Starting from scratch, Shopify's 30-day store opening tutorial - Day 1

Since Shopify is so popular, today we will do a 30-day Shopify store opening tutorial, teaching you step by step how to go from a Shopify novice to a super seller.

Shopify is one of the most popular website building platforms. It is easy to operate and can build websites quickly and conveniently. The platform features include:

• Sellers do not need to have coding or web design skills

• The website is simple. You can start selling after registering an account, uploading products, setting up logistics and payment, etc.

• The platform has a variety of store themes to choose from

When opening a store on Shopify, there is an operating model called Dropshipping. You don’t need to reserve inventory or pack and ship the goods yourself. You are like a middleman, connecting suppliers and buyers. After receiving orders from buyers, suppliers will ship the goods to consumers based on the order information. The advantage of this model is that sellers don’t have to deal with inventory, logistics and other aspects, allowing you to focus all your energy on marketing and researching how to increase sales.

There are two store modes on Shopify, namely Niche and General, which are mainly distinguished by product categories:

• Niche: Focus on the sales of specific categories. Because it is a segmented market, the audience is more precise, so the conversion rate will be higher.

• General: Covers a variety of product categories. You can sell clothing, electronic products, household products, etc. There is no category restriction.

So which model should we choose? Some sellers may say that since the conversion rate of Niche is higher, then we should do Niche. However, to do this model, sellers are required to do a thorough research on the product. Moreover, as a Shopify novice, if you don’t know anything and only focus on one category, it is easy to fail.

For beginners, the General model provides more choices (or opportunities to turn things around). You can sell a variety of products. For example, if watches don’t sell well, you can try clothing. If clothing doesn’t sell well, you can switch to home products. In short, General has more product testing opportunities.

Remember, you open a store to make a profit. After completing this 30-day tutorial, I believe you will be able to get some orders. But our goal is to make a profit. Only with a profit can you continue to invest and expand your scale.

To create a profitable Shopify store, keep in mind the following 3 points:

• Choose General as the store model, more opportunities

• First test the sales performance of 15 products

• Run and track 100-150 ads

Of course, it is not required that all 15 products tested should be profitable. Our goal is to find one profitable product among these 15 products. Let’s set a small goal of making $1,000 first.

The store name is the first impression consumers have of you, so it is very important. When creating a Shopify store name, pay attention to the following points:

• Simple and easy to read, it is best that even foreign primary school students can understand it

• Words with 2-4 syllables

• Easy to remember and catchy

• 1-2 words is best

Shopify has a built-in name generation tool: https://www.shopify.com/tools/business-name-generator , which can automatically generate relevant names by entering a word.  

After creating a store, Shopify will assign you a domain name http://xxx.myshopify.com for free. If you don’t want to use this domain name, you can bind your own domain name in the background.

Shopify also provides domain name purchasing services. NameCheap, GoDaddy and LeanDomainSearch are all foreign domain name registrars, or sellers can directly purchase domain names from Alibaba Cloud or Tencent Cloud.

When choosing a domain name, try to choose a .com suffix. Here are some tips for creating a domain name:

• Use animal names

• Use trigger words (e.g., hype, instant, legend)

• Use adjectives (such as happy, good, nature, color, etc.)

• Common words (such as hella, phat, kicks, etc.)

If you really can’t think of a good domain name yourself, you can log in to the LeanDomainSearch website, enter the keyword, and then click “View Full List” on the right. It will display the most popular topics related to the keyword and give you inspiration.

Note: Do not use the words "deal" or "Store" when choosing a domain name.

After creating the domain name, you need to bind it to the Shopify store. First, log in to the Shopify backend operation interface, click "add domain", then click "Connect existing domain", enter the domain name, then View Instructions, and follow the instructions.

Domain name mailbox is a great way to show personalization. Some domain name service providers will provide domain name mailbox settings. Domain name service providers such as Godaddy and NameCheap provide Email Forwarding services, which can add and manage domain name mailboxes and forwarding mailboxes.

The above is the first day tutorial for opening a Shopify store. I believe everyone has a certain understanding of Shopify’s model and characteristics. The second day’s tutorial will give a detailed introduction to Shopify store settings and logos.

*Note: The 30-day tutorial series on how to start a Shopify store from scratch is compiled from https://www.flyingstartonline.com/shopify-basics/. We compiled and shared this article in the spirit of sharing e-commerce practical information with the majority of e-commerce sellers. If there is any infringement, please contact the editor.