What Is Shopify & How Does It Work (2022 Best Guide)

 

Small businesses can create an online store and sell products online with the aid of the user-friendly e-commerce platform Shopify. Shopify sellers may create a cutting-edge online store and sell on social media platforms, marketplaces for sellers, other blogs, and websites, as well as via email, text, and chat. Shopify has a built-in point-of-sale (POS) for retail storefronts, pop-up shops, market sales, and more, making offline selling a breeze.

What Is Shopify?

Technically speaking, Shopify is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) sales platform that is subscription-based. Starting at $29 per month, Shopify provides four regular store subscription tiers. A comprehensive complement of offline and online selling tools is supported by all standard plans, along with a branded web store.

Additionally, Shopify has a "Lite" subscription for just $9 and in India around (Rs.1499.00) a month. It lacks an online store but does offer a Buy Button for selling on other websites, blogs, and email in addition to supporting mobile POS sales.

Every plan offers a comprehensive set of business management tools. Every Shopify package includes necessities like product sourcing, sales and inventory monitoring, payment processing, shipping, customer accounts, marketing, and reporting. Additionally, there are numerous Shopify Apps that make it simple to increase your toolbox. Check out our Shopify review to learn more.

How Does Shopify Operate?

Shopify works by centralizing your customer information, product data, and administrative activities into a single system that links to all of your sales channels without any interruptions. Shopify makes it simple to investigate and expand into new product lines and sales channels once the foundational elements are in place.

Here is a step-by-step explanation of how Shopify operates, from basic setup to sales management.

1. Sign Up for Your Free Shopify 14-day Trial

You can test drive Shopify risk-free for two weeks. Shopify doesn’t even ask for your credit card upfront.

2. Connect Your Sales Channels

The account setup wizard connects your initial sales channels, which you can change and expand anytime.

You can connect and sell through your social media accounts, and you can connect those in the setup wizard too.

3. Type in Your Product Information or Browse Items to Sell

For things, you produce or obtain yourself, provide item information, pricing, and photos. You can also use Shopify's Handshake wholesale network and dropship merchants to locate products to sell.

4. Organize or Setup Your Payments

You can connect your own payment processor to your dashboard or enable Shopify Payments with a single click to start taking payments right away. More than 100 external payment processors are supported by Shopify. Visit the top providers of credit card processing for assistance in making the appropriate decision.

5. Set Up Taxes and Shipping

Set up your delivery options, costs, and any necessary sales tax information under the Settings tab.

6. Create  and Configure Your Online Shop on Shopify

Setting up your Shopify online store is the next step if you want to sell through your own website with your brand. Once more, Shopify simplifies this with a variety of plug-and-play templates that just need a little setup and content to make them your own.

7. Process, Ship, and Track Orders

You'll control everything from your Shopify dashboard as orders come in. The tools that are already included in Shopify make it simple to set up effective workflows for managing orders that you ship yourself, drop ship products, and even virtual goods like e-books and music downloads. Shopify automatically notifies your customers of purchase status and shipment tracking updates.

You're ready to explore Shopify's sales-driving services, like email marketing, abandoned cart remarketing, and blogging, once your setup and workflow necessities are finished.

What Is the Cost of Shopify?

In addition to monthly fees based on your subscription plan, Shopify also charges extra for payment processing, shipping labels, and sophisticated POS requirements.

Costs of Shopify Subscription

Every one of Shopify's five online store options offers limitless items, orders, and customers, data protection, Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance, round-the-clock support, a comprehensive set of sales and company management features, and 24/7 assistance.

Visit Shopify for updated pricing

Shopify also provides discounts for paying in advance; you can save 10% or 20% depending on how frequently you pay.

Processing Fees for Transactions on Shopify

Shopify offers built-in Shopify Payments as well as the ability to integrate your own payment processor. Shopify charges a transaction fee that ranges from 0.5% to 2% of the total amount for each online sale if you use your own payment processor. If you choose to use Shopify Payments, this cost does not apply.

According to the table above, Shopify Payments offers flat-rate payment processing at prices that depend on your subscription plan. Using the mobile POS app and retail store POS system from Shopify, Shopify Payments also facilitates offline sales.

Pros and Cons of Shopify

Shopify offers a bunch of capabilities for managing your business and sales choices, but is it the right fit for you? You could make a decision using these benefits and drawbacks of Shopify.

Pros

Overall user-friendliness:

 Even complete beginners can set up a stunning Shopify store, numerous sales channels, and order processing procedures in the morning and start selling in the afternoon.

Low monthly fees for entry-level plans and attractive rates for higher plans are available.

Technology that is secure:

 Shopify's fully managed platform takes care of all the technical details.

Streamlined mobile and retail sales in-person: You can sell in person everywhere thanks to fully integrated mobile and POS solutions for physical stores.

Built-in product sourcing: 

Use Shopify's integrated dropship and wholesale networks to stock your store with little to no initial outlay.

Built-in email marketing can help you increase sales with just one click thanks to abandoned cart notifications and automated email marketing.

Unlimited growth potential: Shopify is home to some of the biggest brands online and is ready to support sudden and sustained growth.

Cons

Cost: You can find free and extremely low-cost Shopify alternatives if you’re operating on a shoestring budget.

Transaction fees: If you don’t use Shopify Payments, you incur a transaction fee on every sale made via credit or debit card.

Theme limitations: Shopify themes tend to be rather basic and adding advanced features and functionality requires specialized coding.

Fewer search engine optimization (SEO) options: Shopify online stores have basic SEO features compared to platforms like WordPress.

Simplistic blog tools: Shopify’s blogging features are quite limited compared to WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix.

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