Volusion Review 2023: Expert Rated 3.9/5

What Are the Pros and Cons of Volusion? 

Volusion is simple to use and comes with many features, making it a good choice for entrepreneurs just starting with online selling. Rightly, it positions itself as a platform specially created for SMBs.

See the advantages and disadvantages of this e-commerce platform.

E-commerce website design

With 11 free and 34 paid themes (priced at $180 per theme on average) created by professional e-commerce designers, online storefronts made on the Volusion platform are easy to customize. Designed to boost conversion rates, these templates produce eye-catching, clean, and clear results on high-resolution displays. Irrespective of whether a shopper browses from a mobile device, tablet, laptop, or desktop, the responsive themes adapt to their view.

I tried to customize my chosen layout to showcase the uniqueness of my brand on each page of my website using text testimonials, videos, image galleries, and other content blocks. The consistent concept design on multiple pages made them unified despite my customizations. Volusion’s what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editor made it easy for me to do this.

If you have several product lines, you can also design category pages with various product category tools. There, you may add subcategories, edit product display characteristics, upload images, and even manage SEO. Multiple navigation styles break the monotony and add excitement to viewing.

If you’re well-versed in coding, you can also try using the platform’s HTML and CSS editor to customize your site on your own. But you cannot change the fonts because of Volusion’s sitewide global settings. And you only have two variants to play around with.

Moreover, Volusion’s cross-browser compatibility function allows you to work on both current and older browsers. Plus, its extension capabilities enable the integration of plug-ins like live chat and reviews.

Here are other features I recommend adding for an enhanced customer experience:

• Social sharing
• Infinite scroll
• Product image zoom
• Category display toggle
• Black-to-Top button
• Blog (Volusion currently does not have this function)

Product catalog creation

One of Volusion’s most unique features is its shoppable catalog, which you can create without any programming, coding, or development background.

What I like most about this catalog functionality is that I can assign many photos, detailed text descriptions, availability notifications, social sharing, and reviews to each of the products I uploaded. It’s also easy to edit listings even while the product pages are already live.

For your customers’ convenience, advanced search tools enable quick and easy product picks. Plus, they can drag items directly into the order form and preview their selection during checkout prior to payment.

Inventory management

Inventory management is where Volusion shines. While its inventory capabilities are a little simpler than some of its competitors, it’s a huge step up from what you’ll find with regular online stores on Shopify, WooCommerce, and/or BigCommerce.

If you’re just starting out and don’t need to keep an item in stock indefinitely, Volusion is probably all you need. The software comes with tools to create listings, manage inventory levels, and adjust pricing based on customer demand. You can even set your own shipping rates by distance.

It was easy for me to set up warehouse locations, as well as stock items to each place and calculate shipping rates from them. And I viewed stats like product status, stock reorder quantity levels, and quantity verification right on my inventory dashboard.

Smart inventory streamlining is possible through the automatic purchase order creation function that replenishes your stock every time you sell an item.

Payment processing

Whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for years, Volusion makes it easy to start accepting online payments with its integrations and tools.

One of Volusion’s strengths is payment gateway integration; you can process payments using your preferred processor, including PayPal and Stripe. Volusion also has two built-in payment gateways — EDI transactions and Volusion Payments, its in-house online credit card processing solution. Both offer merchants 14-day free trials with no setup fee.

Its in-house credit card processing solution is Volusion’s preferred payment gateway for multiple reasons. These include the lowest guaranteed rates, hassle-free setup quickly, and a dedicated support team.

You are free to use any of the payment gateways listed on the platform, but bear in mind that merchants who do not use Volusion payments are charged maintenance fees.

While these charges are the lowest in the industry, they vary according to the plan you have subscribed to. The fees are 1.25% for Personal Plan merchants, 0.65% for Professional Plan merchants, 0.35% for Business Plan merchants, and custom for Prime plan merchants.

I recommend using Volusion Payments not only because you can save on transaction fees but also for its competitive rates. The platform’s security protocols are excellent as well, and you get the bonus of a dedicated team of experts.

Unfortunately, this payment processing system is available only to U.S.-based merchants and can be disappointing to sellers in other countries.

Nevertheless, the company offers another feature that makes the buying process a fast and effortless experience for your customers. Premium Checkout has a straightforward, linear checkout process with a clean design to encourage customers to move from cart to checkout quickly and easily.

According to the platform, merchants who have opted for the Premium Checkout experience are already seeing many benefits, including:

• Frictionless checkout
• Lesser abandoned carts
• Improved conversion rates
• Increased customer loyalty

Premium Checkout also accepts multiple payment methods, including debit/credit cards, Amazon Pay, PayPal, money orders, checks by mail, electronic checks, cash on delivery, and wire transfers. It is also mobile-friendly and allows for guest checkout, which means your customers don’t need to create an account to purchase your products.

International sellers should also take advantage of the Volusion tools that show prices in shoppers’ native currency.

Sales and marketing support

Volusion offers an extensive suite of tools to support merchants’ sales and marketing activities. These include analytics and performance reports, customizable layouts, shopping feeds, category-specific marketing pages, and promotional banners. You can also utilize social media integration so your accounts are constantly updated with the latest information.

