In this article
Key takeaways
- Two different models: Shopify has 1,936 advertiser pages, LightFunnels only 142, with far more ads per page.
- LightFunnels leans on cash on delivery and video: cash on delivery in 21% of its ads against 8% for Shopify, video 82% against 56%.
- Shopify is a catalogue store: dynamic ads 22%, discounts 32%, and the UAE is its biggest market (36%).
- LightFunnels is Saudi and Omani first (49% and 20%), with one ad per country; Shopify ads cross borders more.
A one-product funnel or a full store?
LightFunnels builds one-product funnels: a landing page with a video, benefits and an order form, used by many dropshippers to test a new product every week. Shopify is a full store platform: a catalogue, collections and a cart, with many themes and apps, and the most common store platform in UAE and Kuwait ads (Salla, Zid and Shopify).
The difference is not only technical, it is in how you sell: a funnel sells one product to a customer who sees you for the first time in an ad. A store sells a brand and lives on customers who come back for a second product. The ads show it clearly.
The comparison in numbers: the two platforms' ads
| LightFunnels | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Ads | 3,711 | 15,051 |
| Advertiser pages | 142 | 1,936 |
| Video | 82% | 56% |
| Dynamic ads (from a catalogue) | 6% | 22% |
| Cash on delivery in the copy | 21% | 8% |
| Free delivery | 9% | 14% |
| Discount or offer | 20% | 32% |
| Instalments (Tabby, Tamara) | 2% | 4% |
| "Order now" button | 42% | 28% |
| "Shop now" button | 47% | 59% |
| Median price (SAR) | 189 | 199 |
| Upper quartile price (SAR) | 199 | 300 |
| Saudi Arabia / UAE / Kuwait / Oman | 49% / 8% / 7% / 20% | 28% / 36% / 27% / 8% |
| Top category | Hair (28%) | Perfumes (11%) |
The medians are close (SAR 189 against 199), but the ceiling differs: a quarter of Shopify's priced ads start at SAR 300, while three quarters of the funnels' priced ads sit at or below SAR 199. A funnel lives on one price point for an impulse product.
Countries: one ad per country, or one ad for the whole Gulf?
Shopify's ads are spread across the Gulf, with the UAE the biggest share, and many run in several countries at once: 18% of Shopify's ads in Saudi Arabia also ran in the UAE. LightFunnels works differently: of its ads in Saudi Arabia, only <1% also ran in the UAE. One funnel per country, with its own currency and price.
What it means for you: if your market is Saudi Arabia or Oman and you sell one product with cash on delivery, LightFunnels is closer to what your neighbours do. If your market is the UAE and Kuwait with several products, Shopify is the leading store platform in those two countries' ads (Shopify stores in the Gulf).
Categories: "problem and solution" products, or brands?
On LightFunnels hair (28%), health (23%) and skincare (19%): products explained with before-and-after video. On Shopify perfumes, skincare, health and fashion sit close together and no category passes 11%: brand stores with a varied catalogue. The most advertised products on LightFunnels are in LightFunnels winning products.
Who should pick which?
Pick a LightFunnels funnel if:
- You test one product at a time and want a page ready within a day.
- You sell with cash on delivery to customers who do not know you, at one studied price.
- Your ad is a "problem and solution" video and your market is Saudi Arabia or Oman, country by country.
Pick a Shopify store if:
- You are building a brand with several products and want customers who come back.
- You need catalogue (dynamic) ads, discounts and instalments.
- You sell in the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, or across the whole Gulf with one ad.
The third way: many sellers test on a funnel, then move the winning product to a brand store. And this is not a verdict on the platforms themselves: we compare the ads of those using them, so check each platform's current prices and features on its site. For the whole dropshipping model, read The GCC dropshipping market.
See your competitors on both platforms
Before you choose, open the "store type" filter in GccFY twice: once on LightFunnels and once on Shopify, with your country and product word, sorted by longest running. If your lasting competitors are on funnels, start there; if they are Shopify stores, find out why. The Domains screen shows each store with its ads per country. To spy on a specific Shopify store, read Spy on a Shopify store.
