How To Start an Online Store Using Shopify in Just 30 Minutes.

This article is a handy step-by-step guide to help you learn how to start a Shopify store in 2021. The tutorial is based on what we have learned from different ecommerce success stories.

In this post, you’ll find dozens of great tips that’ll allow you to focus on making sales as quickly as possible. The best part is that you can complete the whole process in about half an hour. Who knows, the next 30 minutes could mark an exciting turning point in your life as you embark on a journey as an ecommerce entrepreneur.

Let’s get started.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is an online store that handles basically everything from marketing and payments, to secure checkout and shipping. It helps you to build, manage and grow your business by enabling you to organize the layout of your store's appearance through a variety of themes which you can change whenever you want to.

Shopify powers over 1,700,000 online businesses worldwide. But first, let’s look at some of the uses of a Shopify account.

Uses of a Shopify Account.

• It enables you to create and customise their own online store.
• It also offers payment processing, which allows you to accept and receive payment for the products you sell.
• Shopify allows you to sell your products in multiple places such as the web, social media, online marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops.
• You can also manage your products, inventory and shipping.

Advantages of using a Shopify Account.

1. It is quick and really easy to use: The admin interface is clean, user-friendly and pretty intuitive because all the features are logically structured.
2. No technical worries: You don’t need any technical expertise to launch a basic Shopify store since all software and hosting is provided by Shopify. This enables you to direct all your efforts towards selling your products.
3. It is secure and reliable: Shopify takes care of all server maintenance and upgrades to keep your store and shopping cart available at all times and to ensure that pages load quickly.
4. Customer care is available 24/7: This means you can always get assistance in case of anything through your mobile phone, email or their website.
5. Mobile ready: All of Shopify’s themes are mobile responsive and the platform includes a free built-in mobile commerce shopping cart, meaning your store looks great on all devices and your customers can shop freely wherever they are.
6. It is customisable: There are more than 100 themes to choose from, all of which are mobile responsive and can be fully customised by editing the code.
7. Availability of the Shopify App Store: Shopify App Store enables users to gain access to a variety of marketing apps that can be essential to their businesses. It also gives you access to a huge range of marketing tools including social media integration, product reviews and email marketing.
8. SEO and Marketing Tools: The Search Engine Optimisation feature helps your website rank higher in search results so interested buyers can find you easily.
9. Abandoned Cart Recovery: When potential buyers visit your site, add products to cart and leave without buying, this algorithm automatically tracks and emails them, reminding them to complete the purchase.
10. Own Payment Gateway: If you choose to use this you will not incur any transaction fees as well as benefiting from lower credit card fee.

So how does one go about creating a Shopify Account?

Creating an online store using Shopify.

Sign up with Shopify: Visit Shopify.com and use the sign-up form to create an account. Next, enter the required details and click the ‘Start free trial’ button. Your store name needs to be unique or Shopify will ask you to choose something else. After this initial screen, you’ll be asked for a few more details, including your name, address, country, and contact number. Then click ‘done’.

Choose a Product to Sell: The first step to starting an online store is deciding what products you want to sell. Shopify comes up with strategies you can use to find product opportunities, explore the best places to look for business ideas, and finally, look at trending products to consider.

Evaluate Your Idea: You will need to do some research on your product to help you identify customer needs and if your idea can meet market demand. The result is a better return on investment on your product.

Obtain Your Product: Your next step will be figuring out where to get the products you intend to sell. You can use the following apps on Shopify to guide you through the process:

• Oberlo.
• Handshake.
• Creative Hub.
• Printify.
• My Online Fashion Store.
• Lulu Express.
• Shapeways.
• Syncee.
• Spocket.
• MXED.
• Dripshipper.
• Modalyst.

Find out who your Competition is: You have to research extensively on your competition to find out who you’re up against and how you can differentiate your business from theirs.

Write a Business Plan: A business plan refers to what is cooking in the mind of the entrepreneur, in this case, you. It is vital in determining what to prioritize and how to effectively reach new customers.

Come up with a Business Name: You will need to come up with a business or brand name. A creative and memorable name makes it easy for potential customers to remember both you and your product and can set you up for long-term success.

Create a Business Logo: A business logo leaves a good impression on your potential customers if it is good and a bad impression if it is not fully thought out.

Understand Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): You should clearly understand the basics of search engine optimization so you can properly structure your site and pages for Google and other search engines.

Choose your Sales Channel: The right mix of sales channels will depend on your products and your target customers. Using marketplaces such as Etsy will help you feel more manageable than venturing out on your own platform from day one since they come with a built-in audience who are already looking for what you have to offer, and the scope of what you need to learn in order to grow your business.

Prepare to Launch: Before you launch your online store, there are several shipping and customer fulfilment elements you need to consider. Shipping is a vital part of your business. It’s the point where a customer finally experiences your product in person and can also represent a major expense on your part. To avoid overspending, it is important to come up with a good shipping strategy for your business. You can do this by:

Considering your shipping rates and methods.

Measuring and updating the weight of each product you sell.

Choosing your preferred packaging.

Sourcing your packaging.

Launch: Launch your online store and continue to earn revenue as you sit as home.

If you follow the steps above correctly and take all factors into consideration, Shopify can be a very profitable business to you. The key to running a successful online store is to make every transaction count. So, go ahead and create that account today!