There are many options for creating online stores for businesses, but “Shopify” stands out among them.

Shopify is a great platform for businesses of all sizes. A few major companies, like “Red Bull”, “Gymshark” and many more, use Shopify. But this is also a perfect choice for a startup or small business.

Shopify is easy compared to other online store-creating platforms, but it is quite tough for beginners. There are many things one needs to deal with while creating a Shopify store, like setting up an account, designing your store, dealing with taxes, etc. All these can overwhelm a beginner while setting up their Shopify store.

Setting up a Shopify store is easy if you follow one step at a time. By following the simple plan listed below, you can easily set up your online store and start selling.

Before starting the guide, let’s understand the benefits of choosing Shopify as an online website builder.

Benefits of Using Shopify for E-Commerce

According to the best website developers in India, Shopify is a great platform that works well with other tools. Operations like advertisement and payment systems also work well with this platform.

Beginner Friendly Platform

Starting a new online store can be scary, but Shopify has made it easier for everyone. You don’t need to be a web development expert to create an online store with Shopify. Shopify helps beginners quickly at every step of setting up a store.

Custom Plans for All Scale Businesses

Shopify has plans for businesses of all sizes. Whether you want to start your new online store or already have a renowned big business, Shopify can help. Every business can start with an affordable plan and then increase the package as your business grows.

 

 

Shopify is an advanced platform that can suggest the right tools for your growing business needs.

 

 

All-In-One E-Commerce Platforms

Shopify is a simple-to-use platform that offers great tools for growing your online store. Shopify is equipped with a number of useful features. The accessibility of Shopify allows it to connect with a number of other tools, which makes it even better.

This all-in-one platform offers comprehensive solutions for everything from sales tracking to payment acceptance.

24x7 Customer Support

Shopify offers great customer support. Help via live chat, emails, and phone calls is always available for any query related to this platform. It also offers guides, tips and more solutions to solve the queries of common problems.

Diverse App Eco-System

Shopify is equipped with lots of apps to improve the running of its online store. These apps can make shipping easier, the website more SEO friendly and a lot more. You can use these tools to add more tools to your online store.

It offers a more personalised experience for your customers.

Reliable Support at Every Step

Shopify is the best platform for running an online store. It is very reliable and makes your store available to shop for your customers 24 hours, 7 days a week.

It empowers customers to shop from your online store without interruptions. Shopify is becoming more and more popular, which shows businesses are choosing Shopify more for their online store.

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Online Shopify Store

We’ve broken down the steps for creating an online Shopify store quickly.

Sign-up for Shopify Account

Follow the simple steps below to create your first online Shopify store.

  • Go to the Shopify website and click on the free trial button. This will give you experience of all the benefits of your online business store.
  • Fill in your basic information, such as Email, a Password you can remember, and a name for your store that represents your business. This name will be a temporary website address for your online store.
  • You can add a custom business website address later.
  • Shopify will ask about the product you want to sell and where your business is located.It helps set up the things such as taxes and shipping.

After these steps, you will be ready to explore your online store.

Utilise a Free Trial For Your Online Store

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial to let you explore their services. After that, you can continue using the Shopify services for fixed monthly charges. During the free trial period, you can switch between plans to select the most suitable option for your business.

You can explore all features, themes and apps to see which works best for your business. If you discontinue the paid plan, then data will be saved, and your store will be online after you choose to continue with a plan.

(Read the steps you need to follow to build a successful website)

Choose The Best Shopify Plan

Shopify offers different plans for different sizes of businesses. Following are the main Shopify plans.

Basic: Suitable for small businesses and startups.

Shopify: Shopify is a suitable choice for most businesses.

Advance: For bigger businesses with more needs.

Plus: For bigger businesses with high sales volume.

In every plan, you’ll get.

Easy Checkout: It offers an easy buying experience to your customers.

In-Person Selling: To sell your products at physical locations.

Multiple Sales Channels: It is easy to sell on various social media platforms.

Detailed Analytics: To understand the progress of your business.

Commerce Apps: To add more features to your store.

If these plans aren’t a good fit for your business needs, then you can consider the plans below.

Starter: For a simple online store.

Retail: Suitable for business with physical stores.

Enterprise Commerce: For large businesses with more needs.

Note — Prices may change, so it's better to check on their official website.

Optimise Your Shopify Store Settings

Change your store name: You can change the name of your store anytime, but you won’t be able to change your store’s website store. So, choose your store’s website address carefully.

