The Shopify Basics, Part 2: Shopify Setup (Your online sales channel, your debut store)
With the necessary information about the plans that Shopify offers, and knowing where you are at right now in your ecommerce journey, from Part 1, it is a good time to look at how to set up your online sales channel.
In this part 2, Shopify Setup, we will walk you though the necessary process of starting up your own online store, your primary online sales channel. Basically starting you off, with Basic Shopify.
The primary features of an online store
For an online store to be functional and be able to help you sell online, there is a set of minimum requirements.
The minimal online store requirements:
- Online store front website
- Site theme
- Site blog
- Site pages
- Shopping catalogues and products
- Shopping cart
- Purchase Checkout
- Purchase Payment
- Shipping Details
- Online store back-end administration
- Site configurations
- Content management
- Catalog and products management
- Inventory tracking
- Customer management
- Sales order management
- Sales order fulfillment
- Online store hosting
- Web space (Shopify managed and hosted)
- Domain (Shopify managed sub domain)
- SSL certificate (Free SSL included)
The Plan for Basic Shopify setup fulfills these requirements.
Sign up with Shopify
With all the variables known for the basic online stores, proceed to sign up for a Shopify account. You have a 14 day trial period to setup your online store. During which, you do not need to provide your payment details.
Shopify setup, build and get ready your store
Proceed to build your basic Shopify online store with your Shopify account, through the Shopify online store back-end administration.
The essentials of initial setup are:
- Configuring your business information
- Building your website and content
- Creating catalogues, products and inventory
- Defining payment methods and taxes
- Defining shipping parameters
Choose your Shopify Plan and make your payment
Once your store is built and ready for operation, or when your 14 days trial expires, you will choose a Shopify plan and proceed with payment.
When you are ready with your store, you may then publicize your online store and get your first sales.
The next article will look at how you can publicize, sell and grow your online business.