Volusion and Squarespace are two contemporary web building platforms used by dozens of millions of users across the globe. The platforms have notable functionality distinctions as they target diverse audience types.
Volusion is a website builder oriented towards online store creation. The platform is quite difficult to master for beginners yet it offers powerful eCommerce options. Squarespace is the all-in-one web development platform that allows for the creation of different types of web-based projects – from simple promo sites and landing pages and up to powerful blogs and online stores. Squarespace is simpler to use even for newbies, but it also provides options to create full-featured online stores.
Which service – Volusion or Squarespace – still works best for online store development? Which of them has more to offer and which of them is ready to ensure the best result? Read on the detailed comparison of two website builders to define the one that works best for eCommerce website creation.
General Overview
Volusion has gained extensive user recognition in the contemporary web design market as one of the most popular eCommerce website builders, The software has made its name due to its advanced performance and availability of built-in eCommerce tools. They make it possible to set up and run all types of web stores, ranging from small projects and up to full-featured hypermarkets.
The foundation of the platform dates back to 1999, which speaks in favor of its performance and reputability. The website builder works equally well for beginners and web design experts as it has much to offer to both user categories. Current statistics tells about more than 54,491 websites started with the system, while the amount of live web stores it powers has reached 8,221 projects.
Squarespace reveals more extensive functionality, making it possible to start all types of web projects. Online stores are not an exception. The platform works great for entrepreneurs and store owners willing to go live with their projects and aiming at growing their customer base along with profit.
The all-in-one website builder was launched in 2003 and it has significantly changed over time. Current stats shows that the website builder has been used to start over 4,677,984 websites, while the number of live projects created with it has overcome 2,940,189. These numbers are really striking and they definitely speak for themselves.
Which One Is Easier to Use?
Volusion cannot be considered the easiest website builder among its alternatives available in the modern web design market. It looks quite understandable after the registration, but you will encounter multiple challenges, trying to proceed to web store development with it. Having got access to the Storefront, you will be offered to pick a template using the wizard, upload the company logo, add products, customize the design and menu of your future website. Additionally, you will have to pick the subscription, if you have an intention to keep working with the system afterwards. If you are not quite sure about this, you can omit this step to test the functionality of the system on a trial version.
Such a diversity of steps may be quite challenging for a newbie. There are many options, charts and settings at first sight here. You will need several days to master them properly. This can make the creation of an online store with Volusion a time-taking process, especially if you plan to sell dozens of products.
Volusion customer support options are pretty versatile, letting you find answers to all the system-related questions you have. The major Volusion advantage is its Live chat, where you can get qualified assistance from tech support experts and eCommerce advisors. They can help users settle their financial, marketing and economic problems, offering step-by-step guidance and advising on the best choice in questionable situations. What’s more, Volusion offers qualified phone support assistance and it also comes with a powerful Help Center to solve technical problems and Guides, where all useful recommendations for those entrepreneurs, who just start their businesses, are provided.
Squarespace is a bit easier as compared to its multiple competitors yet this is not the simplest web design solution you can find out there. What you need is to pick the design (there is a separate template group for online stores), register, upload the logo, name and description of a website and… that’s it. You can customize the selected template and positioning of website elements in the opened window as well as add products and their descriptions, specify payment and shipping settings. The process is simple and intuitive
Dashboard elements are grouped to help a user understand, where to look for the required settings. As far as we focus on online store creation, you’ll initially get access to eCommerce parameters, where you can manage orders, add new products and set up discounts.
Design and Flexibility
When it comes to online store development, Volusion and Squarespace both provide powerful out-of-the-box functionality. The website builders allow picking an extensive diversity of tools and features to come up to versatile eCommerce needs of users. To define the platform that has more to offer in terms of eCommerce, it makes sense to define and compare their major parameters. Read on to find out more about them.
eCommerce
Volusion abounds in powerful eCommerce settings, tools and functions. This is no wonder, considering the specific niche focus of the website builder. Detailed system settings make it possible to set up each product individually, edit shipping settings, specify suppliers and manage stock products. Apart from that, Volusion offers a powerful analytics system you may use to track website traffic as well as to analyze sales indexes, TOP selling products as well as economic indexes like ROI.
