SamCart vs Shopify: Which Is The Best? (Ultimate Comparison)

Are you wondering which is the overall best choice between SamCart and Shopify?

I totally can relate how overwhelming it could be when there are lots of alternatives in the market and you’re left in confusion on what to use.

I’m here to help you decide that in today’s post.

It’s clearly obvious that the main aim of every online business is to convert prospects to loyal customers.

And one of the best ways to attract more customers and increase sales in your online business is by using a well-designed, structured, and converting sales funnel with an amazing checkout experience.

Awesome enough, SamCart and Shopify are cart solutions and eCommerce tools created to make online selling convenient and easy for businesses.

Thousands of online entrepreneurs widely use these two tools due to their amazing features.

However, even though these two software are similar in the sense that they both aim to convert your traffic to increases sales, the approach that each software uses to achieve that is different.

After so much research and consideration, you have finally narrowed down your selection to just two software: SamCart and Shopify.

But you are wondering which one between these two to choose.

We understand that running an eCommerce, service-based, or any type of business at all is already hard enough.

So, we have made things easy for you by comparing these two fantastic software – SamCart vs Shopify, which when used leads to similar results (money in the bank) but uses very different approaches.

We are going to tell you everything about these two awesomely-great softwares and in the end, determine the winner which you should start using in your business.

Starting today!

Let’s do it!

SamCart vs Shopify Summary:

If you’re in a hurry for the best option to choose, then here is what we recommend – If you’re into or looking to sell service-based products, digital products or single SKU physical products, then get started with SamCart for free trial as it comes awesome check out and shopping cart features that easily convert sales. WHILE go for Shopify if you plan launching a full-fledged eCommerce product store.

Part #1: Overview of SamCart vs Shopify

Taking a look at both platforms:

What is SamCart?

Created in 2013 by Scott Moran and Brian Moran, SamCart has quickly grown to become one of the top shopping carts in the world. To date, SamCart has sold over 4.5 million products and has processed over $750 million for its customers.

And the numbers are increasing massively.

SamCart is a full-fledged website checkout platform created to help improve your conversion rate and add more revenue to your business.

SamCart is ideal for small and medium-sized companies that wish to maximize profits from every sale. It has some commendable features, ranging from upsells, bump offers, A/B testing, and many more.

Another thing that has made SamCart stand out from the competition is its simplicity and ability to fit into your current marketing stack.

Like you can integrate SamCart to work well with your existing website or sales funnel software.

Selling digital or physical items on SamCart is very easy. Digital products, mostly.

You don’t need to be a sales or digital marketing expert to use this platform. Anybody, including those with no prior experience, can use this platform. The fact it has some well-optimized templates, explicitly for conversion is a relaxing feeling.

What Exactly is Shopify?

Shopify is popularly known to be an all in one eCommerce platform that allows you to create your own online store with ease.

This web application was founded in 2004 in Canada by a German-born entrepreneur known as Tobias Lutke. Since its launch, Shopify has grown to become one of the most used eCommerce platforms in the world and currently boasts of over 1,000,000 active users in over 175 countries and has generated sales worth over $155 billion.

The reason why Shopify has dominated the eCommerce platform is that it is an all in one eCommerce platform, meaning that it is a full package for your website.

You don’t need to purchase another software to compliment it, as it is usually the case with other eCommerce tools.

Additionally, Shopify is also simple and easy to use.

Users without design nor coding skills can create their own stores without hiring a web developer or a design agency. All you need to do is sign up, and you will be taken through the rest of the process.

However, people with coding skills can benefit more from a wide array of features that the Shopify platform offers.

Shopify is a hosted platform meaning that you don’t need to worry about software installations or purchasing web hosting.

It has everything you need to create and run your eCommerce store with ease. Furthermore, Shopify also allows users to customize stores to meet their personal requirements using custom made code or via the adding of apps.

Part #2: SamCart vs Shopify – Core Features

Here, we breakdown the features of both platforms, starting with SamCart:

Features of SamCart

As an advanced shopping cart tool – I must say that SamCart has all the standard features you’d want in a specialized cart platform.

Let’s take a look at some of the brilliant functions.

• High converting checkout templates

SamCart has a wide variety of high conversation checkout templates. This helps to reduce bounce rates and boost your conversion rate.

At the moment SamCart offers 18 cool checkout templates already tested to convert sales. One which is called ‘One-page funnel‘ is something worth checking out.

