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Clickfunnels vs Shopify: Which One Will Help You Succeed In eCommerce?

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By Sam Nguyen

CEO Avada Commerce

Drive 20-40% of your revenue with Avada
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So, you’ve made a brave decision to take your company online or launch a new online business. Even now you have your business plan and product, the issue of where you want to sell lingers. You’ve got two giant eCommerce powerhouses to choose from – Clickfunnels and Shopify. But how do you identify which one is ideal for your business?

When you carried out online research on this subject, you probably came across both Shopify and Clickfunnels a couple of times. But, here’s the catch: none of the platforms has all the answers to your online business problems. They both have places where they shine and fall short. The ideal platform for your business will largely depend on the type of business you want to run, and the type of products you want to sell.

In this review of Clickfunnels v.s Shopify, I will compare these two platforms in many important aspects so that at the end of this article, you will be able to make a sound decision on which platform suits you best. Now, let’s jump right into the details.

Clickfunnels vs Shopify Overview

Clickfunnels or Shopify?
Clickfunnels or Shopify?

Shopify

If you’re thinking about building an attractive and professional online store, then Shopify is a perfect option. It has a lot of themes for various niches and industries. You should provide an inventory management system to control the physical items. Plus, it offers seamless payment integration and exclusive shipping rates for DHL, UPS, and USPS.

Basically, it has all the resources you need to get started with your code-free online store. This is another positive thing about Shopify. You don’t have to think about building a website because it has built-in templates that you can use right away. Plus, their community of developers is impressive. If you have any issues, whether technical or non-technical, you will find a lot of answers and solutions.

If you encounter any problems, whether technical or non-technical, you can find a lot of answers and solutions quickly. You will also have access to the App Store full of plugins and integrations to enhance the functionality of your Shopify website further.

Clickfunnels

If you have never sold products or services before, then Clickfunnels is the software that I would recommend you use to sell your first product. It is equipped with built-in, high-performance converting sales funnels.

The platform provides you with sales funnels expressly designed to sell goods, memberships, ebooks, classes, webinars, and more. Not only does it help you to sell goods, but you can also create an email list and run automated email marketing campaigns.

Clickfunnels vs Shopify Pros and Cons

Clickfunnels v.s Shopify: Pros and Cons Comparison
Clickfunnels v.s Shopify: Pros and Cons Comparison

Pros and Cons of ClickFunnels

The Pros:

  • Building a funnel is easy, and it doesn’t take long.
  • You will have access to pre-built funnels optimized for optimum conversion. You don’t need any prior marketing experience to be able to sell.
  • You’re going to have all the tools you need for your ClickFunnels business so you don’t have to pay for external services.

The Cons:

  • Their plans are costlier than Shopify’s.
  • It is mainly intended for single or limited batches of products. Not a full shop of eCommerce.
  • You’ve got to be on a desktop because you don’t have a mobile app.

Pros and cons of Shopify

The Pros:

  • You can sell unlimited items at a time.
  • Its distribution partners ensure that the customers enjoy low shipping rates.
  • Thanks to its mobile app, you can run your company on the go.

The Cons:

  • Shopify is mainly intended for payment processing. There’s a marketing bit on you.
  • Integration with other companies is pushing up business costs.
  • It takes a great deal of time and effort to set up a store. You also need to know the technical aspects of marketing.

Clickfunnels vs Shopify Pricing comparison

Pricing of Clickfunnels

Clickfunnels Pricing Plans
Clickfunnels Pricing Plans

There are two main pricing plans for Clickfunnels where the features are restricted in some way by cost. The launch package costs $97 a month with minimal features. If you want to get unlimited apps, select the Etison Suite at $297 a month.

You will also have access to Clickpops, ClickOptin, funnels, email integrations and SMTP integration in Clickfunnels’ Standard Package. You get everything unlimited on the Etison Suite plan. Plus, you’ll have access to the built-in autoresponder and affiliate marketing management tool. There is also a more discounted ClickFunnels option available, which gives you everything you need to master the building of the funnel.

Pricing of Shopify

Shopify Pricing Plans
Shopify Pricing Plans

Shopify offers you access to a 3-day free trial period just as ClickFunnels does. And its pricing plans come with a variety of options depending on your level of business and needs. Shop costs for individual plans are set out below:

Basic $39 monthly plan provides a wide variety of themes, integration with Paypal and SEO features. It gives you the opportunity to connect 100 plus payment gateways. You can import and export customer data and have printable labels for shipping the product.

With the $105 monthly Shopify package, you can have access to all the features in the basic plan. There are less transaction costs for third-party applications, such as payment gateway use. It also has a professional reporting function and a complete point of sale functionality.

For the $399 Advanced Plan, you will get more flexibility in this Shopify Plan to expand your company to another new level. You have access to the Advanced Report Builder to generate custom reports. Plus, you have access to a real-time shipping carrier.

Shopify also provides a 10% discount on an annual subscription and a 20% discount on a biennial contract. This is an option if you don’t want to go on a monthly route.

