How to Sell on Shopify - Probably The Most Useful Guide You'll Read

Shopify powers some of the world’s most successful e-commerce stores.

Stores that generate massive volumes of traffic, sales, and revenue.

But even the biggest e-commerce businesses on the planet started from scratch with no storefront, products, or promotional plan.

That’s why we wrote this guide to talk you through the process of how to sell on Shopify, covering how to:

• Choose a niche, business type, and products
• Build a Shopify store
• Promote your store to attract your first customers

Let’s get into it…

Part 1: Strategy & Planning

Step 1: Choose a Niche

Choosing an attractive niche — one with plenty of customers, high growth potential, and low competition — is no guarantee of success.

But if you choose a bad niche, you’re doomed to fail before you’ve even started building a Shopify store.

Here’s how to give yourself the best chance of getting it right:

Analyze Successful E-Commerce Businesses

One way to track down high-potential e-commerce niches is to look at what other merchants are doing.

Unfortunately, most store owners aren’t just going to hand over the keys to their site analytics, so you need to explore other methods to assess who’s making money (and who isn’t).

That’s where Flippa comes in.

Most people use Flippa to buy and sell online businesses. But, by extension, you can also use Flippa to assess the potential of specific niches. Here’s how:

• Visit the Flippa homepage and search for “shopify stores”.

• Narrow the search results by applying these filters and leaving everything else as is:

Filter	Option
Revenue-generating	Yes
Asset type	Websites and online businesses E-commerce
Website types	E-commerce Digital products Dropship Inventory holding Shopify
Sale type	Auction Classified
Status	Open Recently sold

• Scroll through the search results until you find something that catches your eye, then click through to learn more.

By following this process, we found an unnamed cotton candy store bringing in $210,000+ in annual revenue, with an average order value of ~$100 — and all with zero marketing spend.

Take a note of any juicy-looking niches and prepare for some deeper analysis…

Study Consumer Trends

Next, it’s time to take a closer look at those attractive niches we found in the previous step.

We can do this by typing our niche into Google Trends to see how search activity around the topic or keyword has changed in recent years.

Turns out cotton candy is a real boom market — who knew?

Plus we can look over a shorter period — say, five years — to see if there are regular peaks and troughs in the niche. In the case of cotton candy, search activity is pretty consistent, but with notable midsummer spikes:

And we can also analyze the Related queries section to identify high-potential sub-niches. For cotton candy, we found terms like:

• Cotton candy machine / cotton candy maker
• Cotton candy wine
• Cotton candy vodka
• Cotton candy frappuccino
• Cotton candy burrito (?!?)

This is valuable stuff, because sub-niches typically have lower competition. So niche-ing down gives you a better chance of reaching, engaging, and converting your target audience.

Read Market Research

Unless you’re already an expert on your chosen niche, we highly recommend doing some further reading to see if it’s really a good fit. Can a Shopify food store selling cotton candy actually make money?

Commissioning or buying market research reports is expensive. But you can find plenty of valuable information by simply Googling terms like:

• “[niche name] trends”
• “[niche name] projected revenue”
• “[niche name] market report”

For example, a search for “cotton candy trends” brought us to this article…

…which identified market trends such as:

• Organic cotton candy
• Product personalization
• Sugar-free options (no, we’ve got no idea what “sugar-free cotton candy” might be like either)

Any of which could be valuable sub-niches for a cotton candy-themed Shopify store.

When you’re happy to commit to one specific niche, move on to the next step…

Step 2: Choose Your Business Type and Products

Your business model influences your pricing strategy, product selection, promotional messaging, and more.

There are plenty of business models for prospective Shopify store owners to choose from, but most merchants choose one of the following options:

D2C

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) stores — such as mattress brand Casper — design, manufacture, and sell their own products.

This gives them total control over the product, which is a big help from a marketing point of view. For example, if a D2C brand spots an opportunity to tweak their product to tap into a new market, they can do it fast.

On the flip side, the D2C model requires significant upfront planning and investment to design the product and bring it to life, which makes for a tougher barrier to entry.

Retail

Retailers purchase products from other vendors then sell them to consumers.

A high-profile example is Target, which sells a variety of household products created by third-party brands.