Business Info: Enter your business name and address. If you’re working from home, then your home address is fine. Don’t worry; customers can’t see this address.

Set Your Preferences: Choose your timezone and the units of your product measurement, such as inches, centimetres, currency, and more. It’ll help your store to work smoothly.

If you are selling internationally, then, with the help of Shopify features, businesses can easily manage different currencies. It makes selling internationally more seamless.

Keep Your Domain Name Simple

Do you have a long Shopify name? Fancy Shopify domain names can impact your online store reach.

Register Your Name: Think of your Shopify web address as your permanent online web address. You can buy it from Shopify or Hostinger.

If you already have a domain name, then you can transfer it to Shopify within one or two days. A confirmation over email is required.

Tips for Picking Great Domain Names

  • Keep it short, easy to type and easy to remember.
  • Avoid numbers & dashes; it may confuse users.
  • Make it easy to say. Don’t include hard vocabulary or pronunciation.
  • Don’t include mystery words. People don’t remember invented words.
  • Your domain name should represent your business store.
  • Use domain name generator for creative, business-oriented and memorable domain names.

By following these tips, you can choose a useful and SEO-friendly domain name with minimal effort.

Pick the Perfect Theme

No one wants to buy from the store, which looks dull and boring. To make your store more interactive and unique, you can choose a great theme from Shopify's theme store.

Free Theme

  • You can find many free themes on Shopify. It offers particular themes for restaurants and shops.
  • These themes are free and suitable for small businesses.

Paid Theme

  • Shopify’s theme store offers both paid and free themes.
  • Paid themes offer features like quick buy buttons, customer reviews and special features for age-restricted products or events.
  • You can see how the theme looks in real stores and also read reviews from other users.
  • You can try a paid theme before buying it.

Customised Theme

You can customise any theme to match your brand style and colours. You can create a beautiful and professional online store by carefully choosing a theme.

 

 

Personalise the Design & Experience

You don’t need to make your Shopify store perfect before launch. First, prepare your store with basics. Later on, you can add more features to it.

To start designing your store, first explore the online store editor of the Shopify admin panel.

The left side of your screen in the editing admin panel will change how your store will look. The right side shows how your store will look after changes.

Save your work often to avoid losing the changes.

You can change many things, such as:

  • Logo — Symbol of your store.
  • Page Sections — Different parts of your online store pages.
  • Add clickable button elements.
  • Add links to texts and images that will redirect the user to other pages.
  • Layout — How things are arranged on your online store.
  • Use colours in your store that reflect your business theme.
  • Use creative, professional fonts and text styles.

This customisation will make your online store more interactive and user-friendly.

Add Products to the Shopify Store

To add products to your online store, follow the steps below:

Create a Product Title

  • Keep SEO-friendly titles and descriptions for the products you’re adding to your online store.
  • Embed keywords in the description, which people usually search for.

Writing Product Description

  • Explain the product and its benefits.
  • Use bullet points to highlight the key features of the product.
  • Write in an easy-to-understand and engaging way.

Add Photos & Videos

  • Use high-resolution images from different angles.
  • Add a short video to show the utility or product in action.
  • Write alt text and image descriptions for better SEO of listed products.

Set a Price

  • Set a promotional price to attract more customers in the initial stage of the new online store.
  • Ensure the price reflects the product’s value and try to keep it pocket-friendly.

Manage Inventory

  • Keep track of the inventory you’ve in stock.
  • Avoid overstocking and out-of-stocking issues.

Add Variants

If your product is available in various sizes, colours, flavours and more, add its variants too. Label each variant clearly. It makes customers to choose easily. Set Shipping Information If you are selling physical products, then enter the dimensions and weight of your product. It helps in the easy calculation of shipping fees. Add origin country and HS traffic code for seamless international shipping.

By following this, you can create an informative and engaging product listing.

Keep collections neatly organised.

Create a New Collection

  • Go to your Shopify store’s admin panel.
  • Find the “Product Section” and click on “Collections”.
  • Click on — Create Collection.
  • Give your collection a relevant name like “Woman Shoes” or “Winter Wear”.
  • You can also add a title and description.

Organise Your Products

Manual Method — Choose a particular product to add to your online store collection. This is a good option for small stores.

Automatic Method — Set rules to automatically add products to your collection. For example, by setting a rule, you can add certain range or price tag products to your collection. This is beneficial for large businesses.

