How to Start a Shopify Store from Scratch (2024)

Did you know that Shopify has over 2 million live stores as of 2023 (Source: Statista)? It’s the go-to platform among most sellers because of its intuitive design that doesn't require coding skills, making it easy to use for beginners like you. But where do you start? In this article, we will guide you on how to start a Shopify store with an additional guide in having a business plan and building your brand so you can get your store up and running as soon as possible.

How to Start a Business on Shopify

Imagine yourself building your new house from scratch. First, you will need an outline or blueprint to map it out to see what it will look like in the long run. It’s the same in business. Understanding how does Shopify work is crucial since it simplifies complex processes like payments and inventory, but you still need to define your goals, target market, and costs to mitigate risks and achieve success.

Define Your Business Goals and Objectives

Having concrete goals and objectives will shape your strategy building your brand, marketing, and other factors that will help your business thrive in the e-commerce world. This will also help you successfully set up a Shopify store.

You can be guided by the following questions:

1. What is the primary purpose of your e-commerce business?
2. How do you see your business in 1, 3, and 5 years?
3. What are your core values?

These questions will help you articulate what you want to achieve and how you envision your business's future, influencing branding and customer engagement of your Shopify store.

Identify Your Niche and Audience

After defining your business goals and objectives, you need to identify your niche (if you don’t still have one) and audience or target market to tailor your products or services to meet their demands effectively.

You can be guided by the following questions to identify your audience and niche:

• Who are your customers?

• Demographics: gender, age, income, etc.
• Location: specific regions, cities, or neighborhoods they live in, etc.
• Interests: their preferences, behaviors, etc.

• What specific problems or pain points do your products or services solve for your customers?
• How do you plan to reach your target audience online?

By answering these questions, you will understand who your customers are and what they need. So you can craft a more personalized approach, making your business more relevant and appealing to them.

Analyze Your Competition

Technology is continuously evolving so businesses are adapting to expand and protect what they established. That’s why more online stores are showing up, making the competition tight. So make sure to have a unique aspect that will make you stand out.

You can be guided by the following questions:

1. How large is the potential market for your niche?
2. Is the potential market growing?
3. What is the level of competition within this niche?
4. How saturated is the market?

These questions will help you position your business effectively in a crowded market. From there, you can plan your strategies effectively to attract customers and keep up with the increasing competition.

Calculate Your Business Costs

Calculating costs is crucial in your business plan. Make sure you track all your expenses, from website development, inventory, product, marketing, and operations to technology, shipping, and miscellaneous costs to see if your business remains profitable while scaling effectively.

How to Set Up a Store on Shopify

After creating a solid business plan, you’re ready for the next exciting phase. This Shopify guide will walk you through every essential step, cutting out unnecessary fluff, so you can confidently begin your e-commerce journey and set up your store effectively.

Sign Up on Shopify

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required. So you can explore it and see if it works for you. After the free trial, choose a plan to continue using the platform. The pricing varies depending on the features you want to avail.

You can worry about the plans later after exploring the platform for 3 free days. Now, here’s how to begin your free trial on Shopify:

1. Visit Shopify’s Website and click on the Start free trial button.
2. Upon entering this step, there will be a simple survey that you’ll answer. However, there’s a Skip All button if you wish not to answer all of the questions or if you want to save your time.But we recommend going through this to make the settings more personalized for you.
3. Select the country where you will set up your business.
4. Create an Account: Enter your email address and create a password, OR sign up via email, Apple, Facebook, or Google.

Set Up a Shopify Store

After creating an account, set up your general and security details as follows:

• Phone number
• Profile photo
• Preferred language
• Timezone
• Passkey (fingerprint, face ID, or pin)
• Password
• Secondary email
• 2FA for additional security

Select a Shopify Plan

Shopify offers monthly and annual subscriptions, with an annual discount of up to 25%. The monthly subscription costs are as follows:

• Basic plan for solo entrepreneurs: $25
• Shopify plan for small teams: $65
• Advanced plan as your business scales: $399
• Plus plan for more complex businesses: $2,300

You don’t have to make a decision right now, take your time to review the plans and choose one that is best for you and your business.

If you’re ready to subscribe, there is a floating window on the Admin page at the bottom. Simply click Select a plan, choose your preferred one, and complete the on-screen instructions.

Build Your Brand

[Source: Unsplash]

With your business plan ready and your Shopify store set up, the next step is to establish your brand identity. In this section, we'll guide you through customizing your store design, showcasing your products or services, and more to finalize your store and make it live.

Customize Your Store Design

Selecting the right theme needs time to think over as it needs to align with your brand’s aesthetics and functionality.

