Shopify is an easy-to-use e-commerce platform that provides a streamlined dashboard for small businesses to design and sell their products online. Shopify merchants have the ability to create a cutting-edge online store and sell via chat, text, email, and other channels as well as on other blogs, websites, and seller marketplaces. With Shopify’s integrated point-of-sale (POS) for retail businesses, pop-up shops, market sales, and more, in-person selling is also a breeze.
What Is Shopify?
Technically speaking, Shopify is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) sales platform that is built on subscriptions. Shopify charges $29 per month for its four regular store subscription tiers. A branded online store and a comprehensive set of online and offline selling tools are supported by all standard plans.
Shopify also offers a “Lite” plan for just $9 per month. It doesn’t include an online store but supports mobile POS sales and a Buy Button for selling on other websites, blogs and via email.
All plans come with a full set of tools for running a business. As part of every Shopify plan, you can get things like finding products, keeping track of sales and inventory, handling payments, shipping, customer accounts, marketing, and reports. Plus, there are hundreds of Shopify Apps that make it easy to add to your toolbox. Look at our review of Shopify to find out more.
How Does Shopify Work?
In order for Shopify to function, all of your sales channels must be seamlessly connected to one system that houses all of your product data, customers, and administrative duties. Shopify makes it simple to investigate and grow into new product lines and sales channels once the fundamentals are in place.
Here’s a step-by-step look at how Shopify works from initial set-up to managing sales.
1. Sign Up for Your Free Shopify Trial
You can test drive Shopify risk-free for three days, plus one month for $1.
2. Connect Your Sales Channels
The account setup wizard connects your initial sales channels, which you can change and expand at any time.
You may also connect your social media accounts in the setup procedure if you wish to sell through them.
3. Enter Your Product Data or Find Items to Sell
Enter item details, pricing and images for products that you make or source yourself or tap into Shopify’s Handshake wholesale network and dropship vendors to find items to sell
Note that many sellers combine items they make or source themselves with related dropship products to offer a well-rounded collection. Learn more about how to start a dropshipping business.
4. Set Up Your Payments
You can activate Shopify Payments with one click to start accepting payments right away or connect your own payment processor to your dashboard. Shopify supports more than 100 external payment processors. For help choosing the right one, check out the best credit card processing companies.
5. Set Up Shipping and Taxes
Under the Settings tab, set up your shipping methods and fees and your applicable sales tax information.
You can start selling now while you build your Shopify online store. With Steps 1 through 5 in place, you’re all set to sell on various social media and marketplace channels, using the Buy Button tool and in-person with the POS card reader.
6. Set Up Your Shopify Online Store
If you want to sell through your own branded website, your next step is setting up your Shopify online store. Again, Shopify makes this easy with an assortment of plug-and-play themes that require just a bit of setup and added content to make it your own.
7. Process, Ship and Track Orders
As orders roll in, you’ll manage everything within your Shopify dashboard. Shopify’s built-in tools make it easy to set up efficient workflows for managing orders you ship yourself, dropship products and even virtual items like e-books and music downloads. Shopify emails order status and shipment tracking information automatically to your customers too.
Once your setup and workflow essentials are complete, you’re ready to explore Shopify’s sales-driving features like email marketing, abandoned cart remarketing and blogging.
What Is Shopify’s Pricing?
Shopify pricing includes monthly fees based on your subscription plan, plus added fees for payment processing, shipping labels and advanced POS needs.
Shopify Subscription Costs
Shopify also offers discounts if you pay in advance—save 10% if you pay annually and 20% if you pay biennially.
Shopify Payment Processing and Transaction Fees
You can connect your own payment processor to Shopify or use the built-in Shopify Payments option. If you use your own payment processor, Shopify adds a transaction fee ranging from 0.5% to 2% of the total charge to every online sale. This fee does not apply if you use Shopify Payments.
Shopify Payments offers flat-rate payment processing with rates based on your subscription plan, as shown in the table above. Shopify Payments also supports in-person sales using Shopify’s mobile POS app and retail store POS system.
Additional Shopify Plans, Pricing and Costs
Shopify’s POS feature enables in-person sales for mobile pop-up shops, market selling, services and even multiple retail store locations. POS-based sales connect with online sales, inventory, customer data and business reporting seamlessly too.
You can use the free POS Lite that’s built into every Shopify plan or add full retail checkout functionality for a monthly fee:
Premium Shopify Themes
Shopify gives merchants nine free store themes, but many sellers opt for premium Shopify themes with specialty designs, added features and more customization options. Shopify’s theme store has more than 100 premium themes
What Products Can I Sell On Shopify?
Shopify supports sales for virtually all types of goods and services, including:
- Physical products that you ship yourself
- DigitalDropship products delivered via download, such as e-books, music files and digital gift cards
- items that ship to customers directly from your vendors
- Goods and services that are sold in a retail store
- Products and services sold in-person via mobile locations
- Services sold and managed through online booking
- Subscription boxes and memberships with automatic recurring payments
- Online courses, tutorials, workshops and webinars
- Tickets and passes for events, local tours and attractions
- Rentals sports equipment, formal wear, cameras and more
- Donations and fundraisers
Where Can I Sell Using Shopify?
