A successful Shopify store depends on many factors from the quality of your products and services to responsive customer service. However, it’s important to have a solid foundation before you launch your Shopify store.
If you’re planning to launch a holiday or seasonal business, or if this is your first time selling online, here are some essential tips for preparing your Shopify store for launch day:
1. Understand Your Market
Before you launch, it’s important that you understand your market.
Know Your Market and Customers
This means understanding who your customers are and what they need, as well as knowing the problems that they’re facing in their day-to-day lives.
Once you know what the problem is, then it’s time to think about how your store can help them solve it. This can be done through a variety of ways:
- Creating content that answers questions people may have – A great example is from Shopify’s blog about setting up a Facebook group for your online business. It answers a common question that many ecommerce entrepreneurs have about starting an online community around their brand or products/services.
- Providing resources or guides – You could provide guides on topics like shipping policies or returns policies so that customers know exactly what to expect when purchasing from your store (and don’t get frustrated after receiving their items).
2. Find a Good Shopify Theme
The first thing you need to do is find a good Shopify theme. This can be tricky because there are so many options out there, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But don’t worry.
Here are some tips for finding the right theme:
- Find a Theme That’s Already Built For You – Shopify has hundreds of pre-made themes that are ready to go straight from the box, meaning they have all the bells and whistles built in (like an online store builder), so you can just start selling straight away.
- Look For Customization Options – Different vendors offer different kinds of design elements with their themes. Some may allow customization of colors or fonts, while others may not have any extra features like this at all (but will still work fine). If possible, try looking at examples of live stores using each given theme so that you know what kind of personalized style will look best on your store’s pages.
3. Use Email Marketing Tools
Marketing is a key part of your business, and email marketing should be no exception. Email marketing is an effective way to promote your products and services, build relationships with customers, strengthen the bond between you and potential clients, and increase sales.
With so many benefits in store for you, investing time into setting up an email marketing campaign should be at the top of your priority list.
To set up an effective campaign:
- Create a clear strategy that outlines what messages you want to send out as well as where they’re going (e.g., specific stores or groups of people).
- Define goals for each message based on what you want it to accomplish; for example: generate sales leads or increase customer loyalty? Both? Do some research beforehand so that you know which specific metrics will help determine whether those objectives are being met (e.g., number of clicks or links clicked through). If possible try mapping out how much money each type costs in order make sure it’s worth doing before investing too much time into something that might not even work.
4. Research Gift Card Plugins
It’s important to note that gift cards are generally used as incentives to purchase other products.
If a customer is planning on buying a specific product, but the price isn’t right for them, then offering either discounts or free gift cards could be what it takes to close the sale. Gift card plugins can help you get started with this.
There are several types of gift card plugins available on Shopify:
- E-gift card – Customers purchase an e-gift card from your store and send it by email.
- In-store gift card – Customers can redeem their in-store e-gift card at any time when purchasing in person at your physical location.
The following guide will cover some of the most popular Shopify Gift Card plugins that integrate with Shopify:
5. Consider Multi-Channel Integration
The last thing you want to worry about on launch day is whether or not your store will be ready for the influx of customers. Even if you’re only planning to launch your store, it’s still a good idea to double-check that everything works as expected and go through some final checks.
If you haven’t already done so, consider multi-channel integration: tools that allow your Shopify store to work seamlessly with other platforms such as Facebook and Mailchimp.
This can help increase customer engagement by making it easier for them to add products from your website into their cart, subscribe via email (or text), and share their experience with friends on social media.
In addition, if they are already a subscriber on one platform but don’t have an account yet with another service like Mailchimp or Zapier (which allows users to connect apps together), then this gives them an opportunity for conversion through cross-selling/upselling opportunities.
6. Create an Appealing Brand Story
While a product description is important for your store, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Your brand story is what will establish trust with your customers and help them understand why they should purchase from you.
But what is a brand story? It’s not just some marketing jargon, it’s an outline of who you are and how you came to be in the business of selling clothing online.
It includes the struggles and successes that led up to your current status as an e-commerce shop owner; this information helps customers identify with their favorite brands on an emotional level (and might lead them to buy more products).
To create an effective brand narrative, consider these tips:
- Keep the tone conversational. Don’t use complicated words or long sentences; keep everything short and simple so people can scan through it easily when reading online pages on their mobile devices. Include personal anecdotes from life experiences that relate directly back into how they’ve helped shape who they are today.
7. Choose a Payment Processor
Payment processors are the service that processes payments and sends you money. They’re one of the most important parts of your store because they can make or break your business, so it’s important to choose a payment processor wisely.
You’ll have to pay a fee each time someone makes a purchase in your store. The fee depends on what type of processor you use, plus there may also be charges for things like international transactions or refunds.
The best way to check if a payment processor is right for you is by looking at its features and rates before signing up, just remember not to get too hung up on these details at this stage as there will be plenty more opportunities later.
Conclusion
Hope that this guide has been helpful for you. As with any kind of project, it can be intimidating to take on a new venture, but Shopify is a great platform and there are plenty of resources out there to help get started. Now go forth and create something beautiful.
Before you go
Here’s a visual recap of this blog post from On Demand Developers – Chetu:
About the Author!
Sofia is a tech enthusiast and traveller who loves encouraging curiosity in tech-related stuff and creating memories along with her journey around the world. She is now working with many tech businesses including Pixel. See more about Sofia on Twitter @SofiahayesS