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How to set up a Shopify store in 2023

There is a right way, a wrong way, and then there is your way to start, grow and manage a business. More and more people are taking their online retail business to Shopify. Why? From a one-person team to an extensive eCommerce Levithan, Shopify has regulated space for each business model. 

The subscription-based software allows anyone to sell their product with both online and physical presence. If you are someone looking to set up your store online from scratch, this blog is for you. You will learn how to set up and optimise your Shopify store. You will find answers to questions like “How to set up your Shopify store for success?” “How to develop winning business ideas to set up your Shopify store?” We have helped several e-commerce businesses to set up a Shopify store. So we have grabbed the first-hand insights on setting up the Shopify store.

Shopify Store and its dominance in the eCommerce retail

What can you sell on Shopify?

Answer: Anything. Yes, you read it right. You can sell services, memberships, ticketed events, rentals and even tutorial classes and courses. 

On the surface, Shopify is a complete commerce platform. But people limit its potential to only selling and buying the products. Whether you are selling online, on social media or in-person, Shopify got you covered. It gives your business leverage across web, mobile, social media, online marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops.

You can take your business to global consumers through a range of advanced software tools & technologies. From managing inventory to shipping the product, all the stages become strategic, manageable and convenient.

Consequently, the only thing you need is an Internet connection to run your business from anywhere. 

Step by step process to set up your Shopify store

Step 01: Start a free trial and set up the domain for your Shopify store

Duh! The first step is to sign up on the official Shopify website. The eCommerce platform offers a range of plans to get you started. If you do not want to commit right away, the free trial provides you with first-hand experience. The free trial takes away the financial hindrance while starting your business.

The store name that you choose will become your primary domain. The webpage will then take you to a questionnaire to be asked about your business. You can set the preferred time zone, a metric system for currency, and the company's address. The Shopify website gives you extensive features and privacy.

Step 02: Add your products

Your products are the key to deciding the look and feel of your store. There are several things while placing the product on your website. The list includes the product title and product description. To the viewer, details matter. For example, in a one-on-one sales call, the salesman describes all the product features they are selling, right?

Similarly, in the online store, customers learn about a product and decide whether or not to buy it. Details matter, and sharing the correct information correctly, from pricing to sizing, can make all the difference through text or visuals.

The product page is the best opportunity for you to communicate its value to potential customers. SEO plays a crucial role in marketing your product the right way.

Step 03: Organise products into collections

You can organise the products into categories and collections so your customers can easily navigate the options. Collections can be featured on the home page or in the navigation bar. With an automated collection, Shopify will pull those products automatically into the collection. Whereas, in a manual collection, you get complete control of what is in the collection. Organising your product page includes product availability, product type, tags, manufacturer, wholesaler, or third-party vendor for the product, etc.

Step 04: Add Key Pages

If you have information that will not change often, you can give this content a permanent home using a page. You can link the page to menus, so your customers can discover your online store. For example, your contact us page is how customers will find you. 

In case of customer disputes, Legal pages act as the right hand for your online store. The content includes policies on refunds, returns and late/missing refunds. Return policies that benefit customers facilitate higher conversion rates and more repetitive purchases.

You can link the legal policies on different pages of your online store to increase trust and communication. It is a definite way to increase the conversion rate. Make your return policy on the product pages and checkout pages.

Step 05: Choose a theme

You will get a default theme set up when you open an account. If you want to customise a different theme for your online store, you can check out the Shopify theme collection and browse according to your industry. Every month thousands of merchants use these templates for their virtual stores. You can look into the details to choose the right fit for you.

Different Shopify themes give you some key features that include continuous product scroll, quick buy, signature product grid, collection filtering in the sidebar, customer testimonials and optimisation of large images. Themes are the skeleton of your online store; you can manage, customise, edit or switch to a new theme at your convenience. 

Step 06: Edit the Look and feel of your store

Designing a website might not come naturally to you if it is your first time setting up an online store. The good news is that Shopify is intuitive for first-time users. You can make a thousand tweaks to strive for perfection. But initially, you just need to get the fundamentals right to launch your store.

On the left side of your window, click:

While making edits, the website responds in real time so that it becomes manageable for you to make the changes. You need to save periodically before navigating to another page to prevent any loss of the changes made. Give leverage to the accessibility and performance of your website.

Step 07: Payment Gateway Setup

You have finally reached the step where you are about to monetise the online store and reward all your efforts. With Shopify Payments, you can go from setting up to selling in one click. 

You can set the price according to your target audience in different countries. Shopify has partnered with leading international payment providers to support your sales efforts and features:

  • Enabled popular payment methods across the globe. For example, Apple users prefer Apple Pay to make payments.
  • Enabling multiple currencies for a global business setup.
  • 3D Secure checkouts, PCI Compliant servers, Payment data encryption.
  • A complete view of your transactions to efficiently manage the finances.

Step 08: Accelerated Checkouts | Express Checkouts

You can save the customer payment and shipping information, enabling you to retain the second-time customers. These buttons work best for impulse buys and making an effortless experience for your user. You might have seen such examples in GooglePay, PayPal, and Shop pay.

Step 09: Shipping and taxes

When people hear the word taxes, they turn edgy about the process. At Shopify, things are more manageable and straightforward. Because the eCommerce platform offers you default sales tax rates around the world. Although, you can conduct more intrinsic research on your behalf or ask a professional to make sure you are charging the right amount. 

Shopify allows you to override the default settings if there are specific requirements in the region for products or shipping charges. For example, alcohol tax varies throughout different countries. Whereas there is no tax on digital products which one can sell without any inconvenience of shipment or tax.

With Shopify, you can easily collect and remit taxes on every sale you make. 

Step 10: Launch your store

You can run a test run to stimulate a successful or a failed setup of your store. Make sure your store is ready to make a remarkable first impression and a smooth user experience during the launch. Go over the following steps again to make any last minute edits:

  • Add a custom domain.
  • Install relevant sales channels.
  • Customise your sales notification.
  • Set up your store for marketing (tracking and analytics).

Voila! Your store is ready to launch. Don’t fret over perfection. You can always make the changes with time, market it and optimise your store. These are the steps that merchants follow up after launching their online store. 

These were the 09 fundamental steps to set up your Shopify store in 2023 from scratch. If you get stuck while setting up the store and need help, you can contact Shopify experts at Friction Studio. It is time to get your products online and start selling.

Ravi Rathee
December 12, 2022

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