This model makes it easier for new Shopify merchants to get started. However, lots of other stores could be selling exactly the same products, which can make it tough to differentiate.

Subscription

Subscription stores sell niche products — like Hello Fresh meal kits or Birchbox cosmetics — on a recurring basis, typically monthly or quarterly.

This is a fantastic tool for boosting retention, as customers keep on paying until they cancel their subscription.

However, it’s harder to convert them in the first place, as a subscription is a tougher “sell” than a one-off purchase.

Digital Products

While the “typical” Shopify store sells physical merchandise like apparel or beauty products, plenty of merchants are making money from digital products like:

• E-books
• Digital art
• Online courses

Examples include The Drum Broker, which sells hip-hop drum samples via Shopify.

Selling digital products is cheap and scalable, with no need to worry about things like product storage and shipping. But competition is high, so you’ve got to really know your stuff to stand out.

Private Labeling

Private labeling is about buying products from a specialist manufacturer and selling them under your own brand name. Just like Trader Joe’s does with most of its food products.

The private label business model gives you some control over manufacturing decisions (like design and materials), without having to deal with the production process.

However, you’ll have to invest decent time and money upfront to bring the product to market.

If you like the sound of private labeling, here are some potential suppliers across popular e-commerce niches:

Private Label Supplier Name	Niche
Apliiq	Apparel
Dripshipper	Coffee
Blanka	Cosmetics
Giraffe Foods	Food
Supliful	Pet products
Goodvara	Skincare

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a low-barrier e-commerce model whereby you sell products from a third-party manufacturer, without ever handling the products yourself.

Instead, when a customer buys from you, the manufacturer handles the shipping.

It’s arguably the easiest way to start an e-commerce store, but standing out from the crowd is hard.

Still, if you’re keen to try dropshipping, you can find potential suppliers via marketplaces like AliExpress, CJdropshipping, and Modalyst.

Part 2: Building Your Shopify Store

Step 1: Sign Up for the Shopify FREE Trial

The first step couldn’t be simpler:

Click here to sign up for your Shopify FREE trial.

Next, Shopify asks a bunch of questions about your store type, business model, and target market.

Answer them to the best of your ability — but don’t get too bogged down. None of this is legally binding, so you can tweak your approach down the line.

Step 2: Connect Your Domain

Your domain name is the public-facing address of your website.

Ideally, it should be short, memorable, and relevant to your business and niche. For example:

🙁 Bad: jitterbugs.com

😊 Better: sweetclouds.com

😃 Best: boutiquecottoncandy.com

Here’s how to buy a domain through Shopify and connect it to your store:

• Log in to your Shopify admin.
• In the Setup guide section, click Add a custom domain > Add domain.

• Click Buy new domain:

• Enter your domain name and, if it’s available, choose your preferred top-level domain (e.g. .com, .store, .net).

• Complete the purchase by adding your contact information and payment details.

Congrats, your custom domain is good to go!

Step 3: Add Products To Your Store

Next, you’re going to add your product catalog to your shiny new Shopify store.

Here’s how:

• Log in to your Shopify admin.
• In the left-hand menu, click Products > Add product.

• Under Title, enter the name of your product, making it as specific as possible to differentiate from other products in your store.

• Under Description, type up your product description, focusing on the features and benefits that would persuade your target audience to buy it.

• Under Media, add at least one product image, making sure to follow Shopify image optimization best practices.

• In the Pricing section, set your product price (and, optionally, your compare at price), plus your cost per unit.

• Under Inventory, enter how many units are in stock and choose whether you want to keep selling when out of stock.

• Also in Inventory, create a SKU or barcode to help with inventory management.
• Under Shipping, enter your product’s weight (in grams, kilograms, pounds, or ounces). Or uncheck the box marked This is a physical product if you’re selling digital products or services.

• If relevant, under Variants, add variant options (like size, color, or material). Remember to add pricing information, inventory levels, and SKUs for each variant.

When you’re done, hit Save to add the product to your store, then repeat for all the other items in your catalog.

BONUS TIP: Add Product Badges To Boost Product Visibility and Appeal

Want your best products and promotions to stand out in your store? Of course you do.

