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Are you thinking of starting an online business? Do you want to reach a global audience and sell your products or services from the comfort of your own home? Look no further than Shopify, the world’s leading e-commerce platform. But the question is how to sell on Shopify, anyway?
With its easy-to-use interface and powerful tools, Shopify has everything you need to set up, run and grow your online business. Nowadays, Shopify is more popular than ever, with millions of businesses using the platform to sell their products and services worldwide. The ever-growing number of Shopify apps has also added to its popularity.
But, with so many businesses vying for the attention of online shoppers, how can you stand out from the crowd? In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of selling on Shopify in 2023, providing you with all the tips, tricks and strategies you need to launch a successful online store. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a complete beginner, we’ve got you covered. So, get ready to take your e-commerce game to the next level with Shopify!
What Is Shopify
Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that enables individuals and businesses to create online stores and sell their products or services. Founded in 2006, Shopify offers a range of features to help users build and manage their online businesses, including customizable templates, payment processing, shipping and tax management, inventory tracking, analytics, and more.
Shopify’s user-friendly interface and extensive app marketplace make it accessible to businesses of all sizes, from small independent shops to large enterprise-level retailers. Additionally, Shopify offers various resources to help merchants grow their businesses, such as educational content, customer support, and marketing tools.
Overall, Shopify provides a comprehensive solution for individuals and businesses looking to establish an online presence and sell products or services online.
How to Sell on Shopify in 5 Easy Steps
In this part, we’re going to walk you through the steps you need to take in order to start selling services on Shopify. Ready?
#1. Set Up Your Shopify Account
The first step to selling on Shopify is to set up your account. Choose a Shopify plan that suits your needs, and you’ll be taken through a series of setup steps. You’ll need to select a domain name, design your store, and set up your payment and shipping options.
You can customize your store’s settings, such as language and currency, to ensure it’s tailored to your target audience.
#2. Add Your Products
Once you have set up your Shopify account, it’s time to start adding your products. Choose the right product categories and optimize your product listings for SEO. This means using relevant keywords, writing detailed descriptions, and adding high-quality images and videos to showcase your products. You can also create collections to organize your products and make it easier for customers to browse your store.
#3. Set Up Payment & Shipping Options
The third step on how to sell on Shopify is setting up the payment and shipping methods. Shopify offers a range of payment and shipping options to choose from. You can set up your payment gateway by selecting one of the supported providers, such as PayPal, Stripe, or Shopify Payments.
You can also configure shipping rates and delivery times based on your products’ weight and destination. It’s important to ensure that you comply with relevant regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, to protect your customers’ data and privacy.
#4. Customize Your Store
To make your store stand out, you can customize it further with themes and apps. Shopify offers hundreds of free and paid themes that you can use to give your store a unique look and feel. You can also add apps to help you with tasks such as email marketing, social media integration, and analytics.
By choosing the right theme and apps, you can create a store that’s tailored to your brand and customers’ needs.
#5. Launch Your Store
Before you launch your store, it’s essential to test it thoroughly to ensure that everything is working correctly. You can use Shopify’s built-in tools, such as the preview feature, to check how your store looks and functions on different devices.
Once you’re confident that your store is ready, you can start promoting it through social media, email marketing, and other channels. Monitor your sales and optimize your marketing strategy based on the results.
Now that you know how to sell on Shopify, let’s delve deeper into some of the top tools you’ll need in your journey.
4 Best Shopify Tools
There are hundreds of tools available on this platform. Here, we’ve gathered up the 4 most important apps you can use to skyrocket your business sales. Let’s dive in, shall we?
1- WatchThemLive
WatchThemLive is a conversion rate optimization tool that helps business owners track user behavior data on their websites. Using such data, website owners can set up well-developed strategies to increase their conversions.
This user-friendly tool offers many features such as heatmaps, session replays, analytics dashboard, conversion and goal tracking tools, console recording, etc. Using these features, you can understand the ‘why’ behind every action that a user takes on your web pages. For example, you can easily understand the reason behind their cart abandonment.
What makes WatchThemLive stand out in the crowd is the fact that it offers a free plan and a demo mode so that you can try its services before making up your mind. And even after you’ve made up your mind, the prices are so affordable that even small businesses don’t have to worry about their budget.
