Shift4Shop (formerly 3dCart) Review

Pros

• Generous free plan
• Flexible and robust features
• No transaction fees
• Highly scalable

Cons

• Payment gateway restrictions on free plan
• Revenue limits on paid plans
• Inconsistent customer support

Get Started With Shift4Shop

What Is Shift4Shop?

Shift4Shop is an eCommerce platform with a remarkable offer: Users can sign up for a premium plan, with every bell and whistle, for free. The only catch is that you’ll be locked into using their in-house payment processor. Is Shift4Shop’s free plan worth it? Let’s find out.

No matter what plan you choose, from the free End-to-End to the entry-level Basic or the top-tier Pro plan, each comes with an impressive number of features right out of the box. In fact, the fully-loaded free plan should appeal to businesses from startups to enterprise-level operations — so long as you’re willing to give Shift4 Payments option a try.

Shift4Shop Pricing

It’s hard to beat Shift4Shop pricing, because Shift4Shop offers a forever free plan that’s packed with enterprise-level features, with a $0 price tag that even startups can afford. However, if you’re not willing to use the in-house payment processor the free plan requires, you’ll have three competitively priced paid plans to choose from.

Here’s a quick rundown of all Shift4Shop’s plans and a sampling of their features and limitations. Please note that Shift4Shop does not charge any added transaction fees, on any of its plans.

Basic Store Plan

The Basic Shift4Shop plan costs $29/month, or $26.10/month if paid a year in advance, includes two staff accounts, and allows up to $100,000 in annual online sales. This plan includes two staff users and allows users to connect with their choice of payment gateways. A feature-rich plan, here’s a sampling of what you’ll get with the Basic plan:

• Free SSL certificate
• Free domain name and hosting
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited products and variants
• Up to $100K in sales on a 12-month trailing basis
• 5 email accounts
• Free customizable website themes
• Free website migration assistance
• API access
• Real-time shipping & labels
• Categories and automatic SmartCategories
• Product images & zoom
• Inventory control
• Advanced product options
• Bulk discounts
• Single-page checkout
• Mulitple ship-to-checkout
• Digital downloads
• 60+ real-time reports and dashboards
• Automatic tax calculation
• QuickBooks Connector
• Product reviews
• Google customer reviews
• Gift rwapping
• Visitor IP blocking
• Saved carts
• Two-factor authentication
• GDPR toolkit
• Returns RMA module
• CRM tools
• SEO tools
• Built-in blog
• Social wish list
• Gift certificates, coupons, and discounts
• Mailchimp and Aweber integrations
• Daily deals and group deals
• Affiliate programs
• Mobile store
• Facebook shop
• Phone orders
• Dropshipping support
• Integrations with Google Shopping, eBay, & Amazon
• Online chat, tickets, and 24/7 phone support
• 100+ payment gateways
• Card on file
• PayPal integration
• Visa Checkout and Masterpass
• Buy Now, Pay Later options
• Apple Pay & Google Pay

Plus Plan

The Plus Store plan costs $79/month, or $71.10/month if paid a year in advance, includes five staff accounts, and allows up to $250,000 in annual sales. Users at the Plus level can connect with their choice of 100+ payment gateways. The Plus plan includes all the features available in the Basic plan, plus:

• 5 staff accounts
• 10 email accounts
• Up to $250K in sales on a 12-month trailing basis
• Customer groups
• Purchase orders
• Product comparisons
• Product Q&A
• FedEx HAL and retunrs
• Blog subscriptions
• Promotions scheduler
• Make-an-offer capability
• Store credits
• Abandoned cart server
• Email marketing newsletters
• Gift regitrsty
• Reward/loyalty program
• Google Search Console SEO statistics
• Facebooks Dynamic Ads & Pixel

Pro Plan

The Pro plan costs $229/month, or $206.90/month if paid a year in advance, includes 15 staff accounts, your choice of 100+ payment gateways, and annual sales of up to $1 million. It includes all the features of the Plus plan and these extras:

• 15 staff accounts
• 30 email accounts
• Annual sales of up to $1 million/year on a 12-month trailing basis
• Autoship recurring orders
• In-store pickup
• Additional fees at checkout
• Automation rules
• Delivery estimate preview
• Quote system
• Advanced search
• Pre-orders
• Shipment delivery notification
• Waiting list and back-in-stock alerts
• Autoresponder email campaigns
• Houzz integration
• Sales rep module

End-To-End eCommerce

Usually, we list a software platform’s free plan at the top of the list, because its slim feature set generally reflects the price. Not in this case. Shift4Shop’s free End-to-End plan is a top-tier option that offers all the advanced features included in the higher-priced plans, and even adds one or two special features of its own to deliver a truly enterprise-level eCommerce option. However, this plan is available only to US-based companies.

