Shopify may be a household name if you’re a small business owner, so you may be wondering what it is and if you need it. Let me answer the first question. If you were to Google the question, “What is Shopify?” you would see many sites that explained it in a way similar to this!
Basically, you choose between one of the many Shopify pricing packages on the site. It’s an SaaS product, so you only pay for when you use when you use it. The Shopify basic plan starts at $29 a month, so you’re getting a great deal.
You’ll love Shopify if you sell anything online. It will let you set up an online storefront. You can use many tools to start marketing your brands and outselling the competition in no time! Its app lets you sell your brands to anyone around the world. The good news is that you can integrate elements of Shopify into your storefront if you own a physical shop!
Shopify always syncs your inventory with the types of brands your customers want to buy. That way, you’ll never worry about running out of inventory prematurely.
Table of Contents
Shopify Benefits
Now, it’s time for the good stuff! Here are the nine reasons why I think you should use Shopify if you sell anything online!
The Platform is Intuitive
That means a four-year-old who can’t even read can easily use it. Do you want to add or drop products from your store? All you do is use the drag and drop feature. It’s also easy to process orders. Just follow a few simple steps.
You don’t need to rely on something like GoDaddy for hosting. Also, you don’t need to worry about buying extra software like WooCommerce to build your online store. Shopify will take care of all of that and more for you
It’s ideal for any business
Any business that sells physical products can use it. Just make sure that the products are legal! Some of the products that you can sell on Shopify are: handmade products, beauty supplies, home goods, sports and camping gear, clothes, digital goods, online courses, events, gift cards, and e-Books. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of the goods that you can sell on Shopify
On an interesting note, you can sell CBD items as long as they don’t contain THC!
You’ll have Money to spend on your business
You need to spend money if you want to make it. You knew that. Shopify is perfect for you because it’s affordable. You can buy the Lite bare bones plan for a mere $5 a month. Keep in mind that it doesn’t offer many of the features that are standard for the basic plan, but you do get what you pay for!
There is one plan that’s a bit steep in price. Its the Shopify Plus Plan. Shopify plus pricing is upwards of $2,000 a month. The more elaborate Shopify plan is $79 a month, and the Advanced plan is at least $299 a month.
Other companies offer online storefronts. For example, you can use Thinkific if you sell online courses. The issue is that their plans tend to be more expensive than Thinkific’s are
The Themes are a work of art
The good news is that most of the themes are free. They’re truly beautiful and will load well on any mobile device. The themes will look slick and professional on any device – traditional digital or mobile!
You can get amazing themes. These are not free though. The paid themes offer you scads more options and will give you many more options if you have a more advanced and sophisticated store.
It’s Compatible with Drop Shipping
In fact, it’s highly recommended you use a Shopify plan with drop shipping since it (the plans) were made for that. Shopify plans work with Spock and Oberlo, among others. It makes selling easier for you since you won’t have to spend money storing inventory. You also won’t have to deal with the constant headaches of maintaining inventory,
You’ll Get Ample Support
Support won’t be a problem if you’re ever stumped when using Shopify. The plans give you many options. You can always email queries and issues to Shopify reps. Of course, you can always call or chat with reps if you need help.
It offers Point of Service support across many channels
You’ll love that if you happen to have a physical store and an online store where you sell products! Shopify will make selling across these channels quick and easy. The same applies for collecting payments through these channels and switching between them in an instant.
The Marketplace is extensive and innovative
You can add more than 3,500 extensions with Shopify. That’s a godsend since Shopify plans tend to be more barebones in features. So, you’ll need to add extra functionalities if you want an E-commerce store that will actually generate lots of traffic and conversions immediately.
You can add options for email marketing, shipping options and preferences, and payment gateways. Those are just a few of the many options that are available to you. Some of the extensions are free and they will make your site look and function better.
Customer sensitive information stays confidential
If you think of the well-worn phrase, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, ” you’ll understand Shopify’s many security layers. Shopify’s stores also remain functional at all times, especially during peak times. You’ll never have to worry about your customers’ social security or credit card numbers accidentally leaking out to hackers!
Some things to know about Shopify plans
Shopify Pricing Plans
You have five choices if you’re shopping for a Shopify plan. As mentioned earlier, you can buy the starter plan for a mere $5 a month. It’s ideal if you have a small storefront and want to have something basic but offers better features as an online store.
