In the eCommerce world, there are lots of platforms to choose from. Shopify is a popular service that can help you set up an online store, and make it easier to sell your products. The official website for Shopify says that more than 600,000 businesses in around 175 countries use their platform, so it’s clearly something that works.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a leading e-commerce website solution that allows you to sell online by providing everything you need to create an online store. The Shopify offers a professional online storefront, a payment solution to accept credit cards, and the Shopify POS application to power retail sales.
Shopify was founded in 2004 by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake after attempting to open Snowdevil, an online store for snowboarding equipment.
Dissatisfied with the existing e-commerce products on the market, Lütke, a computer programmer by trade, instead built his own. Founded in Ottawa, Canada initially as “Jaded Pixel”, Shopify was an app store developer prior to its rebranding.
Shopify currently powers over 800,000 businesses in approximately 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Red Bull, Nestle, GE, Kylie Cosmetics, and many more.
Why should I sell using Shopify?
Shopify includes everything you need to set up your own online store and sell products: an attractive storefront, a payment solution to accept credit cards, and the ability to manage products and inventory.
How much does Shopify cost?
Shopify has four plans based on your business needs: Lite at $9/month, Basic at $29/month, Professional at $79/month, and Unlimited at $179/month.
Benefits of Using Shopify For Your Vancouver Business
The beauty of Shopify Vancouver is that it allows you to create your own ecommerce store or website, which gives you the flexibility to sell a wide variety of products. Shopify offers a simple, efficient way to start selling your products online and managing your inventory.
The platform also offers a vast array of features that help you design and manage a successful online business. Here are some of the benefits of using Shopify for your business.
Here are the top seven benefits of using Shopify for your Vancouver business.
Shopify is easy to use.
If you’re not technologically savvy, don’t worry! Shopify makes it easy to set up your own store with thousands of customizable themes so that you can create a unique store that is tailored to meet the needs of your business and niche market. Plus, adding products is super simple – all you have to do is upload pictures and add descriptions.
You can sell everywhere!
Shopify offers an easy way for you to sell your products online from just about any location in the world. You can even sell at craft fairs or pop-up shops by using their POS system on an iPad or Android tablet. This allows you to process sales quickly so that customers can make their purchases on the go.
You get free 24/7 support.
Shopify gives you free and unlimited 24/7 support. If you are ever stuck, they have a team on hand ready to help. All of the Shopify experts are well-trained and friendly. If you want to talk to someone directly, you can always call them. Additionally, the company offers a plethora of online resources for clients in need.
There are how-to videos, best practices guides and much more. In addition to this, there is a vibrant online community for Shopify users; it’s full of people who are going through the same thing as you. This is a great place to find answers and guidance from other small business owners that use Shopify!
You can start selling right away.
The beauty of e-commerce is that you can sell your products to anyone in the world. There are no geographical limits and you are not bound by opening hours. With Shopify, you can sell anywhere at any time. By using a Shopify POS system, you can also easily sell your products in person.
You will get a fully integrated e-commerce platform where all your sales channels are connected and synced. This means that whenever someone buys something from your physical store or via your e-commerce website, the inventory will automatically be deducted and updated across all sales channels.
Shopify makes it easy for you to manage your business by providing a centralized dashboard where you can do everything from managing orders to viewing analytics reports. Shopify is user-friendly and easy to set up. You’ll be up and running in no time!
Your store is responsive.
As a Shopify store owner, you can focus on marketing and selling your products without worrying about allocating time and resources towards managing your website. Shopify will take care of that for you. All Shopify sites are mobile-friendly, which means they are ready to be viewed on any device and screen resolution.
There is no need for separate mobile sites, and the template will adjust automatically to fit the screen that it is being viewed on. This is particularly important in today’s market where more than 1/3 of people are shopping online using their smartphones or tablets.
Your Store is Safe and Secure.
The platform is also extremely safe and secure. You can have confidence that all transactions are encrypted with the latest technology and that no sensitive information will be compromised.
When people visit your store, they expect it to be safe and secure. They want to know that their personal information, such as their credit card number and contact details, is being kept safe from hackers and thieves.
When you use a reputable e-commerce platform like Shopify, customers don’t have to worry about putting their personal information at risk. When you use Shopify, you do not have to worry about security issues.
It is safe and secure because it uses 128-bit SSL encryption technology just like traditional banks do when processing transactions online. The technology ensures that funds are transferred from one party to another securely without any leakage or interception.
Low cost.
One of the main benefits of using Shopify is that it is low-cost compared to other eCommerce platforms. You only have to pay a monthly fee which starts out at $29 per month.
The more features you need, the higher the monthly fee will be. However, there are no transaction fees if you use Shopify Payments (which is integrated directly into your store) rather than a third party payment gateway such as PayPal or Authorize.
If a third party payment gateway is used, then there will be a small transaction fee per sale in addition to the monthly fee for hosting your store on Shopify’s servers.
Takeaway
Given the benefits you’ll see from using Shopify for your Vancouver business as described above, we know that you’ll want to get started as soon as possible. That’s why we highly recommend purchasing the standard plan with a fourteen-day free trial period.
It offers everything you need to get started with a storefront that looks amazing, and it won’t cost you a cent to start using it right away. Moreover, Shopify allows you to build your website however you like. There is no limit on pages or products, so as long as your business grows, Shopify will grow with it.