• A/B Split Testing

SamCart has an inbuilt A/B testing that enables you to compare variations of your pages to determine which one performs better.

This is important because it helps to eliminate guesswork and only focus on results.

• 1-click Upsells and Bumps

Do you wish to increase your average cart value which maximizes profits and revenue? Then this SamCart feature will help put more money into your account.

It gives your customers the option to add extra complimentary products (or services) to their order and also upselling them to your high-end offers without re-entering their payment details over again.

And it’s very easy to implement these features without touching a line of code.

• Coupons and discounts

Providing coupons and discounts is a great way to attract and keep loyal customers.

SamCart has an exclusive feature that allows you to add the description of the coupon, discount type, and the quality of discount being offered by the coupon, etc.

• Affiliate Program Manager

There are special affiliate management systems that cost from $50-$1000 per month. At some point in your business, you might want to consider recruiting affiliates where platforms like these would be needed.

Well, SamCart has an inbuilt affiliate management tool. Meaning you don’t need to pay for an external platform.

• Simple dashboard

SamCart interface is intuitive and straightforward. It indicates a bunch of analytical data to keep you up to date with your checkout. The dashboard is simple and easy to use.

• Offered payment gateways

SamCart integrates with only two payment options, PayPal and Stripe. Sadly, at the moment it doesn’t integrate with options like Autorize.net, Braintree, Apple Pay, and Google pay.

If you’re looking for similar platforms with those options – then you might want to take a look at these SamCart alternatives.

• Email marketing

SamCart allows you to integrate your shopping cart with autoresponder for efficient email marketing.

Anytime a customer makes a purchase, he/she will be automatically added to your list, and you will be able to send them customized emails to trigger them to make repeat sales.

• Wide range of third-party Integrations

Connecting your favorite application or marketing tool with SamCart takes nothing too technical on your end.

You can integrate you’re your email platforms, CRM, membership tool, page builder, and payment providers.

• Priority support

SamCart has a very active customer support team that responds to customers’ queries promptly.

You don’t have to wait for days before your concerns are addressed as it is usually the case with other a few tools. You can talk to their customer support team via live chat, phone, and email.

Shopify Core Features

• Over 70 Professional Themes

Shopify has over 70 professional themes that have been created by renowned designers like Pixel Union, Happy Cog, among many others.

The fact that it has plenty of themes means that you can choose one that blends well with your online store needs.

• Customizable Template

Every template on Shopify comes with its own in-built setting that enables you to easily and quickly customize every aspect of your store.

• Edit CSS and HTML

Shopify gives its users full access to CSS and HTML to their online shop, allowing them to customize every aspect of their website easily.

• Mobile Friendliness

With many people using a mobile device to shop online, Shopify has ensured that its users take full advantage of this to attract as many customers as possible to their online stores.

It has included a built-in mobile commerce shopping cart that allows user’s customers to purchase from their stores using their smartphones or tablets.

• Supports Dropshipping

Another great feature is that Shopify offers a very large range of dropshipping apps, allowing you to source and sell different suppliers‘ goods online with ease.

This means if you’re in any way interested in doing dropshipping – then consider using Shopify. And no way! You can’t dropship with SamCart.

• Over 100 Payment Gateways

Despite the fact that Shopify provides its own inbuilt payment system – it also supports a huge range of payment providers.

From PayPal to iDEAL to Bitcoin, Shopify has integrated over 100 payment options from around the world.

• Multiple Languages

Your online store checkout stores will come with over 50 languages. You can also translate your shop’s theme to suits your requirements.

• Customer Profiles & Tracking

Shopify allows you to learn more about your customers and their shopping habits. It enables you to trace their order history and contact information

• Search Engine Optimization

Shopify supports search engine optimization (SEO) bets practices like Meta tags, customizable H1, and title.

• Social Media Integration

All Shopify stores include social media integration such as Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter Facebook, and Tumblr.

• Dedicated Support Team

Shopify offers a 24/7 customer support team via live chat, phone, and email.

Part #3: Shopify vs SamCart Pros and Cons

Just as with every other thing in the online marketing world and life in general – there’s always a good and bad side to everything, right?