So, don’t hesitate and sign up on WatchThemLive for free to get instant access!
2- Yotpo
Yotpo is a Shopify app that helps merchants collect and display customer reviews and ratings on their online store. Yotpo offers a suite of tools for managing customer reviews, including automatic review request emails, customizable review forms, and a moderation dashboard to manage and publish reviews.
With Yotpo, merchants can create social proof and build trust with potential customers by showcasing authentic user-generated content such as customer reviews and photos. The app also offers features such as SEO optimization, social sharing, and the ability to respond to customer reviews, which can help merchants improve their online reputation and customer engagement.
Yotpo offers both free and paid plans, with additional features and customization options available in the paid plans. The app is widely used by Shopify merchants to increase customer engagement, boost sales, and improve their overall online store experience
3- Klaviyo
Klaviyo is an email marketing platform that integrates with Shopify to help merchants create targeted email campaigns and automate their email marketing efforts. The platform allows merchants to send personalized, behavior-based emails to their customers, such as abandoned cart emails, post-purchase follow-ups, and product recommendations based on customer behavior.
Using Klaviyo, merchants are promised to easily create and manage email campaigns, segment their email lists based on customer behavior, and track the performance of their email campaigns in real-time. The platform also offers a range of automation options, including abandoned cart reminders, welcome series, and win-back campaigns, which can help merchants save time and increase revenue.
We’ve already prepared a detailed Klaviyo review for you to help you make an informed decision.
4- Oberlo
Oberlo is another Shopify app that simplifies the process of dropshipping by allowing shops to import products from AliExpress directly into their Shopify store. With Oberlo, merchants can browse a wide selection of products and easily add them to their store with just a few clicks.
The app also offers features such as automatic order fulfillment, inventory management, and shipment tracking, which can help merchants streamline their dropshipping operations and focus on growing their business. Oberlo also offers a range of tools and resources to help merchants optimize their product listings, such as product descriptions and images, which can help increase conversions and drive sales.
Oberlo offers both free and paid plans. The app is widely used by Shopify merchants to expand their product offerings, increase sales, and simplify the dropshipping process.
7 Tips You Need for Selling on Shopify
The next step after you’ve gotten familiar with how to sell on Shopify is learning some effective strategies to ensure your success. Here are some tips to help you increase your Shopify conversion:
- Choose the right products: It’s important to choose products that are in demand and have a profit margin. Conduct market research to identify popular products in your niche and find suppliers who offer competitive pricing.
- Optimize your product listings: Make sure your product listings are detailed and informative, with high-quality images, accurate descriptions, and clear pricing information. This will help customers make informed purchasing decisions and increase their chances of making a sale.
- Offer free shipping: Offering free shipping can be a powerful incentive for customers to make a purchase, especially if your competitors are charging for shipping. Consider offering free shipping above a certain order value, or factor the cost of shipping into your product prices.
- Provide excellent customer service: Respond promptly to customer inquiries and provide helpful and friendly service. Make it easy for customers to contact you through your website or social media channels, and address any issues or concerns promptly.
- Use social media to promote your store: Use social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote your store and engage with your customers. Share your products, promotions, and news updates, and consider collaborating with influencers or running targeted ad campaigns to reach new audiences.
- Offer promotions and discounts: Offer discounts, coupons, or other promotions to encourage customers to make a purchase. Consider offering a discount for first-time customers, or running a limited-time sale to create a sense of urgency.
- Use analytics to track your performance: Use tools like Google Analytics or Shopify’s built-in analytics to track your store’s performance, including traffic, sales, and conversion rates. Use this data to make informed decisions about your marketing and sales strategies, and to identify areas for improvement.
By following these tips and strategies, you can increase your chances of success on Shopify and build a profitable and sustainable ecommerce business.
FAQs on How to Sell on Shopify
Ready to learn more about this platform and how to sell on it? Then, don’t go anywhere yet! We’ve got more for you.
Q1. What Is Shopify Used for?
As an e-commerce platform, Shopify allows businesses of all sizes to build their online store and increase their sales. If you’re wondering how to sell your digital products on Shopify, simply scroll up and read this article.
Q2. How to Sell on Shopify Without Inventory?