The free End-to-End eCommerce Plan costs $0/month and includes all the features in the Pro plan plus:

• Unlimited annual online sales
• Unlimited staff accounts
• Kount fraud protection

All that can be yours, at a monthly cost of $0, as long as you’re willing to use the in-house payment processor, provided by Shift4Shop’s parent company, Shift4 Payments. Published rates for Shift4 Payments on Shift4Shop stores are the industry-standard 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. No additional transaction fees will be charged. You will still have other options for taking payment, such as PayPal, Visa Checkout and Masterpass, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and BNPL solutions Affirm, FuturePay, and PayPal Credit.

It’s important to note here that third-party reviewers have raised significant red flags about some Shift4 Payment companies, including those covered in our own Merchant Maverick review of Harbortouch POS, also owned by Shift4 Payments, and our own Merchant Maverick Shift4 Payments review. At this point, we have not encountered complaints from Shift4Shop users specifically regarding Shift4 Payments, but it’s certainly an area we will continue to monitor.

It’s noteworthy that Shift4Shop offers a 10% discount on prepaid annual plans as well as additional discounts for resellers, students, schools and PTAs, and nonprofits. Although it’s easy to cancel your account from your store’s control panel, Shift4Shop does not offer refunds on its service.

Get Started With Shift4Shop

Shift4Shop Features

As we’ve already pointed out, Shift4Shop comes loaded with powerful out-of-the-box features. Users on the free End-to-End plan will have access to all of these. If you choose a paid Shift4Shop subscription plan, you’ll still have access to a generous allotment of advanced features. However, paid plans may not include every feature listed below, so be sure to check the level you’re considering signing up for.

Shift4Shop Themes

Shift4Shop offers a selection of both free and premium templates for your store. There are currently 110 completely free, mobile-responsive themes available in the theme store. As a whole, the templates provided by Shift4Shop are usable but they seem to lack the visual “wow factor” some other eCommerce site builders offer. However, the price tag of $0 make the themes look more appealing to me, anyway. You can search themes by category, although you’re not limited in your choice by what you’re selling.

Screenshot of Shift4Shop webpage, captured 3/2/2021

If you have HTML and CSS knowledge, you can easily make changes to layout, fonts, and styles. If you’re a little less tech-savvy, use the Core Theme Editor to edit your Shift4Shop store, including adjusting categories and product details, changing the colors of text and headers, or adjusting the size of your site’s text and headings.

There’s also a drag-and-drop HTML Builder that allows you to easily add content such as images, video, and text pages to your site. This editor works for the home page, blog, and content pages of your Shift4Shop website.

Types Of Payments Accepted With Shift4Shop

Shift4Shop accepts payments through the built-in payment processor Shift4 Payments. If you choose the free End-to-End eCommerce plan, you’re required to use Shift4 Payments as your default processor. Some Shift4 Payments subsidiaries have received troubling reviews from users, including complaints about poor customer service, hidden fees, penalties for breaking contracts, and repeated software bugs and freezes. Although in our Merchant Maverick reviewer’s experience, the software was satisfactory, your experience may be different. If you choose Shift4 Payments as your processor, be aware of potential problems so you can act on them quickly — and be sure to share your experience in the comments section below, so we can update our reviews and make other users aware of information that could affect their choices.

If you choose a paid plan, you can choose from an additional 100+ payment providers.

