Pros & Cons of Shopify – Is it Worth It?

Drop shipping has been a booming market for a few years now, this is because of the opportunity it represents, especially for those who dream of an additional income stream. More and more people are now embarking on ecommerce platforms to start selling products both physical as well as digital and are eager to be able to make ends meet. Before starting, however, there are a number of parameters to put in place. Creating an online store requires you to complete several formalities and develop an online strategy. If you are planning on trading, you will have to select an e-commerce platform for your shop. Shopify is possibly the best platform to launch your eCommerce store.

Why choose Shopify as an eCommerce solution?

With hundreds of thousands of users wishing to start a dropshipping business, to its credit, Shopify has a simple website builder that is easy to use for beginners. It is also known for its ergonomic appearance and has several ecommerce templates in their theme store, unlike other platforms. Its system makes it possible to secure payments. For the less creative, Shopify offers you the widest choice in terms of customization and online store builders. 

Take advantage and select a 14-day free trial period if you are hesitant. After which, you can start on one of their basic plans without having to worry about web hosting or point of sale stuff.

Shopify pricing – Before launching your online store

Shopify has the most diverse plans, although you could say that both platforms have similar plan tiers.

Shopify’s Basic plan costs $29/month and its Advanced plan costs $299/month. Knowing the right tools and support you need helps in choosing the right plan. Also, you save more money if you opt for a 2-year contract with one of their plans.

Shopify also has what they call a “Lite” plan at $9/month and Shopify Plus which is their Enterprise-grade solution and is a quote-based solution.

Their Lite plan allows you to sell through your own blog, or even from Facebook. You are not really getting your own online store, but you get Shopify buttons on your own existing sites where you can sell your products

Several prerequisites will be necessary before starting your e-commerce business. As you launch into drop shipping, you will first need to clarify some points: the choice of the product to market, market research, and analysis of competition, dropshipping supplier, etc. Deciding the type of product you will be selling is an important step for your launch because it will determine the target audience and help you when you conduct market research on the viability of your product. 

You have to evaluate your potential competitors and find out what works and what does not as this requires long-term analysis. Finally, you will have to find your suppliers. Note that you can not just select any provider. You have to consider the supplier’s credibility/reliability customer service, and his/her experience in drop shipping, as well as several criteria that he/she will have to answer. This first decision will be the basis of your strategy; your choices and your marketing strategy will be at the origin of the success or failure of your shop. 

Keep in mind that you need to be professional at all levels to attract and retain customers in your drop ship business. Whether you are using Youtube or other social media such as Instagram or Facebook pages and ads. It goes without saying that the images should be clear and captivating in addition to the description. A good image can reflect the quality of the product. Dropshipping works.

Let me explain how to create your eCommerce site with Shopify.

1- Setting up your Shopify account

To create an online store on Shopify, you must first start a free 14-day trial and then select one of their pricing plans.

You must then enter your personal information (contact details, etc.). After validating your data, you are redirected to your dashboard where you will be able to configure your drop shipping site.

See more here

2- Choose the theme of your Shopify store

Shopify puts at your disposal a large number of original and beautiful themes that are easy to use and set up. You can access the Shopify theme marketplace: here, you have free themes and others paying. You can see on the Shopify marketplace the features of the theme, if it is responsive or not and also the reviews and opinions of other customers. Once the theme is installed, or purchased, you will need to configure it. Depending on whether you have taken a free theme or a premium you simply have to click on “Install Theme” or “Buy Theme”. Although the theme has been predefined, your site will still retain its authenticity because each theme can be customized once installed. If you get stuck choosing or customizing your theme then spiffy has a second to none support via their Shopify Support center. When you have finished customizing your site, you can then start to add the products that you want to sell. Once the configuration is done you will have to click on “publish as my shop’s theme” you will be able thereafter to change the theme if you wish.