The website builder also comes with a powerful eCommerce CRM that allows for convenient and hassle-free order management. Likewise, there is access to extensive dropshipping options, social management tools, integration with powerful eCommerce platforms like eBay and Amazon.
With Volusion, you can set up versatile product display settings to fully merchandize the items you offer for sale. It is possible to add photos and description details to showcase the products and their special characteristics. Likewise, the system allows adding subcategories, managing SEO settings and using category tools to properly set up the catalog. To find the required items, customers have an opportunity to use advanced search tools the software has in stock.
As an eCommerce software, Volusion makes it possible to introduce discounts and special offers. This can be done via the use of their professionally-designed Slideshow feature that allows driving user attention. Additionally, the system lets you display product status, provides product quantity verification, controls stock reorder quantity levels etc.
To manage your warehouse settings, you can easily set up locations, calculate shipping rates, assign products to different warehouses and complete other steps that improve the entire inventory management process. Volusion also allows specifying shipping types and rates, when working with customer orders.
Special attention is devoted here to customer account management. Due to the insightful management system, Volusion lets you view purchase history and contact info to control the shopping process and to improve its efficacy. Such a diversity of options makes Volusion a pretty nice choice for quality eCommerce website development.
Squarespace comes with a powerful integrated eCommerce engine, which allows setting up, managing and updating professional online stores that display great on mobile and desktop devices (see the best Squarespace-powered stores). When using Squarespace you will be able to create and update appealing show windows, offering dozens of physical and digital products for sale.
The system grants access to multiple eCommerce features, such as CSV product import/export, integration with popular trading platforms, abandoned checkout recovery, Xero integration, multi currency support, Stripe and PayPal integration. All these features allow for quality web store development.
Squarespace lets you choose from multiple eCommerce templates. There is a special category of such themes in the software collection. What’s more, the system allows picking the best design to match your niche specialization. Just browse the available samples to pick the one that works best for your project.
Additionally, the website builder makes it possible to schedule appointments with online bookings and calendars, announce recent company news by means of posting in social media channels, collect customer emails and build mailing lists as well as embed maps and online forms for more effective interaction with customers. Finally, it is possible to connect eCommerce tools to grow your business – just reach the collection of available integrations in the system’s dashboard.
Blogging
Volusion doesn’t offer integrated blogging functionality and, thus it is impossible to start or connect a blog to your online store, when using the system. Even though this feature is not a must for an eCommerce project, it might be helpful when driving user attention. Volusion has not taken care of the blogging feature, which can be considered one of its most notable demerits.
Squarespace comes with a powerful built-in blogging engine. The website builder makes it possible to connect a blog to your web store to ensure convenient user interaction and to boost customer engagement rate. The system offers a collection of blog templates, which are customizable and responsive by default.
It allows adding and editing blog posts and pages, saving and scheduling new publications, setting up accessibility, social sharing and SEO parameters. If needed, you can additionally set up geo tagging, Google Author Rank parameters built into member profiles, URL customization, commenting feature and other blog-related options here.
Additionally, Squarespace lets you use Google Analytics, use multiple author support, adjust blog post display settings along with show window options. By the way, if you already run a blog on other platforms like Tumblr, Blogger, Posterous or WordPress, for example, the website builder lets you transfer the project to its servers with almost no time/money investment. Importing products from Big Cartel and Shopify is possible here as well. All in all, it is possible to start a quality blog here to boost your web store reputation.
Third-Party Integrations and Special Features
Volusion allows for rewarding collaboration with the world-popular marketplaces. Web stores created with the website builder can seamlessly integrate with the largest eCommerce niche leaders like Amazon and eBay. Such cooperation ensures better business exposure and sales growth. Additionally, the website builder allows for multiple payment gateway integration, including Stripe and PayPal support.
