In the previews chapter, we talked about Shopify, one of the most popular and widely used eCommerce website builders around, it is a platform for creating template based eCommerce websites by using its simple drag and drop functionality.
In this chapter, you will learn how to use Shopify to set up your first online store in a matter of minutes, it is a simple setup process that will only require you to enter your email address and your business information.
Why Shopify?
We chose Shopify because it is one of the most streamlined user experiences offered by any of the various eCommerce platforms on the market. It offers you the opportunity to try basically all of its features for free by signing up for a 14-day trial period.
You won’t need to provide any credit card information for signing up for this trial period, so you can easily create your online store in detail and try out all of its powerful and practical eCommerce features before deciding upon buying a plan.
Shopify will let you create a storefront, a website for your online store for which you’ll have complete control over its look, feel, domain name and layout. The best part is that you won’t need to have coding or design skills, because Shopify will give you access to over 100 templates to work with.
From there, you’ll be able to showcase your products through an online catalog that you can organize by category to make navigating on your site easy for your customers. You can sell any kind of product because there is no limit to the number of product types that you can offer on a store built with Shopify.
Shopify will let you manage your orders on the fly, notify you when a new order is placed, integrate shipping rates for your orders, and provide tracking information to your customers once an order has been dispatched.
It will also give you access to a dashboard where you’ll be able to see analytic data about your store. You can integrate apps from the Shopify marketplace into your online store to automate your accounting, send promotional emails and expand to new marketplaces.
Its excellent features include a website builder and full featured blog, unlimited bandwidth and products, optimization for search engines, several payment gateways to offer to your customers, global tax and currency support, and management of gift cards and coupon sales.
Pricing for Shopify plans is $29 for the basic plan, $79 for the pro plan, and $179 for the unlimited plan, all billed monthly, and each one granting you access to a defined set of features.
For the purposes of this training, you’ll learn how to access all of these great features and try them out by signing up for the 14 Day free trial period.
To get started creating your Shopify online store, go to the page header and click on “get started”. On the following page, you’ll be asked to enter your email address, your login password and your store name.
After you enter this information, press on “create your store”, wait for Shopify to save your information and load your store. Once your page is loaded, you’ll be taken to a section where you have to add an address to set up currencies and tax rates.
You’ll have to enter your first and last names, physical address including your country, city, state, zip code, and phone number. Click on “next”, and you’ll be asked by Shopify to tell them a little about yourself.
In “are you already selling”, click to choose which option best describes your actual business practice. Then, on “how much revenue does your business currently make in a year?”, click to choose which option best describes your current revenue.
In “are you setting up a store for a client?”, you have to specify if you are creating a store for a client. If that’s the case, click on “yes, I’m designing or developing a store for a client”. Review your information and click on “enter my store”.
Now you’ll be inside your store. From here, you’ll be able to manage your eCommerce site. By Scrolling down, you can see the options available to start creating your online store. The first elements recommended by Shopify to create your eCommerce site are as follows:
The first element is “add a product”. Click to enter this section where you’ll be adding your products and all their details including titles, descriptions, product images, pricing, inventory and shipping information.
Next, comes “select a theme”. You’ll select a theme for your online store. You can go to the “theme store” to select a theme from a gallery with over 100 themes to choose from. Then you have the option to choose a domain name by going to “add a domain”.
You can add a domain name that you have already purchased, or you can register a domain with Shopify. The other options available to get started are the use of other selling channels, a bookmark shortcut for easy access and some documentation.
On the menu to your left, you can check the rest of the features that you can start trying to get used to the tools that can be used to make your eCommerce site grow.
These features include management of order, products, customers, reports, discounts, your online store, access the apps marketplace and configuring the settings. Now you are ready to really get your eCommerce business going!