Shift4Shop offers different types of online payments, in addition to these payment providers. All of these are available on all account levels, even the free End-to-End plan:

• No Transaction Fees: While you can expect to pay processing fees to your processor of choice, including the in-house payment provider, Shift4 Payments, you won’t pay any added fees when you make a sale.
• High-Risk Payment Processors: Shift4Shop says the company works with high-risk industries payment providers.
• ACH & eCheck Payments: This option is particularly valuable for B2B transactions but can also reduce risk with B2C sales.
• Digital Wallets: Allow sales from your site with virtual wallets like PayPal, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and Google Pay.
• Buy Now, Pay Later: Offer consumer financing options at no risk to you. Shift4Shop integrates with Affirm, Bread Finance, Credova, Klarna, PayPal Pay, Sezzle, XipPay, and Arpuve.
• Interchange Plus Pricing: Flat-rate is not the only type of pricing available. At Merchant Maverick, we’re big proponents of interchange-plus pricing, especially for merchants processing over $10,000 per month. Interchange is the wholesale fee of running a credit card transaction set by the card networks. Interchange-plus merchant accounts will charge the wholesale interchange cost plus a small markup. We appreciate that Shift4Shop takes the time to explain this transparent pricing model that keeps your wholesale costs separate.

Selling On Multiple Channels With Shift4Shop

Shift4Shop supports omnichannel selling. All stores come with built-in integrations that allow you to link to a Facebook shop, DOBA dropshipping, Google Shopping feed, eBay, and Amazon order sync. The Pro and End-to-End plans include Houzz order and inventory sync.

Does Shift4Shop Offer Buy Buttons?

Create customizable buy buttons from your Shift4Shop dashboard and add them to social media posts to allow customers to shop directly from your posts or profile pages. You can also use HTML buy buttons to embed shopping cart functionality into any web platform that accepts HTML code.

Selling Internationally

Shift4Shop supports international eCommerce, with around three dozen international credit card providers and digital wallets as well as international shipping options.

Shift4Shop Marketing Features

Shift4Shop includes many features you can implement in your marketing strategies. These are available on all plan levels:

• Single-page checkout
• Google customer reviews
• Upsell and cross-sell
• Saved carts
• Returns RMA
• CRM tools

The following features are available on the Plus plan and higher:

• Coupons and discounts
• Group deals and daily deals with countdown timers
• Wish lists, gift registries, and gift certificates
• Customer questions and reviews on product pages
• Abandoned cart notifications
• Email marketing newsletters

Additionally, the Pro and End-to-End plans include a waiting list and back-in-stock alerts as well as autoresponder campaigns.

Shift4Shop Product Limits

All Shift4Shop stores come with unlimited products, unlimited product variations, product categories, and automatic smart categories. You can sell downloadable digital products and gift certificates in addition to physical products. And you can create and customize option sets for products with unlimited variants.

It’s noteworthy that all Shift4Shop plans allow unlimited product images, and they all have built-in Dynamic Zoom.

Inventory Management With Shift4Shop

Robust inventory management tools that are turned on by default will track your stock automatically with every order. You can set up alert emails to remind you to resupply when inventory hits a threshold, and you can set rules to determine what happens if stock does run out, including hiding the item, allowing backorders, or adding interested customers to a waitlist. You can configure settings store-wide or on a per-item basis.

Shift4Shop Shipping Tools

Shift4Shop offers an impressive level of shipping tools on all plans, like real-time shipping, the ability to print labels, and split shipments for multiple locations. Typically, these types of features are only available through an integration with shipping software. We are impressed to see them built into Shift4Shop software.

At the Plus plan and higher, your Shift4Shop store includes FedEx hold-at-location (HAL) and FedEx returns. The Pro and End-to-End plans include options for in-store pickup and recurring order/subscription services as well as giving customers access to delivery estimate previews and shipment delivery notification.

Shift4Shop also supports dropshipping. That includes the option of setting up automatic emails that send to your supplier when customers place a new order. You can also list your distributor’s address as your “origin” address to make shipping calculations more accurate. Finally, Shift4Shop offers dropshipping integrations with AliExpress, Doba, Printful, and more.

Shift4Shop SEO Tools

Take advantage of the built-in SEO tools to optimize your products and website. That includes SEO-friendly URLs that include long-tail keywords, customizable meta descriptions, search-friendly navigation structure, social share buttons, customizable headings, image alt tags, and a Google Analytics integration.

