Entrepreneurship
The Complete Guide to Shopify: How it Works and Strategies for Success

Shopify is a popular online selling platform, and can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurs who want to sell their products or services. Shopify has many features that make it easier for anyone to have an online business. Shopify allows you to easily create a storefront to sell your products, as well as set up the shipping process so customers know exactly how much they will pay when they purchase from you.
Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms on the market today. Shopify offers a simple and affordable solution for online selling that includes a variety of tools to create your online store, process transactions, offer customer service, and more. Shopify is a great option for anyone looking to start an online business without all the hassle.
In this blog post I’ll go over Shopify’s basic features and how you can use them in your own business.
What kind of items can you sell on Shopify?
Many sorts of eCommerce enterprises are supported by Shopify. Shopify allows users to sell digital items, tangible items, or drop-shipped items (as long as they are legal). Sellers on Shopify employ the program to advertise a variety of items, including apparel, accessories, and much more.
Almost everything is permitted when it comes to selling items on Shopify. The only hard and fast rule is that you can’t sell anything illicit, and the following items are specifically prohibited: weapons, tobacco, alcohol, e-cigarettes, drugs, firearms, and fireworks.
How do I sell my products on Shopify?
Sellers on Shopify can upload products to their Shopify online store through Shopify’s integrated product editor. Sellers can also import and export data directly from Shopify, including inventory and customer information (which means you can quickly set up your shop once it goes live). Lastly, Shopify has built in integration with Facebook Messenger which allows merchants to chat real-time with customers about orders or questions they may have.
Printon Demand
In the world of e-commerce, Shopify’s print on demand integration with Gelato allows businesses to expand their product offerings, reduce inventory costs, and quickly test new designs, providing a competitive advantage for those looking to succeed on the platform.
How does Shopify work?
Setting up your own Shopify store has never been easier! With Shopify you simply choose an existing template design for your site (or create your own), upload your products, set prices, enter shipping details if applicable, add sales tax rates if necessary, then sit back while Shopify takes care of all the technical details. Shopify’s software will handle everything from payment processing to fraud protection, customer support and more. Shopify also has mobile apps so you can manage your store on the go.
What are Shopify’s Features?
Shopify offers several tools for merchants who want an online presence without all the hassle of hiring a developer or building their own website:
- Customizable storefronts
Create beautiful designs that match your brand with Shopify’s flexible theme options. Shopify comes with over 100 free and premium themes to help jumpstart your business. You don’t need any coding experience either because there is no HTML involved when creating layouts in Shopify.
- Unlimited Bandwidth, Product Inventory, and Customer Data
Shopify stores never run out of storage space. Shopify’s Unlimited Bandwidth and Product Inventory features make it easy to sell online without worrying about data limits or inventory management, while Shopify’s Customer Data feature allows you to store all your customers’ information in one place and access it from anywhere on any device.
- Secure Transactions
Shopify has many payment options that let shoppers securely pay by credit card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Android Pay or Bitcoin (bitcoin can be processed through Shopify Payments). Shopify merchants also benefit from Fraud Protection which covers every transaction made using Shopify for 100 percent protection against fraudulent transactions as well as reimbursements for chargebacks when they happen.
- 24/7 Customer Support
Shopify has Shopify’s 24/Customer Support feature that lets merchants speak directly to Shopify Experts via live chat or email whenever they have a question. Shop owners also get access to Shopify’s online documentation and video tutorials which can help them create their store from start to finish without outside assistance.
- Multi-Channel Fulfillment
Multi-channel fulfillment is available for Shopify Plus customers, but all Shopify users can benefit from the platform’s Advanced Shipping features such as automated shipping labels so you don’t need any extra software like Stamps.com (and pay postage every time you make an order). There are built in options for domestic and international orders too.
Pricing
You may try Shopify without spending a dime by signing up for a free 14-day trial. You can create your own online store, test out free Shopify applications, and make your first sale during the trial. The cost of using Shopify on a monthly basis varies by plan. If you choose the Basic plan, your fee will be $29 per month. But depending on your business needs, you may prefer Advanced Shopify or Shopify Plus if you’ve been running a business for some time.
Conclusion
Shopify is the greatest platform for internet retailers if you’re seeking to generate money online. Make the most of the free trial to see if it’s a good fit for you. It’s packed with features, but it may be the ideal platform for you if you’re looking for a place to sell your items while maintaining complete control over prices and promotion possibilities.
John Lawson is one of the most trusted and experienced eCommerce professionals in the industry. John is the founder of The Ecommerce Group, which he started in 2011 to share his knowledge with other entrepreneurs in the industry. It’s the oldest eCommerce group on Facebook with over 8,500 members from around the world!
John speaks at conferences all around the world, including Retail Global, South by Southwest, Etail, Digital Summit, Hubspot Inbound, Ad-Tech and more. He also writes for several international publications such as Power Retail, Small Business Trends and Disrupt Magazine.
