What is Shopify?
When you’re thinking about buying a pair of sneakers, chances are that you’re searching for it on Amazon or your favorite boutique brand. Well, we like the Atoms. Anyways, stores like Atoms and 500,000 other online stores use Shopify to host their eCommerce business.
So, what is Shopify? It is a commerce platform that helps you set up an online store & sell your products. With Shopify, you can sell offline as well with Shopify POS. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert in eCommerce, you can easily use Shopify to start and scale your direct-to-consumer business.
But if you’re not sure yet, you can always take advantage of the 14-day free trial and see how easy it is to set up and launch your brand online.
Types of businesses you can start with Shopify
You might be wondering, “Hmm… Shopify sounds cool but what kind of business can I start with?”. Luckily, the answer has already been figured out by stalwarts who have had great success with Shopify.
Keep in mind that Shopify is just a platform to launch your business. Your business idea is yours and there are endless possibilities.
So, broadly speaking, there are 3 popular types of businesses you can launch:
1. Direct to Consumer brand
If you’re already making something unique & novel (like custom jewelry) but you’re selling them through 3rd party sites like Etsy or Amazon, you’re effectively losing out on revenue and control. With Shopify, you can set up your online shop and sell directly to your customers. Easy-peasy!
2. Print-on-demand
Have great ideas for clothing and accessories? With Shopify, you can start your own print-on-demand business. You list your products (can be anything from funky t-shirts to mugs with swag) on your store, and when someone orders, that order is printed, packed, and shipped to your customer without you having to lift a finger. Shopify integrates with Printful which is the go-to choice for a print-on-demand business.
3. Dropshipping
You don’t need top-notch ideas to start an online store. Dropshipping is a great way to start your dream eCommerce business. Why? Because
- you don’t need to come up with new & innovative ideas
- you don’t need to maintain a warehouse for inventory
Effectively, you can get started in a few hours. With dropshipping, you select the products you want to sell from 3rd party vendors (like Alibaba) and add directly add them to your store through tools like Oberlo. When a customer purchases from your store, the onus is on the seller to pack & ship the order to your customer.
Why should you trust Shopify to start your eCommerce business?
There are a ton of reasons why 500,000 eCommerce business owners have trusted Shopify to start & grow their business. But let’s see what are the top 3 reasons for using Shopify:
1. Seamless platform and easy to use
Shopify is super easy to use and comes packed with all the features needed to set up & operate your online business. Right from storefront templates (aka themes) to in-depth analytics on how your store’s performing.
2. Huge network of apps
Shopify boasts a huge marketplace of native apps that help you to optimize your store at various fronts. Need to set-up exit intent pop-ups? Install Privy. Need 3rd party order fulfillment (3PL), providers? Integrate ChannelApe. If you can think of a task you need to execute on Shopify, there’s an app for that.
3. Multi-channel selling
As you might already know, you need to sell where your customers are hanging out. With Shopify, you can easily sell across channels especially on Facebook using the Shopify Facebook App. In addition to that, they also offer capabilities to sell on other platforms, like Twitter, Houze, Wanelo, and Pinterest.
All in all, if you’re thinking about starting an eCommerce store, check out Shopify.
