Finding the right platform to sell your products can be time consuming. That’s why I’ve done the legwork for you in this SupaDupa review. Whether you are just a beginner or looking to improve your business sales, this information is going to be relevant, so read on.
What Is SupaDupa?
SupaDupa (what a fun name) is an online store hosting and builder that was launched in 2012, by a web development team in London. Since its inception, over 19,000 shops has been registered with the majority being small business owners. This software is catered primarily for selling physical products.
Platform Overview
Here are some of the features that the platform offers.
1) There are about 40 different online store designs to choose from.
2) In the back office, the editor includes eCommerce functions and marketing features.
3) There are 4 types of pricing plans – Start-Up $9, Professional $19, Business $29 and Unlimited $69. A 14-day free trial is available for anyone to test out the platform.
The Pros
Testing it out is what I did and discovered a few things I like about it.
1) If you’re someone who’s totally new to setting up an online store, you’d be pleased to know that there are an abundance of topics (albeit brief) in their knowledge base area. If you want a speedy answer, there’s always the live chat available for help.
2) PayPal payment is available in all the plans and as such, no transaction fee will be incurred from SupaDupa since the seller will already be paying PayPal’s processing fee (assuming that that’s the payment of choice).
3) For independent sellers who already have product listing in online marketplaces like Etsy or Storenvy, you can use SupaDupa’s import feature to conveniently transfer all your products using CSV file.
4) Mailchimp is integrated into the system to help you connect better with your pre existing customers and to build a new list of subscribers.
5) There’s a feature called “Facebook Sharing” that will enable you to share your product listing directly on your Facebook Page. This is a great way to keep your social followers up to date with your latest collection.
6) In terms of product promotion, SupaDupa has some cool features such as splash page and coupon creation which make good marketing tools during the peak shopping season.
7) Lastly, I love seeing that there’s a blogging function in this builder. In my opinion, this is a great way to share activities/information about your business and engage with online customers, which I find a lot of small businesses aren’t doing enough.
The Cons
So where could this eCommerce solution be lacking? Well, here are some issues that I want to address.
1) The SupaDupa logo will appear on all websites unless you sign up for the highest package. It is also only in this package that priority support is available. I don’t know about you, but technical support is important for operating smoothly online. If something is not working right, you will want help immediately instead of having to wait for it.
2) SSL feature isn’t provided with all packages. What this means is that payment information will only be secured for higher end users. If you sign up for lower end packages, all your transaction information will be at risk for attack. Honestly, I think you are better off setting up an SSL website from the beginning to give you are piece of mind.
3) SupaDupa doesn’t have an in-house domain service. That means, you need to go through the process of registering and configuring the new domain yourself which can be a bit of a technical hurdle for beginners.
4) The blogging editor uses command boxes to move things around. While some people find this intuitive, I think it’s quite cumbersome to use because certain elements don’t always appear the way you want them to. The lack of a commenting system also reduces the opportunity for audience engagement.
5) As for product description, it would be great to have a customer review section as a way to display the value of a purchase to future customers. You can see a lot of them in big shopping sites like Amazon and Aliexpress, so why not have one for your personal online store too?
6) The biggest setback I found would be the lack of SEO guidance that comes with the knowledge base. Such an important topic is merely a one-page walk-through which will leave you scouring the internet for more information like how to list a business on Google or how to improve traffic to a site.
So, Is SupaDupa Worth Using as an Online Store?
In conclusion, this website builder has some very interesting eCommerce feature that I’ve not seen before in others and I find that the hosting packages is fairly affordable for most business owners.
Can you set up a professional looking store with it? Yes, you can.
However, can this platform help you sell like a pro? Well, given the lack of some crucial features that I’ve mentioned, you might need to try harder or consider using other alternatives altogether.
Speaking of that, I’ve looked up on some of their featured sellers’ webstores and it seems like most of them have migrated away from this platform’s services. Now, that’s something to think about.
Well, I do hope that this SupaDupa review has been useful in helping you understand what’s important about selling products online. If you wish to know more creating a successful business with your brand, please check out my recommended training program for the right tools and resources.
Have any thoughts or questions about this website builder? Please leave them in the comment below and I’ll get back to you.
You may also be interested to read;
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While it does look and sound legit, I don’t think it’s the best option when it comes to selling products online. If I wanted to do that, I would probably go with Shopify, because it offers many more features that could help you succeed in this business. But with any program or system, it’s all up to the person. If you’re lazy and not dedicated enough, no platform is going to bring you riches.
Hi, how is the integration like with 3rd party apps? Does SupaDupa support them to make it easier to sell products? It does seem like it has a lot less to offer than Shopify stores.
SupaDupa is a small scale eCommerce solution and certainly doesn’t offer as much support and app integration as compared to Shopify. Having said that, Shopify’s pricing plans and features are also more advanced.
For a company that has only been in business for about 5 years now, Supadupa at its core does provide a legit platform in helping people sell physical products through online stores. It has not yet come close to reaching the status of Shopify though.
In reading your review of this company, Supadupa does not yet quite offer the type of totality looking at its package that would satisfy all people looking to have their own eCommerce store. To only offer serviceable online support at the top membership tier, as well as not offer the ability for a person to purchase his/her own domain through the company, is an indication that Supadupa is still growing as a company.
Hi, I am currently using eBay as my main storefront but I am getting very tired of their continuous increases in their percentages and costs. I now refer to them as greedbay. I am looking to change my main storefront to something less greedy and this does sound like a good option.
What do you think are the plus sides for SupaDupa as opposed to Etsy?
Hi Karen, I suppose the advantage of SupaDupa is that they don’t take any commission from your sales unlike Etsy which has a listing fee, a 3.5% transaction fee plus a PayPal processing fee (sounds a lot like eBay too, uh?). But Etsy has got a huge online audience so that’s something your business can leverage from if your product is unique enough.
Hope that answers your question.
Great post Cathy,
I have a few physical products that I’m getting ready to launch. I’ve tried selling online before, but didn’t have much success due to some of the learning curves of a new eCommerce store owner.
I’ve never tried SupaDupa, but from what you have shown me, it sounds like they could be a decent option for a new eCommerce store owner like myself.
Is Paypal the only payment option they allow? And do they allow for recurring payment options for a subscription type of service?
Thank you for the info – it has helped me immensely.
Hi Cameron,
Besides PayPal, they also accept other forms of credit card payments. As for recurring payment, this is something you’ll have to set from within the processing system that you are using.
Here’s a page from PayPal that explains the subject matter. Hope it helps.
Is there any code for students? Or any coupon code? I want to host one of my websites there.
Hi Roger, students whose universities are partners can use the platform for free. There’s no need for any code.