Volusion was created by 16-year old Kevin Sproles in 1999 as a custom website building service. It later evolved into an eCommerce website building tool that now employs nearly 300 people.
The service hosts over 30,000 merchants which have delivered 185 million orders have netted $26 billion in sales. These are impressive numbers, but Volusion faces some stiff competition.
Does the company have what it takes to remain competitive? I signed up for the service to find out.
Review Outline
Read review sections by clicking the links below:
- Pros and Cons
- Getting Started
- Template Selection
- Volusion Mobile
- Volusion Security
- Volusion Premium
- Conclusion
Pros and Cons
- Pros
- Cons
- Volusion offers users a very comprehensive set of eCommerce tools that enable you to integrate even the most premium of features, including Customer Loyalty and Deal of the Day.
- The service doesn’t take any transaction fees. That means you get to keep more of the money you earn.
- The 24/7 live support gives you the peace of mind that you will be able to troubleshoot any issues whenever they arise.
- You cannot create a blog directly on your site with Volusion. This is a huge minus, as blogs are crucial to any good online marketing plan.
- All of the templates that Volusion offers look great, but the selection is limited to just 11 free themes. You can opt for a paid theme, but they are extremely expensive.
- Volusion imposes bandwidth limits on your account. This means that if you get “too many” visitors, you will have to pay Volusion more for the service to keep up.
Getting Started
You can create a Volusion account for free. Upon signing up, you will be entered into a 14-day trial so that you can assess the software.
To get started, you will need to provide your first and last name, phone number, country, email, and a password.
Once your account is ready, you can choose a template, upload a logo, add some products, customize your site, and add navigation.
Template Selection
Volusion offers users 11 free templates. This is a meager selection compared with other eCommerce website builder, but they are generic enough to provide everything most new businesses need.
I found that, overall, the templates were clean, modern, and fast-loading, which is everything you should look for when creating an eCommerce store. Unfortunately, they are not particularly impressive or unique.
There are 38 premium templates to choose from as well, with each costing an eye-popping $250. Because they lack any value proposition greater than the free themes, I definitely do not recommend buying one.
The HTML and CSS backend of each template can be changed, but don’t expect a drag-and-drop solution, similar to that of competitors like Shopify.
Volusion Mobile
With most internet traffic now coming from mobile users, a mobile-optimized site is crucial.
Volusion understands this necessity and all stores built on the platform include a mobile site.
Although most websites now use responsive design, a mechanism in which a website automatically adjusts to any screen size, Volusion uses a mobile-specific site.
This means that your mobile users will be routed to a site built just for them.
There are pros and cons to each, so it is up to you to decide if that is something you desire. Personally, I prefer the mobile-first solution that Volusion uses.
Volusion Security
As mentioned above, Volusion’s websites run quickly and smoothly. This is important for both SEO and security.
Overall, Volusion’s platform is very secure, but one thing I was less than impressed with was the need to purchase and install an SSL certificate on your own.
Although it is a standard feature of even sites that don’t collect user information, Volusion forces users to pay an additional fee for the service.
Volusion Premium
Volusion has a multi-tiered pricing model. You can pay for a premium plan on a monthly or annual basis.
Keep in mind that you cannot actually publish your web store on the free trial. You can only build and test it using the platform.
Listed below are the available plans, the features they include, and the cost at the time of publishing:
Mini
The most basic plan costs $13.50 per month when billed annually, or $15 per month if you prefer to pay on a monthly basis.
Here’s what’s included:
- Up to 100 products
- 1GB of bandwidth
- Online support
- Secure checkout
It’s worth noting that the Mini plan doesn’t include extras like customer reviews, newsletters, or abandoned cart reports. These features are only included in the upper tiers.
Plus
A step up from the basic plan costs more than double at $31.50 per month annually, and $35 per month monthly.
Here’s what’s included:
- 1000 products
- 3GB of bandwidth
- Online and phone support
- Secure checkout
Pro
The most popular plan costs $67.50 per month annually or $75 per month monthly.
Here’s what’s included:
- 10,000 products
- 10GB of bandwidth
- Priority support
- Secure checkout
Premium
Finally, the premium plan costs $121.50 per month annually or $135 per month monthly.
Here’s what’s included:
- Unlimited products
- 35GB of bandwidth
- Priority support
- Secure checkout
The Premium plan also includes a dedicated account manager, which can be a money-saving feature in its own right.
Conclusion
Volusion is a good eCommerce store builder, that has its limits.
Unlike other website builders, it doesn’t provide a high level of customizability to novice users. If you are focused on having a truly unique online store, you probably won’t find it with Volusion.
I also disliked not being able to add a blog to my store. This is a critical element for anyone who understands the importance of on-site SEO and online marketing in general.
If you don’t mind these lackings, you will find that the service is quite good at what it does and will serve you well as an online store and nothing more.
