What is Shopify and how does it work?

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With many people looking to start a side hustle or extend their blog to include a store, e-commerce platforms are booming. Over recent years people have been looking at ways to diversify their income and what may have started out as a hobby or making gifts for family and friends could have attracted the attention of other people who are looking to buy your products. But when it comes to selling online it can be a bit of a minefield and you want to ensure you’re using a platform that works well for you and your customers. So today I’m going to be talking you through Shopify, what it is and how it works.

What is Shopify?

In simple terms Shopify is a subscription based e-commerce platform that allows anyone to set up an online store. Sounds good right? But that’s the bare bones of it. If you’re seriously looking into selling your products online then you probably want to know a little bit more about what Shopify is.

Shopify goes beyond being a place to sell your products and actually allows you to build and customise a store that fits with your brand and what your customers want. Shopify has a range of plans from basic (for those just starting out) to advanced (for scaling businesses that require more advanced reports). There’s also a lite version if you’re just wanting to list products on a website or blog and test the waters with your products.

Many people can find success selling online whether it’s as a side hustle or grows into a full time job. As your store grows you may start looking into ways to further expand and grow which is when you might want to look into the services of a Shopify Agency. These ae business that are made to help you with your design, development and growth. So if you’re business is starting to take off but you know it could do even better with a little bit of expert help then it’s definitely worth thinking about using a Shopify agency.

How does Shopify work?

Setting up a Shopify store if you’re just wanting to get selling can actually be done relatively quickly. Of course if you’re wanting to customise your store a little more then you’ll need a little bit more time to get your design just right. If you’re planning on creating a Shopify store then I highly recommend watching a couple of tutorials first to make sure you get everything right the first time.

Once you’ve singed up to Shopify and you’ve selected your plan you’ll need to create a store name. This needs to be a unique name as it’s what will be used to purchase your domain. Once you’ve filled some details in about you and your store you’ll be able to move on to actually listing your products. From here you can move on to customising your store. A big part of attracting customers is having a store that stands out but that is easy to navigate and not too cluttered. Keep this in mind when you’re customising your site. One of the last steps is to set up your domain and make your site live. Clearly this is a very brief overview on how to get started with Shopify but it is a really simple platform to use.

Should I use Shopify to sell my products?

So now we’ve looked at what Shopify is and how it works it’s time to decide if it’s the right platform for your business. Just like any other e-commerce site, it has it’s pros and cons so lets take a look at those.

Pros

• Easy to use – Shopify is made with the average person in mind. This means you don’t need any skills in setting up a store.
• Low cost pricing plans – Shopify Lite is $9 a month and Shopify Basic is $29 a month. You can get more expensive plans but if you’re just starting out you shouldn’t need those.
• Good customisation options – there’s a wide range of both free and paid themes to help your store look its best
• A variety of support options – from phone, live chat and email, the support options can be accessed any time of day.

Cons

• Expensive add-ons – if you’re after more advanced features then you’ll have to pay for these and they don’t come cheap
• Transaction fee – Shopify does charge a transaction fee between 0.5% to 2% depending what plan you’re on
• Basic functions – as Shopify comes ready with nearly all the features a small business needs to get started

Have you considered setting up an online store recently? Let me know in the comments!