Starting your e-commerce business on Shopify can be very beneficial and a great way to reap additional profits. Shopify is a cost-effective approach to getting your business up and going right away. While there are several options for an online retail business, there are reasons Shopify stands out among them all.

When you set up an e-commerce store, you want to be able to quickly sell online and have your store show up in search engine results. Online retail is a competitive world, and the Shopify theme provides easy maneuverability. It allows store owners to quickly set up a Shopify store so you can easily sell online and have customers pay via credit card through the shopping cart.

The Basics of Shopify

Starting your e-commerce website is both exciting and nerve-wracking. You need to make sure the store is set up correctly, so customers can easily shop and buy your high-quality goods. Shopify has detailed instructions for setting up your store and even details the various features that are available to you. Here is where you begin:

1. Securing Your Domain

First, you need a name that is unique to you. If you already have an established business, you will need to use your domain for your online store. If you haven’t gotten that far, a domain can be obtained affordably and efficiently from such third-party suppliers as GoDaddy, Google Domains, Bluehost, HostGator, and Enom. It can take up to 24 hours for DNS records to update the domain name. Also, don’t forget to get an SSL certificate to ensure the site’s security. otherwise, your site will say "not secure" and deter potential customers from entering in their payment information.

2. Building Your Page

Then you will want to build your Shopify page. Choose the best template for your specific store layout. Shopify themes have three different elements – HTML files, CSS, and JavaScript. Each platform’s guide will walk you through the process. After you have built your page, you will need to incorporate plugins. While many plugins work with Shopify, there are some plugins every eCommerce store should start with for your online store. Many of the templates also use Shopify's own development language called Liquid. If you're not a pro at Liquid, you can easily and inexpensively hire someone to make the adjustments for you on sites like Upwork. But, if you prefer DIY methods, here's an in-depth video on how to use it:

3. Making Your Page Look Its Best

When you set up your store, be sure to include attractive product photos that clearly show what you are selling, so customers will be encouraged to finalize their purchase. Also, represent the products honestly and stand behind them, so customers will become return customers. Want to see some easy photography tricks? Then watch the video below:

4. Taking Your Page Live

Next, launching your online store to the world is fast and easy. Just before you go live with your Shopify store, you should double check to make sure everything is in order and things are up to par. Customers use multiple sales channels to shop for the same brand, so you must consider that your products should sell from many marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon.

5. Monitoring the Progress of Your Store

Finally, set up Google Analytics so you can see how visitors do and do not interact with your website. Your app store is set up in different collections, so check out the options and look for your store essentials. If you need instructions on how to set up and install it, watch this quick tutorial:

6. Dropshipping

Besides your website, you will also need to think about whether or not you want to drop ship. While many sites may encourage drop shipping,  you will lose control of the quality of your shipments which could negatively impact customer satisfaction. And many shippers’ insurance policies may not cover a lost package fully, leaving you liable for any damaged or lost packages. If you choose to handle shipments yourself, you can inexpensively protect your e-commerce packages by using third-party shipping insurance like Cabrella. There are many other cons of drop shipping as well such as longer shipping times ( 3-4 weeks), more difficult to allow for returns, and no control over the quality of the product itself.

The Pros of Using Shopify for Your eCommerce Store

Shopify has been used for more than 800,000 online stores and has more than 1 million active users. This store setup has generated more than $82 billion in sales, which says a lot. Here are a few Shopify tips that indicate the benefits of this approach:

• It has five pricing plans that start as low as $9 per month and go up to $299 monthly.

• Shopify offers two ways to accept card payments, which makes purchases simple.

• Shopify has ten themes for online stores, and each has two or three variants which allows you to choose from a variety of designs.

• It will enable you to create coupon codes that can be used by your customers.

• There is blogging functionality, which will help with traffic and conversions.

• There is access to a point-of-sale app.

• Shopify offers excellent customer support.

• Excellent marketing tools that are available with the plans. You can promote your store via social media and with the help of a content marketer.

The Cons of a Shopify Store

All platforms have their faults, and there are some cons of going with Shopify for the creation of your store. Here are few of the downsides of Shopify:

• You must choose your plan wisely because each plan has different features. You will most likely have to start with a more expensive plan, such as those that are $29 and higher to get the features most online retailers need.

• You will pay a platform transaction fee, which is a percent of sales. You can get around this if you use Shopify Payments as your card processor and pay those fees. You should be aware some third-party processors may offer lower prices, so go over your options.

• Remember, there are also credit card fees. Shopify Payments run a POS and processing network that allows you to skip a third-party processor, so the costs go straight to Shopify rather than a third processor, such as Authorize.net or PayPal. Review the lock-in issues with Shopify and determine if signing up will benefit you if you aren’t already with a third-party processor. This will add to your costs though.

• There are add-on fees, such as plugins and third-party apps. Sometimes these are just one-time purchases, but often, they run off any transaction fees you have.

Customer Retention

So what's next after setting up your Shopify website? Getting customers and keeping them! Did you know that returning e-commerce customers spend 60% more than first-time buyers? We have a no-fluff, complete guide packed with concrete ways to increase your returning customers. Click the button below to start reading!