The platform comes with distinctive cross-selling functionality. This means that you can expand your web store across other shopping sites by managing orders for diverse channels directly from your Volusion admin panel. If needed, you can link your social accounts to a web store to further publish Twitter and Facebook posts here.
Volusion has recently introduced its Newsletter tool that lets you stay in touch with customers and even sell more on the web. ROI Tracking feature, in its turn, allows examining system investment values based on the available ad campaigns, affiliates, newsletters and other available data. Report creating feature, correspondingly, makes it possible to get ontime insights about your web store, including CRM tickets, recent stats, purchases, Return Merchandise Authorizations, abandoned/live shopping carts etc.
Squarespace deserves special user attention, when it comes to integration options. Even though, the system does not include a built-in App Market, there are still multiple widgets and add-ons to choose from. These include extensions for photo gallery creation, social media sharing, inventory tracking etc. It is possible to integrate Google Analytics tools, Squarespace Metrics App, Google Maps, Scheduling Platform as well as Unfold – Advanced Storytelling Tool.
To keep users informed about company updates and news, the website builder allows sharing website content in social networks. The most popular systems to access here include Pinterest, SoundCloud, Behance, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Dropbox, Dribbble, Twitch, Yelp, Tumblr, Instagram etc.
Squarespace also lets you get a professional email for better brand promotion and recognition. If needed, you can also set up effective email marketing campaigns and import project content into draft emails to guarantee quality communication with potential partners and system subscribers.
If you intend to promote your brand and to make it stand out from the crowd, the system lets you design, customize and integrate a business logo. This is done by using the advanced Logo Maker tool that comes with multiple elements and parameters to help you pick the preferred style, design, color scheme and other features that match your brand most.
To improve your eCommerce website performance, you can install an advanced Video Studio App. This is where you can create and share all kinds of business videos to showcase your company story, build customer base, drive sales etc. If needed, you can track your web store data using the contemporary Squarespace app that lets you track project stats and get in touch with clients even on the go. This is a handy solution that will be of great help to everyone.
Template Editing
Volusion template collection is not quite extensive. It currently encompasses 45 quality themes. The system offers 11 free templates and 34 premium samples. The cost of paid designs created by the platform developers constitutes $180.
All the themes are mobile-responsive even though they are not sorted out by industry. This can somewhat complicate the choice. A nice advantage is that any template (even a paid one) is customizable.
You can edit both CSS and initial HTML codes, which makes it possible to add the required code elements, such as Facebook pixel, for example, to the website without any problems. Likewise, it is possible to modify your project layout as you wish by incorporating videos, image galleries, customer reviews and testimonials as well as other content blocks.
To showcase your business branding across the website in a visual way, Volusion lets you integrate a logo and a favicon in special designated areas. The website builder allows for code embedding that lets you adjust website design in the high end HTML/CSS editor. However, if you feel that you cannot cope with your website customization independently, the system allows hiring its in-house design experts to create a unique eCommerce project for you.
Squarespace has over 100 templates available to users, but not all of them are meant for web store development. The number of eCommerce themes is not high, but all the templates are free and completely customizable. Additionally, there is an option that lets users change the chosen template, while saving the content.
However, its necessity is quite questionable from the point of view of a commercial project, because the process of online store creation is quite serious and the benefits of this or that design should be considered in advance.
A real highlight of the website builder is its Cover Page Builder, which makes it possible to design an appealing cover page for your online store. You can do that by picking and customizing content blocks to match your project style. Finally, Squarespace lets you insert media files, edit template design via code integration, submit business-related info etc.
With Squarespace, you can switch between the themes when required without losing the previously-submitted content. The preview option makes it possible to view the result of the editing process on any stage to be able to make the updates when necessary. Device and Mobile view modes let you see how your project will look on different types of screens before going live with it.
