Simply shy of a decade after it first began letting customers promote issues on their websites, Squarespace is in the end hitting complete ship on ecommerce. Its new emblem imaginative and prescient of “The whole lot to Promote The rest” introduced along new scheduling and passive source of revenue equipment in 2021 (a direct reaction to a upward push in side-hustling amid the COVID-19 pandemic), whilst a past due 2022 replace ushered in target market monetization options, product opinions, pay-as-you-go checkout choices, delivery label buying and printing, an order standing web page, and on-demand merch for the content material writer technology.
Those additions have located the drag-and-drop web page builder as a singular choice to devoted ecommerce platforms like Shopify or Etsy: Customers can briefly customise an outstanding website for a brand new or small-to-midsize retailer with 0 coding wisdom and a integrated library of lovely, professional-looking templates. Moreover, Squarespace’s well-established suite of running a blog and portfolio equipment makes it simple so as to add non-commerce content material along that store with out separate apps or third-party plugins. It is a cohesive (and slightly affordable) all-in-oner.
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Frankly, one of the crucial greatest demanding situations you’ll be able to face in getting a Squarespace retailer are living is opting for a type of aforementioned templates: There are over 230 to be had between Squarespace variations 7.0 and seven.1 (the 2 iterations of the platform which can be lately in use), and they all reinforce ecommerce capability.
Now not positive the place to start out? Here is a complete information to the most efficient Squarespace templates for on-line shops and retail outlets.
What’s a Squarespace template?
A template is a pre-made demo web page that may be custom designed with other colour palettes, font packs, and layouts. Squarespace describes them as “a kick off point to assist encourage your website’s design,” noting that customization is an issue of person choice. (You’ll give a template a complete overhaul or just upload your branding to the unique design and hit “submit.”) Every template is a Squarespace unique, that means you will not to find the rest an identical on different web page developers, and they all are mobile-optimized from the get-go — crucial element on this use case given cellular buying groceries’s exponential expansion prior to now few years.
Templates paintings in a different way relying on which model of Squarespace you make a decision to make use of:
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Squarespace model 7.0 templates are constructed the use of its vintage editor and categorised into other “households” in accordance with shared constructions and elegance choices. Every circle of relatives has its distinct algorithm and lines, a few of which have not migrated over to model 7.1 but (see: parallax scrolling), however it is trickier to modify templates with out risking content material loss.
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Squarespace model 7.1 templates are constructed the use of its new Fluid Engine (which offered an easier-to-use grid gadget) and belong to 1 template circle of relatives, that means all of them percentage the similar underlying construction and capability. They’ve some cooler, trendier main points than their opposite numbers from model 7.0 (like squiggly accents and cool photograph vegetation), although their total layouts glance slightly extra cookie-cutter. That being mentioned, this makes them a lot simpler to change between.
Squarespace mechanically defaults to model 7.1 at the present time, and until you are a internet design guru who is after sure options from model 7.0, we would suggest sticking with it — it is simply extra streamlined and versatile. (If you happen to are at the fence, needless to say transferring from model 7.0 to 7.1 ceaselessly calls for a whole rebuild and throws off your website’s seek score for some time.)
How do Squarespace subscriptions paintings? Does Squarespace take a reduce of gross sales?
A bank card processing rate(opens in a brand new tab) applies to each acquire made thru a Squarespace website. That is charged by means of the fee processor, no longer Squarespace, and levels from 2.9% of the order overall + $0.30 in line with a hit card fee (with Stripe, the most typical processor) to six% of the order overall + $0.30 (with the purchase now, pay later provider Afterpay). Whether or not you must pay an extra transaction rate in line with sale to Squarespace itself is determined by your subscription plan(opens in a brand new tab):
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Squarespace fees a 3% transaction rate in case you are on its Trade plan ($33 per month or $23/month yearly). Aimed toward “the ones searching to develop their target market and start taking bills,” this tier unlocks the power to promote limitless merchandise for your website, a qualified e-mail from Google, complicated web page analytics that inform you which spaces of your website force guests, and promotional pop-ups and banners.
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Squarespace does no longer fee a transaction rate on its Elementary Trade plan ($36 per month or $27/month yearly). This one’s designed “to assist develop your small business,” tacking on product opinions, buyer accounts, restricted availability labels, the power to just accept in-person bills , product linking(opens in a brand new tab) on Fb and Instagram, and further ecommerce metrics about bestselling merchandise, gross sales tendencies, and conversions.
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Squarespace does no longer fee a transaction rate on its Complicated Trade plan ($65 per month or $49/month yearly), which gives “[all] the equipment vital for the extra complicated dealer.” That incorporates complicated delivery and bargain options like service calculators, deserted cart restoration, advanced promo keep watch over, and get admission to to developer equipment (utility programming interface, or API(opens in a brand new tab)), plus the power to promote subscriptions.
Squarespace’s loose 14-day trial applies to all of its plans, for those who’re no longer positive which one is best for you. (Be aware that the entry-level Non-public tier does no longer come with ecommerce options.)
16 of the most efficient Squarespace templates for bloggers and past
For comparability’s sake, here is how different in style ecommerce platforms invoice dealers:
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Etsy fees $0.20 in line with record (whether or not or no longer an merchandise sells) and a 6.5% transaction rate, with a three% + $0.25 processing rate in line with order
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Shopify fees $29-299 per month (or $26-266/month yearly) for its plans(opens in a brand new tab), plus a 2.9-2.4% + $0.30 processing rate in line with order
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Weebly fees $0-29 per month (or $0-26/month yearly) for its plans(opens in a brand new tab), plus a 2.9% + $0.30 processing rate in line with order
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Wix fees $27-59 per month for its Trade plans(opens in a brand new tab), plus a 2.9% + $0.30 processing rate in line with order
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WordPress fees $18-70 per month (or $8-45/month yearly) for its ecommerce plans,(opens in a brand new tab) plus a 2.9% + $0.30 processing rate in line with order
With out getting too within the weeds at the variations between every platform: Shopify is perfect for enormous or increasing companies, Weebly is aimed toward overall inexperienced persons, Wix is a detailed Squarespace rival with fairly much less flexibility, WordPress is for zealous customizers who’re relaxed coding, and Etsy is more or less in its flop technology. General, we would say Squarespace gives the most efficient price for many ecommerce customers with its discounted annual plan. Take a look at Mashable’s guides to the most efficient web page developers for small companies and the most efficient internet website hosting suppliers for ecommerce to be told extra.
What is the absolute best Squarespace template for a web-based retailer?
Whilst all Squarespace templates reinforce ecommerce capability, some care for it higher than others.
Squarespace has already been so type as to curate its personal selection of templates for promoting (discovered by means of visiting its library and sorting the Sort by means of “On-line Retailer”), however we have narrowed down its pool even additional. Underneath, you’ll be able to to find our absolute favourite choices for a contemporary, intuitive on-line retailer.
Be aware: Maximum of our suggestions are from Squarespace model 7.1, however we have sprinkled in a couple of choices from model 7.0 that proceed to face out. Templates were categorized accordingly.