The basic plan costs $29 a month. As mentioned earlier, it comes with the features that are standard to any online storefront. The more sophisticated Shopify plan costs $79 a month and has slightly more features and functionalities. The Shopify advanced plan costs $299 a month, and the Shopify Plus Plan costs over $2,000 a month.
Who Should Use Shopify?
Ah yes, that is the million dollar question, “Who is Shopify good for?”
You’ll be happy to learn that businesses of all sizes – small, medium, and large – can use Shopify. You should use Shopify if you’re just starting your business. All Shopify plans offer a 14-day free trial. Use it during that time period and abandon it if you find it isn’t the plan for your business. Shopify won’t ask for your credit card information to access the free trial.
You’re probably finding that you have to bootstrap many business functions and operations since money is hard to come by. That’s where Shopify is a blessing since most plans are very affordable and each plan comes with more features and options than similar plans from competitors.
You’ll save money in the short and long-run by using Shopify since you won’t have to pay expensive consultants to learn how to use Shopify. Just read the manual and play around with the system a bit and you’re good to go!
It will be easy to create a website that looks as professional as Walmart’s, Amazon’s, and the other retail E-commerce giants. Don’t worry, you won’t be spending the big bucks they do for a professional looking website that drives traffic quickly and easily and converts in the blink of an eye! Shopify’s many free and low-priced themes ensure that!
If you’ve ever studied Walmart, you’d have noticed that the retail behemoth sells items in its physical stores and through its storefronts. You can use Shopify to support a business model that will outsell your competitors by having a small physical store and a much larger online store. The idea is smart. You’ll also sell more since you’ll be targeting more customers at more points of sale!
It’s great if you sell through various channels. The reason lies in its many inventory management tools.
Shopify Pricing Explained
Now, it’s time to review the key features of each plan in more detail. Let’s start with the Basic Plan
On an interesting note, the only people who can access the Starter Plan are those who have just started a startup or are still in the 14-day trial period. As I mentioned earlier, the Starter Plan only offers the bare bones features, so you should sign up for another plan if you’re looking for more features and functionality!
You’ll get the following features: Basic reports, 2 staff accounts, maximum of 4 inventory locations, shipping discounts of up to 77%, an online store, competitive transaction fees, blogs, staff support, SSL certificates, and international business
Basic reports
These basic reports are pretty extensive. You’ll have access to an analytics page which will tell you how your website is faring in traffic and clicks. The finances report will tell you about the basic financial health of your business. You’ll understand which products are selling better than others and which need to be modified or promoted better with the product analytics report.
The Live view report allows you to see visitor and consumer behavior/activity in your online store throughout the day and night. Live view report gives you a 2D and a 3D overview of your store. That makes it easier for you to understand what’s really happening in your store when you’re not around.
The Live view report also gives you crucial analytics which will help you understand who’s buying which brands. You can use that information to craft better and more effective marketing strategies and campaigns in the future!
Acquisition reports
You’ll understand the times and places that visitors come to your site from. You’ll be able to see if your web traffic is really increasing because of organic SEO. Acquisition reports also tell you where visitors are coming from and if anyone is referring them to your site!
Inventory reports
These inform you of the amount and percentage of inventory you have sold each month. The reports give you real insights into the amount and percentage of inventory your visitors are buying from you daily.
Behavior reports
These let you understand how your visitors are behaving when they come to your store. For example, you’ll know if most visitors are actually buying from you or if they’re leaving lots of abandoned carts. You’ll understand how to improve your brands so that they will be more appealing to buyers.
You’ll also understand how to sell more by upselling to those who are most receptive to it, sell more through promotions and bundles, and how to sell more by making sure that most customers buy more when they visit your site! Shopify’s Online store cart analysis will also help you in these areas.
Marketing reports
You’ll understand which of your customers and how many are converting when they visit your site. You’ll also understand what brings visitors to your site and what gets them to buy from you! The reports show you which marketing channels are the most effective in generating conversions and which of your customers are buying the most, along with how many are buying.
Online Store
You can sell whatever you want through Shopify’s online store as long as it’s legal, ethical, and moral! Shopify’s online store’s many tools will help you out tremendously, especially if you know nothing about web design!
