It might sound controversial, but here at Kurious Agency we are big fans of Shopify. We have used it as a platform for a number of our own businesses.
If you are just getting started with eCommerce, Shopify is a no-brainer.
- It offers incredible value for money
- Quick and easy to set up
- Plenty of professional design templates to choose from
- It has a wide range of additions and expansion options e.g. for product subscriptions.
But as your business starts growing, you will find that the features Shopify has to offer are restrictive and constraining.
This is where Kurious Digital (KD) comes in. An advanced alternative to Shopify, KD feature rich and yet still very simple to use. It has the capacity to scale and grow with your business.
Shopify Platform vs KD Platform
Shopify is a software as a service (SAAS), meaning you pay a monthly fee and get the tools you need to create and maintain your site. The basic idea being that you don’t need any coding know-how to get up and running. As a SAAS, Shopify hosts your website and all your information. This is what makes it quote rigid in how it works. Most Shopify users find that they are not getting the flexibility they need because the apps don’t integrate well and so slow down the speed of the site. No one wants a slow site.
KD is a complete install created just for you which means you are not sharing the server with a million other people. This brings a lot of flexibility and you can create your website with all the features you need without the use of apps. Everything is self-contained in one integrated system.
Shopify uses templates for product pages which makes it a breeze to set up. The downside to this is that it also makes all the product pages on your site look the same. That can get boring and restrictive really quickly.
With KD, on the other hand, you can adapt templates to different products. For example, you can have products with long term content and products with short term content. You can also choose to give certain products videos, downloads and descriptions.
KD is much more bespoke and tailored for your company, your products, your needs, your customer personas and their journeys which makes it very unique.
How does Shopify and KD Support Compare?
From our own experience, we would usually find all the answers related to Shopify online, whether it’s on YouTube or a blog, and we have never had to get in touch with Shopify support. We presume it’s good and maybe you’ll be able to share your experience with us on this point?
When it comes to KD, we are confident to say that 95% of our users have had excellent support. Occasionally we may have missed the mark. Human-error is to be expected but we always work very hard to rectify any errors. Our support system is very stable and keeps improving all the time.
KD offers bespoke technical support for the specific needs of your business. For example, if you need a different check out process, it can be created for you.
Kurious Agency compliments KD by offering coaching that can help you engage more with your customers. We aren’t just selling you a platform but we invest in your business by trying to understand your business and customer journey so that we can help your business grow.
Kurious Agency also offers website management. This is where we apply all our eCommerce experience and knowledge, e.g. marketing, copy writing, getting people to your site etc. We understand that no two customers want the same support as no two customers are the same.
How does the pricing of Shopify and KD compare?
There’s no secret that Shopify is very cheap, only around $80 (£60) a month.
The base price for a KD Commerce site is £4000 ($5,100) and depending on the needs of your business, the price goes up from there.
With KD there is also an optional license fee. This means that whenever there are updates or new releases, we will install them on your site for you as soon as they come out. Having a license key is optional and you can just leave your website as it is, however, 80% of our users tend to get the license which costs just £247 a month.
Finally, there is a fee for hosting. KD is not software as a service like Shopify and hosting costs around £147 a month.
Although KD is much more expensive than Shopify, it is still more cost effective than platforms like Magento.
What size companies are ideal for KD?
Any size company can use KD platform.
The KD platform is most attractive to businesses turning over £100K or more and looking to take their startup business to the next level.
If you have initial investment at the start, you can start with KD as well, however, we do appreciate that new companies don’t always have this type of budget available.
Shopify or KD?
Shopify has its strengths and it is certainly a great starting point for many new businesses starting their eCommerce journey.
The KD platform has a lot to offer. It is:
- An experience-based platform that has the capacity to grow and evolve with your company.
- Highly flexible and customisable. It is based entirely around your business and your customer journeys
- Hyper secure
- Feature rich straight out of the box (affiliate marketing, unlimited products, refer a friend, etc)
- Able to integrate with any payment provider (we always highly recommend braintree)
Sure we’re biased but we’ve got good reason!
If you have any specific questions or want to learn more about how KD can support your business, feel free to email us at https://kurious.agency/contact or book a call via this link: https://calendly.com/mattedmundson/intro-call.