Shopify Plus or Demandware?

Shopify is a more affordable solution, particularly for small and mid-level online retailers requiring a certain amount of scalability to meet their consumers' ever-growing demands. With a user-friendly admin and less maintenance overhead, merchants can streamline tasks like catalog management, product content, and checkout optimization for their ecommerce business. With Demandware, merchants have to spend more time maintenance, so it's more expensive for SMBs to run projects on this platform.

One of the biggest upsides to Shopify is access to its premier automation tools, built to save energy and time on routine tasks so merchants can focus on the strategies required to grow their business. These include Shopify Flow (a visual builder with “if this happens, then do that” functionality) and Shopify Launchpad (a scheduling tool that allows you to put events like flash sales on autopilot) for Shopify Plus merchants. Demandware, on the other hand, doesn’t offer any such tools out of the box.

Shopify has an integrated payment solution called Shopify Payments. Shopify Payments helps merchants avoid third-party activations and deliver seamless payment experiences. On Demandware, you need to integrate a third-party payment processor to start accepting payments. Shopify offers the only integrated payment solution that allows eligible small and large retailers to go from setup to selling in one click.

Shopify允许商家提供hyper-localized shopping experiences their customers expect, in multiple languages and currencies, all from one backend. Shopify also allows you to use international pricing to set price adjustments by region or country through the store admin. Although Demandware also lets merchants sell internationally, it only offers country-specific price adjustments and local payments via plug-ins and APIs.

On Shopify Plus, merchants get specialized support from industry experts, Shopify partners, and resources. This includes the assistance of dedicated launch and solutions engineers. The launch engineer guides your data migration and store setup, while the solutions engineer ensures your existing business tools integrate seamlessly with Shopify. With Demandware, merchants need to take help from independent consultants and specialists, who can be costly to contract.

Shopify invites US-based and Canadian-based merchants to apply for the Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN). Merchants accepted into SFN get access to a dedicated network of fulfillment centers that enable lower shipping costs, timely deliveries, and a remarkable customer experience. On Demandware, merchants can only fulfill orders via third-party logistics companies. And the possibility of Demandware creating its own fulfillment network seems highly unlikely.

Shopify’s bot protection is an out-of-the-box solution that protects Shopify Plus merchants from auto-purchasing bots. It combines Shopify’s exclusive Checkpoint solution that requires buyers to complete a unique challenge and verify themselves as a human before they can enter the checkout with industry-standard protection – e.g., stopping known bots from completing checkout. Merchants can schedule protection to be activated in advance for peak periods, such as holiday sales or new product drops.

Shopify allows ecommerce entrepreneurs to build for tomorrow. Over the years, Shopify has made significant upgrades to its customization options and design experience for merchants. These include 3D product rendering, real-time product recommendations, AR and VR apps, and native video as integrated features in Shopify. Other innovative features like live stream shopping are available via apps.