Most marketers know that content is king (or queen) and that creating engaging content is a great way to attract potential customers to a business and keep them coming back for more.
While writing and distributing engaging content is a crucial element of digital marketing, so is maintaining a store stocked with products that people want to purchase.
Running a store is a lot of work. You need to consider all the different aspects that make up a brand, from product design and development to sourcing the materials needed to manufacture your goods and delivering them to the customers.
Keeping all of this in mind can be a lot of work. What if there was an easier way to sell products?
With Shopify, all you need to do is set up your shop, choose a theme, and add some products. The app takes care of the rest. Once you launch your store, you can start attracting customers with curated content that’s relevant to what they’re looking for. As a store owner, you can also analyze the most effective marketing strategies and approaches to grow your business and brand.
Why Shopify?
With over a 500 million downloads and a 4.5-star rating on the App Store, it’s no surprise that Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms around. What is surprising is just how affordable the software is. On the Shopify website, you’ll find the following quote:
“For the price of a small laptop, you can have a fully-functioning eCommerce store with inventory management, shipping, tax-filing, and more. Think of all the time you’ll save. Imagine not having to call a human salesperson whenever you have a question. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
This kind of sentiment is what made Shopify a firm favorite for budding eCommerce businesses looking to get started on a shoestop budget. But even if you have a big name brand or a luxury product to sell, you can still use Shopify because of the wide range of functionality it provides.
Features
Shopify’s tagline is “Simple, secure, and affordable eCommerce” and the truth is that the platform reflects these ideals.
With its simple set up process, stylish design, and easy navigation, accessing Shopify is akin to visiting a luxury hotel. After you log in, you’ll see a side nav with all the functionalities you need directly below it. You don’t have to stray far from the home page to access a feature; every aspect of the platform is accessible from the very first load.
From there, you can add products to your store, arrange them in categories, and set the prices. You’ll also have access to other eCommerce tools like a web browser, mini-store, and more—all from the same place. Let’s take a look at each of these features separately.
Products
Creating a product on Shopify is as easy as dragging and dropping widgets to build different types of structures. You don’t need any prior programming knowledge to get started. As you build out your product, mobile-friendly templates will automatically appear alongside your web content to make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for.
To see an example of a product page, load the Shopify app and navigate to your Products tab. Next, click on the New Product button at the top of the screen to launch the product creation page.
On this page, you’ll see a grid of five columns. In the first column, you’ll see the Product Title, which is what you’ll see when you visit the product’s page in a web browser. Next, you’ll see the Product Description, which is also what you’ll see when you visit the product’s page in a web browser. Also present on this page is the Product Image, which will be used to represent the product on social media platforms and other stores like Shopify.
On the left side of the page, you’ll see three Options tabs. These are called Option 1, Option 2, and Option 3. Essentially, these are the different variations of the product you’re creating. Think of them as different colored paint swatches that you can choose from when painting a room. Select the one that seems the best fit for the room you’re painting.
If you’re wondering what all these tabs are for, here’s a short tutorial on Shopify pricing. The first three options are what you’d typically think of as [flat-rate pricing](https://blog.yelp.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-pricing-in-shopify-c1c9f4dda611). The last two options are what are called [configurable pricing](https://blog.yelp.com/what-are-the-difference-between-normal-pricing-and-configurable-pricing-in-shopify-c1c9f4dda611).
Categories
Every product has something called a Category associated with it. Categories are basically folders or collections of similar products. For example, you might want to create a category for bedsheets—everything from a large four-poster bed to an adjustable bed. Within that category, you can have sub-categories grouped together for easy navigation. Let’s say you have an adjustable bedding set that you want to group together. You can create a sub-category like “adjustable beds” and then [add products to that sub-category](https://blog.yelp.com/how-to-add-a-product-to-a-shopify-category-c1c9f4de69d6).
The above image shows what categories and sub-categories look like on Shopify. As you can see, categories are visually distinct from products because they’re designed to be searchable. When a customer searches for “bedsheets,” you’ll see all the products in your store that fit that description along with a list of categories and sub-categories.
Categories allow you to organize your products in a way that makes sense to you. Some retailers, like Urban Outfitters, use categories to help customers navigate their large online stores. So, if a customer is looking for bedsheets, but also needs a stress ball or an organizer, they can use categories as a way to find what they’re looking for without having to type out a lengthy search query.
Customers
Every storefront has a section for customers—mostly called “Order” or “Shopping” or something similar. On Shopify, this is where you’ll find all the tools you need to take care of customer orders. You can take a look at this area in a bit more detail on the next page.
Marketing
From an email marketing standpoint, Shopify is a dream come true. The platform provides you with all the tools you need to create beautiful emails that get results. Let’s take a quick look at how you can use email marketing to [grow your business](https://luminate.com/blog/how-to-make-your-email-marketing-work-for-you/?utm_source=YT&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=blog) and [attract new customers](https://luminate.com/blog/how-to-use-email-marketing-to-grow-your-business/?utm_source=YT&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=blog).
First, you’ll want to set up an email marketing campaign in your account. From there, you can choose the template that you want to use and start creating emails.
With the Shopify email marketing tool, you have all the features you need to send a variety of emails to your customers—including templates, buttons, and more.
Sourcing, Packaging, & Shipping
Even if you have a warehouse full of bedsheets, you’ll still need to get them to your customers. So how does Shopify help with that?