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SHIFT4SHOP DEVELOPMENT


Let’s talk about Shift4Shop (formerly 3DCart). Now I don’t have a lot of good things to say about S4S so there’s no Pros and Cons comparison chart, but I think we can all agree that while the name 3DCart doesn’t really make a lot of sense the name was much better than Shift4Shop.

Perhaps the next iteration will be called Run5Run. 

Foxco has a few clients that use S4S and we’re platform agnostic but it’s kind of a nightmare to code and theme. This is why most Shift4Shop stores are super basic looking. 

USE CASES

The only arguable use-case I can think of for Shift4Shop is if you sell simple, niche products that can only be found at your store (specialty industrial parts or something) and you’ve got a good business going and you’re very attached to Shift4Shop. Such businesses exist and if that’s the case then there’s no urgent need to make a move. 

SPEED

The first and most important negative Shift4Shop has is that it’s built on 3DCart which is a platform that was popular when 80% or more web traffic was desktop and only a small percentage was mobile. Remember when people used to use a different mobile site i.e. m.site.com or mobile.site.com? This was long before responsive coding and design so it was necessary to simply redirect the small amount of mobile users to a barebones mobile site. 

S4S = WALLED CITY

S4S is a walled-city, meaning that they control everything, you don’t own anything and if you’re in the Shift4Shop ecosystem you need to experience and suffer along with everyone else in the walled-city.

Most ecommerce business owners don’t like being at the mercy of another company telling them what they can or cannot do and at what price. And for sensitive markets like adult items, alcohol, tobacco, vapes, MMJ etc the emperor of the walled city may someday decide you can no longer do business there and you’ll quickly have to find another home.

But most importantly if you’re investing in something and building upon it, I think most people would like to own it. Like Shopify, BigCommerce and others you’re just renting.

RESPONSIVENESS

Making S4S responsive for mobile and different screen sizes is a big undertaking, and it still doesn’t really turn out that well. Also: any design improvements will immediately and negatively affect your page speed.

Chances are, your optimized S4S  page on WebDev PageSpeed Insights looks something like this: 

Our clients on other platforms usually rank very close to 100/100 for every PageSpeed category. It might be possible to do that with S4S but it wouldn’t be worth the cost involved.  

Speaking of cost, here’s a list of other concerns, with cost being the first one.

 

Cost & Value 

  • While the platform is technically “free,” you must use Shift4 as your payment processor, which may not offer the best rates for all businesses
  • Transaction fees through Shift4 can add up, potentially offsetting the “free” platform benefit
  • You’re locked into their payment processing ecosystem

 

Technical Limitations

  • As mentioned, steep learning curve for beginners compared to more user-friendly platforms like Shopify or WordPress
  • Customization often requires coding knowledge (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
  • Template designs feel dated compared to competitors
  • Mobile responsiveness of some themes is nearly impossible

 

Performance Issues

  • Page load speeds can be slow, especially on certain days and there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re in Shift4Shops walled city.
  • Website performance suffers as you add more products and features
  • Occasional platform-wide glitches and bugs

Support and Resources

  • Customer support quality is poor and not expert-level
  • Smaller community compared to major platforms, meaning fewer third-party tutorials and resources
  • Limited app marketplace compared to Shopify or WooCommerce

 

Migration Challenges

  • Difficult to migrate away from if you decide to switch platforms later (though we’ve pretty much figured this out)
  • Being tied to Shift4 payment processing makes leaving more complicated.

Scalability Concerns

  • Not be ideal for very large enterprises with complex needs
  • Some advanced features require technical expertise to implement properly

 

Marketing Integration Issues

  • Very difficult to properly integrate Google Shopping and other sales channels.

Overall, if you’re using Shift4Shop it might be time to start thinking about replatforming or migrating away. Let us know if we can help:

hello@foxco.net

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