Shopify is a complete E-commerce platform that lets you launch your e-commerce journey. Making the headlines recently, what exactly is Shopify, and how does it work?
Launched in 2016, Shopify is now used in over 175 countries. Shopify and other E-commerce platforms have been on the rise ever since the 2019 pandemic. The world is moving online, and so are customers. It’s not surprising if an entire business is based online and sells anything.
Having used Shopify for a few years, it has proved to be a great tool for us as beginners while running a business. The working of this platform is quite simple. You have a product, and Shopify helps you sell it to a customer thousands of miles away from you.
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Shopify (Quick Glance)
Here is a quick summary of what’s possible with Shopify and how well it can do it!
Please note: These ratings are based on our user experience based on our purpose and are not official ratings.
| Particulars | Rating |
|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 4.5/5 |
| Setting up your store | 4.5/5 |
| Marketing and Sales features | 4/5 |
| Payment Integration | 4.5/5 |
| Customer support | 4.5/5 |
| Customization | 3.8/5 |
| Analytics | 4.5/5 |
About Shopify
Launched in 2006, Shopify was founded when three friends, Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake, wanted to sell snowboards. They opened a store called ‘Snowdevil’ in 2004. To take it online, they were unsatisfied with the present E-commerce platforms then.
And that’s how Shopify was born. Currently headquartered in Canada with Tobias Lütke operating as the CEO. Shopify now has registered a revenue of $1.5 Billion in Q1 of 2023!
Bonus: We have explained everything about Shopify in our detailed review here.
How Does Shopify Work?
Shopify is a platform that lets users easily set up an online store for their business. It’s a cakewalk, even if you have just started and are running a business from your study room or a well-established brand that wants to take your business.
It is a completely online platform, meaning you can run your business from anywhere an internet connection can reach.
Shopify Uses
Apart from just selling your products, it lets you do everything around it. It can help you create your own brand identity without any external help and can also let you experiment with it.
You can:
- Launch your online store
- Manage your inventory
- Process payments at higher speeds
- Efficiently process orders
- Own a domain name
- Website Builder
- Manage business performance with Shopify analytics
- Improve search rankings
- Create a business name, create logos, and use stock images.
We suggest to refer our ultimate Shopify glossary to understand the key terms related to Shopify.
How to Set up a Shopify store?
Shopify takes all the necessary tools required to start a business online, bundles them together, and adds a user-friendly interface for users to glide through.
Complications like Inventory management, setting up payment, shipping, and search engine optimization are all made easy with Shopify. Experience it yourself by using Shopify free trial.
You can also buy an existing Shopify Store by following this guide.
Simple steps to start selling on Shopify:
#Step 1: Sign-up for Shopify, create a Shopify ID, and your Shopify store:
Create a Shopify ID by using your email, Google, Apple, or Facebook account.
#Step 2: Select where you want to select your products:
Users can select their mode of sale from a few options like an online store, social media, online marketplace, an existing blog, or in person. You can always change this later as per your need.
#Step 3: Set up your Shopify store:
Build your store from scratch and customize it with ready-to-use templates for you to choose from the Shopify theme store. These are some of the few top Shopify themes to choose from.
#Step 4: Set Business Structure, Shipping, and Payments:
You can select the type based on the scale of your business. Set shipping with the product details like weight, processing time, etc.
Set up your payment getaways with options like Amazon, Paypal, and Shopify payments to choose from.
Pro Tip: Read our detailed guide on how to start a Shopify store, where you’ll learn all about describing your product to setting up your shipping.
Why Choose Shopify?
Shopify reduces the time you spend curating your website online. With well-crafted templates, themes, and other integrations, starting a store on Shopify is a clear step-by-step process.
Some of the reasons to choose Shopify are:
- Supports the small business community:
More than just helping small businesses start from scratch, it gives a platform for them to leverage Shopify’s services to take their businesses to the next level.
It not only lets the user know more about the customer but also makes the customer know more about the seller with the many customization options available.
- Takes your products worldwide:
Shopify takes your product anywhere you want, letting you expand to any scale you want. Used in over 175 countries, its biggest market is the United States.
- Made for ease of use:
As a business owner, the last thing on your list of worries should be handling a complex website. Shopify eliminates unnecessary complications and lets you worry more about making your product better.
People who chose Shopify
Top brands today use Shopify to manage their e-commerce business. With millions of merchants throughout the world, some of the famous users are:
- Mr. Beast
- Kylie cosmetics
- GymShark
- Sennheiser
- FashionNova
BONUS: Learn How to Sell your Products on Shopify professionally and make it big.
Shopify Pricing
Shopify offers 3 major subscription plans starting from $39/mo if paid annually to $399/mo with the advanced plan.
Here’s a quick overview of the pricing plans and the features they offer:
| Features | Basic | Shopify | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff accounts | 2 | 5 | 15 |
| Reports | Basic | Standard | Advanced |
| E-commerce | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shipping Discount | Up to 77% | Up to 88% | Up to 88% |
| Currency conversion | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Product Pricing by Market | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Third-party transaction fees( if not a Shopify payments user) | 2% | 1% | 0.5% |
For an in-depth understanding of Shopify’s Pricing Plans, refer to our article here.
Shopify Pros And Cons
Here are some of the Pros and Cons of Shopify to better compare the potential and the limitations of Shopify
Shopify Pros
Below I have listed a few advantages of Shopify.
- Ease of use
Easy to set up and customizable online store, Shopify can help you set up your online business journey within hours.
- Templates
Shopify themes offer you a wide range of 142 themes to choose from as a template for your upcoming store.
- Dropshipping
It also gives an option of starting a dropshipping business, where you can run a business without the worries of inventory management, packaging, and shipping.
Also Read: Dropshipping On Shopify
- In-built Sales and Marketing features
Shopify gives AI assistance while writing descriptions for your product. Based on your product and the set tone, you can also get your search engine page written by AI.
Cons
The following are a few limitations of Shopify.
- Higher Transaction fees
If you don’t use Shopify payments, you will have to bear the transaction fees of 2%, 1%, and 0.5% per transaction for Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans, respectively.
- The pricing can be expensive.
For a small business owner, starting with $29/mo can be a tough task. With the limited basic plan features, business owners have to bridge the gap to $79/mo.
- Lacks blog customization
There aren’t many customization options available, and integrating third-party extensions is also quite difficult.
More Shopify Related Articles:
Conclusion: What is Shopify and How Does it Work
Thus, Shopify can be your next business partner who will lead your e-commerce ship without taking a stake in the ownership. It has transformed thousands of businesses by making them accessible to a broader segment of customers and also made the selling platform aesthetic.
Shopify has many competitors, but it covers a large market with over 700 million buyers and proves this service’s popularity.
It is a service born out of necessity and still serving the purpose that the founders formed this for. With its friendly and easy-to-follow interface, all you need is a killer product and a curious mind to take advantage of Shopify’s services to the maximum of your benefit!
Shopify is surely legit, and here’s how you can stay secure while using Shopify. Read our guide here.
Bonus: Check out our easy-to-follow checklist to launch your Shopify store.
FAQs
Shopify is a great tool, especially for beginners helping them commence their e-commerce journey. Anyone without a technical background but with a bit of computer knowledge and patience can start a store online.
The Shopify subscription plans start at $29/mo if paid annually, which gives you 25% savings if paid monthly otherwise.
You can sell anything under the legal umbrella with Shopify. Shopify steers away from associating with, Investment, credit or legal services, adult content, gambling, selling drugs, online pharmacies and fireworks
