recognition and mass consumer use, fulfillment and shipping logistics, it allows little to no seller/merchant-centric branding. It’s a powerful sales channel, but not the place to grow their brand or build customer loyalty. Help your audience take control of their brand and customer relationships by migrating from Amazon to Shopify. Access all the tools and apps you need to manage, market, and grow your store.

Shopify offers: ● Greater control over brand, ability to communicate directly with customers, better value for

money and ease of use● Shopify’s first priority is merchant success● Full control over brand - domain, product pages, checkout● More direct customer relationships through Shopify Chat + Ping and Shopify Email● Better value for cost of subscription

Shopify vs. EtsyEtsy to Shopify migration landing page

Etsy is ideal for solo creative entrepreneurs. Help your audience move their store onto a global commerce platform to sell, market, and manage their business all in one place. Shopify is a highly customizable, easier-to-use option for Etsy sellers. With Shopify, you have access to all the tools and apps you need to create a unique shopping experience for your customers.

Shopify offers:● Greater control over brand, better value for money, more customization/flexibility through apps● The next step in an Etsy sellers business growth, where they can scale from hobbyist to

business.● Etsy as a sales channel - full suite of management tools to grow businesses across channels● Ping and Shopify Email as better ways to stay close to their customers and turn them into

repeat buyers● Shopify Shipping and SFN to pass along better rates to their cross-border buyers● Integrated POS/online - tap and chip reader for temporary in-person sales

Shopify vs. EtsyEtsy to Shopify migration landing page

Shopify Tip: Help your audience migrate their products from EtsyMerchants can import their existing store from another platform into Shopify. The following instructions use Easy Import, but there are several other import apps available in the Shopify App Store, depending on the platform your audience is migrating from.

1. From their Etsy Shop Dashboard, under Shop Settings, click Options2. Select the Download Data tab3. Click Download CSV4. After they sign up for Shopify using your unique referral handle, instruct them to

download the Easy Import Etsy Migration app from the Shopify App Store5. Within Shopify, find Easy Import under Apps6. Upload their CSV file and follow the instructions to import products. They can assign

them to collections during this step7. Preview products before importing. The process will import product titles, descriptions,

variants and prices8. Go to Product in Shopify to edit other information and add product photos

You can help your audience understand the key things to look for in a commerce platform by using this checklist, or creating your own version:

Platform Evaluation Checklist

● Ecommerce is the primary focus of the platform, not an add-on● You can quickly iterate on the design and functionality of the platform● The latest tech, compliance, and security feature updates are handled for you● Everything is managed in the cloud and hosted on a remote server, so you can access

your account from anywhere, on any device● The platform is flexible and grows with you, so that as your business gets more

complex, it continues to support your needs● You can add and manage product catalogs without hiring a developer● You pay a monthly subscription fee, so you can forecast your total costs● It allows you to sell globally on marketplaces, mobile, social, and in real life● The platform has an open API (Application Programming Interface) so you can build or

download apps and integrations to customize your store● The platform is built to keep your SEO strong during and after migration

Help your audience find the right platform by asking themselves these questions:

● Is the platform fast and reliable?● Will the platform stay up during high-volume shopping days?● What level of security and compliance do they guarantee? Ideally, look for Level 1

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance. If the platform manages security automatically, you’re in good hands.

● Does the platform integrate with your tech stack? The best platforms are tech agnostic.● Will the platform work with your current technologies?● How can I customize my store? Know what’s possible when it comes to customizing the

platform for your needs. Understand what products are offered to help you with this.● How long will the migration process be? Your estimate shouldn’t be more than eight to

10 months. ● How will I be supported during and after migration? Learn about what support and

resources the platform offers.● How will migrating affect my SEO rankings? The right answer is that it shouldn’t in the

long term.● What happens when I need to update the tech on my site? If you choose a SaaS

solution, the platform will continuously update the tech so you can focus on your business. You shouldn’t have to pay your platform extra or manually install new versions every time an integration updates their software.