Shopify is a straightforward e-commerce solution that enables small businesses to create an online store and sell online using a single, easy-to-use dashboard. The platform offers various selling options, including social media sites, seller marketplaces, blogs, and other websites, as well as email, text, and chat. In addition, Shopify features a built-in point-of-sale (POS) system, making it simple for merchants to sell their products in person at retail stores, pop-up shops, and markets.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a well-known website builder for e-commerce. It helps small businesses create online stores or sell products on external marketplaces and social media platforms.
In addition, Shopify offers point-of-sale (POS) software for use in their physical stores. Shopify is an excellent option for businesses looking for a complete e-commerce solution, as it provides payment processing, shipping discounts, inventory management, and loans to particular sellers.
Most of Shopify’s features are included in a monthly fee, with transaction fees ranging from $5 per month to enterprise-level pricing, depending on the plan selected. Additional fees may be charged by third-party apps available on the platform.
How Does Website Shopify Work?
Shopify is a platform that offers a centralized solution for all your commerce needs. It allows you to create and personalize your online store and sell your products in different locations such as web, mobile, in-person, and even social media.
Shopify is hosted and cloud-based, which means you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. This platform eliminates the need to use different tools to manage products, inventory, payments, and shipping, as it offers all these features in one place.
In addition, Shopify provides the flexibility to integrate any other business tools you require to make your business work.
4 Steps to Build Your Website Shopify
Plan your business
To start building your website, it’s essential first to choose a specific niche or topic that interests you. You can then use the Domain Name Generator to find an available domain name you like. Additionally, Shopify provides various tools, themes, and resources to help you get excited and motivated about your entrepreneurial venture.
Pick your platform
Shopify is an eCommerce website builder allowing you to create an online or physical store using a simple drag-and-drop website builder without coding. It provides dependable website hosting, domain name registration, a wide range of tools, applications, stock images, and helpful resources.
Customize your website
With Shopify’s website builder, you can create your website according to your preferences. The website builder allows you to brand your website in multiple ways, both online and offline, requiring no coding skills. You can customize various aspects of your site, including images, copy, themes, layouts, and apps. You can also add your products to your site and create alluring descriptions.
Launch your store
After completing the setup of your website, it’s time to launch it to the public. Accordingly, you can promote your website and products through various social media channels and use popular marketing strategies to optimize your store for search engines through SEO. You can also extend the capabilities of your site by installing apps, sales channels, and other features available on Shopify.
What Determines Shopify Website Cost?
To comprehend the pricing and other particulars of the Shopify platform, it is crucial first to acknowledge the elements that dictate the cost of establishing an e-commerce website. These factors comprise:
- Design
- Functionality
- SEO and Marketing
- eCommerce Company Selection
The cost of e-commerce website builders can vary, ranging from $39 to $399 per month, depending on whether a retail store is included. Generally, the cost of an e-commerce website is the lower amount mentioned above for newly established stores, considering no effort or time put in by the store owner.
A complete Shopify website with exceptional design and advanced features can cost approximately $7,000 to $12,000. This package includes several elements:
- Website hosting
- Product catalog
- Custom payment gateways
- Mailchimp for email marketing
- Advanced product filtering
- Abandoned cart feature
- Emails and invoices
- Professionally written content
- Shopify packages
- Website building costs
- Shopify transaction fees
- Shopify credit card rates
- Shopify POS payments
- Add-ons and extensions
Although an essential Shopify website is suitable for eCommerce startups, choosing the premium package if the budget allows is recommended because investing in Shopify can bring long-term benefits.
The Common Types of Shopify Store Development Services
Upon searching, you will come across numerous options for development services. These services can be broadly categorized into eight types of Shopify development services you offer, or will soon offer to your clients.
- Theme development and customization: having appropriate Shopify theme designs and customizations for an online store is crucial because it is the foundation of any visual brand.
- Store setup and customization: some of the most visible activities are creating Shopify stores from scratch, designing of pages (landing pages, homepages, etc.), modifying existing Shopify pages, customizing Shopify carts, and optimizing page conversion rates.