SEO

I discovered that with Volusion, you can make your pages, products, and categories more search-engine-friendly by maintaining their information in just one place. For example, the sitemap allows search engines to scan your store and website indexing, thus boosting your ranking on search results and increasing the potential of more people visiting your shop.

One more thing you can do on your Volusion website is to make a custom editable robots.txt file. This will allow search engines to access different layers of your site, strengthening your SEO further.

Volusion also lets you add custom HTML tags and edit global meta tags for improved SEO performance.

Sales support

Managing abandoned carts

Volusion generates reports on shoppers with abandoned and live carts. You could use this information to send reminders, increasing your chances of converting them into buyers. This data can also be used to analyze what sells, what doesn’t, and why your customers abandon their carts to help you take more strategic decisions.

Coupons and discounts

I created these directly on the platform. They are fully customizable in start time, the duration of the offer, and the dollar amount off. Making the code public is an effective tactic to encourage customers to visit your site to get the code.

Gift certificates

Using Volusion’s handy tools, I easily generated new gift certificates. It also allows you to efficiently manage existing ones and accept both at checkout.

This functionality comes via a Zapier integration with Gift-Up, though.

Related products

Instead of limiting customers’ view to what’s immediately in front of them, you can display other products they might also need. This is a creative way of increasing items bought in a single purchase. Established e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon use this to their benefit but most e-commerce service providers lack this feature.

It’s also an opportunity to introduce your product line to first-time buyers.

Customer reviews

With its extensive customer review management tools, Volusion helps you feature customer testimonials in attractive layouts.

Marketing support

Social media campaigns

I believe one of the most beneficial features of Volusion is the automatic connection of your social accounts to your website, which eliminates a few steps you would otherwise do, like using a third-party app such as HootSuite. You may still need to resort to a third-party app for further help, but Volusion does a better job than its immediate competitors. Also, you can manage social marketing campaigns directly on the admin board.

Newsletters

Volusion’s well-integrated newsletter service gives you a better option to engage with your customers via email. It’s also an excellent tool for building your email list, creating a loyalty program, and increasing subscriptions.

In-house marketing services

For an extra fee, you can hire skilled professionals from Grow With Studio, Volusion’s design and marketing agency to take care of your social media marketing, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns, shopping feeds, and SEO. If you don’t have the time to spare or are new to any of these, this feature comes in handy.

Volusion provides best-in-class security to ensure a safe shopping experience. The company is PCI compliant, is listed as a Visa-approved provider, and offers two-factor authentication.

I especially like that SSL encryption is on every page. It ensures your information is safe from cybercriminals and guarded against unauthorized access, with 256-bit encryption to protect credit card data. All data stored on Volusion is encrypted so your customers’ and your company’s sensitive information stay safe from cyberattacks and data breaches — this feature gets a nod from Google as well.

An SSL certificate is a must-have tool for every e-commerce company that receives online payments. Additionally, customers are reassured when they visit a secure website, which increases conversions. And if you plan to use the QuickBooks Web Connector for your accounting, an SSL certificate will be required.

Additionally, Volusion employs an industry-leading Fraud Protection Team which reviews orders 24/7 to identify any suspicious activity. The team works with merchants and customers alike on any necessary changes needed to maintain a safe environment.

Yet some aspects of Volusion’s security could still be improved. For example, while all customer information is encrypted and secure, these must be input on a separate page (versus directly in checkout).

Despite these shortcomings, Volusion is one of the safest e-commerce platforms available.

Below are the available Volusion customer support channels based on the subscription plans.

• Chat for all plans: This is accessible through the Merchant Center dashboard, which means you need to be logged in to connect, but it’s open 24/7 with English- and Spanish-speaking reps.
• Email for all plans: Ideally, you can expect a response to your email within 24 hours and you are assured of 24/7 support. However, it can take longer if your issue is complicated. Volusion’s emails are available in both English and Spanish.
• Phone for select plans: Direct phone calls are reserved for Business and Prime members, and only from Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. CST. Professional plan holders may schedule them through the Merchant Center dashboard.
• Help center: Many questions are answered here, and it’s available all day, every day. This self-service knowledge base offers over 200 articles on a variety of topics from shipping rates and inventory management to managing social media pages. But I did notice some broken links and a few out-of-date resources.

The Volusion platform also includes a library of video tutorials covering all aspects of getting started and using its software.

Compare Volusion Alternatives

Volusion is an excellent choice for building an e-commerce website, but is it the best? I examined its competitors extensively by testing their respective services and researching their features.

This is how Volusion stacks up against the industry’s leading e-commerce platforms:

How I Rated Volusion

I test e-commerce providers based on the following factors:

• Value: What do you get for each plan — and does it hit that sweet spot of cost ratio to features?
• Ease of use: Is it simple to use the platform with intuitive tools, familiar interfaces, and supportive tutorials or tours?
• Features: Does the platform offer tools that support your business, including marketing integrations, plug-ins, reporting, and management? How effective are the features?
• Security: Which measures does the platform take to protect your business? Does it offer Payment card industry (PCI) compliance and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates?
• Support and improvements: How well does the platform help when you need it? And will it continue to grow with your needs?

Learn more about our review methodology.