How To Start an Online Store on Shopify in 2024?
Most people stare at the blank canvas before them, not knowing where to start setting up an online store for the first time. We decided to put together these puzzle pieces to help you save time, money, and energy by walking you through all the decisions you’ll make while setting up a Shopify store.
With the right tools and guidance, starting an online shop could not be daunting. We’ll try to guide you step by step in choosing an e-commerce platform, designing your store, and selling your goods.
1. Select a suitable e-commerce platform
To build and start your first online store experience, you need to choose an e-commerce platform. This platform is the control center of your online business. So it’s better to choose it more carefully. There are some critical points regarding selecting an e-commerce platform:
- Web hosting
Web hosting allows your customers to access your online shop. Some e-commerce platforms offer built-in web hosting, while others ask you to use third-party solutions.
- Usability
If you are a newbie, a free trial or a demo may help you to find yourself. Choosing an easy-to-use e-commerce platform is a pivotal point you must consider.
- Friction-free checkout
Your business goal is selling products. So, you need a streamlined checkout process. Being simple for buyers to finish their orders and pay the costs is a significant factor of an e-commerce platform. The Shopify checkout process is easy and streamlined.
- Accessible customer support
The entire way support is another factor in your chosen e-commerce platform. Shopify offers assistance launching your site or migrating it from other platforms, 24/7 live chat, email, or phone, and customer care in 19 different languages.
When you select the platform, it is time to consider your current and future needs. Platforms, such as Shopify, are not only perfect for today but also the most potent solution for the future.
2. Determine your target audience
You need to focus on a group of people and do your best to communicate with them through various marketing efforts. Finding your ideal audience helps you access new shoppers and attract them more uncomplicated to purchase. There are some important categories, such as interests, demographics, and geographics, that you can focus on to develop what you plan to sell. Create your buyer persona and business plan for future needs, for example, when you want to run marketing campaigns.
3. Select products to sell
Finding profitable products to sell is one of the most prominent issues merchants face. The good news is if you have a target audience in mind, you’re one step ahead. Based on the field that you’re working like dropshipping, reselling, or manufacturing, there are a multitude of opportunities to choose products to sell. Here, we introduce a number of ways to select profitable products:
- Find trends and capitalize on them.
- Appeal to enthusiastic hobbyists.
- Follow your passion.
4. Design your online store
We suggest starting a free trial of Shopify. By following this guide, you can gain enough experience creating your store.
The first step of starting your trial is entering a store name. This name will become your default URL (storename.myshopify.com); you cannot change it later. You can purchase a custom domain, so don’t worry about choosing a perfect store name now.
We prepare a checklist of items you must have before beginning.
- Business idea
- Business name
- Logo
- Product photos
5. Add new products
Your goods are what you’ll design the look and feel of your online store around. So, you need to add your products as the first thing you do. Find “Products” from the left-hand list and click “Add product” to create your first list. Spend time to fill different sections, such as product title and description.
Customers want to know and learn more about a product to decide whether to buy it, and the product page is where they are looking for details. You can make a difference by sharing the right information in the right way. Sometimes, you may have no idea of what information you should add so that you can look at others in your market for inspiration.
Also, you can upload visual media, like photos, videos, or even 3D models. Using high-quality photos, putting products in the best light, and avoiding blurry images are the most essential tips that you need to take care of.
6. Set product price
Optionally, you can use the Compare at price field to communicate what the product would typically cost, especially in the case of a sale. For example, if we wanted to show savings on buying our hot sauce three-pack, we could enter the original price of three bottles here. However, I caution against using this without good reason, especially if you’re selling premium products, as it could cheapen their perceived quality.
The Cost per item field is also optional. If you like, you can use it to track your profit margin for an individual product. On the Shopify plan or higher, this lets you track profit in your profit report.
7. Inventory
If you sell and ship your own products, it’s better to keep track of inventory in Shopify to know how many products you have left and how many more you need. On the other hand, you wouldn’t need to track inventory for dropshipping or using print-on-demand services.
8. Shipping
In the shipping section, you’ll enter details that will automatically calculate shipping rates and print the appropriate shipping labels for each order. Some terms, like weight and customs information, may be necessary for shipping.
9. Create key pages for your online store
Your customers want to know about your business, so you must give them some reasons to trust you. It’s better to make essential details available. Something your shoppers are looking for.
- About page
An About page connects personally with customers, explains your business model, and/or shares why you started your business. A persuasive About page can go a long way in earning trust for new brands — remember this when you create your online business.
- Contact page
This page gives customers straightforward ways to reach you if they have questions or points them to a place to find answers.
- Policy page
Customers expect certain legal pages that can help protect you in disputes, such as your return and privacy policies.
- FAQ page
A frequently asked questions page helps alleviate some of the more common customer support inquiries.
10. Customize your online store
Now, it’s time to do some customizations. The first step is choosing a theme. Our previous articles explained essential tips for selecting the best theme and introduced 10 best free and premium themes in 2024. You can read these articles to find the best theme for your online store.
Then, you can start to design your home page based on the chosen theme. When deciding your homepage design, consider the goals a homepage needs to accomplish and determine how they apply to your online business:
- First-time visitors have the highest priority. Your home page design must help them quickly understand your business and what you sell.
- Your home page design should be mobile-friendly. Most shoppers use their smartphones to browse and buy online.
- Accommodate returning visitors and make navigating to the products and pages they’re looking for easy.
Use slideshows, featured collections, images with text, newsletters, etc., to create a well-designed home page.
11. Ask for feedback
Feedback is a gift, especially when you’ve been spending so much time working to create your online store. Fresh eyes can often spot areas to improve that you don’t and provide invaluable insights you can use to tweak your store. Some other great places to go for feedback include:
- People close to you who you can rely on to give honest, constructive feedback
- Subreddits that your target customers may subscribe to
- Facebook groups
- The Shopify Community’s Feedback on My Store Forum
12. Launch your online store
The journey to create an online store ends here, but it’s just beginning for you. You must work on marketing, data gathering, monitoring, and analysis. Writing SEO-friendly content and running Facebook ad campaigns are just two examples of your many tasks. A long adventure is waiting for you!
