Shopify 90-day free trial 2020: One of many great opportunities coming from Shopify COVID-19 response

COVID-19 is the time when all human hypotheses are put to test.

We’ve been wondering a lot about the effects of everyone shifting to buying things online, where physical contact is non-existent.

In case you don’t know, this is exactly what a 100% e-commerce-driven world looks like.

Shopify 90-day free trial 2020, among other actions in the Shopify COVID-19 response, should be looked at as a humane approach to all merchants out there during this uncertain time. Along with this, it also takes the e-commerce game to a whole new level by introducing some really generous offers.

Interested in starting your e-commerce journey now? You surely don’t want to miss out on skyrocketing growth after the flattened curve.

Outline

• Explore the Shopify COVID-19 response package
• Sign up for the Shopify 90-day free trial 2020
• Free Shopify Email
• Gift cards for all plans and customers
• Local pickup and delivery
• $200 million in small business funding
• Educational sources
• Shopify ecosystem insiders have their own COVID response

Explore the Shopify COVID-19 response package

Do you know that Shopify has a website to document their updates on COVID-19?

The website provides an overview of all activities surrounding Shopify during this unprecedented time.

Live event updates

Knowledge

World news

This initiative is to keep merchants informed during COVID-19.

All resources are drawn from Shopify’s existing learning sources and form a cohesive collection on this page.

As everybody is driven to returning to normalcy with a new skill set, we’ll use this uncertain time as an opportunity to focus on learning new business/marketing skills and building a new Shopify store. When the disease subsides, you’ll be ready to launch your business. 

Sign up for the Shopify 90-day free trial 2020

The registration process is no different than the usual one, but watch out not to miss any valuable information along the way. Try to sign up for the Shopify 90-day free trial extension as soon as possible.

Kudos to Shopify for highlighting their hot deal straight from Google search. Initiatives to promote the deals across all platforms push the keyword right to the third place, despite a short history of searching.

Welcome to your atypical Shopify Admin Dashboard.

Although it maintains the same structure, the Dashboard displays an array of information that means a whole lot to new merchants during this time.

The dashboard looks like the Shopify COVID-19 response page packed into a simplified version. Click on the calls-to-action and you’ll be pointed to their valuable knowledge hub, including the Manual, Shipping Policy and the messaging platform, Shopify Ping.

Free Shopify Email

Please also note that Shopify email has been rolled out and will stay completely free until October 1 of this year. If you create your store around May time, your free 90-day Shopify trial will override the free service of Shopify email and you’ll have a lot of free space to test your email marketing campaigns.

Users can have discussions about Shopify Email and other Shopify-related topics in the Shopify Community.

Shopify Email lives alongside all your other marketing campaigns within Shopify Marketing in the admin, so it’s easy to manage your efforts across channels from a single place. There’s no setup required, and in just a few clicks, you can create, send, and track emails that integrate with your existing design and products.

Gift cards for all plans and customers

Gift Cards were initially only available to the ‘Shopify’ plan ($79/month) and above, which means that those on the ‘Basic Shopify’ plan ($29/month) are missing out.

However, Shopify is making physical and digital gift cards available on every plan on Shopify (including Basic).

Once you've set up your gift cards, you can reach out to your existing customers to let them know how they can continue to support your business, even while social distancing has them stuck at home.

Local pick-up and delivery

Shopify will enable in-store pick-ups for customers who use Shopify POS software. Shopify now enables retailers using Shopify POS to offer in-store or sidewalk pick up for online orders.

$200 million in small business funding

Shopify Capital is Shopify’s financial support package for small businesses who want to grow their presence.

After you've looked at your pre-qualified amounts and requested the best one for you, you'll find out whether your request is approved within 2-5 business days. If it is, then you could receive the funding in your bank account even as early as the next business day.

After receiving funding from Shopify Capital, some merchants are eligible to secure more funding. If this is the case for you, then you're notified by email.

Please note that Shopify has only allowed the fund to be accessible in the US and Canada. My store was created with a Vietnam’s IP address and here’s the notification.

Educational sources

Shopify has what is called a Shopify COVID-19 Resources and Support page.

The Shopify Blog provides a pool of reads for you to sharpen your skills and your understanding of the market during the pandemic.

Additionally, as a future business owner, you’ll probably be interested in looking at current events from a more in-depth and entrepreneurial perspective.

Head over to Shopify Compass and learn all the things valuable to your new business.

A highlight in the Shopify COVID-19 Response page

The courses

No matter your profession, there’s always something you can take away from the course list, especially during the time where “when you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in” is the talk of the town (boy, you know what ‘storm’ I’m talking about).

A glossy certification I got from one of the courses.

Shopify ecosystem insiders have their own COVID response

Promoting a similarly humane approach to the global issue, many Shopify apps are also helping merchants and partners with discounts and access to sales-driving features.

The best Shopify page builder PageFly presents its 2.10.0 version with discounts for all paid plans.

 

Access to all features, even on a forever free plan, will help merchants design pages that are both visually appealing and sales converting with a few simple drag-and-drops.