Display Your Collections

Homepage — Feature your collection on your online store’s homepage.

Navigation Bar — Adding your collection to your online store’s navigation bar makes it easy for customers to access.

Sales Channel — Sync your collection with other sales channels such as Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, eBay and more.

Collections help customers find desirable items quickly, and they improve the overall user experience.

How to Add Your Pages in Shopify

The following are the steps for adding your page to your Shopify online store.

  • Go to your Shopify Admin Panel.
  • Click on “online store” then “pages”.
  • Click “add page”.
  • Add the title and description to your page.

For what content can you add pages?

  • About us information.
  • Contact details.
  • Shoe size charts.
  • Other information that doesn’t change often.

Tips:-

  • Use easy and clear page titles.
  • Ensure people easily find your page.
  • Control hide or schedule pages.

If you can hide, reschedule the new pages anytime.

Make Your Store Easy to Navigate

Organise your online store menu to make it easy for your store customers to find what they are looking for.

Here’s how you can do it:

Go to your Shopify Admin: This is the panel for managing your Page.

Find the Navigation: Search for “online store” and then click on “navigation”.

Organise Your Menu: You’ll see two main menus:

  • Footer: In this section, you’ll see basic information such as policies, contact details, etc.
  • Main Menu: In this section, you’ll see blogs, products, and about us.

Add Menu Items:

  • Choose the name of your product/item.
  • You can link to collections, blog posts, products or pages.

Organise Your Menu: Creating a submenus will keep things organised in your online store.

Following are a few ideas for your menu:

  • Homepage: The main page of your online store.
  • Shop: Link all your products and collections in it.
  • Blog: Share news, tips, and stories.
  • About: Tell story, vision, mission and story.
  • Contact Us: Provide Contact info like mail, phone number, etc.
  • Search Bar: Let people search for your listed products.

By organising your online store, you can elevate the user experience for our online store visitors and convert them into your potential customers.

Setting Up Legal Webpages for Your Online Shopify Store

Legal webpages are important for better user experience and security of your website and user data. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know.:

Refund Policy

  • Clearly outline your return or refund policies.
  • Which items can be returned or exchanged.
  • Condition of returned and worn-out items.
  • The time period for returning items. ( specify the days like,” in between 7 days after delivery”)
  • Write clear instructions for initiating returns for customers (i.e., mail, online form)
  • Items that are final sale (Non-returnable items).

Privacy Policy

  • It explains how you handle and use customer information. Information such as contact details and shipping address how can be used by you.
  • It’s a legal requirement and shows you respect the user’s privacy.

Terms of Service

  • It outlines the rules the customers need to follow while using your store.
  • It prevents misuse of your content and protects it from hackers.

Shipping Policy (It is Optional but Recommended)

  • In this policy, information about shipping costs, delivery times, and product shipping regions.
  • It tells customers about shipping charges and estimated delivery times.
  • It tells about the shipping regions of your item.
  • Information about customs duties and taxes.

You can set up these pages easily via the admin panel of your online Shopify store.

Test the Speed of Your Online Shopify Store

Every shopper likes a fast and smooth online Shopify store. Customers are more likely to stay and shop from your website if it loads quickly.

Here’s how you can check the speed of your online Shopify store.:

  • Go to the Shopify Admin Panel.
  • Click on “online store” then “theme.”
  • Scroll down to the end and view page speed in analytics.

This will show how fast your online Shopify store is loading.

What Makes a Shopify Store Slow?

  • Consisting of too many apps. Each app adds weight to your store and, as a result, slows it down.
  • Bigger sizes of images take longer time to reload.
  • Complex and a lot of coding can make your store slow.

Tips to Speed up Your Online Store

  • Choose only major utility apps. Don’t use unnecessary apps.
  • Optimise your images. Resize your product images without losing their quality.
  • Take help from a professional developer. A professional web development agency in India can help you clean the code and make the website run seamlessly.

Tip:- Place the heavy elements at the bottom of your website. Testimonials and product videos can slow down the speed of your online store. Placing them below the online store will help load the top part faster.

Create Your Own Blog on Shopify

Shopify makes it super easy to add a blog to your online Shopify store. Following are the steps to create your own blog in the Shopify store.

