Before you start selling on Shopify you must have tons of questions. Fortunately, we have got you covered with the next steps, so you do not have to worry about creating your online store.
Starting your Shopify store does not require huge programming skills, therefore it is perfect for those who are not really part of the tech world.
Although there are several steps if you follow our tips on how to create your fascinating online store and start selling on Shopify, it will be totally easy for you.
What is Shopify?
First of all, it is important to say a few words about this platform, as there might be someone, who is new to this topic.
Shopify is a cloud-hosted ecommerce platform, which lets you create your online shop. There are several opportunities, themes, applications which are useful for you if you want to create the best shopping experience for your customers. You do not have to download any kind of software if you want to start your shop, because everything is in the cloud so there is no need for worrying about losing your data or saved features. This can give you a huge relief if you find yourself afraid of losing data from your computer all the time.
Another good point is that it is really easy to start selling on Shopify. You do not have to be a programmer, and still you can get the best out of it. Just start creating your store and if you have any kind of problems you can still ask for a Shopify Expert team who will make your dreams come true with several plus aspects. You can ask for help at the beginning of your journey and they will create your online store you just have to lean back and wait for the orders, or you can ask for advice if you encounter any kind of problems during the creation.
Shopify prices
Shopify has several great plans for you. The only thing is needed that you decide on the monthly price which is acceptable for you. If you are interested on how much these plans cost, feel free to check out this table. even if you find these plans pricey, you should still consider trying it out because this platform is amongst the best ecommerce platforms for a good reason. Furthermore, you can always start with the lowest priced plan and then change it later if you feel like having the budget for it.
What products can I start selling on Shopify?
The good news is that you can sell almost everything on Shopify there is no restrictions about the products you sell online, although you cannot really sell illegal stuff which you might have guessed. If you do not have an idea about what to sell, you can always start thinking about the needs of others. Do not forget that the best ideas can come in the less expected time.
Shopify can be a great opportunity if you are new in the ecommerce business or you do not own several huge markets around the world and you want to build your customer base.
What steps should be taken?
Now comes the fun part!
If you have decided that you are going to start your own online business you must be curious about the steps which should be taken. You do not have to wait any longer, here comes the 10 steps which you should consider when you start selling on Shopify.
1. Create an account
You can easily create an account and start your 14-day free trial. This two weeks must be enough for you to decide if this is the right platform for you or not. As you can see there is no need for giving your bank account number, only your email address, a password and your store’s name. After you have filled in the given spaces you are in! After the trial you can easily activate your shop again by paying for the chosen plan.
2. Select a Shopify theme
After you have created your online store, you just have to select a Shopify theme. You can find several free and paid themes. You can decide on spending some money on your theme as this is the first thing which your customers will see. If you choose a free one they might feel that they have already seen that on another online store’s page, therefore they will not find you unique at all.
Fortunately, there are other opinions if you do not want to use Shopify Theme Store, such as Theme Forest and Template Monster. When you try to find the best theme you should consider a lot of aspects. You have to think about your online shop’s profile, the number of products and again the price that you are willing to pay.
3. Create the most important pages for your online store
There are several important pages which are necessary for your online store. Think about your experiences in other online shops. Could you find everything easily? Was it easy to understand everything about the online store? Not really? Then you have to think about a better strategy. The most important pages are definitely the next: Home page, Products page, Contact page, About page, FAQ page etc. You can decide on what pages you want to use when you want to start selling on Shopify.
One thing is important though, you have to give important information so your customers will not feel that you are taking their time and energy for nothing. They should find those pages and questions easily.
A great tip is that before launching your online store you should let a member of your family or friends to check out the whole page. If they do not understand or find something then you should think about the solution.
4. Add your products
The most satisfying part is when you start uploading your products to your online store. First you have to create a title and product description for your items and you should mention the price too. Watch out for important questions like who are you writing these descriptions. Choose the perfect register and make it understandable and easy to follow for everyone. It is really important to make high quality pictures of your items which you can actually create with a smartphone too if you do not have a camera yet.
You can also choose the option to upload products to your online store from other suppliers. There are several marketplaces which you can choose from when you want to have more products without taking pictures or writing descriptions of each and every product of yours as on these directories suppliers already provide them, for example on Syncee Marketplace. You can manage the uploading process easily and without any problems. You can upload products in bulk instead of adding them manually one-by-one on your Shopify admin. Moreover, the apps help you in the product data updates automatically.
5. Find apps for your store
Luckily, there is a great deal of apps which you can choose when you start selling on Shopify. These applications are important because you can make the best out of your online store with them. There are free and paid ones too so you can start browsing and deciding on what to choose for your Shopify store.
6. Customize your shipping
You have to consider a lot of things with shipping when you start selling on Shopify. You can decide on free shipping which means that you offer your customers the opportunity of free shipping if they buy products for example at least 30 dollars. This will be a favorable opportunity as people love buying more if they do not have to pay for shipping. You can also offer local delivery or pickup which means that your customers can choose a given location to pick up their ordered items. In this case they do not have to pay for shipping either.
7. Decide on payment
Payment gateways and payouts are also important because this defines how your customers will pay for the purchased item. You can set these on the ‘Settings’ page and then the ‘Payments’ page. You can choose from more then 100 payment providers so you will surely find the most suitable for yourself and your business.
8. Find suppliers
A really important task when you start selling on Shopify is that you have to find the best suppliers. You can always think about dropshipping as a solution, if you do not want to store the products. Syncee is a great option for you in this case. You can find hundreds of suppliers for your store with millions of products which you can ship to your customers without ever touching the product by yourself.
9. Think about the marketing!
Marketing is one of the most important pillars if you want to start selling on Shopify. With an exceptional marketing plan you will create a huge traffic to your page and find new customers who will explore your products and start purchasing. When you think about marketing you can create great ads on social media, collect email addresses start using the power of advertising of your already existing customers who can tell about your online store to others.
10. Start selling on Shopify
If you have finished with the 9 steps above you are ready to launch your online store and start finding customers to your shop!
Overall
When you start selling on Shopify you can find yourself with several questions and concern. It is very important to start your journey with excitement because that way people will feel your commitment and they will chose your online shop for finding their desired products. Even if you encounter some difficulties there are several options for help.
