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Grasshopper Versus RingCentral Phone Comparison

grasshopper versus ringcentral business phone comparisonTrying to decide between Grasshopper and RingCentral for your small business?

Both are great cloud-based VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) virtual phone systems offering toll-free and local numbers, department and employee extensions, and 24/7 customer support. Which one is right for you?

Product reviews/comparisons below are conducted independently, but we sometimes make money from link clicks.

Why choose Grasshopper over RingCentral?

Small business/entrepreneur focus. Grasshopper.com is best known for offering virtual business phone systems for entrepreneurs and smaller small businesses. If you’re just starting out and looking for a professional and affordable business phone, Grasshopper can be an attractive option. 

Unlimited minutes. Every Grasshopper plan currently features unlimited minutes which can be incredibly helpful if you’re trying to maximize your budget and you spend more than 500 to 1,000 minutes every month on the phone with your customers. RingCentral plans cap toll-free minutes based on each pricing option.

Multiple phone numbers. With Grasshopper’s “Partner” and “Small Business” plans, you have the option of multiple phone numbers whereas RingCentral charges an additional $4.99 per month per number. 

Equipment. RingCentral Office requires special SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) pre-configured phones which can add an additional expense. Grasshopper phone plans work with any mobile, office, or home phone. 

Why Choose RingCentral over Grasshopper?

Inbound and outbound faxing. RingCentral’s “Standard” “Premium” and “Ultimate” plans all include inbound and outbound fax capabilities whereas Grasshopper currently only offers outbound faxing. 

Team collaboration. Beyond a business phone system, RingCentral also offers tools to help facilitate collaboration within your organization. Features include real-time messaging, shared calendars, video conferencing, and file sharing—great for growing small businesses with more than 10 employees. 

Pricing

Grasshopper and RingCentral both offer affordable business phone systems ranging from $19.99 to $80 per month. It’s hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison without looking at each individual feature based on the unique needs of your business. In both cases, make sure you have a clear understanding of what’s included in their standard packages, where you’d need to upgrade, and what any upgrades are going to cost.

More:

As a disclaimer, I use affiliate links for some of the products listed. They are all products I absolutely love and trust and would recommend regardless of whether they have an affiliate program.



Can You Sell on Amazon with Shopify?

can you sell on amazon with shopifyYes. With the Amazon sales channel, you can sell your products on the world’s largest online marketplace using a Shopify account.

If you’re new to listing products on Amazon, you know the process can be time consuming. Creating and uploading tab-delimited text files with information about your items. Navigating Seller Central. And that’s all on top of managing your existing Shopify store.

Shopify's Amazon Integration

Luckily with Shopify’s Amazon integration, you can quickly and easily create Amazon product listings, manage inventory, and fulfill orders in eight product categories including “Beauty and Personal Care,” “Home and Kitchen,” “Patio and Garden,” “Sports and Outdoors,” and “Toys and Games”—all from within Shopify.

Benefits of Selling on Amazon With Shopify

  • Sync product details and images to your Amazon Seller Central account
  • Fulfill Amazon orders directly from Shopify
  • Create new Amazon listings from your Shopify account
  • Track performance and revenue from Amazon sales using Shopify reporting

Reaching New Online Shoppers

If you’re looking for new ways to reach shoppers who aren’t already familiar with your brand, Amazon can be an incredibly powerful platform—but you have to have the right products. For example, if you’re selling the same exact items that already exist on the Amazon marketplace you’re either going to 1) face constant pressure to be the “lowest cost” option or 2) need to find a way to differentiate your product by offering shoppers something extra.

Next Steps

Sound interesting? Be sure to check out the Shopify 14-day free trial. You can also learn more about how to set up your Amazon sales channel with Shopify here

As a disclaimer, I use affiliate links for some of the products listed. They are all products I absolutely love and trust and would recommend regardless of whether they have an affiliate program.



