Among all the advancements the e-commerce sector has seen, Shopify appears to have won the hearts of many. Founded in 2006, Shopify is a cloud-based store that allows users to transform business ideas into a real experience offline, online, and both.
As of 2021, there are over 6.3 million Shopify+ stores, while merchants operate over 1 million businesses in 175 distinct countries. If you’re an entrepreneur or an amateur in Shopify, hoping to achieve the best out of the project, below is a comprehensive Shopify tutorial for beginners.
Shopify was created to embrace users from all levels, including beginners, operating as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) program for sales. While it appears challenging for beginners, the platform is user-friendly, offering training opportunities for new members and affordable packages until they get it right.
It also boasts many management tools, including report-making, marketing, customer accounts, shipping, payment processing, inventory and sales tracking, and Shopify fulfillment.
Step 1: Make a Strategic Plan Before Going In
The wisest said that failing to plan is planning to fail, which is true. A strategic plan is integral to developing a Shopify account and succeeding in your business. Planning, in this case, should start long before you even choose your store’s name, determining if you need to work with partners, when you wish to start the business, and whether you have your products or you will purchase from the relevant Shopify wholesalers.
Step 2: Come Up With a Good Name for Your Store
Now that you have laid out all the plans, you can develop a perfect name for your forthcoming Shopify store. The name reflects your personality, brand, and your entire products and thus should be worked on strategically.
Some practical tricks for developing an impressive Shopify store name include maintaining uniqueness (not copying other brand names, even the greatest) and keeping it simple and clear for your customers to pronounce.
Step 3: Create a Shopify Account
As a beginner in Shopify, you’re supposed to create a Shopify account, mainly with a free two-week trial, before your subscription becomes active. The platform doesn’t ask for a credit card upfront from new users.
Besides the main email address that Shopify uses to communicate with you, other crucial details required when creating an account include your home/business address (if you have one) and your official name.
Step 4: Customize the Shopify Account
Shopify offers customization features to make user accounts feel more personal and prestigious. One of the features is choosing a unique theme for your store, making it more appealing even without describing your products.
There are many themes on Shopify, and you can acquire others from third parties with the go-ahead to sell or market. The good thing with most Shopify customization features is that they can be edited with a simple click.
Step 5: Make Use of the Other Settings
Creating a theme for your Shopify store is an essential step of customization, but it doesn’t end there. Shopify accounts usually provide beginners with relatively adorable default settings, which are comfortable and changeable by walking around the settings.
The settings icon enables users to edit their store’s name, email address, and other personal details, provide their preferred payment channels and include a marketing slogan and automated feedback.
Users can add their business partners (if any) or a virtual assistant in the account settings and select what they wish them to access. In addition, the legal settings require Shopify stores to specify their Terms of Service, a Private Policy, and a Refund Policy. Other major settings include highlighting your preferences under the Preferences icon.
Step 6: Create the Vital Pages and Add Products
With all the settings arranged, you develop the various Shopify pages, such as the Shipping Policy page, About Us page, Contact Us page, and any other that appears useful to your business.
The next step is adding the products you intend to sell on Shopify through images, followed by a short description featuring the product category and name, pricing, shipping details, variations (colour or size), and inventory (optional).
This step also allows users to create collections for their Shopify store, comprising groups of similar products based on type, tag, and vendors, among other factors.
Step 7: Publicize Prevailing Taxes and Discounts
Your Shopify account would be incomplete without informing your potential customers about the prevailing taxes and discounts for different products. You can put up the applicable sales tax for the product under the settings icon. With that, you are all set to sell your products through different channels linked to Shopify.
At this stage, you can also familiarize yourself with the orders page to prepare for upcoming customers. On the page, you will see the existing orders from the most recent to the oldest, specifying the item purchased, the order status, and the customer’s address. Once an order is fulfilled, you should update the page as ‘shipped’ or ‘fulfilled.’
Step 8: Embrace Various Add-Ons
Oops! You’re not done yet. The last step is to create a Shopify online store. Especially if you wish to have a great experience with the platform, just embrace different add-ons. Add-ons, in this case, refer to applications that can be added to Shopify to make work easier.
Some of the most effective applications Shopify users can add to their stores are links to social media networks such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, dropshipping apps, image compression apps, marketing add-ons, and customer review apps.
Shopify Fulfillment
One of the management tools that Shopify users enjoy from the platform is Shopify fulfillment. Like ordinary order fulfillment, Shopify fulfillment allows users to undertake timely deliveries from when a customer orders to when the products reach them.
Besides reducing inventory stress, Shopify fulfillment enhances customer experiences and saves plenty of time and cost on managing shipments. While there are various fulfillment methods, your selection mainly depends on your inventory, customer location, shipping flexibility, and technology.
How Much Does Shopify Cost?
Shopify pricing comprises the typical monthly subscription plans, currently running from $5 (starter) to $39 (basic), $105 (Shopify), $399 (advanced), and $2,000 (Shopify Plus). If you’re working on a budget, the annual subscription is the best as it usually gives users favourable discounts, which change occasionally.
In addition, the Shopify Point-of-sale add-on allows subscribers to sell both online and physically, featuring all the monthly plans except the starter. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is a continuous process that requires constant brainstorming to stay ahead of competitors, eliminate insecurities, and enhance customer experience. Embracing Shopify is one of the essential steps to success in a world where technology is everything. Now that you know how the platform works, don’t hesitate to go for it!
