Guide to Selling on Shopify

If you’ve ever wanted to sell online, there’s no better time than the present. The global ecommerce market is set to expand to $4.89 trillion in 2021 with no signs of slowing. Experts say the pandemic caused an intense acceleration of online shopping & propelled it forward by as much as five years.

Fortunately, there’s plenty of room in the ecommerce market to complete. You need a refined niche that stands out & a rock-solid selling platform to get started. Shopify consistently tops the ranks as the best ecommerce builders, & for good reason. It’s easy, intuitive, & they empower you to scale your business. Here’s how to get started.

1) Register for An Account

Head over to Shopify to create your account, enter the required details for your business, & start your free 14-day trial. Make sure you don’t sign up until you’re ready to dig in. Make the most of your free two weeks to see whether or not you want to keep it permanent or seek out another platform.

2) Choose Your Look & Feel

You don’t need to be a designer or have any coding skills to use Shopify. If you’re entirely new to using online stores or website builders, you may need a little time to feel comfortable enough to get up & running. But Shopify makes it intuitive & easy. Choose from over 1,200 Shopify themes. Not all are free, but you’ll have plenty of options to get started. You’ll also see inspiration of which templates to choose whether you sell jewelry or home & garden items.

3) Customize Your Shopify Shop

Take some time to customize your new Shopify shop. Name your store, play around with the colors, & look through the different ways you can customize your shop. There’s even a way to edit HTML, CSS directly, & Liquid code to really dig into the customizations you want. You’ll either need advanced coding skills or hire a Shopify expert to help customize your store exactly the way you want. 

Here’s a Shopify video explaining some of the ways you can customize your store.

4) Upload Your Products

Ready to start selling? Navigate through your Shopify dashboard to start uploading products. Remember to consider how you’re going to produce, fulfill, & ship your items. Shopify offers apps & tools to make the process easier. 

If you decide to DIY everything yourself, you’ll need to stay on top of the shopping season & make sure your inventory is up to date & ready to ship. Or you can use CustomCat’s drop shipping & white label services to create & send out your products. We even offer easy integration with Shopify to make selling simple.

5) Edit Products You Want to Sell

Tap on your products to add compelling descriptions, change photos, or add variants. The variant area is helpful if you want to sell different sizes, colors, or include other price points. You can also set your inventory so Shopify can keep track of how much product you have left. Remember to hit “Preview” of your products & then “Publish” to ensure everything looks just right.

6) Set Your Price

Price your products too low, & people may think it’s too good to be true. You’ll also end up putting in more hours to market & sell enough products to make a profit. Set your prices too high, & you’ll likely see sluggish sales. Get an idea of what prices your products go for by eyeing your competition or spending some time researching on Amazon. 

7) Create Content

One of the most cost-effective ways to market your Shopify store is through content marketing. Whether you’re creating blog posts or DIY videos showcasing your products, your content directly helps sell your products. It’s also wise to incorporate SEO strategies into your writing. Over time, your efforts will pay off, & you’ll naturally attract more organic traffic.

Learn more about ecommerce writing for SEO writing here. 

8) Add Your Apps

Shopify has thousands of apps that help power your ecommerce business. Customer service apps, cross-selling, up selling, analytics, social media, & sale countdown timers are just some of the Shopify apps you can use. Here are some of the best apps to use on Shopify.

9) Spread the Word

It’s time to start aggressively marketing your Shopify store & spread the word. Beyond content marketing, posting on social media or trying your hand at online ads is a good place to start. Remember, it takes time to build up consistent sales & a following. Be patient & focused on seeing results.

10) Sell, Test, Analyze, & Repeat

Testing & analyzing your efforts is also integral to selling on Shopify. Shopify offers its analytic tools, as well as Google Analytics. We also provide analytical tools & insights if you’re integrating with CustomCat’s drop shipping & white label sales solutions. You may need to adjust your efforts once you see what’s working and what’s not. 

Ready to get started? Tell us what you’re struggling with in launching your ecommerce store by leaving a comment below.