Blogging

Use the built-in blog tools to inform and entertain your customer base, boost your SEO, and draw traffic to your website.

Shift4Shop Discounts & Coupons

Shift4Shop offers flexible promotions tools that include coupons and discounts on all plan levels.

Developer Tools

All Shift4Shop stores come with API access that allows you to customize your store’s looks and functions.

In-Person Selling Tools

Maybe you operate a physical store in addition to your online storefront, or maybe you sometimes sell on the go, at a booth or trade show. You’ll be glad to know that Shift4Shop offers a built-in module on all plans. It’s compatible with Stripe and USAePay. You can also activate seamless integrations with POSitouch and Harbortouch (also owned by Shift4Shop parent company Shift4 Payments) or use other POS systems, including Square Register and GiftLogic.

Website Migration Services

Shift4Shop offers unprecedented support to customers who switch from an existing website. The free Shift4Shop one-time migration consultation works especially well with websites built on popular platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, ZenCart, XCart, and Volusion and includes:

• Review of your existing website
• Evaluation of current challenges
• Technical considerations for migrating your data
• Migration plan and timeline
• Website design options

Is Shift4Shop Easy To Use?

Overall, Shift4Shop is mostly user-friendly. However, because so many advanced features are included, the system is best suited to moderately adventurous users who are not easily intimidated by a slight learning curve and a bit of trial and error. In the end, such users will appreciate the flexibility and quality of the tools available. This assessment is borne out by actual users’ reviews found online.

Screenshot of Shift4Shot webpage, captured 3/1/2021

Shift4Shop paid plans offer users a chance to test the platform, with a free trial. When you sign up, you’ll provide basic information that includes your business name, address, phone, and email. Once you establish your account, you can go your own way or use the setup wizard to guide you through setting up product categories, adding products, and setting up shipping.

Starting with the clean and orderly dashboard, it was easy to find my way around the basic steps involved in setting up a store, including customizing my storefront and adding products and images.

Customer Service & Technical Support

Throughout its history, both in the past when it was known as 3dcart and since it was rebranded as Shift4Shop, this platform has not always been known for outstanding customer support. And while it’s too soon to tell if Shift4Shop will turn that around, early signs are promising. For starters, we note that the online help center seems to be well organized, with these resources clearly marked and easy to access:

• Phone: Available to users on all plans. Until recently, users on the Basic plan were excluded from phone support, so we note this as an improvement. Additionally, this phone support is available 2/7, which is rare among eCommerce software, and recent comments confirm that reps are able to help at all hours of the day and night.
• Live Chat: Chat buttons are displayed prominently on Shift4Shop pages, and users recently have reported immediate responses.
• Email: Issues that require sharing a large amount of information, like screenshots, links, or lengthy descriptions are best suited for email.
• Support Form: Submit a ticket for support, directly from your store admin or via the Shift4Shop website.
• Knowledgebase: Shift4Shop maintains a searchable directory of technical information, including how-to guides, tutorials, and FAQs on technical topics
• Community Forum: Community support forums offer help and support to users, as well as a chance to share your own experiences and knowledge. Staff regularly offers help and responses.
• Help Manual: A complete Shift4Shop online instruction manual is searchable, so you can access specific information quickly.
• Videos: Check out the Online eCommerce University for a wealth of resources to help you increase traffic, boost your search ratings, get a handle on social media marketing, develop your income streams, take better product photos, and much more.
• Template Guide: Access Shift4Shop design documentation to learn how to create a custom store using code blocks, variables, and templates.
• Find An Advisor: Shift4Shop is happy to steer you toward experts willing to partner with you on your design, marketing, and development needs.
• Developer Portal: If you want to use your developer skills to create a custom app or theme, you can access the software’s full REST API documentation, developer forums, and more.
• Social Media: Shift4Shop maintains an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. Recent posts seemed to offer helpful information, not just advertisements.

Shift4Shop Integrations & Add-Ons

With 350+ apps to choose from, the Shift4Shop app store includes just about anything store owners could need to customize their online store. You’ll find a variety of options, arranged in 24 categories within a dropdown bar for easy browsing, including accounting, order management, shipping, security, social media, dropshipping, channel management, inventory management, and more. You can also download Zapier and choose from 1,500 apps to connect to your store.