Shopify offers free templates. You’re free to customize them however you want. Themes are grouped into the following categories: artists, small business, fashion, drop shipping, health and beauty, food and grocery, sports and fitness.
Let’s start by describing some of the templates in each category in more detail.
Artists
KETNIPZ is a great theme if you’re an artist and you want to sell your work. You can use its Instagram inspired comic themes to add extra personality to your website and products. Visitors will love Bean who happens to be the primary character. It’s quirky and so are the characters.
The qurkiness of this theme is evident in its vivid colors, one-of-a-kind fonts, and seasonal updates. It’s perfect for you if the bulk of your sales are during the holidays.
Fred Jourdain
You want this theme if you want to sell lots of artwork fast. You’ll find that the banner on the homepage will display and rotate Jourdain’s most brilliant and recent works of art. The site is everything Jourdain, from the interviews to the publications. The good news is that you can customize the elements on the site however you want.
Pura Vida Bracelets
This may be the ideal theme for you if you happen to sell any kind of jewelry. It shows items that have gotten five-star reviews from happy customers. Esteemed publications like the Huffington Post and Buzz Feed also have good things to say about the theme.
Pura Vida Bracelets was designed for those who sell accessories. You are free to customize the theme any way you want! I highly recommend you use a professional photographer when taking pictures of your jewelry because high-quality photos tend to sell more of these items faster!
The calls to action may be subtle, but they’re sprinkled throughout strategic points on the theme. Pura Vida Bracelets is ideal if you want to have an impactful landing page on your site. If you keep the free shipping option on your site, you’ll find that you’ll be selling more items much faster and at higher prices!
The theme offers online chat support. You’ll notice it by its bubble shape in the bottom right corner.
MVMT
You’ll get the best of both worlds with this theme. MVMT was designed for jewelers. It will display your pieces as the glamorous works of art that they are. The colors are wild, bold, and sophisticated. They really get the imagination rolling. You’ll find that that feature alone will result in many more people coming to your site to buy your brands.
The theme’s style is on par with those of the world’s best jewelry designers. The trending now section will show your best and latest pieces off with style. People will definitely notice your brands and they’ll flock to your site to buy what you sell! There’s a section that allows you to briefly describe any collaborations with the world’s top jewelry brands.
You can customize this theme however you see fit!
Allbirds
Be on the lookout for this theme if you sell fashion-related items. It supports sustainable fashion, so it’s for you if you’re environmentally conscious. Certain phrases are sure to catch your visitors’ eye and encourage them to make purchases. These include “Made with natural materials.” What makes the theme even more credible is its B corporation certificate.
Yes, the site is certified and completely customizable.
Hardgraft
You want this site if you happen to sell any type of luxury products. Its design is simple, plain, yet its rugged and pleasing background puts the viewer in the mood to buy something high-end. You can customize the theme to your heart’s content and you can place as many slick photos of your products as you want.
What you’ll love about this theme is its slick images that are designed to impress. These images highlight your products’ key features and their benefits. The text explains why visitors should buy your brands in a few strategic and powerful words.
Subtle Asian Treats
Laura Chang designed this theme and she included a hand typed note on it. Subtle Asian Treats is linked to Instagram, so you’ll see content from actual customers. The theme is different because it asks you if you want to submit your cell number in exchange for text-based exclusive deals and discounts.
You can customize the theme the way you want, but you’ll find that it sells handmade kawaii merchandise. The original theme also sells AirPod and iPhone cases. You’ll find that the theme’s warm and customized nature will result in more immediate web traffic and conversions by getting visitors to trust you easily.
Modern Urban Jungle
You need this theme if you sell any type of trees, plants, flowers, or anything having to do with plants! It may be customizable, but its design ingenious. Its also crisp and draws the visitor right in, with its emphasis on a white background. The colors are bold and uplifting, and the pictures are sharp, professional and always have high resolution.
Satya Organic
The organic nature of this theme is enough to engage visitors and encourage stickiness. While you can customize the site, what you’ll find is that it has warm and earthy colors – dark yellow and brown. This, when combined with its symbols, text, and imagery, will convince visitors that your plant-based beauty products are for them!
Visitors will be encouraged to make future purchases once they learn about the founder’s commitment to keep dangerous plastics out of the ocean!
