Shopify Review - A Strong Tech Base For A Crafty Mind

A fashion goods retailer will occasionally find it irritating to have to showcase products out of superficial effort, as the products represent who they are at heart. They need time to really polish their products before going further with tech and marketing. But the market doesn’t wait! 

Fashion retailers are flocking online and into the contest for attention. Not for how their products look, despite their sophisticated designs, but how their virtual store feels to the audience. Right from their first impression.

Meet Marie Smith, a handmade leather products enthusiast. Living pretty far away from vibrant New York City, Marie aims to have a virtual store on an eCommerce site. She needs a method to bring attention to her products and herself among the digital masses. 

Like any other artist, Marie is busy adding values to tiny little living behaviors of consumers 

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Shopify prides themselves in their support of independent businesses and takes the mantra to heart. Credit unnoticed, the company saves artists some trouble dealing with the tech side of things and leaves the crafty minds concentrated on their core products.

We’re here to tell you why.

Outline

• Meet your tech-savvy friend: Shopify
• Project your aesthetics whichevery way you want
• Think fashion, think money
• Get down to business

Meet your tech-savvy friend: Shopify

For a newbie fresh off the boat to eCommerce, you are given multiple choices to approach your customers. Amazon has its massive blocks of categories for your stores to sneak in, while print-on-demand platforms like Printify enable you to make money from your designs without worry about logistical operation.

However, that is fashion goods we are talking about! Personalisation is key and it runs through every stage of the retailing process. You don’t want to be mistaken with other brands in a public massive supermarket nor unfamiliar suppliers handle your brainchild in the production.

If you’re confused about some eCommerce terms, check out this blog where over 50 common eCommerce terms are briefly explained for beginners.

The dropshipping Shopify has been powering over 1 million businesses to deliver more than $183 billion in economic activity worldwide from 2016-2018. 

Shopify is a dedicated eCommerce builder designed to help you build your very own online store. You don’t need tech skills to use Spotify, and it has all the tools to support you as you create, publish and run your eCommerce business.

With a creative mind, all you need is a little bit of an exploration into its templates and making simple choices of what to showcase. It will take a while to know where every section of your store is located, but that's not a worry - Shopify brings with it a highly manageable backend. There’s surely a learning curve, but the journey will be a lot less painful.

An all-in-one solution

Think of Shopify as the only tech guy in your group of friends. Even the tiny tech error happens to your computer, his name is always off the top of your head. Unlike some taciturn tech guys, Shopify guy is always responsive, and is more than willing to guide you throughout the whole process, down to the last detail.

Just in case you are lost, the company is thoughtful enough to provide you with a series of step-by-step training videos and guidelines. The Shopify Help Center also has a wealth of information, and you can contact Shopify directly if you need more specific answers to problems.

And since Shopify is that tech friend who facies sticking around, you can be sure that he’s a reliable and trustworthy one.

Nate Shivar is an influential social media personality specialising in website and marketing. He discloses with praise the speed performance of his coffee shop that runs their store on Shopify.

Shopify provides 100% SSL, keeps their sites on a fast stable pace, and coordinates with different payment providers so the interactions and payment process on its interface would face little to no discontinuation. Whether your customers are buying a pair of shoes or a bulk of winter jackets, the shopping experience would be seamless.

As a side note, Shopify is also a publicly-traded company with audited software and industry-leading security.

For a quick glance into the numbers, click HERE. They speak volumes.

Project your aesthetics whichever way you want

There is versatility to fashion.

This...

… or this...

...not to mention the fact that a fashion brand itself might want to experience makeovers season after season.

This is it. Shopify knows you well. It helps organize the layout of your store’s appearance through themes (which you’re free to modify or change any way you want). This variety means you’ll always find the right tone for your brand.

You will have 11 unique themes to start with, all of which offer 3 different choices of style. If 33 unique styles for free installation does not suffice for you, then don't worry - Shopify is a playground for different apps and extensions providers around the world. Be wise to pick your most suitable partner. Mind you, you can always filter paid Shopify themes from the Shopify Experts team. They guarantee good value for money and thorough customer service. All in all, they save you time!