Here are the pros and cons of both marketing platforms:

Starting with Shopify Pros and Cons

Pros

• Shopify is fully hosted meaning that you don’t need to worry about the server cost and maintenance
• Shopify is a good option for anyone interested in dropshipping
• It provides a reasonable range of free responsive online store templates
• Huge of third-party apps to help extend your Shopify functionality
• It comes with a built-in blogging feature
• It is an all in one selling platform, meaning that it has everything that you need
• 24/7 customer support
• Highly engaged community
• Easy to use (can be used even by people who are not tech-savvy)

Cons

• Additional transaction fees for using external payment getaways
• Customization is limited to theme and platform capabilities
• It does not have a free plan
• Most of the advanced features like reporting are only available on the expensive plans
• The cheapest plan of $9/mo Lite plan doesn’t allow you to create a fully-fledged online store

SamCart Pros and Cons

Pros

• SamCart is an easy to use and friendly platform for selling both your digital products with ease
• It has a friendly drag and drop editor for easy customization
• It has some cool sales funnel capabilities like one-click upsells and bump orders
• There are already-made templates for you to use
• Easy to add coupons and discounts
• Affiliate center
• A/B testing and checkout page abandonment capabilities
• You can set different payment models and plans for your customers

Cons

• Unfortunately, no digital sales tax calculation built into SamCart
• Only Stripe and PayPal supported
• Hardly integrates with webinars

Part #4: Pricing – SamCart and Shopify

SamCart pricing

SamCart has three pricing plans. They include:

• Launch Plan for $49/month
• Grow Plan for $99/month
• Scale Plan for $199/month

The individual SamCart plans all have their places depending on what level you’re in business with the type of features you need.

For example, the Launch Plan is for those who are starting out in selling their products online and don’t need the subscription and upsell features.

The Grow and Scale Plan has these features plus a lot more.

The Scale plan includes all the advanced features. Like the inbuilt affiliate tool, cart abandonment, A/B testing, dunning tool. The above features aren’t available on the Grow plan.

You can also save 20% on all SamCart plans when you pay yearly.

==> Learn more about SamCart discounts

Shopify has four pricing plans they include:

• Shopify lite – $9/ month
• Basic Shopify – $29 per month
• Professional Shopify – $79/month
• Advanced Shopify – $299/month
• Shopify Plus – here the fees and negotiable. It costs up to $2000+ per month

Obviously, Shopify happens to be on the cheaper side starting from $9/mo. However, it’s important for you to know that there are some limitations to this plan.

The biggest of them all is the inability to build a fully-operational standalone store.

And the price advances, you unlock more features, depending on your needs.

Part #5: Shopify vs SamCart – Who Wins?

Let’s admit the truth that both platforms aren’t of the same world. SamCart is a powerfully-dedicated shopping cart software WHILE Shopify is an industry-leading eCommerce solution.

So, deciding on which to use is ultimately dependent on the model of your online business.

The thing is:

Shopify is the best option for those who wish to create an online store – like having variations of physical products, etc. Or maybe you have an interest in doing dropshipping – great platform too!

If you have plans on selling digital products of any sort with a variety of payment plans and options – then I wouldn’t use Shopify. SamCart would be the way to go.

SamCart has everything you need to sell any type of digital products online. It’s a dedicated platform specially designed to help build a nicely optimized checkout page that increases profits.

This leads to the questions:

“Can you sell physical products too on SamCart?”

Yes, you can sell your physical product through SamCart. As you’ll have the option – within your SamCart – to switch to physical which gives you additional selling options like shipping price, shipping location, etc.

Although, definitely not as sophisticated as Shopify. But SamCart works perfectly fine for all things.

Digital, services, and physical.

Can I integrate SamCart and Shopify?

During the course of this research, I spent a lot of time trying to figure and find if there’s a way to connect both platforms together.

Especially, using Shopify in getting and converting visitors, then implement SamCart on the checkout phase.

Well, currently, it is not possible to use SamCart as your Checkout solution with Shopify. As you’ll still use the secure Shopify checkout to accept payments and complete orders.

However, there are other ways both software can work together using Zapier as the middle man. Which allows you to send info between SamCart and Shopify.

See the details about that here.

Final Thoughts

Both Shopify and SamCart are excellent marketing tools that can help you attract more clients and convert them to loyal customers. But from the above-detailed review of both, it is evident that they serve opposite audiences. So, the final judgment lies in what you need them for.

If you come here for the best eCommerce product selling software – Start with Shopify!

If you’re here for the best shopping cart tool for your digital, service-based, or physical product – then get started with SamCart free trial.

I hope this SamCart vs Shopify comparison helps you in making the best decision? Let me know your choice in the comments.