Beardbrand
it’s sophisticated and more traditional in its approach and look. The bold black, grey, and white colors signify that. You can customize the site, but you may want to keep its quizzes and blog posts since those will encourage visitors to stay on and buy your brands.
Partake Foods
This theme sells food for the health conscious and eco-friendly shopper. The products are completely vegan and they don’t have gluten or ingredients that many people are allergic to. You can customize the theme the way you want, but you may want to keep the title: Super Delicious Cookies that are also gluten free, vegan, and safe for those with food allergies.
Visitors will come to your site to shop since they’ll be more likely to trust you because of your commitment to providing them with safe and eco-friendly foods!
Tiny Organics
You’ll love this site if you’re selling baby food. Many parents are growing wary of conventional brands like Gerber’s and Beech Nut since those use preservatives. Parents are also not always certain of the ways in which the foods are grown or processed. So, they’re seeking out alternatives. Some parents have turned to making their own baby food.
The issue is that many parents work and just don’t have the time to make homemade baby food. So, they’re turning to alternatives. Tiny Organics has many quality, high-resolution pictures of baby food products and their ingredients. You can customize these photos as you like to market your own brands.
The theme also comes with testimonials from previous customers. Many famous and reputed doctors and dieticians also provide their endorsements. It’s that kind of authority that will reassure your visitors that your foods are safe and nutritious.
Almond Surfboards
This theme is meant for those who sell beach apparel and items. You’ll love its calming and relaxing colors and the peaceful mood that its design will put visitors in. You’ll see that the picture of a man holding up a surf board by the beach is ingenious and innovative since it gets the visitor in the beach mode.
Of course, you are always free to customize the site.
Pure Cycles
The theme revolves around the concept of a plain and simple design to drive traffic and conversions. It may be customizable, but it was designed for those who sell bikes.
Shopify Basic Plan – Transaction fees
The basic plan charges you lower transaction fees than most other similar plans. Expect to be charged 2.9% plus 30 American cents for every credit card transaction online. That fee is 2.7% if the person pays by credit card in your physical store.
Shopify Basic Plan
You generally don’t sell brands without a following and you generally use a blog page to build a following. However, it’s not that easy to write quality blogs that will generate a strong following, much less convert. You’ll need some help if you’re not already a professional writer.
Shopify’s plans offer that help in the form of a blogging engine. Now, you don’t have to spend hours scouring Google and other platforms for topics and enough quality information on them. Let the blogging engine do that for you!
It’s easy to add a blog page to your website. Go to your Admin dashboard and select settings. Then select apps and sales channels. Next, select the Online Store option. Select the Open Sales Channel option and select the Create Blog Posts button. Select the create blog post button. Then include a title, an engaging and informative intro, and quality content when you write the blog post.
Shopify Basic Plan Staff Accounts
You get two staff accounts with the basic plan. You can add staff to the accounts. The staff members will help you add or delete products and/or manage orders. Of course, the staff can do much more than that.
The staff accounts allow you to add extra people ( called collaborators) to the accounts. You call the shots in the dashboard areas that they can access and modify. You use permissions to give or restrict access to certain sections of the dashboard. You can also assign different levels of access to different staff members, based on the abilities and knowledge.
SSL Certificates
When a site has an SSL Certificate, it means it has passed all protocols and criteria needed to make a site safe. That means that the connection between the visitor and the browser is secure. So, customers never have to worry about the site being hacked into and their sensitive information being stolen!
International Commerce
Use Shopify Markets to sell in different markets worldwide. You can set up, launch, and manage your online stores from your dashboard if you use Shopify Markets. You’ll access a variety of selling tools and you’ll have access to extra features and functionalities that will make selling globally much easier.
Shopify Markets goes much further though. It lets you create the best customer experience possible by customizing the buying experience that each customer will undergo while on your site.
You can create an online store for each nation, or you can group nations together based on common characteristics and traits. Shopify Markets will also let you sell and get paid in different currencies.
Shopify Starter Plan
You want this plan if you just set up a shop on a social media platform or an E-commerce site like eBay or Etsy. It’s also great if you sell on apps like Instagram messenger, Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, etc.
The good thing about the Starter plan is that you can sell without having an online store. You can sell by creating product links which you can share on various social media platforms, E-commerce sites, or Messenger apps.