The best way to make it happen is to add product badges like:

• Best Seller
• New Arrival
• Limited Stock

Badges like these make your key products more visible and appealing. You can even use product badges to highlight features and benefits, showcase discounts and special offers, and create scarcity and urgency.

All of which helps increase your store’s conversion rate.

Step 4: Choose a Shopify Theme

The next step is to customize your store by choosing a Shopify theme.

Themes control the style, layout, and functionality of your store. Here’s how to set yours up:

• Log in to your Shopify admin.
• Under Setup guide, click Customize your online store > Customize theme.

• Choose one of the options in the Popular free themes section by clicking Add next to your chosen theme…

• …or click Visit Theme Store (or click here) to choose from Shopify’s full range of free and paid themes.

As you’ll see, there are plenty of options, so take your time to browse through and choose the perfect fit for your store..

Step 5: Set Up Shipping

Shipping-related factors are two of the top five causes of cart abandonment during the checkout process, so this step requires some serious thought.

Before setting your shipping rates, consider the following:

• Product type: Are your products compact or bulky? Do they require extra attention, like cushioned packaging or refrigerated shipping?
• Product weight: The heavier your products, the more expensive they’ll be to ship.
• Shipping locations and destinations: Where are you shipping from, and where are your customers located?
• Preferred shipping method: Shopify’s main options are shipping, local delivery, and local pickup.
• Access to different shipping types: Flat-rate or free shipping makes life easier for customers, but do those options work for your products?

Given all the technicalities, we can’t give a walk-through that works for every Shopify store. But here’s the simplest way to set up Shopify shipping:

• Log in to your Shopify admin.
• From the Setup guide menu, click Store settings > Set your shipping rates > Set shipping rates.

• Under General shipping rates, click General.

• Under Shipping zones, read through the standard shipping options. If they work for you, you’re good to go. Or, to edit an existing rate, click the three dots icon…

• …then set a new rate based on item weight or order price, then click Done to save your new shipping rate.

Step 6: Set Up Payments

Like shipping, the payment methods you accept have a massive impact on your store’s conversion rate.

Indeed, 13% of people who abandon their shopping cart during the checkout process do so because the store didn’t offer enough payment options.

Payments are a complex business, so again, we can’t provide a walk-through that’ll satisfy every Shopify merchant. But we can show you the easiest approach, which is to set up Shopify Payments.

As the name suggests, Shopify Payments is Shopify’s in-house payment gateway. If you use Shopify Payments, you don’t have to set up a third-party payment provider or merchant account, then submit their details to Shopify.

Shopify Payments is currently available to merchants in 23 countries and territories, including the US, the UK, and Australia (click here for a full list of supported countries).

Follow these steps to set up Shopify Payments:

• Log in to your Shopify admin.
• In the Setup guide, click Store settings > Set up Shopify Payments > Go to Shopify Payments.

• Click Complete account setup.

• From the Complete account setup screen, click Submit information about your business > Submit details.

• Enter the necessary details about your store (including your name and address).
• Back on the Complete account setup screen, click Turn on two-step authentication > Turn on — you can’t use Shopify Payments without it.

And that’s it — you’re now set up to start capturing payments through Shopify 💰.

Step 7: Integrate With Other Sales Channels

Your store isn’t your only way to reach and convert customers.

With Shopify, you can connect to various other sales channels and marketplaces. Here are all the options (excluding Online Store, which we already know about):

Channel	Description
Shop	Use the Shop app to reach customers and build your brand.
Buy Button	Embed a Buy button that connects to your Shopify checkout on an existing blog or website (including Squarespace and WordPress sites).
Facebook	Sell via your Facebook page’s Shop tab.
Instagram	Tag and sell products in Instagram posts.
Shopify Inbox	Speak to and convert customers as they browse your store.
Wholesale (Shopify Plus only)	Sell products wholesale to other businesses via a password-protected storefront.

Follow these steps to add a new sales channel:

• Log in to your Shopify admin.
• Click Sales channels > All recommended sales channels.

• Browse the recommended sales channels. If you find one you like, click the Install app button and follow the steps to connect the app (these vary by channel).

Bear in mind that some sales channels aren’t available to certain store types.

If you can’t use a specific channel, it’ll be marked Unavailable in your Shopify admin. Find more information by clicking You can’t add this channel.

