How to Sell on Shopify – An Ultimate Definitive Guide

Shopify stores are a great choice for those who are seeking to set up their store online. It’s a beginner-friendly platform, which is easy for even non-technical users. However, the many details involved in setting up and selling this solution can be a bit overwhelming. That’s why we’re here to help. Our Shopify guide will tell you how to sell on Shopify in a detailed manner. 

Why do people want to know how to sell on Shopify? 

Shopify is a Canadian multinational e-commerce platform that facilitates setting up your e-store with its subscription-based model. Without any coding knowledge, you can conveniently launch your ready-to-sell online store as per your budget and choice. Additionally, as a Shopify shop owner, you can also avail of Shopify POS and accompanying hardware. 

The platform offers numerous user-friendly options for all kinds of businesses to launch and establish their Shopify brands and sell online. Both newbie merchants and e-commerce giants use this platform for running their online stores. 

There are several conveniences of using Shopify. These include-

1. Easy-to-use interface: One of the prime reasons why Shopify is highly popular is its user-friendly nature. It also allows you to conveniently scale your business if you want to.

2. Mobile responsiveness: This platform includes a built-in mobile e-commerce shopping cart. So, customers can access your online store through any device.  

3. Free SSL certificate: On Shopify, every page, content, transaction details, etc. are protected by a 256-bit SSL certificate. So, it’s safe to run your e-store on it. 

4. Themes and templates:  At Shopify, you’ll find plenty of aesthetically pleasing front-end designs for your store. You can customize them aesthetically to match your digital brand’s look and feel. 

5. Customer Profile: Shopify has a feature for customer profiling. This gathers customer details and tracks their activities. You can use this valuable info to deliver personalized messages/experiences to them.

6. Cloud-based system: Since Shopify is cloud-based, managing, upgrading, and technically maintaining your websites is taken care of. 

7. Multi-channel: Shopify integrates a multi-channel approach. This widens your reach and thereby boosts sales.

8. Language-friendly interface: Shopify integrates multiple languages into its themes and templates. This helps in rendering a better customer experience. 

9. Customer support: Shopify offers round-the-clock customer service. So, in case you encounter issues with your e-store, you can avail of their support team. 

10. No Trading fees: While other platforms like Shopify charge up to 40% of an e–store’s total revenue as selling fees, Shopify doesn’t. You just have to pay your subscription fee and payment processing fee alone. 

How to sell on Shopify?

Now, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to sell on Shopify.

1. Purchase a domain name

A domain name is nothing but your address on the internet. It should be relevant to your business and easy to remember. Though Shopify offers a free URL, we suggest you buy a customized one. For, the one offered by Shopify incorporates the word ‘Shopify’ into the URL. It will be something like your Shopify store.shopify.com. So, your store won’t rank well in the search engines. 

Therefore, change the free URL offered by Shopify in the following manner. 

1. Log into your Shopify admin account. 
2. Go to the Sales channels section
3. Click Online Store
4. Go to Domains
5. Click the Change primary domain link
6. Pick your new domain from the options provided
7. Save

You can purchase the domain name of your choice from popular registrars like GoDaddy or A2. 

2. Select and customize a template

Shopify offers plenty of free and purchasable themes. Using those, you can customize the appearance and feel of your e-store. To choose one of the themes, navigate to the Themes menu you’ll find on the left-hand side. Go through the available themes, layouts, features, and styles available there. 

Choose from them to deliver an appealing customer experience. Once you’ve selected a theme, click ‘Customize’. This will allow you to edit and customize the layout, content, and typography. When you customize it, make sure that everything is as per your brand.

3. Upload your inventory

Now that you’ve customized your Shopify store, you’re ready to upload your products. For doing this, perform the following-

1. Go to ‘Products’ on the left-hand menu in the Shopify Admin space.
2. Click ‘Add products’. in the Shopify Admin space.
3. In the space provided, including all of the details about your product and upload images. 
4. Click ‘Save’.

If you’ve got a lot of products, manually uploading your inventory can take a lot of time. Fortunately, Shopify allows you to upload bulk product descriptions in a CSV file. You can do so using the following steps.

1. Go to ‘Products’ from your Shopify Admin.
2. Click ‘Import’.
3. Hit ‘Add file’.
4. Select the CSV file bearing your product inventory.
5. Click ‘Upload’ and continue

4. Set up payment methods

Now that you’ve set up products on your e-store and displayed their descriptions as well, it’s time you include provisions for accepting payments. This way your customers will be able to pay online for the things they buy from you. You need to ensure that their transaction is as seamless as possible. 