General Pricing Comparison
Volusion pricing policy looks more democratic compared to that of its major competitor – Shopify (see review). The website builder offers a 14-day free trial that lets you test the integrated functionality of the platform. Upon the end of the trial period, you will be offered to upgrade to one of four paid subscriptions to get started with your web store development. Have a look at the cost of the plans and the services/terms they involve:
- Personal ($31.50/mo billed annually) – works well for small shops with annual revenues up to $50k. The subscription lets you add up to 100 products and only 1 staff account. It also comes with unlimited bandwidth, online support, secure checkout, free responsive templates, powerful site editing/drag-and-drop tools, secure payment options, easy inventory management tools, built-in SEO features, social media integrations, import/export feature etc.;
- Professional ($71.10/mo billed annually) – is great for medium web stores that sell up to 5,000 products. The plan offers 5 staff accounts, online+phone support, API Access+batch order processing, Deal of the Day+ Customer Loyalty Plan, premium support, advanced report builder, 3rd party shipping calculated rates, 3rd party gateways etc.;
- Business ($269.10/mo billed annually) – is enough for a growing business with annual revenues over $500k. The plan offers unlimited products, 15 staff accounts and Priority support;
- Prime (price is negotiated individually based on the Gross Merchandise Volume) – is a nice pick for large international companies craving for VIP support and features in the pack.
All Volusion plans encompass unlimited bandwidth and diverse product management options.
Squarespace pricing policy implies four plans for commercial websites. However, there is also a 14-day free trial that lets you test the features the system offers before deciding upon the suitable subscription. As soon as you are done with the test period, go ahead to upgrade to one of the paid options. Here they go:
- Personal ($16/mo billed annually) – unlimited bandwidth and storage, 2 contributors, 24/7 customer support, website metrics, free custom domain, SSL Security, SEO features, 30 minutes of video storage, Squarespace extensions ;
- Business ($23/mo billed annually) – CSS/JavaScript design customization, advanced website analytics, fully-integrated eCommerce, unlimited contributors, professional email from Google, premium blocks and integrations, 3% transaction fees etc.;
- Basic Commerce ($27/mo billed annually) – customer accounts, Instagram synchronization, 0% transaction fees, domain checkout feature, powerful eCommerce analytics etc.;
- Advanced Commerce ($49/mo billed annually) – abandoned cart recovery, APIs for order and inventory, limited availability labels, gift cards, advanced shipping and discounts etc.
Squarespace premium subscriptions come with domain name connection options and they also offer free hosting. If you have your domain name registered with another hosting provider, the platform allows transferring it with a few easy steps.
Which One Is the Best for SEO?
Volusion comes as a SEO-friendly website builder, which lets users adjust SEO parameters of their projects with regard to their website optimization needs and requirements. Users are put in charge of their website optimization. They have access to the intuitive dashboard of the system, where they can edit custom URLs to make their projects SEO-friendly.
This is also the place, where one can set unique meta titles and descriptions, assign ALT attributes to photos and images, edit robots.txt files etc. Additionally, the website builder allows tracking your web store detailed statistics, including crucial info about popular products, traffic behavior and sources as well as other parameters.
Squarespace is good at SEO as the website builder allows adjusting SEO settings for the entire website as well as for its separate pages. The platform picks and uses the product name/post heading as the SEO title for the required page.
Additionally, it lets you hide your website or its separate pages from indexation by the search engines until you are ready to publish a ready made project. This is done by means of adding the “noindex” tag to the page or pages that have to be hidden from indexing.
