What Is Shopify eCommerce For Business?

Shopify eCommerce is reshaping the retail industry as we know it, but what is Shopify eCommerce? If you’re a regular online shopper, you’ve most likely heard about Shopify, or at least have come across it. Shopify now powers more than 600,000 online stores, with a combined turnover of over $55 billion in eCommerce sales to date.

What is Shopify eCommerce?

In a nutshell, Shopify eCommerce is a platform that helps you to sell products online. In fact, you can use it to take care of all aspects of growing an online business – from the development of products, through to testing, marketing, and selling. Shopify eCommerce helps businesses to nurture relationships with customers all around the globe.

It’s a smart, sophisticated, and user-friendly platform; whatever your experience level, you can smoothly run a business using Shopify eCommerce.

What is Shopify eCommerce used for?

Just about anything! Products – both physical and digital – plus services, can all be added to a Shopify store. Clothing, accessories, homeware, and beauty are currently amongst the most popular categories in terms of eCommerce sales, but it’s also the perfect platform for unique and niche stores to make their name. No matter the size or sector of your business, there’s a Shopify eCommerce solution that fits.

What is Shopify eCommerce doing to help my business?

Shopify was built by small business owners with other entrepreneurs in mind, so it’s tailored to making the process of selling as straightforward as possible. So what is Shopify eCommerce doing to facilitate this? Let’s take a look.

Shopify offers: A visually-appealing, smooth, and user-friendly web presence

Online shopping has evolved since the days of glitchy, barely navigable websites. Customers expect the stores they visit to be slick and easy to use, and ultimately, so do retailers. Websites that make shopping a pleasure will net more in sales than those that are temperamental.

Whilst there are standard templates available from Shopify to get a business up and running, a bespoke approach helps to set a brand apart and deliver its unique message. Shopify developers are the experts in creating online stores that impress customers, boost business and increase eCommerce sales.

Shopify offers: Easy payments

Whilst you are free to use a third-party provider to arrange your payments, Shopify eCommerce makes it easy by offering a built-in payments management system. Not only does the system take care of everything from the customer’s end, but it also allows business owners to access real-time financial information from the admin section of their Shopify account. An integrated approach makes the process of purchasing efficient for both parties.

Shopify is: Safe and secure

Data security is immensely important to retailers and customers alike. Shopify eCommerce is packaged with automatic protection from breaches, ongoing security upgrades, and compliance with relevant regulations.

This helps businesses in two ways. Firstly, it promotes trust in the retailer, which is a huge deal for customers, who want to ensure that their personal data is always treated with due care. The majority of people will simply not make a purchase if they don’t have confidence in a retailer’s security credentials.

Secondly, it’s convenient and cost-effective for businesses. Instead of making all the effort of making separate arrangements, retailers can simply get on with operating their business, safe in the knowledge that data security is being taken care of behind the scenes.

Shopify offers: Integrated marketing tools

A central aspect of entrepreneurial success is good marketing. With Shopify eCommerce, businesses have access to valuable analytic data regarding website discovery, which helps them to finesse their marketing strategy.

For example, let’s say that a brand makes necklaces that can be engraved with a personal message. The analytic data could suggest that a high percentage of their visitors arrive after searching for the term ‘customised jewellery.’ Armed with that knowledge, the business can then tailor their promotional content – such as a blog – to highlight the connection and so strengthen its position in relevant search rankings.

Shopify eCommerce also has built-in tools that allow retailers to issue discount codes, gift cards, coupons, and marketing emails. There’s also social media platform integration, helping brands to convey a consistent message across their entire network.

Shopify is: Entirely cloud-based

Shopify eCommerce is completely cloud-based, which means there’s no need to download any software or pay separately for hosting. A business can be managed with any device from any location, as long as there’s an active internet connection!

Shopify is 100% scalable

Shopify eCommerce works for all businesses, from small startups to large corporations. There literally is something for everyone. As we’ll see in the next section, Shopify offers three tiers of membership that are tailored to different stages of business development. For those starting out, the platform provides all of the essential tools for getting a business up and running.

Once a business is established, it will then move up to the intermediate plan. This comes with more features that are suited to a company that has progressed through the startup phase. Finally, for businesses that are ready to scale, there’s an Advanced plan, which has a comprehensive feature list, well-suited to larger companies handling a high turnover in eCommerce sales.

No matter where a business is in its journey, there are Shopify Plans that work.

What is Shopify eCommerce costing now?

Shopify is a surprisingly affordable platform with different Shopify Pricing and plans. For new businesses, it’s $29 a month for the Basic Shopify plan. Key features include a website and blog, unlimited product listings and file storage. Plus, two staff accounts, an SSL certificate, 24-hour support, fraud analysis, abandoned cart recovery, and discount codes.

The standard Shopify plan is $79 a month. It includes all of the features of the Basic plan, plus gift cards and professional reports. The latter is an especially helpful perk for businesses looking for greater insight into visitor data, to help tailor marketing efforts.

For businesses that have scaled – or are in the process of doing so – there is an Advanced Shopify plan, priced at $299 per month. This has all of the aforementioned features, plus an advanced report builder and third-party calculated shipping rates. Businesses with this plan also benefit from the lowest online transaction fee, at 1.6%. Basic and standard Shopify plans comes with transaction fees of 2.2% and 1.9%, respectively.

What is Shopify eCommerce doing to get you started?

Signing up is straightforward; simply head to the website, create an account, enter some details about your business, and you’re in. Make sure to take advantage of the 14-day free trial!

Shopify offers standard templates to all stores, no matter which plan they opt for. But to make your business stand out, we’d recommend working with expert Shopify Developers. They can work with you to design the perfect website that encapsulates the message of your brand. From there, you’ll be able to start listing products and services, select payment methods and market your new store. Your eCommerce sales adventure is ready to begin!