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The e-commerce industry has continued to skyrocket ever since more individuals embraced online shopping as a norm. E-commerce is here to stay, and if you’re reading this article you’ve probably thought of setting up your own online store as well. However, launching an e-commerce business isn’t an easy task and requires commitment to make it work.
Shopify is primarily a subscription e-commerce platform that allows you to set up an online store to sell your products. Shopify offers a free 14-day trial to familiarize you with the settings, themes, and layout of the store.
To shed light on the tasks ahead of you, I’ve compiled detailed steps for launching an e-commerce website in under 30 minutes on Shopify.
To start, go to shopify.com and enter your email address to start your free trial.
The page will direct you to the next step, where you’ll be asked to fill in your password and store name. This step is aimed to set the blueprint of your store by using some of your personal information. Remember to pick a store name that is unique and would stand out from the rest!
After this stage, you'll have to wait for a few seconds as Shopify tries to connect your store. You’ll then be required to tell a little more about yourself. This includes if you are already selling, your current revenue, the type of industry you are operating in, and if you are setting up the store for a client.
Click "Next" to fill in your name, address, city, and contact information. Once you are done, click “Enter my store” to access the main settings on Shopify.
This is the main step to access your admin store screen. After you’ve filled in your details, you are free to start customizing your store, upload products, set up payments, and shipping methods.
Your admin panel tells you everything you need to know to get your e-commerce business running successfully.
You don’t have to worry about which theme or layout to use for your store. The Shopify Themes Store has a variety of themes to make your online business look elegant and appealing to your customers. These themes are designed by expert designers, so your store is in safe hands!
If coding is a major hurdle for you, Shopify themes come in handy with a classy list of modifications that you can make without thinking of HTML, JavaScript, or Python. This sounds awesome, right? You can either choose to use a free or premium theme, depending on your main intent of the business.
You can follow these steps to find the best theme that meets your needs and requirements:
One advantage about Shopify is that you can edit the theme and set in your store to your preferred taste. You will not end up with a similar store that other e-tailers have subscribed to.
At the bottom left portion of your admin page, click on “Online Store” to access the theme settings.
Shopify has provided you with a debut theme. To edit your theme, you can select “Customize” in the top right corner of the theme box. The customize button, if clicked, will land you on a page that manages all the basic operations of your store. Among the features you’ll find include:
If you want to make any adjustments to your store, the page has all the features that you can think of to make your store attractive, stunning, and run successfully!
On your admin page, on the left navigational bar, select "Products", and a page with two buttons, "Add products" and "Find products" will appear.
Select the "Add products" button to add as many products and their details. If you want to get traffic, clicks, and visitors to your store, implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies such as optimizing your product meta descriptions and URLs to appear at the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
When adding products to your store, remember to give as much details about your products so that potential customers are well informed! Ensure that you upload high quality images as well and once you have uploaded these images, you can then rearrange them in any particular order of your choice.
Once you’ve filled in all the details, remember to click the “Save product” button located at the top and bottom right corners of the page.
This is the second last step for your business success. After you have filled everything and added your products, you can't go live without adding a few more important details about your business, such as the methods you'll use to make deliveries!
On the admin page, navigate to “Settings” and ensure you have filled all your business information such as the shipping information, taxes, billing, locations, among others, as shown below:
Click on each segment to set your business plan to suit your customers. If it is a shipping method, click on “Shipping” and fill in the necessary details for your product. Do the same for "Taxes", "Billing", and more!
For your site to go live, you have to choose a domain name. You'll be required to either buy a domain from Shopify and get it added automatically to your store or buy it from a third party, i.e., sites that are responsible for website hosting such as GoDaddy or Bluehost.
A domain from Shopify costs USD9 - USD14 per year, whereas a domain from GoDaddy starts from USD10 a year.
Shopify offers a great platform to start your own e-commerce business, with many tools and features provided at your disposal. If you would like a more in-depth and detailed guide to both the basics and advanced features of Shopify, enrol for our E-Fashion Business course today!
Setting up your online store is one step towards creating a fashion business, but there are still many other components that adds up to a successful business. With our Diploma in Fashion Business, you will also have a comprehensive coverage of merchandising and marketing concepts to kick-start your own fashion business.
If you still have questions, do WhatsApp us at +65 6011 8066 and ask for our programme advisors to find out more!
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