In 2020, ecommerce took off. Retail stores closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and people were reluctant to shop in person.
Ecommerce was so big, Shopify announced its economic impact. Shopify sellers created 3.6 million jobs and contributed $307 billion to the global economy.
That’s pretty impressive for one ecommerce platform. If you’re thinking about selling on Shopify, there are a lot of things that you need to know before setting up your shop.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about setting up a Shopify store.
1. Validate Your Store Idea
Are you sure you have a good idea for a Shopify business? Do your research online to investigate if your idea is viable or not.
Check sites like Google Trends, which map out customer demand over the past several years based on searches.
You can assume that if people search for your product, they’re interested in purchasing it.
Pay attention to seasonal trends with this process. This way, you’re aware of financial up and downtimes and can plan for them.
2. Create a Business Plan
A business plan is necessary for your Shopify business. This helps you take your validation work and go deeper into creating the business.
The Shopify business plan should have information about your target market, the products you sell, and the financial aspects of the business.
Take into account all of your expenses the lead up to the sale. That helps you price your product so you have a profitable business.
3. Create a Financial Roadmap
Ecommerce financials aren’t easy to understand. You need to manage cash flow, your personal bills, taxes, and business expenses.
Many new businesses close because they didn’t know how to manage cash flow effectively. Taxes for new businesses are complicated.
They’re even more so for ecommerce stores because you have to manage sales taxes. That area of tax law changes quickly because state legislators pass new laws for internet companies.
Work with a company that knows about bookkeeping for Shopify. They can take the stress off of you and help you manage the financial aspects of your business.
4. Build Your Shopify Store
Are you ready to sign up for a Shopify account? Head over to the Shopify site and sign up for an account.
You have a few choices to start your Shopify business. Most businesses new to online selling choose the Basic plan. This is a good start and then you can upgrade as your business grows.
Pick your template and customize it according to your brand’s visual look. Add your products and start creating content for your site.
There are third-party providers that offer Shopify apps. These apps help you convert your visitors into customers, get reviews, and keep an eye on your inventory.
You don’t need to have every app out there, but you should invest in a couple of apps that help you maximize Shopify’s potential.
5. Test Your Systems
There are a lot of steps a product goes through from the point of sale to the product delivery. You receive the order, pull the product from the shelf, and mail it to the customer.
That’s a fine way to do things if you only get a few orders a day. What happens if you have hundreds of orders a day? How will you manage your inventory? How will you process orders?
Many successful ecommerce businesses use dropshipping or a fulfillment warehouse to process orders.
No matter how you do things, you have to test your systems before you launch your Shopify store. Testing things now prevents bad customer experiences, which prevents poor reviews, which keeps people from visiting your store.
Run several test orders through their paces. Make sure that you or the fulfillment warehouse receives the order. Track the amount of time it takes for the order to ship.
Track your shipping vendor as well. You want to make sure your shipments are received by the customer in a timely fashion and the box is in good shape.
Customers that receive a beat-up box are more likely to complain and ask for a refund.
To get a full picture of your systems, test several shipments to different areas of the country.
6. Drive Traffic to Your Website
How will people know about your Shopify business? That is the key to successful selling on Shopify.
You have to reach the right people with the right message over and over again. You did part of this work in your business plan.
You solidified your message and your target audience in your business plan. The next step is to figure out the best channels to reach them.
Don’t depend on only one marketing channel. One of them could go down at any time, like Facebook and Instagram. Another makes a change to its algorithm, which impacts your overall visibility.
Pick 2-3 marketing channels where your target market hangs out online. That could be search engines, Instagram, and TikTok.
Create a plan to develop valuable branded content for your audience every day.
You don’t control social media and search engines. Build marketing assets that you do control, like an email list. This allows you to reach your prospects and customers at any time.
Selling on Shopify Made Easy
It takes a lot of faith to start a business from scratch. It takes a lot of planning and effort to get it off the ground. Selling on Shopify isn’t hard once you know what to expect.
You just learned some of the pitfalls to watch out for and simple steps to build a Shopify business. You’ll have a solid foundation to build your business and have plans in place to make it grow.
For more business and financial tips, be sure to check out the other articles on this site.
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