In an eCommerce business, there is a need for an online store to start selling your products. For creating an online store, among various good options, Shopify offers an easy-to-use website builder platform. Shopify is the best-known brand in the eCommerce world. The reason behind Shopify’s popularity is its user-friendly setup.
Creating an online store has never been easy. It’s a multiple-step task and highly time-consuming. However, you can set up your own online store on Shopify by following easy steps. By the end of this article, you will be able to build your own Shopify store in a few minutes. You will also be able to list products and make basic settings yourself. Let’s get started.
Step 1: Sign up for Shopify
First thing first, you need to create an account on Shopify to get things rolling.
Visit the Shopify website, click on the Start free trial button. You will be given a 14-days trial to build your store and make it ready to launch. If you aren’t satisfied with Shopify in due time, reject the offer.
Fill in your email, password, and store name. Then click ‘Create your store’. Set a store name that syncs with your business. If the name is unavailable, change it. Your store name will become your default URL (storename.myshopify.com). Don’t worry about choosing a perfect name now, you can buy a custom domain name (i.e. mystore.com) later on.
After this, you will see the ‘Tell us a little about yourself’ page. Answer questions like ‘Are you already selling’ and ‘what is your current revenue’. Press Next. On the new page provide details about yourself and your business. They will ask you for your name, address, country, state, phone number, and the business website (optional).
Once you are all done, press ‘Enter my store’.
Step 2: Add Products to Your Shopify Store
As you complete the first step, you will reach your Shopify admin page. Here you have access to all details needed to start your online store.
The first button asks you to Add a product, click on that. Fill in details like the name of the product, description, pricing, and more. You can also list variants of the product (i.e. color, size) you may provide on offer.
In the description, part mentions the benefits and features of your product. People buy based on emotion and need. They aren’t interested to know the material strength, rather they want their buying product to be long-lasting. Add this type of feature to your description. Images are extremely important in selling online, therefore, upload appealing, clear, and factual images.
Provide shipping information, add SEO terms and save the product at the end. Shopify allows you to list inventory for your customers to know what items are still available. Group your product in categories or collections. In this way, your customer can easily find a product he/she needs to buy. For instance, make a collection of clothes, shoes, or more specifically men’s clothing.
Step 3: Customize Your Shopify Website
Website visuals play a crucial role. On the main dashboard select the ‘Customize the Look of Your Site’ button. This allows you to change anything from logos to colors. There are lots of options to click now. Making changes from here is a cumbersome task.
The easiest way to customize your Shopify store is by changing themes. A theme is a website design pre-created by third-party developers. Themes are used for the aesthetics of your store to make it look beautiful. This makes your customization job easy.
On your dashboard, press the online store on the left-hand side, then enter themes. Click on ‘Visit the Theme Store’ to check out hundreds of free and paid themes. Free themes are great, however, to give your online store a professional look then go for premium themes. Search out your favorite one. Choose a basic theme, the theme will apply to your Shopify store. Press the Preview button to know how it seems at first glance.
Once you choose a theme, go back to the theme store and click the ‘Customize’ button. Now make changes to the logo, fonts, color schemas and items on the page, etc. of your selected theme. The theme changes should match your brand design and the industry you are in.
Make sure the theme you customize is your current theme, if you don’t see your theme as the ‘Current theme’, scroll down and press the Actions drop-down, then Publish to activate it.
Step 4: Register your Domain with Shopify
It’s time to register your own domain to make your site official. A domain is the name of your Shopify store through which it can be distinguished.
On the dashboard, click on the ‘Add domain’ button. Press ‘Buy new domain’. Enter the domain name you want to buy.
Different extensions (com, biz, in, etc.) are available at different prices. Choose the domain you like and make the purchase. Once you have your domain name, go to your Domain settings area and choose your purchased domain to be your default URL.
Step 5: Create Essential Pages
Running an online store is not only listing and delivering products. It’s more than that. Your customers should be able to understand your business therefore, offer all necessary details to them. Give them reasons to trust you. Following are some of the essential pages every online store must have;
- Contact us page
- About us page
- Shipping policy page
Let’s try to understand how these pages can be created.
Contact Us page:
On the dashboard, under the online store, click the Add page. All three pages can be created in the same manner. Write a message to your customers and motivate them to contact you. Provide your email and phone number. Don’t forget to press save to make it live.
Another way is to create a ‘Write to us’ page in this area. When shoppers click on Contact Us, they can write to you along with their contact details. In this way, you can know about their queries and fill the communication gap.
About Us page:
With this page, you can help build trust with your customers. Therefore, a great About us page will make it possible. Share about yourself, your story, and why you started this online store.
Make it unique and interesting as many About pages are boring to read.
Shipping policy page:
Using the shipping policy page, keep things clear with your shoppers right from the start. Answer the following questions;
- How long will shipping take?
- Who will deliver their product?
- How to track their purchase?
- What is the return policy and privacy policy? And other relevant questions.
Step 6: Set Up Payment
This step is to specify how customers will pay you, and how you will receive payments. For this, know what fees you will be charged per transaction along with various payment modes and cards accepted. Therefore, it’s necessary to know your customers and their demographics. Third-party payment solutions are available but the simplest one is the Shopify payment option.
To select a plan, click on the bar at the bottom of the dashboard. There are three options to choose from;
- Basic Shopify
- Shopify
- Advanced Shopify
It’s recommended starting from the basic plan ($29 /month).
Step 7: Mention Taxes and Shipping Costs
To ensure transparency, mention taxes and shipping charges in the product section. There should be no hidden charges. Always specify the total cost of the product and additional charges.
It is mandatory to keep records of your purchases, investments, and relevant data. For taxation purposes, all your details must be properly filled out. This will prevent you from a conflict with your customer.
Step 8: Test Your Order System
To ensure your order and payment system work correctly, make use of the ‘Bogus Gateway’ that Shopify already has.
Place an order just like you do on other online stores. In the backend quickly check your payment gateway to verify whether the order system is working or not. Make sure to cancel the order on time to get a refund.
Another way to do it is by playing safe. From the dashboard, click on settings and enter your payment settings. Deactivate the payment and select a credit card gateway to test. Click on ‘Bogus Gateway’ for testing. Lastly, place an order and check results.
If you need help to complete this step, click here.
Step 9: Remove Password Protection
By default, the Shopify store you had created is password-protected during a 14-days free trial. This means it is inaccessible to everyone except you. When you selected the payment plan, made all changes, and were ready to launch in your free trial, disable this password protection.
On your dashboard, click on the online store on the left-hand side, then enter preferences. On the password page, uncheck the ‘Enable password page’ option. In the end, make sure to save the settings.
Conclusion:
In the article, we discussed easy steps through which you can create your Shopify store. So, start selling your products on Shopify. For any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.