  • Go to your Admin Panel.
  • Click on Blog Posts in your Online Store.
  • Create a new blog post. Create a blog title and add further content.
  • You can also add pictures and videos to your Shopify store blog.
  • Write a short summary of your blog. Keep it attractive and short. This will encourage users to read your blog further.
  • Customised blog name. You can create a customised blog name or start it with a News title.
  • You can decide to publish or blog now or to schedule it for later.

Why Blogging is Good for Your Online Shopify Store

  • It increases traffic on your online store.
  • It encourages people to buy products from your website.
  • Blogging is a great tool for building a loyal customer base.

What to Blog about?

Many online store owners have trouble finding topics to blog about on their Shopify store. Follow are a few topics for the Shopify online store.

  • Write about new products, their utilities, and why people need to buy those products. It is a great way to announce that new products have been added to your store.
  • Write reviews about products in your online store. It is better if you can encourage your online store customers to share their reviews after using the product after buying it from your online store.
  • Behind-the-scenes articles. Give your customers a peek into the journey of your business. It builds trust and credibility.
  • How-to-guides. It is a useful and high-traffic idea. Identify the product that people find hard to utilise and provide a guide on how to use that product.
  • Share the latest trends running in your industry.
  • Write about special offers. Promote the products that have high discounts.
  • Conduct interviews and talk with people who inspire you the most.

Encourage people to comment on your posts, and you need to reply to them. It increases the engagement between the shop owner and customers. Best for building trust and business credibility.

Update Your Store Infoz

What is Metadata?

It’s like writing a short description of your store that will show up in your Google search results.

How to update it in Shopify?

  • Go to Admin Panel.
  • Click on “online store” and “preferences” to start editing.
  • Include a catchy “title” and “description” for every product in your listing.

Why is Metadata Important?

A good quality & engaging meta description encourages viewers to click on your website and explore your online store.

How long does it take to see changes?

It may take a few weeks to see the results by updating your metadata.

Note: Along with metadata, there are many other factors that influence the ranking of your website.

Create Your Shopify Email Address

To keep your customers informed and your team organised, you can set up email notifications in your Shopify store.

Here’s how you can do this.:

  • Go to the Shopify online store admin panel.
  • Go to the setting and choose general. Click on this to access your store details.
  • Update your email address. Set up this email as primary mail, where you’ll receive all your important mail.

What kind of Emails Can You Send

  • Order Confirmation. It lets the customer know whether their order is placed or not.
  • Shipping confirmation. Let customers know that their order is shipped.
  • Reminder emails to customers to let them know that items are left in the cart.
  • Marketing emails. Send promotional and discount-related emails to your customers.

Who got these Emails

  • Customers — Customers will receive updates about their orders, discounts, promotions, and other things.
  • Team members. You can add your team members to receive notifications of orders booked.

Email Customisation

Email customisation requires little coding knowledge. If you aren’t a coder, then connect with a Shopify website developer in India for customisation.

Manage Payments & Taxes on your Shopify Store

  • Choose a payment provider. You can choose a reliable payment-accepting gateway, either Paypal, Shopify payment gateway or any other.
  • Choose payment types. Decide which payments you’ll accept (Credit card, PayPal, etc).
  • Consider multiple currencies. If you sell your items worldwide, then accepting multiple currencies will boost your sales.
  • Set up fraud prevention. Prevent your store from fraudulent transactions.
  • Enable faster checkout. Make it easier for customers to buy from you by saving their payment and shipping information.

Dealing with Chargebacks

  • Have transparent return and refund policies.
  • Respond to customer inquiries promptly.
  • Ensure the right product description and image.

Setting up Taxes

  • Shopify handles taxes. Shopify automatically calculates and collects taxes.
  • Check local text laws. Understand the tax laws of the region you’re selling products.

By implementing these changes, you can ensure a secure and smooth payment process for your shopify online store.

Streamline Your Shipping Process

Choose a Shipping Method:

  • Decide whether you want to pay for delivery or charge it from customers.
  • Pick a reliable career that fits your needs. Shopify works with many shipping companies, such as FedEx, UPS, USPS and more.
  • Do your research. Compare prices of similar products in the market sold by other online sellers.
  • If you consider dropshipping, then you don’t have to pay for any charges.

Setting up Shipping Rates

  • Shopify applies general shipping rates for all products.
  • You can create custom rates for fragile items, which require more protection while transporting.
  • Group regions and countries which have similar shipping charges.

