Last updated - February 7, 2022
Shopify is among the best most accessible eCommerce platforms in the world because it offers the simplest and the most comprehensive ways of online selling. Shopify Development is good news to beginners who are trying to begin selling their products online. In this article, I will give you a step-by-step guide to the beginners such that at the end of the article, you can set up your Shopify website, with products and everything required. I hope it will help you get started with Shopify without hassles.
1. Sign up to create a Shopify account
First of all, visit Shopify.com; fill in the sign-up forms provided to create an account. Enter your correct details that are needed and finally press the ‘Create your store now’ button. Consequently, you put in a business email to create a unique password. It should be noted that it is in this step that you are supposed to create the name of your store.
After that, you will be requested to give in more details on the forms which include your name, address, country and the number for contacts. You are also supposed to fill in the type of products that your store will be selling.
2. Set up your online store
Once you are through with signing up for a Shopify account, you will be directed to your store admin screen to set up your shop. Being an eCommerce business, you are now ready to begin customizing your store by uploading the products that you will be selling and setting up both the shipping and payments methods you will be using for your platform.
3. Choose your Shopify theme for the storefront
There is no ready business in case they do not have their branded storefront. Shopify makes your branding and the face of your site’s design easy due to their already customized templates. It has its official theme store so all the themes come with certain customization since you can only make without touching its line of code. The good thing about it is that the Shopify templates have the full support design team, articles and other documentation that will ensure a smooth experience.
However, the premium themes have more modifications though you can achieve a great site with free themes that they offer. To make wholesale changes to a theme, there a few disadvantages on what I to be achieved by HTML and CCS assessments. Do not worry if you have no coding knowledge, Shopify has experts that you can hire to offer you the related services.
Finding a theme that better suits your business brand
To know the correct theme for your business ensure to follow these guidelines:
- By just visiting the Shopify theme store, you will get over 180 themes to select your theme suitable for your business. They are free themes, but you can filter by price. Otherwise, you can look for various Shopify themes for sale, though you will be required to upload them separately.
- Once you choose the right theme for your business, click on the sample image to see more information concerning the theme. It is advisable to check on the customer reviews to know how people think about it.
- Then test the theme by clicking ‘view demo’. It will help to see how the chosen theme functions and navigates.
- Now with the right theme that you have chosen, click the green button. Shopify will ask you to confirm the installation of the theme by publishing it as your shop’s theme. After the installation of the theme, Shopify will show up amongst the published themes.
- Finally, you will need to drop your websites customized logos product photography, videos fonts and other personalized information.
Find some of the best free Shopify themes.
4. Add your products
At this point, your site is as you want it, now add your product. Through navigation to the left click on the product, you will find a button on the right corner of the page. Ensure to write well detailed, descriptive and helpful information concerning every product. It is this place that will help you sell your online product by uploading pictures of your products.
Make sure you upload clear photographs that is professional and of high quality. It is essential to remain consistent with product image’s styling and size. Being simple is the best way alongside a few styled images and lifestyle.
5. Set up payments
The payment gateway allows your clients to make purchases on the storefront of your Shopify site. Both the price and commission rate is significant, but it is good to see the other features they offer. Have a clear look at the methods of payment as each of them has set rules, regulations and charges. A few things you should have in mind when figuring out the best Shopify storefront:
- Transactions fees
- Card types
- Offsite checkout
6. Go ‘live.’
Before making your Shopify storefront live and ready for the clients, there is a need to remember to fill out the last crucial things.
- Taxes
- Click at the product page of your admin panel
- Select and click on the name given to your product
- Scroll down to the inventory and variant section to open a dialogue box
- Ensure the checkboxes located next to the charges taxes and then require shipping and see if you need to include them into your products
- In case you are planning to ship the products to your clients, ensure to enter the correct weight of the product in the appropriate field.
7. Shipping
It is essential to have convenient shopping options that vary depending on the needs of a customer. I this age of dynamic gratifications, when your competitors are like Amazon Prime, it is essential to remain reasonable with your shipping ways. Shopify will only calculate the shipping rates for your customers based on the rules that are defined in the admin page.
Conclusion
Shopify has massive potential as an eCommerce platform, as it is easy to use and offers the best customer experience. Basing from the discussion about Shopify, there is no doubt that it has everything required to run an online store successfully. As described, its set up is simple, pretty and works for a few hours. However, once you come to the development of the stores and customization of the theme, it can take more than a day, let say a few days. There is nothing to worry about since there are several Shopify experts, developers and designers that can walk you through the journey. Hopefully, this article has helped you get started with Shopify.