3- Add products to your shop even on the lite plan

When you have finished customizing your site, you will need to add the products you want to sell. To do this, go to “Products” in the left menu then “Add a product” and fill in all the fields, product title, description, relevant tags, images, sizes, etc. Select the products belonging to the same category, in “Products”, go to “Bulk actions” and click on “Add to collection”. You can create a collection during this step. For example, if you propose art materials you will be able to have the categories painting-pastel-pencil or paper-canvas-accessory. 

Adding and removing products can be done manually or automatically. You will be likely to add pages for the types of articles you sell on your site. In this case, go to the “Online store” menu, then “Pages” or “Blog Post” depending on whether it is a page or a blog, “Add Page”, you will then have to make configurations before saving. 

Finally, discounts and promotions on products, go to “Discounts”, “Add discount” and “Generate Code”. You will have control over these promo codes based on what you have chosen about their validity. Discounts can be fixed or percentages, or can take the form of free shipments. 

It will be up to you to determine the duration of these promotions and the products on which they may apply. Discounts can be fixed or percentages, or can take the form of free shipments. It will be up to you to determine the duration of these promotions and the products on which they may apply. Discounts can be fixed or percentages, or can take the form of free shipments. It will be up to you to determine the duration of these promotions and the products on which they may apply.

4- Payment gateway options

When a customer checks out, they can choose to pay for their order using any of the methods that you’ve enabled in the Payment providers area of Shopify. … Shopify’s list of payment gateways by country can help you find out which payment gateway are available in your country and what currency they support.

5- Add discounts on your products

If you want to add a discount on one of your products, you have to go to the discounts section and then> add discount, once that you just have to configure your coupon code to put the reduction that you wish you can create a reduction in% or in amount, you can, of course, limit the reduction in the time.

6-Create a page and add content on it

To create a Shopify page, you have to go to the “online store” section and then> page> and “add page”. You just have to add your content and save with the “save” button at the top of the page. The step is the same for a blog post.

7-Show your company information

You will also need to display the information about your company for a better trust from a customer point of view: “Settings”, “General”. Complete the three categories of information namely Store Details, Store Adress, and Standard and Formats. This information is important and guarantees your reliability to the customer. This can be a barrier before customers order.

Shopify: The coolest tools for you ecommerce business

Shopify offers a wide range of tools for re-sellers and those who wish to sell online, they give the possibility to manage for example:

• Logo design

• The invention of a name for your company

• Payroll development

• Business card creation

• Invoice development with proposed models

• Creating bar codes associated with your articles

• Finally, an image editing tool

All these small tools both practical and relevant, show that Shopify has not forgotten about small entrepreneurs who are new to the field of online sales, and also those who do not necessarily know yet very well in management. 

Is Shopify mobile friendly?

Shopify has looked into the mobile phone responsiveness, including its usefulness for Internet users. It is for this reason that all themes of the site, including those available for free, have a version for Smartphones. Shopify goes even further and offers a mobile app that allows you to control your orders, set up your online store, add items, etc.

Shopify: Benefits Summary

1. The interface is very easy to use for drop shippers, perfect for beginners in the drop shipping world; You do not have to be a developer or an expert to take the reins of your online store.

2. Hosting and domain name is included when you sign up.

3. Shopify can also appeal to experienced users as the HTML / CSS code is open and editable. If you are connoisseurs, do not hesitate to make the changes you want to your e-commerce interface.

4. The app store is very well supplied, and the apps available perfect to help you boost your sales.

5. Shopify offers relatively inexpensive solutions.

6. It takes very little time to launch an online store.

7.Helps you fulfil orders

Conclusion

The internet levelled the plain field and now, because of this, everyone gets a shot at the entrepreneurship world. The only limit is your imagination…and your budget.

Nowadays, you can literally set up a store in a minute. You can even sell without your own goods, or without inventory via dropshipping product or affiliate products.

Shopify makes life easy for aspiring entrepreneurs. You can have everything set up — from the store design down to the shipments and payments.

Set up within 60 seconds and try the 14 day free trial today