The Shopify website builder provides access to over 150 free and premium themes, helping you design a store that reflects your brand while offering intuitive customization tools. The free themes come with user-friendly basic layouts and limited features, which might restrict you from customizing your store’s appearance. While paid themes offer more advanced features, functionality, and customization options.

One example is the Shine premium theme, which offers highly customizable options, perfect for brands that aim to exude elegance and professionalism. It provides sleek design elements and a responsive layout, helping you achieve more sales conversion.

Follow these steps to start choosing a theme for your Shopify store:

1. Click Online Store under Sales Channels on the left sidebar.
2. The free themes will show up, and you can select View Demo to see its design or Try Theme to choose that theme for your store.
3. OR you can select Visit Theme Store to see all the free and paid themes. From there, you can customize your homepage, products, collections, and your collection list. You can also check what your store looks like on different devices by clicking the desktop or mobile icon on the top right of the page.

In this part, you will also need to create and add your logo, choose an official brand color scheme, and create a brand description.

Showcase Your Products or Services

The way you present your products or services to your audience can make or break your online store. People tend to stay on a website if it is appealing and user-friendly. So make sure to use high-quality product images to boost your business’s online presence and improve conversion rates as it also influences customers’ purchasing decisions.

Here’s how you can showcase your products or services in your Shopify store:

1. Go to Products in your Shopify admin page.
2. Click Add Product.
3. Enter the name of your product or service in the Title box.
4. Describe the features of your product or service and put it in the Description box.
5. Click Upload New to add high-quality images.
6. Select the right category for your product or service.
7. Input the price*, shipping weight (if applicable), variants (size or color), and product organization.
8. Select the sales channels and markets.
9. After you’re done with all the needed information, turn the status into Active.
10. Click Save to publish.

*PRO TIP: Ensure that your pricing will generate a reasonable profit margin to sustain the business financially. Also, check the competitors’ prices to see how yours compare in the market. This will help you position your products effectively, ensuring that they are attractive to customers while remaining competitive.

Set Up Payment Options

Choosing the right payment options is essential for providing a smooth and secure checkout experience for your customers. Shopify has its own payment gateways and supports third-party ones.

Shopify Payments offers seamless integration with no transaction fees, but you must be located in a supported country to be eligible. While third-party payment providers offer more flexibility and support additional payment methods for countries where Shopify Payments isn’t available. But, you must know that they charged transaction fees.

After selecting a payment gateway, you will need to do the following:

1. Choose the payment methods you want to offer to the customers, including credit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, etc.
2. If your target market is worldwide, enable multi-currency support to convert prices automatically for global customers.
3. Set your payout schedule—daily, weekly, or monthly.
4. Activate additional fraud prevention measures, such as requiring CVV or postal/ZIP code verification to enhance security.

Build a Shipping Strategy

Online store comes with the complex of shipping and delivery processes. You would want to make it easier and accessible for your customers to make them satisfied, so they can return to purchase in your store again.

Find Your Shipping Zones

Start by setting up shipping zones, which are the geographical areas where you'll offer shipping services. Each zone can have its own rates and delivery options.

Here’s how to add a shipping zone in your Shopify store:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Click Shipping and Delivery.
3. Click New Profile.
4. Add a profile name and products.
5. Click Create Zone and provide a name for the shipping zone.
6. Choose the countries and regions you want to include in the zone.
7. Click Done.
8. Enter the rates for that zone.
9. Click Save.

Set Shipping Rates

Choose between free, flat, or calculated shipping rates:

• Free Shipping: It attracts customers by covering shipping costs in the product price or offering free shipping on specific conditions, such as minimum order value.
• Flat Shipping Rates: It charges a consistent fee regardless of order size or weight. It is ideal if your products have similar sizes, simplifying the shipping process.
• Calculated Shipping Rates: It adjusts based on factors like package weight, dimensions, and destination, providing accurate costs but requiring more setup.

Set Delivery Options

Shopify allows you to set up local delivery and in-store pickup, enhancing customers’ shopping experience.

• Local Delivery: You can configure local delivery for customers within a specific radius. This option allows you to define delivery zones, set minimum order values, and specify delivery fees, making it a cost-effective choice for you and your customers.
• In-Store Pickup: If you have a physical location, enabling in-store pickup gives local customers the option to pick up their orders directly from your store. This option can reduce shipping costs and provide a seamless experience for customers who prefer to collect their orders in person.

Arrange Your Taxes

It is important to set up your taxes in Shopify for compliance and smooth operation. Don’t worry! Shopify calculates your taxes automatically, making it easier for you. The calculations will be based on your location. But you will be the one to remit these taxes to the appropriate authorities to stay compliant.

