Shopify Certification: Which One Do You Need and How to Get Them?

The eCommerce industry is a competitive and shifting industry.

To ensure your abilities, whether as an entrepreneur or as a talent, remain up-to-date, constant relearning and skill sharpening are in order.

Shopify certifications are surefire indicators of someone with practical and helpful knowledge of the Shopify platform.

What is a Shopify Certificate

Source: Credly

A Shopify certificate is a guarantee that an individual possesses relevant Shopify knowledge to contribute to an online business’ success.

For talent, a Shopify certificate means more opportunities and career growth.

Types of Shopify Certifications

Shopify certifications can be categorized into Shopify platform certifications, Shopify developer certifications, and Shopify partner certifications.

Shopify Platform Certification

Source: Shopify

Courses and programs centered on mastery of the Shopify platform likely give out these certifications.

Merchants and Shopify Partners with these certifications know their way around Shopify and are excellent at

• Starting and growing an online business
• Setting up Shopify stores
• Optimizing the checkout process
• Building an engaging customer experience
• Social media marketing

among many others.

The skills acquired through this certification are transferable skills that merchants and partners may apply with other eCommerce platforms and business ventures.

Shopify Developer Certification

Shopify Developer certification requires more advanced and specialized knowledge. This certification is excellent for web developers who wish to expand their skills in the Shopify ecosystem.

Courses and programs that offer developer certification are typically web development courses. The skills you may acquire from going down this path include:

• Shopify theme development
• Shopify Liquid
• API customization
• Headless eCommerce
• Shopify integration

Shopify developer programs aren’t something you’d want to jump into headfirst. It’s recommended that you have HTML knowledge, CSS, and Javascript knowledge before looking into developer courses, particularly for Shopify.

Furthermore, developer certification is more focused and less general. So these programs will be more beneficial to Shopify partners than merchants themselves.

At the end of these paths, you’ll be a Shopify certified developer.

Shopify Partner Certification

Shopify Partners are skilled talents that have registered through the Shopify partner program. They provide a wide range of services to Shopify merchants, from marketing to content creation to store management.

There are no specific courses that can improve a partner’s credibility. Any course that sharpens that partner’s existing skills (e.g., graphic design, social media marketing, etc.) can certify their abilities.

But a Shopify Partner can get certification specifically from Shopify.

In the Shopify Partner Academy, Partners can learn:

• Using the Shopify Partner platform
• Marketing their services as a Shopify Partner
• Crafting an effective value pitch
• Working with Shopify merchants
• Positioning Shopify as a preferred eCommerce platform for prospective online entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, Shopify Partners can achieve a “higher-tier” certification that allows them to be Shopify Plus Partners.

Shopify Plus Partners are handpicked by Shopify as some of the most reliable, high-quality partners on the platform. Shopify Plus Partners receive improved educational resources from Shopify, various commissions, and public recognition as a Plus Partner.

Important Clarifications with Shopify Expert Certifications

Before we proceed with the guide, we’ll need to clarify between “certified by Shopify” and “certified for Shopify” when it comes to Shopify Expert certifications.

Certified BY Shopify

Certifications BY Shopify are direct Shopify certification--coming from Shopify themselves. You may acquire these certifications by taking their courses, verifying your skills, or applying for the Shopify Plus Partner program.

Note that you'll need either a merchant's Shopify account or a free Shopify partner account to access these courses.

Certified FOR Shopify

Certifications are FOR Shopify when they guide course takers to fully utilize the Shopify platform and give them the necessary know-how to thrive in the Shopify ecosystem. These certifications need not necessarily be from Shopify themselves.

They may be from other course developers and course marketplaces, such as Udemy and Coursera.

Where to Earn Shopify Certification BY Shopify

Logically, you can only earn certification by Shopify from Shopify.

Shopify Academy

The Shopify Academy is where Shopify keeps all its courses and programs. These resources are meant to improve user knowledge of the platform, ensuring Shopify customer success.

To acquire certification from Shopify,

• Go to the Shopify Academy
• Choose the courses and paths you wish to take.

• Go through the path’s courses and make sure to absorb the learning material
• Pass the required assessment after taking the course. Initial assessment usually costs between $99 and $199.
• After passing, you’ll earn a Badge for that particular course or path.

This badge serves as a certification from Shopify that you’ve mastered the courses and now acquired new skills.

Note that there’s a monetary investment for the assessment required to earn a badge. These assessments are usually proctored too, so you can’t cheese your way into passing these.

Aim to ace the assessment on the first try. Some assessments charge a fee for subsequent tries.

Some paths we recommend taking include:

• The Marketing Fundamentals Path for Shopify merchants
• The Solution Planning Fundamentals Path for advanced Shopify Partners
• The Shopify Developer Fundamentals Path for aspiring Shopify developers.

Marketing fundamentals

Source: Shopify Academy

This path tackles a systemized and scalable effort to turn new visitors into loyal brand advocates. Skills acquired through this path are general and transferable as well. Whether you’re a Shopify Partner or a business owner, the abilities you’ll learn from this path will prove useful in the online world. The assessment to acquire the badge for this path costs $99.