Shift4Shop also provides a RESTful API, so your developers can build custom connections if the apps you need aren’t already available. Many apps available in the store have user reviews and ratings, so you can see how actual users feel about the app. However, some of the apps have only a handful of user reviews, and many have none at all. Note the date of reviews submitted and take that into account. You may end up taking your chances on some apps since the feedback pool is so small.

Shift4Shop Reviews

In the past, many reviews of this software (then operating as 3dcart) highlighted dissatisfaction with the platform. Since the takeover and rebranding as Shift4Shop, we are seeing a shift that could become a turnaround. Whether or not Shift4Shop can keep the positive momentum going, it’s definitely something we will be keeping an eye on. Here’s a sampling of what customers are saying.

Negative Reviews & Complaints

Recent complaints about Shift4Shop have tended to focus on the following concerns:

• Poor Customer Service & Technical Support:  This is an area that bears monitoring. Although some recent user reviews include words like “amazing” and “satisfied” to describe their service interactions, the same old complaints about unanswered tickets, frustrating encounters, and unhelpful service reps still surface.
• Bland Templates: While the free themes aren’t bad, they aren’t particularly stunning either. To make a truly memorable storefront, you’re going to have to invest in some customization. One positive change around templates following the acquisition by Shift4Shop: all the templates are free to use.
• Expensive Add-Ons: The cost of multiple add-ons to Shift4Shop’s native features could quickly add up for many users. Shift4Shop broadened the feature list for all plans, especially on the free End-to-End plan, which allows access to all available features.
• Learning Curve: Shift4Shop software is not the easiest to learn to use. Some users say that any customization efforts should be left to a professional.

Positive Reviews & Testimonials

In the past, this software landed somewhere in the middle of the eCommerce software pack when it comes to reported user satisfaction: not the best but also not the worst. These days, many customers are saying they are pleased with the software. Here are some common accolades:

• Low Price: Shift4Shop is priced competitively with Shopify and BigCommerce. And users who take advantage of the free End-to-End plan find an impressive array of features for the price. Some users say price was their main reason for choosing Shift4Shop.
• Helpful Customer Service: Even if they express some frustration with the software, many recent user reviews say that they found ample support in figuring things out. The self-help options got a few shout-outs, too.
• Out-Of-The-Box Features: Shift4Shop comes with an uncommon number of features at every price point. I rarely see this many features available at the lowest levels of a SaaS platform.
• No Transaction Fees: If you use the free plan, it’s possible to operate an online store fee-free, with the exception of those inescapable credit card processing fees.

Shift4Shop FAQ

Final Verdict Of Shift4Shop

We continue to think Shift4Shop can be a good choice for merchants looking for a set of robust and flexible eCommerce features who also have the necessary patience or resources to learn to use those powerful tools properly. Shift4Shop’s moderate learning curve seems to be worth the investment for the degree of power and control you have in managing your store, and once you get the hang of it, your day-to-day operations should be quite simple.

The plans are reasonably priced, with tons of important features already built in, especially for users who sign up for the free but top-tier End-to-End eCommerce plan. Meanwhile, the vast array of payment processing options is also impressive for users who want to avoid Shift4 Payments while still using Shift4Shop as their eCommerce platform. And we appreciate that no additional transaction fees are charged by Shift4Shop itself, no matter which processor you choose.

We remain a bit leery of Shift4 Payments, given the company’s established track record, but cost-conscious merchants might be willing to take the risk in exchange for access to advanced features with a $0 price tag. We will continue to track the trends and will update this review as more customers report on their experience using the platform. If you’re looking for a free eCommerce website builder, you might find a better choice on our list of the best. You’ll definitely find Shift4Shop on our list, and you’ll see nine other options that you can compare to see which comes out ahead.

Whichever eCommerce platform you ultimately end up with, we always recommend that you try out the software yourself before you make any decisions. It takes only a few seconds to sign up, and there are no commitments required. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a demo is worth a million.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Shift4Shop	Start Trial

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Shift4Shop for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Shift4Shop	Start Trial

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Shift4Shop for yourself.

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