You will find key success factors in running an online store. Before we go into commercial topics, let’s see what a Shopify website can offer to its clients.

The global e-commerce market reached a value of $13 trillion in 2021, with an expectation to expand four times by 2027. The U.S. is the second worldwide largest market after China, with a revenue of $862 billion in 2021 and there’s a prediction for market share growth in the retail market to go from 19% in 2021 to 23.6% in 2025.

This data promises a bright future for online businesses, but if you’re a newbie in the market, you’re probably wondering how the U.S. leader in e-commerce, Shopify, can affect your business profitability. Will a new store be one of many in this crowded market, or can you actually make a profit?

 

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a cloud-based platform specialized in E-commerce that lets entrepreneurs start, grow, and manage their online businesses. 

Thanks to Shopify’s user-friendly interface, users can easily open an online store with its own brand and identity, offer its products or services, and promote and sell to digital customers. It has numerous features like Blogging, Point-of-Service (POS), Dropshipping, SEO, and satisfying customer service.

 

How does Shopify Work?

You don’t need prior tech knowledge to open a Shopify store. To establish an online business, users need to go on the Shopify website and create an account as a seller, add images of products or services with descriptions, and choose a domain. 

Shopify offers its own payment gateway for free. However, other gateways like PayPal and Amazon Pay are acceptable and chargeable. Shopify App Store can be added for promotional and selling purposes.

Users have a 14-day free trial to learn how to manage the store and use the tolls, after which they should choose the plan in line with their business needs.

 

Pros & Cons

Check out this list of pros and cons of using Shopify for your online store:

 

Shopify Website Pros:

  • Easy to use platform, ideal for newbies, beginners with no experience;
  • The professional look of the store with lots of commercial functionalities;
  • Dropshipping is directly linked to ordered products;
  • Workable on PC/laptop/mobile with internet connection;
  • A high potential concept where success is correlated with effective promotion;
  • Numerous ways for product sourcing;
  • Price flexibility with 3 available plans.

Shopify Website Cons:

  • Store building with products, their description, and other settings is time-consuming;
  • Store ranking through content marketing and SEO takes time;
  • The wrong niche can lead to high competition and a lack of interest;
  • No control on Facebook, Google, or other platforms where promotion is running;
  • Solve your own issues that are not part of the Shopify contract.

Shopify Website Costs

With Shopify, users can choose one of the three plans, Basic, Shopify, or Advanced, at a monthly fee of $29, $79, or $299, respectively. The price difference comes from the number of staff accounts (2, 5, or 15), Inventory locations (4, 5, or 8), reporting, and different shipping and payment terms.

Be aware of paid ads that are not included in any plan.

 

 

How to Grow a Profitable Business with a Shopify Website

Running a profitable Shopify store means is based on having a well-prepared business plan. Like having a real store, the Shopify store cannot drive sales on its own. As the business owner, you should know:

  • What is the added value of the product or service, and how will it solve the customer’s problem?
  • Who is the target audience for that product or service and its behavior?
  • What are the digital marketing tools appropriate to reach the target audience?
  • What are the estimated monthly sales and expenses, and are they balanced?

Running a successful and profitable business means having a business concept, preparing a tactical plan, and during its implementation, checking and adopting. 

Digital advertising is also important. Focusing on target customers with specific strategies such as email marketing, social media campaigns, gift cards, discounts, and others can optimize costs and improve profitability.

 

Remember: You Call the Shots

Remember, you have the business idea, and you are the one who runs the business. 

Shopify stores have great potential to attract a virtual audience and support you in the promotion. Entrepreneurship is more than just a great idea; it requires knowledge, skills, experience, strategic thinking, and willingness for success.

 

Get Closer to Success with a Shopify Website

Some users find it simple to open and manage E-commerce on their own or supported by guides, instructions, and all educational materials available on the Shopify website. Others find it a bit complex, either because they have no experience or simply because it is not their field of interest. 

If you want to run the business and leave marketing management to experts, Digital Heart Media is a solution for that. Our experienced team and a rich portfolio of digital marketing strategies will help you succeed.

Learn more about the services that Digital Heart Media offers and think about what is the best option for digital marketing of your business. Get in touch.