The eCommerce industry is booming at the moment and it’s no surprise why so many new online stores pop up every day.
Unfortunately, the world is still dealing with the pandemic and many people don’t even have the possibility of walking out and shopping at traditional brick-and-mortar stores. On top of that, many traditional businesses had to move their operations online in order to continue doing business. One popular method to do so is to launch a Shopify store.
Shopify is probably the most popular eCommerce software in the world. This software lets users create online stores in a matter of hours.
It is very easy to use and can be customized to a significant degree. This is why many entrepreneurs choose to build an online store in it or integrate Shopify with WordPress websites they already have.
If you want to start your own online store using Shopify, take a look at this essential checklist below.
Select your sales channels
Having a multi-channel strategy is way better than just focusing on one sales channel. After all, the majority of consumers use multiple channels to conduct a single purchase with a brand.
This is more than enough for you to think carefully about adding other available sales channels to your Shopify store.
Some prominent sales channels include:
- eBay
- Amazon
- Facebook Shop
- Google Shopping
Bear in mind that all sales channels can connect with the core of your Shopify business, making it easy to keep track of orders, products, and customers across all platforms.
If you think that this may not be a good idea, know that some companies that launched shopping on Instagram lifted their monthly revenues by more than 20%.
Harness the power of a custom domain
One great thing about custom domains is that they can give brand recognition a proper boost. It is quite simple to understand this. Simply put, a custom domain makes it easier for people to remember your URL.
However, it would be wise to conduct a domain name search first to figure out if your business name is available. If it isn’t trademarked by another business yet, you can buy your custom domain name directly via Shopify.
On the other hand, if the domain name you want to use is not available, do not worry. This does not mean you have to reinvent your whole business.
You can try using a different top-level domain, for instance. A TLD comes at the end of a URL. Obviously, many websites use different versions and nowadays there are dozens of TLDs to choose from.
Know that some common TLDs in eCommerce include .shop and .store, but you can come up with your own if you don’t like these.
Just try to be unique and go for something that is a bit self-explanatory. This will make it easy for visitors to figure out what your business is about.
Take another look at your checkout process and payment gateway options
This a prerequisite step that has to be made before you start figuring out how to drive traffic to your online store. You need to take care of this to ensure that people can actually complete a purchase.
Try to provide a frictionless checkout process and offer more than one payment option. Fail to do this and you will see revenue losses due to cart abandonment.
Test your checkout process and make sure that shipping rates are showing during checkout, discount codes can be applied in the cart, and most importantly, make sure that a shopper can edit their cart’s content.
Also, make sure you have included popular payment methods that work in your customers’ regions. These usually include PayPal, Apple Pay, Payoneer, and others.
If you don’t include a few payment options, you may lose customers. This is especially true for businesses that have customers from all corners of the world.
Proofread and review the content
It often happens that content specialists focus on the most important work tasks and forget small details. This usually results in spelling or grammar errors. What is even worse is when there is a broken link on your website.
That is why you should proofread and review the content you put out on the world wide web. One great way to fix all mistakes is to do a backward review.
Start with the last paragraph and work your way to the top. This will help you spot errors you may have missed the first time.
Furthermore, when creating the content and copy for your website and marketing needs, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First of all, stick to one style that will be familiar to your audience. This is especially important when it comes to your editorial style guide (MLA or APA).
Once you develop your own style or you choose to go with an already established option, stick to it. Be consistent across your whole website.
Finally, there is also a technical side to the story. Look for broken links and 404s. Check out if your website is mobile-responsive and take a good look at the images.
For further technical fixes and tricks, you should consult a reliable Shopify development agency. If you are not well-acquainted with web design and development, leave it to professionals.
Implement an analytics tool
Gathering important data and displaying it in meaningful graphs and analytics provides you with important insights regarding your business performance.
That is why analytics are important from the very first day. The data shown through analytics can help you spot problems, but you can also see what is working well for your business.
Fortunately, your Shopify store will have its own analytics that is built-in and preinstalled. However, you may want to go a step further for more information.
For instance, Google released its own Google Analytics. This software is most likely the best tool of this kind that can help you gain insights into the most important figures and details regarding your business.
Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to a single tool. Instead, it would be good to combine a few, as this will bring the best results.
Finally, learn to track and spot the basic eCommerce metrics first before you start learning some more sophisticated and complex processes.
A pre-launch marketing strategy
Finally, a wise business owner knows that customers have to be aware of their website once it gets off the ground. That is why you should devise a pre-launch marketing plan.
Document your marketing plan so once you kick-off, you just have to follow the steps you have already laid down on paper. For instance, many companies film intriguing and fun ads that they publish as part of their video marketing strategy during the launch period.
The gist is to intrigue and maybe even shock people. This is a good way to attract all the eyes to your new business and promote the idea you are about to turn into reality.
Final thoughts
Do not take these essentials for granted. You have to come prepared in order to advance in the eCommerce industry. Shopify can help you achieve that, but you should use it properly and prepare for every single segment of the business.
This mini-guide is enough for starters. But once you master these basics, do not stop there. Instead, seek further materials that can help you make a successful business in the long run.