Clickfunnels vs Shopify Features comparison

Clickfunnels v.s Shopify: Features
Clickfunnels v.s Shopify: Features

Features of ClickFunnels:

ClickFunnels is perfect for beginners who just need an easy but powerful platform where they can set up their store and market funnel on the go. Here are some of the features available for ClickFunnels:

  • Ready-made sales funnels: ClickFunnels offers you a ready-made sales funnel for all sorts of products, from physical goods to online services. Templates for various pages (such as opt-in, sales, check-out and thank-you pages) are readily accessible. All you need to do is modify it to your taste.
  • Website building tool: In case you don’t want to use the sales funnel models, you can use the website building tool to create your own sales funnel from scratch. You’ll be able to incorporate just about everything you’d like for a sales funnel: opt-in forms, checkout carts, and payment integration, and many others. This functionality should be for the expert type, though. It’s best to stick to models that are readily accessible if you’re just starting out.
  • Payment integrations: ClickFunnels is compatible with Paypal, EasyPayDirect, Stripe, and other industry-standard payment processors. It helps you to receive the fees at a single point for effective revenue management.
  • Customer Relation Management (CRM) System: eCommerce companies gain advantages by being data-driven. The more accurate knowledge you have about your clients, the more you can tailor your goods to suit their needs. The CRM tool gives you access to consumer data that helps you to tailor your marketing strategies to specific types of customers. You will have access to their social media, their patterns of spending and preferences, and their geographical location — among other important information.
  • Action Funnels: You can have access to action funnels that merge your sales acquisitions with your email campaigns to create an integrated marketing plan. You can set up the If This Then That (IFTTT) feature so that certain behaviors are caused by user activity on your web. For instance, automatically add a customer to the purchase mailing list, and send a thank you email when they make a purchase.
  • An Affiliate Marketing System: The platform helps you to set up affiliate marketing programs for your products. Other people would be able to receive commissions from every converted product lead via a connection given to them. This helps you to increase your profits by making everybody a future supporter of your brand.
  • Email Marketing Tool: In business, marketing is an important aspect for most brands. Email marketing is a proven digital marketing approach that is bound to deliver results to you. ClickFunnels offers an email marketing tool that will help you to deliver personalized email marketing campaigns to various types of customers.

Features of Shopify

Shopify is ideally suited to seasoned business people with extensive knowledge of how to incorporate different marketing tools into the shop, build embodiments, and transform leads into sales. Below are some of Shopify’s best features:

  • Online Store Builder: You’re going to have access to a wide range of themes to design your shop. You will have the freedom to customize every theme feature. Build a website to your liking. Your website on Shopify is guaranteed to be mobile-responsive and you can also use its content management system to build blog posts on your website.
  • Analytics Dashboard: Shopify offers Google Analytics integration so that you can track the success of various aspects of your business. It could be useful when making business decisions. You can also see how each product works in such a way that inventory management is much simpler.
Analytics
Analytics
  • Customer Management System: Much like ClickFunnels, Shopify lets you provide accurate details about your customers so that you can tailor your goods to their needs. This offers you the option of having your customers to shop as a guest or to build an account to become a regular customer. In turn, consumers can be classified into various groups and refunds can be quickly handled.
  • Inventory Management System: As a company, you need to have a new and up-to-date inventory. The Shopify Inventory Management System makes this simple. After adding a product and making various versions of it, Shopify can automatically monitor sales so that you can know when to restock.
  • Payment Integration: Shopify is compatible with Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and a range of other payment options. It also deals with the tax element of your company. Offers such as free shipping and discount codes may be given to clients. They also cooperated with big couriers offering low shipping rates. And Shopify works with Orbelo for businesses who want to drop a ship without storing their own inventory.
  • Social Media Sales Channels: When you use Shopify, your customers can purchase from you via social media sites. They don’t have to leave their social app to visit your website to make a purchase. Everything you need to do is integrate your store with these platforms. Set up a shop inside Facebook, Pinterest, eBay, Amazon, and others, and you’re good to go.
  • App Store: You can access the amazing Shopify app store integrations and plugins. Create landing pages and opt-in forms with a wide range of apps available in the store. You can also use them to get additional insights and come up with engaging email marketing campaigns, among other many useful features.
Shopify App Store
Shopify App Store
  • Mobile App: The website has a mobile app for both Android and ios devices so that you can run your company even while you’re on the move.
  • Lots of professional themes: When it comes to themes, you can hardly find any other eCommerce platforms that beat Shopify. This platform offers users a range of templates and themes that can be used to set up an eCommerce shop. You will find that some themes in the Shopify theme store are free (9 of them, in fact), while others have a price. Shopify templates are generally known to be beautiful and also highly responsive to mobile devices. Therefore, your current and prospective customers will make use of your eCommerce store irrespective of the tools they use.

It is also important to remember that you can customize the elements of any Shopify pre-designed template to look like what you really want. Customizing your store does not require any coding, as you only need to drag and drop the parts you want to edit.

