Why Shopify is the best platform to quickly build your eCommerce business
You’ve decided to start an eCommerce business, and you’re interested in learning more about Shopify. What is it? Why should you use it? How can you get started? Whether you’re an established entrepreneur who wants to know how Shopify can help your existing business or someone brand new to the world of eCommerce, this article has something for you!
Reasons why you need Shopify
- High-Quality Themes and Templates – One of Shopify’s biggest strengths is its wide selection of themes and templates. You can choose from several different design packages, allowing you to set up a unique website that suits your brand image. All these themes are created by third-party experts, so you won’t have any trouble with them in terms of loading speed or compatibility with mobile devices.
- Mobile Commerce – In our fast-paced society, people are using their phones more than ever before. Fortunately for entrepreneurs looking to do business on the go, Shopify also has an app! Using this app gives you access to all of your information while offline, which means no more waiting until you get home to see how well your store did today.
- Flexible Pricing Plans – Another great thing about Shopify is that it offers flexible pricing plans depending on what kind of customer you want. If you just want to sell one product, there’s no need to pay for features you don’t need. They offer six levels of prices: Starter ($29/month), Basic ($79/month), Professional ($299/month), Unlimited ($599/month), Advanced Enterprise($2,499/month) and Unrestricted Enterprise($5,999/month). No matter what type of business model you’re running, they have something for everyone. Now start your Shopify account today!
Setting up Shopify
Setting up an online store with Shopify couldn’t be easier. The user-friendly interface requires no coding skills and allows you to get set up in minutes. Simply sign up for a free account, choose from one of their pre-made templates, fill out your details and start accepting payments!
You can make your site look unique by choosing from over 120 different professionally designed themes. That will have it looking like a professional designer created it. You can also add features such as: product videos, Wishlist, shipping calculators, discount codes and more. If you want to go into more detail about what products you sell or how they are shipped etc., there are detailed product pages which allow for comprehensive information on every item.
You can even design your own HTML template so that you control all aspects of your store. It doesn’t stop there though; Shopify has tons of plug-ins and applications available to take your business to the next level. Want customer reviews? They’ve got it. Drop ship suppliers? Done.
Social media integration? Yup, they’ve got that too. Want to make sales without actually having any inventory? No problem. All of these features and more are readily available for use with just a few clicks of the mouse. Of course, if you’re not quite sure where to start then there’s always the 24/7 live chat support. Who will answer any questions you might have right away.
Design and Customization
There are plenty of website design companies out there, but none has a better user experience than Shopify. It’s intuitive and easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface allows you to customize every element on your store without writing any code or downloading extra software.
No other website builder even comes close! If you decide you want something more unique. They also provide an extensive library of pre-made themes. That work with their drag-and-drop editor. You can see some of them here.
They make it really easy to modify colors, fonts, navigation bars, buttons and headers for anything you want to do. And if it’s not in the app itself, there are tons of 3rd party apps that add functionality to the site like social media marketing tools (Instagram), shopping carts (Stripe), shipping calculators. etc.
Easily Accessible
The last thing I love about Shopify is how easily accessible it is for beginners. Let’s say you need help – just click on Help from the menu bar at the top of your screen and search for whatever topic you need help with. Plus, if you have an idea for a new feature, customer Wishlist item or product and want to request it. All you have to do is go to Improvements Requested.
You might be surprised by what eventually makes its way into the program! Also. One of my favorite features is when I add a product to my site and sell it for the first time. Shopify automatically adds a receipt/payment method to Stripe so I don’t have to manually enter payment information every time someone purchases my items.
Lastly, because customers can now visit your storefront via their phones as well as computers. You should pay attention to making sure everything works well on mobile devices too. Thankfully this isn’t hard at all with the responsive design Shopify offers.
Building an Online Store
Whether you want to sell handmade goods, physical products, or digital downloads, starting an online store takes some level of planning. Choose a platform that makes sense for your product category (Shopify has everything from craft supplies and clothing to jewelry and beauty), decide on a theme, select or create an appropriate logo, design a website layout and color scheme—and then it’s time to shop for products. Steps to start your own online store with Shopify
Before you even think about adding products to your site, set up your storefront just as you would if it were live. Make sure things like shipping costs and returns policies are in place; add any content (about pages or other educational material) that will help potential customers understand why they should buy from you instead of someone else; test out how well different payment options work.
Order and Checking out
If you accept PayPal, go through all the steps of placing an order and checking out before making the final decision. If you take cash-on-delivery orders, use your address for all transactions so you can see what works best.
Once you’ve done this, figure out where you stand on inventory: Do you have enough to fill your store?