Shopify has partner tax companies that you can check out in the Settings > Apps. Just make sure that you are always up-to-date about your local tax laws. If these taxes are a bit complex (which I feel the same), you can consult a tax professional to help you avoid legal or financial issues.

Familiarize Yourself With Other Navigations

Explore all the settings and features of Shopify to run your online store efficiently. You will thank yourself in the long run as it will make your daily operations smooth, which is a factor in attaining your business goals and objectives.

The admin panel serves as the central hub for managing your store, allowing you to access different sections quickly, such as products, orders, customers, and analytics. Familiarity with this interface will not only speed up routine tasks but also help you set marketing goals, improve customer service, and optimize your store’s performance.

Launch Your Shopify Store

You’re all set! Thank you for letting us guide you on how to set up a store on Shopify. Now, are you ready to make your online store available to the public and make your first sale? Let’s go!

Test it First

It is vital to test your Shopify store before making it public. It would help you to see and fix the errors or technical issues, such as payment gateway errors and broken links, which is better than the customers experiencing it. In this way, you can be assured that they will be returning customers.

Here’s how to place a test order on your Shopify store:

1. Go to Settings and click Payments.
2. Deactivate credit card and third-party payment provider.
3. Choose (for testing) Bogus Gateway.
4. Select Activate (for testing) Bogus Gateway.
5. Click Save.

Then, think of yourself as a customer and place an order in your store. When inputting card details, just provide generic and not real numbers. After checking, deactivate (for testing) Bogus Gateway to remove it from the checkout page.

It is also important to check your store in mobile view as most users shop through their phones. Make sure it is responsive and functional for a smooth customer experience.

Go Live

Finally, you’re on the last step! This will be the start of your e-commerce journey. Good luck!

But wait, make sure there are no other errors or missing pages in your store. Be guided by this checklist:

• Place a test order on mobile devices and desktop
• Testing different payment options
• Check the shipping rates
• See the order notification
• Verify your domain
• Check if all products are visually okay
• Create pages such as FAQs, Contact Us, About Us, etc.
• Create a checkout and 404 error page design
• Test if the discount codes or any vouchers are working

If it’s all marked done, you can make your Shopify store public by following either of these steps:

• Via Themes page: Go to Online Store > Themes > Remove password.

• Via Preferences page: Go to Online Store > Preferences > Deselect the Restrict access to visitors with the password under Password protection > Save.

Market Your Store and Grow Your Business

Once your Shopify store is live, the real challenge begins—attracting customers and turning visitors into loyal buyers. You can achieve this with effective marketing and promotion. But where do you start? Let us give you some useful tips to make your first sale.

Marketing and Promotion

Marketing strategies are essential when establishing a business or opening a store to connect with customers. As of today, there are a lot of channels you can choose from, such as social media platforms and blogs. The difficult part is creating content that drives traffic and sales.

You can try these tips:

1. Social Media Marketing: Focus on the social media platforms where your target audience is most active. For instance, Instagram and TikTok are great for visual content, while Facebook is effective for reaching a broader, often older audience.
2. Content Marketing and SEO: Create a blog that provides valuable information about your products or industry. This not only helps establish your brand as an authority but also improves your site’s SEO, driving organic traffic over time.
3. Email Marketing: Start collecting email addresses from your visitors and customers. Offer incentives like discounts or free resources in exchange for sign-ups. Then, send them personalized emails to make them feel special, resulting in more sales conversions.
4. Influencer Marketing: Collaborate with influencers who align with your brand and have a following that matches your target market. Their endorsement can introduce your products to a broader audience.
5. Paid Advertising: Use Google or Facebook Ads to create highly targeted campaigns. Focus on demographics, interests, and behaviors that align with your ideal customers.

Choose a Shopify Landing Page Builder

To maximize the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, you need to have well-designed landing pages in your Shopify store to convert visitors into customers.

Shopify has free or paid themes that may not be enough to create specific standalone pages within your store. Thankfully, there are landing page builders available in the Shopify App Store that you can consider for your marketing campaigns, product launches, promotions, or special offers.

The popular and most used is PageFly, which is ahighly customizable app without the need for coding. You just need to drag and drop to create visually appealing landing pages in your store. It also integrates seamlessly with Shopify themes, providing a wide range of conversion-focused elements for a smooth and responsive shopping experience.

Conclusion

Building a Shopify store from scratch can be successful with careful planning and execution. Just lay out a long-term foundation for your business, which includes defining your goals, identifying your target market, and creating a strong brand presence through effective marketing strategies. With persistence, hard work, and the right approach, your Shopify store can thrive in the competitive e-commerce landscape.