If you use Shopify Shipping

  • It simplifies the shipping process. Shopify’s built-in calculation rate tools, print labels, and track packages.
  • Pick the best carrier for shipping by comparing their shipping prices and facilities.

Create Shipping Labels

  • While creating shipping labels, include order number, tracking number, shipping date, shipping carrier & service details.
  • By understanding these steps, you can create a smooth delivery experience.

Generate your Discount Codes on Shopify Online Store

  • Shopify lets you create millions of discount codes. Follow the steps for creating discount codes.
  • Go to the Shopify Admin panel.
  • Create a new discount code and name it, which customers can use during checkout.
  • Choose a suitable discount type like a fixed discount ( like $20 off), percentage type discount (like 20% off), Free shipping (it is also a discount), and lastly, buy one get one free type discount.
  • Set the rules, such as whether the discount is applicable to every item or just for a certain type or range of items.
  • Set when the discount code will expire and how many times it can be used.
  • You can require a minimum purchase amount or other conditions.
  • Create discounts that will automatically added to the final price while checking out.

You can create special discount codes for special occasions, such as discounts for festivals, national days and more.

Discount codes are great for limited-time sales, holiday promotions, customer rewards and more. By using discount codes strategically, you can boost sales and attract more clients.

Explore New Sales Opportunities

Don’t just rely on your online store. Try to sell your products in as many places as you can sell, either online or offline.

Have a Point of Sale (PoS). This increases sales and also improves your inventory management. Sell on other famous marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart. Use social media channels such as TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram to market and sell your items.

If you want to make your products more visible in Google search results, then you need to consult with a digital marketing agency in India.

 

Q. How do I start setting up a Shopify store?

A. To start, first of all, you need to sign up on Shopify’s website. After creating an account, you’ll have access to the admin dashboard. In this admin dashboard, you’ll get access to store customisation and appearance, add/remove products, and set up payment & shipping information.

 

Q. Do I need to be a tech expert to create a Shopify store?

A. No, you don’t need to be a technical professional to create a Shopify store. Shopify has a user-friendly interface. Even if you don’t have a coding background, you can still customise your Shopify store.

 

Q. How much does it cost to run a Shopify store?

A. The basic Shopify plan starts at $25 (It’s better to check the plans because plans keep changing).

  • Apps: These are tools to add special and utility features to your store.
  • Themes: These are like designs for your store’s look.
  • Transaction Fees: These are fees charged for each sale you make. This helps more when you use a third-party payment method. If you want to learn more about pricing, then check the official website.

 

Q. Can I use my own website name with Shopify?

A. You can create a website in the Shopify store, or you can add a website you already own.

 

Q. How do I add products to my Shopify store?

A. Following are steps to add products to your online Shopify store.

  • Go to the admin panel and click on “Products”.
  • Add a new product.
  • Fill in the product details, such as the product name. Add a little description of the products you’ve added, set the prices, add images, and everything else is set.
  • At last, select the shipping carrier and hit the save button. Your product is ready to be sold.

 

Q. How can I make my Shopify store look unique?

A. You can customise your Shopify store by:

  • Choosing a theme: Explore the different theme templates in the store.
  • After selecting a theme, edit it into the theme editor.
  • In the layout, you need to arrange products and information about them.
  • You can edit the colours you used in your store theme.
  • Types of fonts used for text in your online store.

For advanced customisation, you can edit the code for the Shopify theme. If you need help, then you can connect with top website developers in India.

 

Q. What payment methods can I use on Shopify?

A. You can use numerous payment methods on Shopify. Shopify integration allows you to integrate credit cards, debit cards and other payment options. Shopify makes setting up payment methods easy in your store. It is reliable and secure.

 

Q. Can I sell my products to customers in other countries using Shopify?

A. Yes, you can! Shopify makes international shipping and payment easy. It will automatically show the different prices in different currencies. It even translates the product title and description to reach a wider audience worldwide.

 

Q. Can I sell my products on social media using Shopify?

A. Yes, you can! Shopify lets your store connect to various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and more. You can directly sell your product on these social media platforms using Shopify. It provides a one-stop solution for managing everything.

 

Q. How do I ensure that I’m charging the right amount of tax on my Shopify store?

A. Shopify can help you with that! You can set up your store location and places where you sell your products. Shopify will automatically calculate the right amount of taxes on each sale you make. You can change any type of tax alteration in the admin panel.

CONTENTS