- App development and customization: this service will take longer to complete a project because it involves complex and specialized requests.
- Store updating and maintenance: Shopify store owners who lack coding expertise or experience will like hire a team to optimize and maintain their stores more than those who do.
- Shopify SEO service: in addition to being a tactic for boosting conversion rates and attracting organic traffic, SEO can also optimize an online store internally.
- PSD to Shopify theme conversion: to convert a Photoshop design (PSD) into a functional Shopify page, merchants must be familiar with CSS/HTML and Shopify customization settings.
- Shopify migration: Shopify experts and agencies support the migration of store data from other platforms professionally and quickly.
- Shopify Plus enterprise services: Shopify Plus merchants have a large store database and require assistance in managing the development and customization of their stores.
Why Should We Choose Shopify?
Shopify is a global e-commerce platform that caters to a diverse range of online and offline entrepreneurs, merchants, developers, and partners. The platform offers access to building blocks and tools entrepreneurs need to succeed in commerce.
Shopify empowers creative expression and provide entrepreneurs with the most significant flexibility, extensibility, and face possible. Shopify aims to simplify and absorb the unnecessary complexity of starting and scaling a business, providing access to growth tools to help entrepreneurs succeed. With the most integrated commerce platform, Shopify offers access to a wide range of themes, apps, channels, surfaces, products, and experiences built using a shared technical framework.
Additionally, Shopify is built to scale with businesses of all sizes and complexities, ensuring that entrepreneurs will always grow the platform as their needs change, scale, or evolve.
Should You Invest in Shopify or Your Own Business?
The primary difference between Shopify and a custom-built website is their intended purpose. Shopify is a SaaS solution specifically designed to aid merchants in building eCommerce stores.
According to its Economic Impact Report, over a million businesses have been created on this viral platform. Conversely, a custom-built website can serve various purposes, such as selling products, creating blog content, or providing entertainment.
However, to simplify the comparison, we will solely focus on the eCommerce aspect to assist you in making an informed decision for your online business journey. Some factors helping you make a clear decision:
- Theme and web design
- Third-party services
- Maintenance and updates
- Customer support
- Pricing
If you are new to the eCommerce market and want a quick and easy way to set up an online store, Shopify is a great option. However, building a custom website is a good choice if you are a merchant with big ambitions for a unique and customized store in the long run.
Make sure to choose a platform that meets your eCommerce needs. Ultimately, the decision between Shopify and a custom website depends on your preferences and requirements.
Three best Shopify stores to inspire your business
If you want an online commerce platform to help your business grow, look no further than Shopify. It is the world’s leading e-commerce platform, providing companies with everything they need since 2006. Its powerful yet simple tools can help businesses go from idea to launch in no time at all rapidly. But where to start? We’ve compiled a list of some of the best Shopify stores to help inspire your business.
Bonobos
The first shop we recommend is Bonobos. , a men’s apparel store that has gained popularity since its launch in 2007. They have a fantastic website design and are constantly innovating their products to keep up with changing trends. Meanwhile, their user-friendly website and excellent customer service make for a great shopping experience.
Warby Parker
Warby Parker is an eyeglass retailer that has become a powerhouse in the industry since its launch in 2010. With their stylish and affordable products, they can offer customers a unique selection and unbeatable prices. Also, they have an excellent website design that makes navigating the store easy and enjoyable.
Outdoor Voices
Finally, Outdoor Voices is a startup specializing in activewear for both men and women. Their goal is to make exercise more accessible to everyone by providing comfortable yet stylish clothes that are affordable. Plus, their website design reflects this mission, with a modern layout and easy-to-use navigation.
Conclusion
Shopify is a top-notch ecommerce platform known for its user-friendliness and effortless integrations with various sales channels. While it has minor shortcomings, like basic SEO features, limited store customization, and simple blogging tools, these are outweighed by its comprehensive business management tools and extensive selling opportunities. Accordingly, for new businesses and established sellers, Shopify is the go-to choice for its affordability, growth potential, and ease of use.
