Red Hill Coffee, Hamilton Ontario

Red Hill is a family-owned coffee roastery dedicated to fair-trade business principles.  We've had the pleasure of drinking their Ethiopian coffee over the last month: every cup has been delicious!

In addition to selling their freshly roasted coffee on-line and from their local roastery, Red Hill has recently opened up a new stall in the Hamilton Farmers' Market. Check out Red Hill's photos or connect with them on Facebook.

The Shopify Platform in Review

This was our first time developing a Shopify site and while there were some initial kinks in their web hosting (or 'content delivery network), our overall experience with the platform favorable.
Despite their more limited eCommerce-management options (than our eCommerce platform-of-choice, Magento), we found that their intuitive user interface and stripped-down sales methods were particularly friendly to small, non-technical business. In the end, Shopify was the right platform choice for Red Hill Coffee.

Fees on Incoming Transactions

Shopify levees a hefty 2% fee on all incoming payments up to $30k.  However, compared to most eCommerce platforms that also connect to PayPal (about an additional 2.8%+ per transaction) or monthly merchant account fees, Shopify compares well (and may even be less expensive after about 30k in sales, following Shopify's tiered pricing model.)

In the coming weeks, we will be releasing some of our tips and tricks for Shopify over at the CartaNova 'Code Labs'. We will also be publishing our 2011 Small Business eCommerce Guide this spring.  Stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter to make sure that you receive an early copy. Warm wishes in a cold and snowy winter!