For setting payment methods, navigate to ‘the Checkout’ settings page in your Shopify admin. Include your business banking details there so that buyers can transfer their money to your account. Also, select the payment gateways through which customers can pay you. This area also has provisions for you to gather customer email ids so that you can market to them through email.

5. Determine the shipping procedures

The next thing you need to decide is how you’ll deliver orders to your customers. There are four different options available in this regard viz., local pickup, local delivery, retailer shipping, and dropshipping. Here’s a short explanation of what each of these means. 

• Dropshipping: A shipping option where your inventory is accessible to a supplier, who ships your product. In this case, you’ll pay the supplier as per wholesale prices, but you can change your site visitors as per your decision.
• Retailer shipping: This type of shipping is more labour-intensive than drop shipping.  It requires you to pack up products yourself, employ the services of a courier service, and incorporate shipping expenses into your e-commerce system.
• Local delivery: In this shipping model, you’ll have to keep track of your inventory and pack your items to be shipped. And can either deliver packages yourself or employ a local courier service for them. Local delivery allows you the flexibility to manage and pack your inventory yourself. You can opt to make deliveries on your own or utilize same day courier services to ensure quick turnaround times for your customers. This option alleviates the concerns of delayed shipments and provides instant gratification, which is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty.
   
• Local pickup: In this shipping model too, you’ll have to keep track of your inventory and pack your items to be shipped. And you give clear instructions to your customers on how to get their packages from you.

6. Add pages, and navigation, and adjust your preferences 

In the left-hand menu bar, there’s an option to add Pages, Navigation, and Preferences. 

• The ‘Pages’ option allows you to include any additional site pages that may interest your customers. For instance, you’re About Us page, an FAQ page, etc.
• The ‘Navigation’ section allows you to ensure clear menus for your shoppers. This way, you’ll be able to deliver a good user experience. 
• The ‘Preferences’ section lets you set up your store for SEO. So, include your Page’s title and meta description in this section. These elements will be displayed on the Search Engine Result Page (SERP) when people search for your brand online. Besides, the section also bears provisions for determining ways to gather user data through Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. 

7. Pick a plan

Now your e-store is ready to go live. So, choose and click pick a plan. To do this, go to Home on the left-hand menu in your Shopify Admin. The bar on the top of your screen has an option called ‘Select a plan’. Click it to choose the plan of your choice. 

• Shopify Lite: This plan allows you to convert your existing website into an e-store and start selling through it. With it, you can also sell through your social media pages. The pricing begins at $9 per month.
• Basic Shopify: It offers all the basic features you’d need to start selling online. It allows you to upload innumerable products, operate two staff accounts, enable discount codes, and take advantage of Shopify shipping. The pricing of this plan is $29 per month + 2.9% and 30¢ per transaction
• Shopify: Apart from offering all the benefits of the Basic plan, it allows you to operate five staff accounts, gain access to professional business performance reports, and receive gift cards. This plan would cost you $79 per month + 2.6% and 30¢ per transaction
• Advanced Shopify: Advanced Shopify comes with an advanced report builder and third-party calculated shipping rates.   This plan would cost you $299 per month + 2.4% and 30¢ per transaction.
• Shopify Plus: If your e-commerce store receives high-volume traffic, then none of the above plans would meet your needs. In such a case, you should choose the Shopify Plus plan. It will be customized and aligned to your business needs. You’ll get personalized assistance too. As for the pricing, the vendor will give you a quote according to your needs.

8. Market your business

Like any other business, your e-commerce business also needs to be marketed. Here are seven marketing techniques to market it. 

• Content Marketing:  This involves creating and publishing different content pieces on various marketing channels. Your content can take shapes such as articles, blogs, newsletters, social media posts, press releases, etc.
• Social Media Marketing: With many people hanging around on various social media platforms today, it’s wise to reach out to them there. You can reach them through interesting social media posts, quizzes, polls, puzzles, contests, and more. 
• Email Marketing: Well-personalized emails are one of the most effective ways to connect with customers. So, personalize emails to deliver a pleasing customer experience and for effective lead nurturing.  
• Search Engine Marketing:  This involves broadcasting your business on search engines. A variety of paid techniques go into it. 
• Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is trending in the online world these days. This involves collaborating with influencers to reach your business to a larger audience.  
• Search Engine Optimization Marketing: This involves employing different organic techniques to improve your site visibility on search engines. 

Rounding up

In this blog, we’ve covered everything you’d need to know on how to sell on Shopify. By reading this blog, you’d have known why Shopify is so popular and how to set up an account with the platform, how to customize a theme for your e-store, how to set up payment and delivery methods, and how to market your e-store.