The Best Small Business Phone Systems for 2023

best small business phone systems 2018

Updated January 12, 2023

Best Small Business Phone Systems

Looking for an affordable small business phone system? We’ve researched the best options for 2023 based on price, features, customer service, reliability, innovation, and overall value. 

Product reviews are conducted independently, but we sometimes make money from link clicks.

Best Virtual Phone System: Grasshopper

Grasshopper was one of the first companies to put VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) business phone systems on the map, and their focus on small businesses and startups continues to make them a popular choice--boasting more than 135,000 businesses. 

$28.00 per month with unlimited minutes.

What to watch in 2023:

  • Expanded productivity and collaborative tools
  • New features for business calls, voicemails, texts and emails 
  • Continued focus on entrepreneurs and small business owners

One of the features we realy like is WiFi calling. Users are now able to make and receive calls and send text messages using WiFi instead of their cellular network. This can be huge when you’re in an area where your cellphone reception is spotty or not available at all. Their desktop app also makes it super easy to make calls without being tied to your mobile device. You can seamlessly work from your laptop—answering calls, sending and receiving texts, etc. They also offer spam detection so you can identify unwanted calls.

Grasshopper’s small business phone plans feature unlimited minutes, 24/7 live customer support, no long-term contracts, and a 30 day money back guarantee. Their acquisition by LogMeIn—one of the largest providers of web and video conferencing on a global basis—also creates some really interesting opportunities over the coming year. As more and more small business phone solutions look to add productivity and collaboration functionality, this could give LogMeIn and Grasshopper a real competitive advantage.

Best All-Inclusive Business Phone: RingCentral

RingCentral continues to be one of the industry leaders in cloud-based VoIP phone systems for small businesses. Winners of multiple “Product of the Year” awards, their RingCentral Office product offers small businesses a complete cloud phone system that’s incredibly easy to set up and manage. 

$27.99 per month with unlimited calls 15-Day Free Trial

What to watch in 2023:

  • New collaboration apps and tools to power one-on-one and team messaging
  • Expanded reporting and analytics to monitor call quality and user data
  • Continued integration with voice services such as Amazon Alexa

With the RingCentral for Amazon Alexa integration, users can ask Alexa to launch and end meetings, play back messages, and place outbound calls. With the growing popularity of voice assistant platforms such as Alexa and Google Home, this functionality will only become more and more useful for small business owners.

Additional integrations also make using RingCentral Office incredibly seamless. RingCentral for Google allows you to make and receive enterprise-quality calls on the same screen as you work, easily fax documents from Google Docs, and listen to voicemails with the RingCentral Chrome extension. RingCentral for Zendesk seamlessly matches incoming callers to existing client records and automatically creates a customer support ticket when a call arrives—improving efficiency and streamlining workflow.

Best Virtual Office Phone System: 8x8

With more than 50,000 businesses operating in over 150 countries, 8x8 is a trusted provider of reliable VoIP-based phone systems.

$24.00 per month

What to watch in 2019:

  • More patents focusing on technology to help companies quickly, seamlessly and effectively manage their communications and customer experience
  • New features such as Call Flip which allows users to seamlessly move a call from one device to another without having to call the other party back

One of the things that really makes 8x8 stand out is their relentless commitment to innovation. They currently possess 150 patents in the U.S.—a number that continues to grow. Why does that matter for your small business? Greater scalability, rapid deployment, and faster innovative services to power your business.

Integrations with Salesforce, Zendesk, and Netsuite are included with all three of their current 8x8 Virtual Office Editions as are audio and video conferencing and instant messaging. New features such as Call Flip are also going to go a long way to creating a better call experience.  

Choosing the Best Small Business Phone System

If you want to boost productivity, improve collaboration, and provide world-class customer service, it all starts with choosing the right phone system. Thanks to virtual business phone systems like Grasshopper, RingCentral, and 8x8, you can have amazing call quality, reporting, and reliability for less than $30 per month.  

In addition to the options highlighted above, we also considered other business phone systems which are listed below.

