How to Start and Set Up your own eCommerce Store with Shopify

Setting up an eCommerce store is no longer an option, it’s more like a compulsion. I mean even if you want to survive in today’s cut-throat competition then you must come up with some killer or a kick-ass online presence. Well, you have just reached the right space, it says how you can get started with a unique, intimidating-looking store and that too in a pretty short span of time. Now first and foremost, have you ever come across the term Shopify?

Introduction

Well, in simple words Shopify is basically an eCommerce platform much like Magento, BigCommerce, and Prestashop that is used to develop amazing eCommerce websites which have the potential to turn your business into a multi-million dollar venture. It’s a user-friendly platform that can assist well in buying and selling a wide range of products online. So here comes the big question: why choose Shopify when you already have Magento, BigCommerce and several other options around?

Benefits of Considering Shopify

1. Quick and easy to set up

One of the obvious and most essential benefits or reasons to take Shopify into consideration is that, unlike other relevant eCommerce platforms, Shopify turns out to be pretty much quick and easy to set up. You see most of the businesses who are willing to launch an eCommerce store might not be that tech-savvy. As a result, they should go with something where there is no need for gaining some kind of technical knowledge to get started with. Shopify incorporates a user-friendly interface. So anyone can easily get started with Shopify.

2. Highly secured

With security breaches happening day in and day out, it is pretty important to consider safety and security measures. After all, you are responsible for safeguarding relevant and important information of your end users. So yes, you must consider an eCommerce platform that turns out to be the best in terms of security and here Shopify definitely falls under such a category. So the next big advantage of using such a hosted solution is that it is available when it comes to security.

3. Mobile responsiveness

Now when you are creating an online presence I am sure you won’t be stopping here. You also need to take a step further toward mobile apps as well right? So why not begin with eCommerce development which is mobile responsive as well? Fortunately, all the Shopify themes are mobile-responsive and here you may find a mobile commerce shopping cart. So managing the store even via mobile applications is not a big deal here.

Above all these pointers, comes the price. Shopify turns out to be pretty cost-effective in comparison to other eCommerce platforms. The basic plan starts from $29 per month. Then you can opt for the advanced Shopify plan of the three at $299 offering numerous benefits and advantages such as easy customization, quick and accurate insights and so forth.

• The Lite plan – is $9
• Basic Shopify plan – $29 + 2.9%
• Shopify Plan – $79 + 2.6%
• Advanced Shopify Plan – $299 + 2.4 % and 30% on each transaction
• Shopify Plus Plan – more than $2000 + 2.15%

Basically, this one is a pretty great eCommerce platform to take into consideration. Now we will proceed further with how to set up an eCommerce store using Shopify.

Let’s Get Started With Shopify

As mentioned earlier, setting up an eCommerce site takes lots and lots of time, effort and technical knowledge. Now it’s time to get started with the step-by-step measures.

1. Plan as much as you can

One of the obvious yet very crucial aspects is to plan. Direct going for the kill without proper planning and research is a big No-No. So start considering different business ideas, business names or logos and especially what kind of things you are planning to offer, also consider offering high-quality and well-optimized product images. Also, you must think of hiring a reliable Shopify development company that can offer the best services from their doorsteps. What else you can do is begin by establishing a Shopify account. Enter your email ID, password and all the relevant information asked.

2. Adding Relevant Products

The next step to take into account is to start adding different products based on different categories. Yes, don’t be distracted by those attention-grabbing themes and designs. Instead, start adding your products first. You see the product range has a big impact on the overall look and feel of your store and it’s not the design or the theme. Go to the Dashboard, Products > Add your products and boom! You can get started!

Also, when you add these products do consider small aspects such as adding the title of the product, relevant description stating what it is actually about, media, what price is available, inventory aspects, shipping and a lot more!

3. Media Uploading

Once you have begun adding different products, you need to consider uploading media as well. So when you do that do take some notes of these below-mentioned pointers which can help you a lot in your Shopify store.

• High-product quality is a must! – One of the best tips or ideas to take into account is having your product quality high. It’s great if you are able to work with a professional photographer or a videographer to create relevant content. Make sure to use the best device for the job. Try to upload all the videos up to 4K resolution. Consistency does matter here.

• Cracking the right image resolution – All the images uploaded here must have a minimum resolution of 800 x 800 pixels. And in case, if you are selling products online via Amazon or Etsy, make sure the size of the pixels is 1000*1000 at the least. And as long as the videos are concerned, make sure they are no longer than the span of 10 mins and are in 1GB size.

• Afterwards – Once you have followed all these steps, try adding alt text to it.

4. Start creating Different pages

Once the product uploading is done, time to create other relevant website pages such as the About us page or the contact us page, FAQs, privacy policy page and a lot more! All these pages might not seem to be important in the first place but they are very important. How will your customer get in touch with you if the contact page is not apt or up to the mark? Also, some people do like to check FAQs for their common doubts and queries.

5. Payments

Another important step is to establish the right payment gateways. After all, you are creating an eCommerce store, so you need a well-established payment method. All you have to do is navigate the settings and then payments. Try filling in as much information as you can regarding your company. Some of the best payment methods to take into account include PayPal, Amazon Pay, Square, and even Bitcoin.

Final Words

And we are done here! You see if you are a non-techie then you must consider hiring a reliable and well-experienced Shopify development company. After all, you will be creating a full-time store that’s 24/7 open, so you have to be thoroughly prepared in regards to showcasing your products and selling them. I hope you did the following insights mentioned in the post meaningful. If yes, feel free to share this with your peers and help us in spreading the word.