One way to sell on Shopify without inventory is through drop shipping. Dropshipping is a business model where a merchant partners with a supplier or manufacturer who ships the products directly to customers on behalf of the merchant. With drop shipping, the merchant does not need to keep inventory in stock or handle the shipping and fulfillment process themselves.
To sell on Shopify using dropshipping, you can follow these steps:
- Find a supplier or manufacturer who offers dropshipping services. You can search for dropshipping suppliers on platforms like AliExpress, Spocket, or Oberlo, or you can reach out to manufacturers directly.
- Import the products you want to sell to your Shopify store using an app like Oberlo or Importify.
- Set your prices for the products based on the supplier’s cost and your desired profit margin.
- Customize your product listings with descriptions, images, and other information to make them appealing to potential customers.
- Set up payment and shipping options for your store.
- Start marketing your products using social media, influencer marketing, or other channels to drive traffic to your store and generate sales.
When a customer makes a purchase on your Shopify store, the order details are automatically sent to your supplier or manufacturer, who will then fulfill the order and ship the product directly to the customer. You can then keep the profit from the sale, minus the cost of the product and any associated fees. With dropshipping, you can start selling products online without the upfront costs and risks associated with traditional inventory-based businesses.
Q3. How to Sell on Shopify for Free?
There is no way to sell on Shopify for free as it is a platform that charges a monthly fee for its services. However, there are ways to minimize your expenses while using Shopify to sell your products. Here are some suggestions:
- Utilize the 14-day free trial: Shopify offers a 14-day free trial that allows you to test the platform and set up your store without paying any fees.
- Use the Shopify Lite plan: Shopify offers a Lite plan that costs $9 per month and allows you to sell on social media, add a buy button to your website, and process payments.
- Utilize free apps: Shopify has a large selection of free apps that you can use to add functionality to your store, such as email marketing, social media integration, and upselling.
- Design your store yourself: While it can be tempting to hire a designer to create your store, you can save money by designing it yourself using Shopify’s free themes.
- Use free shipping: Offer free shipping to your customers to incentivize them to buy from you. You can either absorb the cost of shipping into your product pricing or set a minimum order amount to qualify for free shipping.
- Optimize your product listings: Make sure your product listings are optimized for search engines so that potential customers can find your store easily. Use relevant keywords, descriptive titles and descriptions, and high-quality images.
Q4. How to Sell on Instagram with Shopify?
Selling on Instagram with Shopify can be a great way to increase your online sales and reach a wider audience. Here are the steps to sell on Instagram with Shopify:
- Set up a Shopify store: First, you’ll need to create a Shopify account and set up your online store. This will involve choosing a theme, adding your products, setting up your payment and shipping methods, and customizing your store’s design and layout.
- Connect your Instagram account: Once your Shopify store is set up, you’ll need to connect it to your Instagram account. To do this, go to your Shopify dashboard and click on the ‘Sales Channels’ tab. Then, click on the ‘Add sales channel’ button and select ‘Instagram’.
- Set up Instagram Shopping: In order to sell on Instagram, you’ll need to enable Instagram Shopping. To do this, go to your Instagram profile and click on the three lines in the top right corner. Then, click on ‘Settings’, ‘Business’, and ‘Shopping’. Follow the prompts to connect your Shopify store to your Instagram account.
- Tag your products: Once Instagram Shopping is enabled, you can start tagging your products in your Instagram posts and stories. To do this, simply upload a photo or video and select the ‘Tag Products’ option. Then, select the product you want to tag from your Shopify store.
- Drive traffic to your store: To maximize your sales on Instagram, you’ll need to drive traffic to your Shopify store. This can be done by using Instagram ads, partnering with influencers, and posting engaging content that encourages followers to click through to your store.
- Fulfill orders: When a customer places an order through Instagram, Shopify will automatically generate an order in your store. You can then fulfill the order like any other order in your Shopify store.
By following these steps, you can start selling on Instagram with Shopify and reach a wider audience of potential customers.
Final Words on How to Sell on Shopify
Selling on Shopify in 2023 is an excellent way to start or grow your online business. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a successful online store that reaches a global audience and generates revenue. Shopify’s powerful tools and features make it easy to manage your store and focus on growing your business. So why not get started today and take your business to the next level?