PageFly, a certified Shopify Expert, is a solution for Shopify merchants who want to make fully customizable eCommerce stores. Its selection of over 50 templates does not just appeal to the eye, but also follows SEO-centric principles to help drive traffic to your online store.

We recommend you start off by adding products, and then style your storefront. Because Shopify is a store builder, its themes naturally revolve around products – so it can be difficult to design your page without any products to feature!

When you’re selling a large number of products, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for your customers to browse your store and find the product they want. Check out the video below to optimise Shopify’s ‘Collection’ feature for better organisation of your products.

Good news is, Shopify has a free trial for business starters. If it’s a true calling, do not hesitate to step up the game with fascinating combos of features from Shopify’s advanced plans and other suppliers.

Think fashion, think money

Marie’s asked the right question. The ‘what now’ moment is important for any artist that has come close to mastering their expertise and can’t wait to venture into the real world. 

You could tell everything about designs that fit. Better, you could tell what makes people wear a design. Trials and errors could be used here and there while working for other people in the fashion industry, but it’s unlikely to turn a creative idea into a self-owned business without a systematic process.

Amazon, Shopee and other marketplaces allow you to sell with a fee. Meanwhile, Shopify is a website platform where you can integrate a shopping cart, inventory, orders, design, and customer management. Shopify is a bigger commitment, but offers more freedom to be serious about a business.

Manage everything about your store with apps

Shopify’s themes come packed with great features for you to monetise your business:

• Customizable content sections on the home page
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Drop-down navigation support
• Free theme updates
• Mobile-friendly design
• Social media icons
• Built-in styles and color palettes
• Free stock photos by Burst

If you want an actual online store, start off with the Basic Shopify plan for $29 per month. For everything you get included in the starter pack, it’s a reasonable monthly price! Shopify Lite is the best place to start if you already have a website and you just want to sell a few products on the side, while other plans are more capable of serving higher-developed enterprises. 

Don’t worry if you’re sitting on the fence! Testing different channels is understandable at these first steps. Shopify allows stores to sell across multi-channels with a simple ‘Buy’ button marketplaces and social media. Shopify’s integrations aren’t actually built-in – instead, you install apps for the channels you want to sell across. 

Shopify lets you manage your shipping options, providing an extensive range of settings for you to control and edit. Shopify has partnerships with USPS and UPS, helping you with available excellent delivery services around the US. New York City can always be a go-to market even when you are miles away from the centre. You can also install apps if you need extra shipping functions. Or if you’re a fan of start-to-finish management, try to source your own couriers.

Get down to business

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, if you are in the baby steps with a fashion business online, you have come to the right place.

Step 1: Sign up your store

Two weeks straight, no payment incurred during the trial

You might be interested: Shopify Cost and Pricing Explained - What’s your Investment?

Step 2: Select a Shopify theme

Pre-designed and customisable. Being economical is acceptable at this point, but do consider investing into worthy templates.

Step 3: Add products

Showcase your ready-made and ready-for-demand products.

There is no marketplace or print-on-demand platforms here asking you to do things their way. Be creative!

Step 4: Plan long-term: apps & marketing 

When you see opportunities coming up, let Shopify help you with its built-in features. Marketing, Blog, Social Media and Point of Sales support are great dancing stages for artists that firmly grasp their hard skills and want to try out more.

However, brace yourself for an overwhelming workload coming. Or else, let well-recognised apps & extensions suppliers on Shopify App Store help you with their best practices to scale up.

You’re ready to sell!

Sign up for the 14-day trial on Shopify

Conclusion

A strong tech base like Shopify plays a key role in supporting business ideas. The high-tech & artistic looks of virtual stores on the platform says it best. Anywhere in the world, a person can dream of reaching places with a creative initiative. No complicated company kind of structure is required!

Just yet, but keep dreaming, and be crafty too!