03 Mar Shopify for Beginners: Build Your Online Business

If you’ve just started exploring opening an online business or setting up your brick & mortar business with an online store, chances are you’ve heard of Shopify. Shopify currently supports more than 1,000,000 businesses in 175 countries around the world, making it one of the leading e-commerce software systems. Major established brands like Pepsi, Budweiser, Unilever and Nestle use Shopify, but its platform is also enjoyed by new and small businesses alike. If you’re interested in a bird’s eye view of how using Shopify can set your business up for success, we have an exclusive 1-hour Shopify 101 Tutorial with Stitchcraft CEO Leanne Pressly, that’s available for FREE when you sign up for our newsletter! 

What is Shopify?

Shopify is an all-inclusive online selling platform with a tiered monthly subscription service. Users choose from a range of different plans based on their business needs and the size of their enterprise. The plans range from $9 a month for Shopify Lite up to $299 a month for Advanced Shopify.

Many like and choose Shopify for its intuitive interface and variety of free Shopify apps. It’s easy to build an online store and customize it to your business needs, and Shopify provides reporting and stats on business performance as well as marketing tools. There is even a Shopify system for your offline business—Shopify POS—making it possible to consolidate your online and offline business all within the Shopify system.  

Why use Shopify?

Simply put, Shopify requires a very low barrier for entry. It’s easy to use, even for those who have never opened or operated an e-commerce store before. Shopify has free templates for building your online store, thousands of free apps to customize the shopping experience, and Shopify Academy, which offers free courses on learning how to use Shopify. Shopify also offers 24/7 online support if you have any questions or need assistance setting up your business. 

Getting Started with Shopify

So, where should you begin? For starters, take advantage of the Shopify 14-day free trial to familiarize yourself with the app. You’ll need to choose a business name as well, and even there Shopify has you covered with their business name generator. You can also check out their informative blog post about how to pick the best name for your online store. We also love Namelix, an AI-powered business name generator that creates a business name based on keywords and descriptors of your business. 

What’s Next?

After you’ve chosen your business name and signed up for a free trial, you’ll venture into creating your first product listing. That’s where we’re here to help! We’ve created an in-depth, hour-long video tutorial presentation focused on all the detailed steps of setting up your Shopify store. Stitchcraft Marketing CEO Leanne Pressly walks you through the steps of creating your first product listing, adding pages to your site, choosing your theme, setting up taxes, shipping, and payments, and finally opening your business to the public.

This exclusive Shopify 101 Tutorial is available for FREE when you sign up for our newsletter! 

If you’d like even more assistance with Shopify and launching and marketing your craft business, don’t hesitate to contact Stitchcraft Marketing today!