Key Differences Between Volusion and Squarespace
| Volusion | Squarespace | |
| Ease of Use: | Volusion is a specialized eCommerce website builder, which lets you run quality online stores. The system works great for small and large eCommerce projects, irrespective of their specialization. | Squarespace is a simple and convenient drag-and-drop website builder. The platform works well for users with diverse web design proficiency, making it possible to launch business projects, web stores, blogs, landing pages etc. |
| Functionality: | The website builder abounds in eCommerce functionality. It ensures a smooth and intuitive web store creation process. The system works well for newbies and web design pros, offering extensive out-of-the-box functionality. | The system comes with a simple and handy WYSIWYG editor, integrated blogging and eCommerce engines, Cover Page Builder, Logo Maker, SEO, statistics tracking tools,social integrations, advanced marketing options as well Google Maps embedding opportunity and powerful Scheduling platform. |
| Design: | Volusion offers over 45 eCommerce templates, which are free and paid. They are also highly customizable and mobile-ready by default. Code editing is allowed here that lets you create unique website design. | Squarespace designs collection is somewhat limited, but the templates are quality and responsive. They make it possible to start different projects, which are fully-customizable and professional. |
| eCommerce: | The website builder offers multiple eCommerce tools and features. It comes with extensive product management options, integration opportunities, web store and SEO settings. | Squarespace eCommerce engine makes it possible to start and update small and medium web stores, assigning their crucial parameters. |
| Blogging: | Volusion doesn’t have an integrated blogging engine and, thus, it is impossible to start a blog with the website builder. | With Squarespace, you can start a quality blog. It’s up to you to update it with new posts when required as well as to customize its design based on your niche preferences. |
| Small Business: | The system makes it possible to start a small business website, which is geared towards eCommerce website development. | The website builder works well for small business website development. It allows integrating multiple business widgets, Acuity Platform, media files as well as useful email marketing and statistics tracking tools. |
| Pricing: | Volusion has a free 14-day trial and four premium subscriptions. Their cost starts at $31.50/mo. | Squarespace has a 14-day free trial and several pricing plans for standard and eCommerce websites. Their cost starts at $14/mo. |
| SEO: | The platform allows creating SEO-friendly websites that rank high in the search engines. | Squarespace is a SEO-friendly website builder. Apart from adjusting the main SEO settings for better project optimization, it also allows hiding your website or its pages from indexing by the search engines. |
| Customer Support: | Live Chat, Phone Support, Help Center, blog, detailed tutorials and guides. | 24/7 Live Chat, Ticketing System, Email Support, FAQ section, Community Forum. |
Volusion to Squarespace – How to Transfer Online Store?
If you run a Volusion-powered online store yet have an intention to transfer it to Squarespace, you can do that independently in several simple steps. To start with, you should sign up for a free trial to initiate the transfer process. Mind that it is better to keep your old website with the current host until the migration process is complete to preserve traffic flow and SEO positions.
The next step is to pick an eCommerce template and proceed to its customization (add title, upload logo, connect social media accounts and icons etc.). Then go ahead to import old content, but mind that it is impossible to completely import your previous website design, fonts or layout. Instead, use built-in Squarespace import tools to move web pages, blog posts and, of course, products by means of using the CSV file import/export feature.
Having imported the content, you may proceed to manual recreation of content that cannot be imported automatically. If needed, add more elements like new pages, blog posts, web store items and special parameters, payment processing options, folders, links, events etc. Right after that, you can start customizing your web store design to make the required style changes.
Prior to going live with the ready-made project, do not forget to upgrade to one of the premium plans to get access to the complete set of the software features. Now you can connect or transfer a custom domain you already own to Squarespace and to make the required URL redirects to retain SEO positions. You can register a brand new domain here as well, if needed. Now, you may cancel the previous Volusion subscription and proceed to your new Squarespace-based web store management.
Which Is Better for Online Store: Volusion vs Suqarespace
Starting a web store is often a challenge and this is where the choice of the right tools proves to be crucial. With so many eCommerce platforms available in the modern web design niche, it’s not easy to pick the one that adheres to your web store development needs.
Volusion is a powerful tool that combines the features of a website builder, CMS and CRM-system. It’s possible to create an online store with it to sell the unlimited number of products. Squarespace works better for newbies, who are just starting their online businesses, exploring the science of website building. Intuitive interface makes it possible to create an online store in less than a day.
When it comes to web store creation, Squarespace definitely seems to be a more preferable solution. Due to its powerful integrated eCommerce engine, availability of eCommerce templates, high end design customization and web store management tools, affordable pricing and rich integration options, the website builder is a great pick for beginners and web design pros. Considering the financial problems and bankruptcy threat Volusion encounters these days, the choice becomes more than obvious. This is Squarespace.
