Starting a new shop is a tedious job, especially when it is your first time. Moreover, it can be much more complicated when it is an e-commerce platform.
But this time, you do not need to worry much regarding the complexity of creating a domain for your website. Shopify is an e-commerce platform where you can create your own online shop simply with just a few clicks of your mouse without any third-party interference.
Yes, now you can take your first step towards being a successful entrepreneur confidently with Shopify. All you need is just a simple medium, a basic store-like ambiance where you can sell your products and start earning profit from the beginning of your journey.
There are lots of things you can do to arrange and tweak your store. Here are a few basic things to help you start your shop.
Register your Shopify account
Before starting an online business, one must get a domain to connect to their e-commerce platform. You also need to hire a specialist for changing something whenever you need to. You were also bound to pay for the maintenance of the server.
It was a time-consuming and expensive method with not much in return.
But now, with the help of Shopify, you can start your store with just a few clicks. Along with that, Shopify also takes care of all the necessary server setup and maintenance. Hence making the process much simpler and cost-efficient for you.
Privacy is a key factor
When we discuss safety and security, privacy plays a crucial role in the smooth running of a store. Privacy is one of those factors that can build as well as destroy your reputation in and out of the market. Not just that, it can also cost you thousands of dollars in terms of heavy fines and even bring criminal charges against you.
On top of that, Privacy policies such as CCPA and GDPR are under constant evolution. Hence updating your privacy policies as per global standards on a regular basis becomes a must.
Using emails, messaging, or ticketing systems might not be the best choice while dealing with any personal data request from the customers because of their poor privacy practices. Enzuzo is a platform that can deal with this problem for you. It can be used in such instances to get the request completed properly in time.
It has several efficient features that will help your store to meet all the privacy compliance with privacy laws like PIPEDA, GDPR, and CCPA. It offers a professional privacy policy template for you so as to ensure the trust of your customers from the very first day.
With the help of Enzuzo, you can provide a readable as well as translated privacy policy on your store within a few minutes. It even updates itself with the changes in the laws. It also helps you manage all your data subject access requests in one place.
It also provides features like a custom cookie bar to your website that allows the customer to choose which cookie will be activated while browsing.
Want something more? Enzuzo also comes with a privacy risk calculator. You can use this feature to check your risk level whenever you want. Hence you will never fail to protect your customer data.
Establishing your store
Creating a new store is a very simple process. All you need to do is to click on the “Start your free trial” button on the website of Shopify. Select and enter the name of your shop and finally click on the “Create your store” button.
Selecting an ideal name for your shop is not that tough. All you need is a very simple yet catchy name so as to attract the eyes of the customers. Remember one thing, the name of your shop will be the face of your business.
Shopify also provides a variety of themes, among which you can select from as the theme of your store. There are many free options available for you. Do not waste much time selecting a theme.
Find something from Shopify’s theme store that suits your store the best and won’t require many changes in the near future. The most popular themes among other businesses are supply and simple.
Now all you are left with is to design a nice and clean logo for your store. You can design it by yourself. If you think you don’t have enough skills for designing a logo, then you can get help from online design tools as well.
Knowing the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Now, when you have taken the first step towards establishing your e-commerce business, it is time for you to learn the basics of search engine optimization. This will help you structure your website and pages for various search engines properly.
Provide the necessary Information
Engaging and interacting with the customers is one of the major keys for setting up a successful store. One of the best ways is to upload the necessary details of your store in the portal.
Prepare a short yet proper “About us” section. It will provide the customer with more knowledge about you and your store.
Building connections with customers is a sign of a trusted business. Hence never forget to provide a clear and visible “Contact us” link or at least a contact info in your store.
Update the “Policy” settings of your store. Having proper policies is important while dealing with clients and customers on a regular basis. It helps in winning the trust of your customers as well as provides security to you also.
Choose what to sell
Choosing the perfect product to deal with is very important while starting a business. Preferably the best product to start your business with must not be too expensive. In fact, it would be better to keep it within the price limit which everyone can access.
Market analysis is very important while choosing your products. Always find product ideas from other stores and online shopping sites. Have a look at their product offerings; go through their best-selling lists and list of their promoted products. Large stores have an entire department that looks after their sales and products. Use their data to your benefit while picking the right products for your store.
Do not forget to keep track of the products that are trendy at that time period. To shorten the list, check those products whose demand is increasing than those whose demand is decreasing.
Provide a Payment Gateway
Online transaction and net banking come into play while handling an e-commerce portal. Having a well-equipped and proper payment gateway in your store is a must. It will be beneficial from both ends; the customer will be pleased for not facing trouble while transactions; likewise, you can also keep your earnings secured and also keep track of all the transactions.
Setup billing information
Getting proper bills for their purchase always puts a smile of satisfaction on the face of a customer. And we all know that customer satisfaction is a factor on which a business runs. Hence, providing billing information is something you should do while setting up your store. Do not worry; you won’t be charged for it until your free trial tenure ends.
Update Shipping settings
To start off with, it is always advised not to charge anything for deliveries; that is to provide free delivery for all your orders. For that, you just need to remove all the non-international shipping zones and change the international rates to zero.
You can later change the shipping rates once you feel comfortable, but free shipping is enough to start with.
Congratulations! You are now ready with your store.
Interesting related article: “What is a Startup?”