Over this year I’ve worked with several consumer goods brands using Shopify, and I can tell you that it is usually a nightmare. Why is Shopify bad for CPGs? It really doesn’t have to do with Shopify itself being bad, but really about what CPGs need from their website nowadays. If you’re a CPG considering Shopify, or are currently using Shopify, you probably understand the plethora of plugins and subscriptions you have to pay for that slow down your entire system.
How To Win the Shopify Game
If your goal is to succeed in using Shopify for your CPG, it’s totally possible, but you may need to take some sacrifices. One feature of Shopify that is pretty difficult to navigate is recipe schema. Sure, it’s totally possible to use plugins and create some great schema strategies on Shopify, but in my experience the most effective ones are created fully custom.
Sadly, I spent many months last year building a fully custom schema strategy on Shopify. That’s a big reason I had to slow down some of my writing here. But it gave me a little time to step back and fully grasp how difficult the process was to create an effective schema strategy using Shopify. 1 year later, we have fully migrated to Hubspot, and I’m now facing new challenges.
No Website Platform is Perfect
This is all to say that no website platform will be perfect, but it’s important to understand why Shopify might create difficulties for a CPG. Obviously for Direct to Consumer, Shopify is unbeatable, but when it comes to content management and optimization, it’s close to the bottom tier. If you can sell your products on any platform, why sacrifice to where you need to continue working harder? If you’re a CPG navigating the Shopify wormhole, feel free to reach out for some free consultation and perhaps you may get some insight.