Fonality. One of the very first options we included in our post on affordable small business phone solutions, Fonality merged with NetFortis creating a more complete cloud communications offering. They offer a number of integrated call management and collaboration features including dial-by-name, hold music, personalized call routing features, conference calling, and real-time reporting.

Mitel. Offering business IP phone systems and desktop devices for small, mid-size, and enterprise-level businesses, secure chat, audio and web conferencing, call attendant console, and flexible call recording options. If you’re looking for mobile collaboration tools, Mitel is definitely an option worth considering.

Ooma. Started to provide a better home phone service option, Ooma’s since expanded their focus to include small business VoIP phone systems. They offer toll-free numbers, unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, virtual receptionist functionality, and dial-by-name. 

As affordable small business phone solutions continue to evolve, we expect 2013 will be another exciting year for the industry. Stay tuned.

More:
3 Affordable Phone Systems for Small Business 2023
How to Choose the Best Phone Solution for Small Businesses
Grasshopper vs. RingCentral Business Phone Comparison

As a disclaimer, I use affiliate links for some of the products listed. They are all products I absolutely love and trust and would recommend regardless of whether they have an affiliate program.



Best Ecommerce Platforms 2020

best ecommerce platforms 2018Updated May 5, 2020

Worldwide retail ecommerce sales are projected to hit a whopping $4.479 trillion by 2021 according to a report by eMarketer. What does that mean for small businesses? Finding the best ecommerce platform isn’t a “nice to have”—it’s an absolute must. 

With increasing competition from small online retailers and constant pressure from the likes of Amazon, those that can provide a seamless online shopping experience are better positioned for success—and sales growth.

What are the best ecommerce platforms for 2018? To help you save time, we’ve identified the best ecommerce platforms based on price, reliability, reputation, and available features. Product reviews are conducted independently, but we sometimes make money when you click on links.

Shopify

What makes Shopify so attractive for 2018 is their continued focus on providing innovative multi-channel commerce solutions. From a fully-integrated point of sale system which allows merchants to seamlessly sell online as well in brick and mortar locations and events, strategic partnerships with UPS and DHL to ensure fast, guaranteed shipping around the globe, and a robust collection of online resources, small business owners can continue to expect an amazingly powerful and affordable set of tools.

Key features:

  • Cart abandonment recovery tools to capture lost sales.
  • Themes and plugins to make building your ecommerce website quick and easy.
  • Mobile-friendly shopping cart.
  • POS retail upgrade including barcode scanner, cash drawer, card reader, and receipt printer.
  • Exceptional customer support.

$29.00 per month with unlimited products

BigCommerce

With more than $13 billion in total sales processed from more than 120 countries, BigCommerce provides an incredibly attractive ecommerce platform for startups and small businesses. According to research by Ipsos, BigCommerce merchants also grow 28% year-over-year which is almost 2x the industry average.

Similar to Shopify, BigCommerce continues to add new features and functionality to make selling online easier for small businesses and startups. From a recent partnership with Visa to offer Visa Checkout to BigCommerce merchants which will enable more than 55,000 retailers to easily set up and accept Visa payments on their websites, a new integration that allows BigCommerce merchants to enable sales through Instagram, and tools such as their free catalog transfer apps that makes switching between ecommerce platforms easier, BigCommerce will continue to be an attractive option for businesses of all sizes. They also offer a 15-day free trial

Key features:

  • Fast ecommerce templates which is crucial for mobile shoppers.
  • No transaction fees which means you get to keep more of your money.
  • Product ratings and reviews functionality to give online shoppers social proof.
  • Free Sitewide HTTPs and Dedicated SSL.

$29.95 per month with unlimited products

Choosing the Best Ecommerce Platform

If you’re selling or thinking about selling online, don’t overlook the critical importance of the ecommerce platform you choose. Not only will it have a direct impact on your website visitors and their shopping experience, but also your backend operations—potentially saving you a considerable amount of time and money which is something that shouldn’t be overlooked.

As a disclaimer, I use affiliate links for some of the products listed. They are all products I absolutely love and trust and would recommend regardless of whether they have an affiliate program.