Solution Planning Fundamentals

Source: Shopify Academy

This path discusses how Shopify Partners can help merchants with various problems and create solutions to help reach business goals. Partners will learn how to use technology to their advantage and implement the right APIs to set a client up for success. The assessment to acquire the badge for this path costs $99.

Shopify Development Fundamentals

Source: Shopify Academy

This path is an excellent resource to get developers started with developing on and for the Shopify platform. It covers frontend development (e.g., Shopify theme development), backend development (e.g., APIs and webhooks), and how to do so specifically for Shopify. The assessment to acquire the badge for this path costs $99.

Shopify Plus Partner Certification

Shopify Partners can be certified as Shopify Plus Partners by providing quality service and lending a helpful presence in the Shopify ecosystem.

To acquire Shopify Plus Partner status, Shopify Partners must:

• Possess the requirements necessary to qualify for Shopify Plus Partner status. An ideal Shopify Plus Partner must
• Have helped and worked with high-growth, high-value, and high-volume merchants.
• Possess the technical expertise to create thriving solutions on the Shopify Plus platform.
• Be considered in the industry as a “thought leader.”
• Have completed three or more successful Shopify referrals in the past 12 months.
• Apply to the program
• Wait for approval.

A Shopify Plus Partner will be proudly and publicly displayed on the Shopify Partner directory as a Plus partner. This recognition gives Shopify Partners more growth and career opportunities, as well as the well-deserved right to price higher and offer a more premium service than the competition.

Where to Earn Shopify Certification FOR Shopify

You can earn certification for Shopify from various course developers and platforms.

Note that if you’re keen on the certification itself, you must verify that the course offers a certificate of some sort.

So while you may acquire tremendous and free education and insight from YouTube, this isn’t an ideal platform to get certified for Shopify.

Some of the course platforms we recommend trying out include Udemy and Skillshare.

Udemy

Source: Udemy

Udemy is a smorgasbord of skill-sharpening courses that equip its users for various industries. Its Shopify courses are vast and saturated, containing topics ranging from beginner crash courses to developer-level ones.

There are nearly 3k results for the search term “Shopify.”

The courses range in length too, from succinct one-hour courses to 72-hour programs.

To acquire Shopify Certification from Udemy,

• Search for “Shopify” using Udemy’s search function. Or use search terms that are more relevant to the skill you want to acquire (e.g., “Shopify development,” “Shopify dropshipping”)
• Look through the results and pick one you want.
• Underneath the “This course includes:” part of the course listing, make sure it contains Certificate of completion.
• Go through the course’s details to help set your expectations. Look at things such as topics, requirements, and reviews.
• Pay for the course.
• There are two ways to pay for a Udemy course — you can pay per course or you can subscribe to a monthly plan and get courses for free. Choose the option you prefer.
• Complete the course.

Courses on Udemy can cost anywhere from $20 up to more than $100.

Some Udemy courses we suggest taking include:

Shopify Theme Development: Online Store 2.0 + TailwindCSS. This 16-hour theme development course by Bernard Polidario tackles Shopify Partner basics, Shopify CLI, JSON, and creating a well-crafted theme. Note that attendees must know HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Node in order to fully grasp this course. Theme development certification awaits at the end of this $95 course, which sometimes goes on sale.

The Complete Shopify Dropshipping Course. This nine-hour Shopify course by Tim Sharp is one of the leading Shopify courses on Udemy. It discusses finding reliable dropshipping suppliers, optimizing the website, creating store policies, and building a blog, along with all the Shopify fundamentals. It costs $130 but often goes on sale.

The Ultimate Digital Marketing Bundle: 33-Courses-In-1!. This comprehensive 34-hour course by Entrepreneur Academy and Benjamin Wilson tackles creating a Shopify website, growing a YouTube channel, leveraging TikTok for marketing, and some crucial how-tos that involve graphic design, SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing. It's a complete marketing package at $85, sometimes on sale.

There are also different plans to choose from that grant subscribers on-demand access to courses.

These plans include:

• Personal Plan at $20/month
• Team Plan at $30/month per user
• Enterprise Plan
• Leadership Academy

You’ll need to contact Udemy for pricing on those last two.

Skillshare

Source: Skillshare

Aspiring Shopify partners and merchants can also acquire certificates on Skillshare. Every class on Skillshare rewards completing course takers with a certificate.

Users can access learning paths, classes, 1-on-1 sessions, and digital products on Skillshare. However, users are only rewarded certificates for learning paths and classes.

Skillshare’s courses can only be accessed by subscribing to a plan, unlike Udemy, where you can buy courses as needed.

Conclusion

Shopify courses are an excellent way to be Shopify certified. Not only are you acquiring certification, but you're also gaining relevant knowledge for growing Shopify stores.

As for Shopify certification, these can help Partners certify their abilities to potential clients, improving their career growth and business opportunities.

However, at the end of the day, it's not so much about the certification itself. But rather, the meaningful insights and skills have you picked up while completing the course required for the certification.