You can start using the plan when you subscribe to a paid plan or change your store’s password. Shopify has a link-in bio tool that consolidates all of your product listings. Just remember that you can’t set up an online store or a point of service with the Starter plan. Those features are only available on the Shopify Basic plan or higher.
The only real difference between the Starter Plans and other plans is the static Start theme.
Lite Plan
You can only use this plan if you’ve already been selling brands, and for a while. It’s like the Starter plan because you don’t need to set up an online store to sell products. There is one catch. if you sign up for the Lite Plan and you decide to upgrade, for whatever reason, you’re stuck with the plan you upgraded to.
The Buy Button
You can sell through social media platforms, messengers, or your own blog page. Just embed the Lite Plan’s buy button. Just know that you should use it only if you absolutely need to since the button can interfere with the checkout process. I highly recommend you use permalinks.
Basic Plan
You can confidently run your business, even if you’re a newbie because the Basic plan will give you all of the tools and resources necessary to do so. You can also create your own online store the way you want. The admin dashboard makes it easy to manage inventory and your online store.
The admin dashboard is invaluable since it provides a wealth of information regarding daily tasks, and what you can do to make your business successful. You can navigate throughout the dashboard with the sidebar.
The different elements in the dashboard are: orders, products, customers, analytics (this section also has reports), marketing and promotions, discounts, and settings.
Orders – The orders section will fill up when customers start to place orders on your site. You can input the orders in manually. The orders section is also useful for sending invoices to your customers when it’s time to pay. You can also enter orders that were made on your other stores. In that sense, the orders section offers you an excellent way to manage your inventory, orders, and accounts receivables.
Basic Plan online store
You’ll have a lot of options with the online store. For example, you can create an entire website that’s full of pages to help market and sell your brands better. That will help you out tremendously if you’re in a competitive market!
Competitive Transaction Fees
The Basic Plan’s transaction fees are more than reasonable. You’ll find that these fees will let you sell more and to a wider audience.
Blog
The Basic Plan also has the Blogging Engine. You can create insightful blog posts and articles that will generate a large following who will be ready to convert at a moment’s notice in just a few months. That’s exactly what you want if you own a small or medium-sized business.
Staff Accounts
You will get two accounts with the Basic Plan. You can let certain staff members access the dashboard and grant them permissions to manage products or manage your entire store. The collaborations feature allows you to give partners limited access to the dashboard. That way, you’ll have more people running your store. You can get things done faster and more efficiently.
You can use the Permissions to give certain key staff members more access to the dashboard than others.
The Basic Plan has the same features as the Starter and the Light Plans. It (Basic Plan) also comes with an SSL certificate. That guarantees that your site will be safe from hackers or malware, trojan horses, and viruses.
Shopify Plan – Who Should Use It?
You’re best off using the Shopify Plan if you own a rapidly expanding business. It’s ideal if you have outlets in many different locations. So, companies like Dillards and the Olive Garden should use this plan.
The Shopify plan allows you to have up to five inventory locations. It comes with the same features as the Lite, Starter, and Basic Plans. The only main differences are that you can add 5 people to a staff account and you get standard reporting.
Advanced Plan – Who Should Use It?
The Advanced Plan was designed for those who have larger businesses. These businesses tend to be chain store outlets with many locations and lots of people working at each location. Companies like the Red Lobster and Deloitte should sign up for the Advanced Plan.
You get up to 8 inventory locations with the Advanced Plan. You get the same features with the Advanced Plan that you do with the Shopify Plan. There are some key differences though. The first is with the staff accounts. You can add up to 15 members. Also, the Advanced Plan is the first to give you advanced reports and analytics.
Plans’ Pricing
The Starter and Lite Plans will cost you $5 a month. You can get the Basic Plan for $1 a month for the first three months. The Shopify Plan costs $79 a month, and the Advanced Plan will set you back $299 a month. You can avail a 50% discount by paying the entire year’s amount in one lump sum payment.
It’s Time to Take Your Business to the Next Level!
What are you waiting for? As you’ve seen, Shopify has a plan that has something for anyone who runs an online store. Shopify plans are affordable and have the features that will let you scale your business up rapidly by lowering your expenses and generating more revenue streams, all while expanding your customer base!