Quick & Easy Ways to Optimize Your New Ecommerce Website for Conversions

optimize new ecommerce website for conversions

Congratulations! You’re getting ready to launch your new ecommerce website.  But before you do, you’ll want to make sure you’re positioned for success and able to capture the most online sales right out of the gate. The good news is you don’t have to be a web designer or html expert to capitalize on quick wins.

Simplify Your Shopping Cart

The last thing anyone wants to do is create another new online account and keep track of another password just so they can place an order. Distill your ordering process down as much as possible. 

ecommerce shopping cart example new website

Your goal is to make it incredibly quick and easy for shoppers to add an item into their cart and checkout. That’s all. Any unnecessary and potentially annoying steps should be eliminated. That's one of the biggest benefits of using small business ecommerce plaforms like Shopify or BigCommerce.

Simplify Your Website Navigation

What are the most important pages you want people to visit the moment they land on your website? In what order? Those two questions should drive your decision making around what to include in your website navigation. You’re never going to be able to include every possible link or page (nor should you) so it’s up to you to prioritize what makes the cut.  

Overly generic options such as “products” or “services” generally fall short when it comes to reinforcing the core focus areas/offerings of your business. Including too many items can make it difficult website visitors to quickly find what they’re looking for, causing them to leave before they have a chance to make a purchase. This is often the case when your website navigation rolls over onto a second line.

simple ecommerce website navigation example

Generally your top-level website navigation will contain 3-7 broad buckets with 5 typically being the sweet spot. 

“Home” is Where the Outdated Website Navigation Is

One last tip on simplify9ing your website navigation—consider removing “Home” as an option. Although it was common on older websites, today it’s usually totally unnecessary. Most new website designs/templates include a linkable logo area in the header that sends visitors back to the homepage and that’s all you really need. 

Review Your Desired Path to Purchase 

This is where it can be really easy to miss the big picture. Because you’ve spent weeks and often months on granular details, it’s hard to take a step back and look at your website through the eyes of a customer. Start with your homepage and make note of where you find yourself being drawn based on visuals, content, and overall design and then compare that to where you actually want new visitors to go. 

Every page should have a clear visual hierarchy that helps guide people one step closer to making a purchase. This includes your images, content, calls-to-action (ex. “Shop Now”), and internal links to relevant pages. For example, if you mention a product or service on an “about” page, it might make sense to link directly to that area of the website. Or if you include product thumbnails or sliders on your homepage, make sure they’re linked to relevant pages that can provide helpful information and/or answer their questions.

ecommerce website call-to-action example

Revisit your website on desktop and mobile views. Just because everything looks great on your laptop doesn’t mean that the same page won’t look overly text heavy on a smartphone. Once you go live, you’ll also want to periodically check Google Analytics to see if there are any differences between mobile traffic and desktop traffic—insights you can use to identify specific areas of improvement going forward.

Craft Unique Ecommerce Product Descriptions

If your product descriptions sound like everyone else, there’s no way you’re going to beat out your competition—especially if shoppers can find similar products on Amazon. Although writing ecommerce product descriptions can take some time to create, when it comes to ecommerce websites the effort is almost always more than worth it. 

The content you include can help improve your online visibility and SEO. As a result, you want to think strategically about your product titles, keywords, and overall content. 

ecommerce product description example

Beyond the potential to drive more website traffic, product descriptions also can pull shoppers in and get them excited about your products. Leverage your unique brand voice (what and how you would describe your products to a customer when you’re face-to-face) as you create each product description. Don’t be afraid to have some fun with it.

After Your Website Launch

Review sales figures and website traffic over a 30 day period to see if anything jumps out. Once you establish a few baselines, you can start to experiment with your navigation, calls-to-action, and product descriptions to see if you can squeeze even more conversions out of your website by making a few quick and simple tweaks. 

As a disclaimer, I use affiliate links for some of the products listed. They are all products I absolutely love and trust and would recommend regardless of whether they have an affiliate program.

[Image: Matthew Henry and Burst]



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