When I first built a Shopify store, I thought good design meant something that looked pretty. I picked a sleek theme, loaded in high-res images, and added a fancy slideshow. But my sales? Flat. Almost zero.

Turns out, design is about function first, then style. It’s about removing friction, building trust, and making buying easier.

Over time, I started testing, studying what high-converting Shopify stores were doing, and applying those lessons. In this guide, I’m going to walk you through everything I learned — real Shopify tips that impact design, conversions, and your bottom line.

Every week, I go through hundreds of ecommerce sites to update the ecomm.design gallery. That means I’m constantly spotting what works, what doesn’t, and what’s trending.

After reviewing thousands of stores, certain core design principles show up again and again — not because they’re trendy, but because they consistently help people buy.

If you’re selling digital products, courses, or merch, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Sellfy. It’s simple, clean, and built for creators.

But once your business grows or you want more design control, lower fees, or advanced features, Sellfy can start to feel limited.

Quick answer: The best alternatives to Sellfy are Shopify for full control, Payhip for simplicity, Gumroad for creators, and Podia for courses and memberships. Your ideal pick depends on what you’re selling and how much you want to scale.

I’ve worked with ecommerce brands of all sizes — from solo creators selling PDFs to growing teams launching product lines. This guide breaks down the best Sellfy alternatives I’ve personally used or set up for clients.

Let’s go tool by tool.

Shopify POS pricing offers two main tiers: “POS Lite,” included with all Shopify ecommerce subscriptions starting at $39/month, and “POS Pro,” which adds advanced retail features for an additional $89/month per location.

Keep in mind that hardware costs, transaction fees (around 2.4–2.9%), and optional app integrations are separate expenses you’ll need to budget for.

As an ecommerce expert with over 10 years of helping online businesses launch, grow, and scale, I always recommend clearly understanding these additional costs upfront to effectively plan your offline sales strategy.

I’ve been working in the Shopify ecosystem for over a decade.

Built two successful public apps, helped scale multi-store setups, dealt with more plugin nightmares than I’d care to admit.

When Shopify absorbed Codisto and rebranded it as Shopify Marketplace Connect, I paid attention.

I’ve used this app across different merchant setups — single-brand stores, large catalog sellers, hybrid Amazon/Etsy shops.