Step 8: Set Your Store Live

After all that groundwork, it’s time to officially launch your Shopify store.

This step might be the simplest of all:

• Log in to your Shopify admin.
• In the Setup guide, click Launch your online store > Remove your store password > Remove password.

• In the Password protection section, uncheck the box marked Restrict access to visitors with the password. Bear in mind you need to choose a paid Shopify plan before you can remove your password.

Now you’re all set for customers to start visiting your store and buying your products!

Part 3: Promoting Your Store: 5 Methods To Grow Traffic and Sales

Method 1: SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term marketing strategy.

It could take months for your key pages to start ranking anywhere near the top of search engine results pages.

But all that time and effort is worthwhile, because SEO boasts the highest e-commerce conversion rate of any channel.

A wide range of factors affect your store’s SEO, from page load speeds to site architecture to backlinks. But the best starting point for most Shopify merchants is to identify a main target keyword for each of your key pages.

The keywords you target should get more specific on deeper pages.

For example, a basic keyword map for our imaginary cotton candy store might look like this:

Method 2: Google Ads

As the name suggests, Google Ads is Google’s online advertising platform.

Unlike SEO, Google Ads can deliver instant results. But you need to pay for the privilege — either by paying for every click you generate, or per 1,000 ad impressions.

There are various types of Google Ads, but the most popular from an e-commerce perspective are search ads…

…and shopping ads:

To use these and other ad types, you first have to set up a Google Ads account (click here to get started).

Then set your budget, payment method, and target keywords and you’re ready to start bidding for clicks.

Method 3: Social Ads

Social ads are just like Google Ads, except you’re targeting potential customers while they browse social media (rather than when they’re searching on Google).

Every social platform has its own ad network, and each has a different setup process and ad types. But most Shopify merchants who invest in social ads choose one (or more) of the three most shopping-friendly platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Here’s an example of a cotton candy-themed social ad promoted on Facebook and Instagram:

And here are a couple of quick links to help you get started with social advertising:

• Meta ads (for Facebook and Instagram)
• Advertising on TikTok

Method 4: Organic Social Media

Organic social media is about promoting your brand and products on platforms like Insta and TikTok without paying for ads.

Like SEO vs Google Ads, it takes longer to achieve results on social media organically — especially as the reach of organic posts has declined significantly in recent years.

However, plenty of brands still see success from organic social. Just like Candy Funhouse, which uses Instagram to promote upcoming product launches:

For best results, be sure to link to your store from your social bio, like Candy Funhouse does via Linktree:

Method 5: Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing involves incentivizing third-party content creators — like bloggers, influencers, and YouTubers — to recommend your brand and products.

Every time an affiliate refers a customer to your store, you reward them with a cut of the sale — typically from 5% – 30%.

All of which means you can tap into their existing readers, viewers, and followers, helping you generate traffic and sales before you’ve built your own audience. And you only pay when people actually buy from you.

Neat, huh?

The easiest way to get started with affiliate marketing on Shopify is to use a third-party affiliate marketing app. Here are the top options, based on review scores from real-life Shopify merchants:

App	Price	User Rating
UpPromote Affiliate Marketing	$0 – $199.99 per month	4.9/5 (3,865 reviews)
BixGrow Affiliate Marketing	$0 – $15 per month	5/5 (1,238 reviews)
AfterShip Referral & Affiliate	$0 – $99+ per month	4.9/5 (2,601 reviews)

FAQs

How much does it cost to sell on Shopify?

To sell on Shopify, you need to sign up for a paid plan (once your free trial lapses). Standard prices range from $29 – $299 per month, while Shopify’s enterprise plan costs $2,300+ per month. You’ll also have to buy a domain, which costs around $15 per year.

Is Shopify worth it for beginners?

Yes! Shopify is worth it for beginners thanks to its affordable plans, user-friendly interface, and wealth of tools to help you grow traffic and sales. Even if you’ve never written a line of code in your life, you can build a basic Shopify store from scratch in a day.

Is it possible to sell on Shopify without having a product?

Yes, it’s possible to sell on Shopify without having your own product. You just need to team up with a dropshipping or print-on-demand supplier to handle manufacturing, inventory, and shipping for you.