Summary of Clickfunnels vs Shopify Comparison

Clickfunnels v.s Shopify: Which solution is better?
Clickfunnels v.s Shopify: Which solution is better?

Now that we’re putting this Clickfunnels vs. Shopify debate to an end, let’s pit these two systems against each other and see how they beat each other.

Features: Which solution is better?

Both platforms are perfect for newbies who are just exploring building an online business since they provide a range of features that will help them learn eCommerce. ClickFunnels, however, has a little benefit in this regard. This is because this platform offers a range of video guides and training materials that users can use to improve their drop-in skills and learn how to use the platform effectively.

Clickfunnels has a great support network that allows you to get any help you need when you start your online company. This solution also has a tool for membership, a CRM app, and an automation tool that makes the eCommerce business easier.

Nonetheless, if you are a professional who has mastered the art of digital marketing, Shopify will be your top pick. Shopify helps you to have great control over your online business. It also consists of efficient distribution and product management capabilities that ClickFunnels can not compete with.

Pricing: Which is better?

Well, whether you’re a pro or just starting an eCommerce company, pricing should be one of the most important factors to consider. As far as the Clickfunnels vs. Shopify debate is concerned, the gap in the pricing of these two devices is a little cumbersome.

Best of all, the most popular bundles of these applications are very similar in price – $299 a month for Shopify and $297 a month for ClickFunnels. There is, however, a wide gap between their cheapest plans – $29 per month for Shopify and $97 per month for ClickFunnels.

Nevertheless, the quality of third-party applications is another significant factor to consider when comparing Clickfunnels vs. Shopify pricing. ClickFunnels has all the essential features you need for your funnels. In reality, you don’t need to purchase any third-party apps to optimize your eCommerce, drop-shipping, or affiliate marketing.

With Shopify, the reverse is typically the case because you need to purchase some third-party applications to increase the profitability of your company. In some cases, these apps could cost you tens, thousands, or even millions of dollars. Overall, ClickFunnels seems to deliver more competitive pricing compared to Shopify.

Clickfunnels
Clickfunnels

Additional features for tracking your eCommerce: Which solution is better?

Both Shopify and ClickFunnels provide tools to monitor your finances, clients, marketing, and other aspects of your company. Besides, ClickFunnels provides you with features that allow advanced automation so that you can get information on your customer transactions and their other actions. Shopify, in comparison, does not have these advanced features (right out of the box).

In addition, Shopify lacks any functionality that can be used to build funnels and catch more leads for your eCommerce store. ClickFunnels is built for this particular purpose, so it beats Shopify in this respect. When you use Shopify, you need to find other resources to learn how to get traffic and bring your customers back to buy from you. ClickFunnels educates you about this so that you can get the most out of your eCommerce.

Availability of mobile apps: Which solution is better?

Shopify is obviously a strong winner in this category, as it offers both Android and iOS apps that consumers can use to monitor their sales and manage their company wherever they are. Unfortunately, ClickFunnels does not provide applications for smartphone devices. You need to be on a computer to manage your sales.

Shopify
Shopify

Management of affiliate programs: Which solution is better?

ClickFunnels comes with a clear system to ensure that users can track their affiliate marketing programs and create a member region. This platform is not suitable for Shopify. So, if you want to operate any affiliate marketing scheme, Shopify may not be a good option for you.

Display of products on a single page: Which solution is better?

With Shopify, you can list and sell a variety of products in different categories. It’s the ideal platform for someone who wants to sell a variety of goods.

In this matter, however, ClickFunnels is slightly disadvantaged. If you are already using your funnel or product page, ClickFunnels does not allow you to view or sell other related products on your page or enclosure. This might be a big problem for sellers who want to place a lot of similar products on the same list.

Blogging functionality: Which solution is better?

If you want to promote your blog post products, you can easily take advantage of Shopify’s blogging functionality to achieve this. This simple blogging platform can be perfect for through traffic to your eCommerce store. ClickFunnels lacks this blogging feature, but it compensates for other features that can generate traffic and leads to your shop.

Final Words

Clickfunnels v.s Shopify
Clickfunnels v.s Shopify

To conclude the comparison between Clickfunnels and Shopify, every user needs to understand that these two solutions offer some similarity in pricing, benefits and features, but there are some key differences between them that make them unique as discussed above. They’ve both shown that customers can count on them to take their eCommerce company to the next level.

However, you do not automatically have to pick one out of the two; you can combine the full delivery, payment and inventory benefits of Shopify with the power of ClickFunnels to help you generate leads and improve conversion and sales. This means I’m recommending you to use both of them.

After all, it’s up to you to decide what’s best for yourself. I hope this article has given you valuable insights into how Shopify and Clickfunnels work, and how they are different from one another. Now make a choice and move on to building your dream eCommerce business!

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Sam Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Avada Commerce, an e-commerce solution provider headquartered in Singapore. He is an expert on the Shopify e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Sam loves talking about e-commerce and he aims to help over a million online businesses grow and thrive.