How many variations of each item do you need? What are the sourcing restrictions?
And finally, answer these questions: Do I know what people want? Can I get them excited about my products and brand?
Can I deliver quality customer service? Will I be able to keep up with demand and fulfill orders quickly?
Does my idea make sense?
Is it feasible to start selling on one marketplace while building my business at the same time?
If you answered yes to all those questions, congratulations! You have a promising startup idea.
Now let’s talk about how to make your store better than anyone else’s by choosing the right tools and strategies.
Ease of Payment Integration
When you’re just starting out and shipping hundreds of orders a day, payment integration can be frustrating. With platforms like Magento or even Bigcommerce, setting up payment gateways can take hours.
Shopify has mastered ease of payment integration with Stripe (their preferred gateway), which takes less than 30 seconds. They also have an intuitive interface that allows for more than one gateway to be configured in order to accommodate your customer base.
The only downside is if you want to set up a custom theme, then it will take some time and effort. Other than that, Shopify offers all the functionality that small businesses need at a reasonable price point.
You don’t need to spend $10,000 on a website when Shopify starts at $29/month and gives you everything that’s needed – minus the customization. It’s perfect for entrepreneurs who are looking to make their first sale without breaking the bank!
Easy Ways to Increase Your Sales and Profits On Shopify
Having a great looking website is all well and good, but it’s of no use if you can’t use it to generate revenue. In today’s post, we will show you how to take advantage of Shopify and its many features.
- Sell Digital Products: If you have digital products on offer, selling them on Shopify’s marketplace can be a profitable solution for you. It’s easy to set up, users don’t need to sign up or create an account and they can buy without leaving the page they’re viewing. Plus, Shopify takes care of hosting which means no extra cost for bandwidth or server space!
- Add Your Own Designs To The Platform: If you have a flair for designing then adding your own designs onto the site could be a way to diversify your income streams – not only that but it could help boost conversions by presenting customers with unique designs.
- Take Advantage of Relevant Content and SEO: One area that’s often overlooked when it comes to increasing sales on Shopify is content marketing. Make sure you provide your audience with as much relevant information as possible and also take full advantage of SEO opportunities available through keywords and product tags. A lot of people are simply unaware of what options are available to them so make sure that this doesn’t happen to you. A successful Shopify store needs a bit more than just a slick design in order to stand out from the crowd. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to do this without having to break the bank. Keep reading for four quick tips on boosting your profits.
Automated Follow-Up Emails
- Use Automated Follow-Up Emails: One great way to ensure potential customers are aware of new products, deals and other offers is by sending automated follow-ups after someone has browsed your store. Just click on Emails in the left menu, scroll down until you see Automated Follow-ups and click Add Automated Follow-up.
- Enable Cross-Selling: Cross-selling allows you to suggest related items to shoppers while they browse your store. You might want to consider cross-selling if some of your products go well together.
- Boost Conversions With Pop Up Boxes: You can increase conversion rates by offering discounts, free shipping or other incentives with pop up boxes such as this one below;
- Tap into Social Media for Maximum Reach: For many businesses, social media accounts and networks have become an essential tool. After all, it’s where most of your potential customers hang out. Try updating posts at least once a day on Twitter and Facebook and keep Instagram Stories interesting enough to retain followers.
- Utilize User-Generated Reviews: Reviews are a very important part of any online purchase. That’s why it’s crucial to encourage user-generated reviews and ratings by providing your audience with customer testimonials and product reviews. Don’t forget to reply to the reviews you receive too!
- Reward Loyal Customers: Regularly rewarding your loyal customers is a great way to motivate customer loyalty. Offer deals, exclusive access or insider tips for repeat buyers who have shopped with you on Shopify before.
- Embrace User-Generated Content: When it comes to retaining customers, the old adage you can’t please everyone certainly rings true. So instead of trying to please everyone with your products, turn to user-generated content instead. These are some strategies to increase Your Sales and Profits on Shopify from our side! What are some other strategies you use? Let us know in the comments below.
Measure growth with analytics reports
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Analytics reports will give you insight into how shoppers are interacting with your products and how well those products convert. This information will help you continually improve and grow your business. And stay ahead of the competition. With an eCommerce software like Shopify, analytics come built-in. So it’s easy to monitor every aspect of your business. Plus, Shopify includes monthly analytics reports. That show where most of your sales are coming from, which pages visitors spend the most time on, how much money customers spend on average per order, and more.
These features allow you to make data-driven decisions that benefit your company’s growth. The last thing you want to do is commit yourself to a costly eCommerce software package only to find out later that it doesn’t have all the features needed for success. The good news? Shopify provides everything you need in one package!