I’ve been involved with online marketing using the Shopify platform for some years. I did have a reluctance to use it because you are always at the mercy of the platform whereas if you create your own shop you own the IP and you can do what you like to make the most sales.
Building Your Own Online Shop
Yes. Do it. Building a shop can be done a lot easier with the likes of WordPress and Woocommerce. Better still is coding from scratch using something like Craft CMS.
The upside of WP and Woo is low cost. Yes, you have to pay for ‘bolt ons’ but really you can do this on the cheap. The downside of a CMS / ecommerce platform like Craft is the expense and time taken to create anything worthwhile.
The Upside of Bespoke?
You own the code. You could even sell your customisations and you don’t have to be concerned with the limitations of Shopify. Don’t get me wrong Shopify is great but it has limits when you have Basic Shopify, for instance you are unable to make any changes to the basket. This makes sense.
Shopify, Bags of Good Stuff
Shopify will create a website, it’s easy to add products, it will even handle different currency and payment (taking a percentage). So, as long as you build those percentages into your Cost of Goods you’ll be fine.
All the different versions, Basic Shopify, Shopify and Advanced Shopify will provide a free SSL certificate, fraud analysis and excellent reporting.
Customer Support with Shopify
I’ve never found them wanting. They have always been super helpful and knowledgeable.
Digital Marketing with Shopify
Also excellent for the small to medium business (and some large ones too) in regard of what you can do ‘out of the box.’
Apps, Apps Everywhere
There’s an app for that! What do you want to do, what functionality do you wish to add to your shop? Nine times out of ten you’ll find the app that works and in a lot of cases it will be free or an easy to justify fee.
From help with delivery to SEO options and email integration, it’s all there.
SEO Manager
This is a very neat app that helps with all manner of SEO. It’s not the ultimate but for the basics it is worthwhile. It reviews the site and allows you to update meta data easily. It will also handle broken links easily.
It has a bulk option for looking at all your product listings and their meta, plus the ability to add alt descriptions to images.
Email Integration
Shopify and MailChimp fell out a while ago, a shame as MailChimp is the go-to email platform for ease of use when you are starting out.
A more sophisticated email solution is Klaviyo. A mite clunky in places but it will make a difference. Just be patient learning how it works.
Starting Out in ecommerce?
Well, do use Shopify. You’ll be up and running very quickly. Think of the deals that you can do, if you have to, most friction is caused by delivery charges, what magic can you work here.
Do install SEO Manager and an app to integrate your email platform. Then test and test again, with a small amount of traffic you won’t be able to make absolute tests but you have a starting point.
Organic ecommerce
Once started benchmark where you are, visitors and sales. Then you can start growing. It will take a while, be patient and set targets. Review on a weekly and monthly basis. What percentage of your targets are you achieving?
Things to Ponder with Shopify
Not all apps are good apps. Use apps only when vital to the business. If you try one and then remove it, it may leave behind code that can slow shop. Make sure all your images are optimised, meaning as small, in file size, as possible.
You can do a lot for yourself but budget for the use of a good developer and a great graphic designer.
About Conversion Detectives
Conversion Detectives is a full service digital marketing agency in Hertfordshire.
We find the best quality traffic for your website and convert more of that traffic into sales or sales leads.
Services
Digital Marketing Strategy | Creative Content Marketing | Email Marketing |
Lead Generation | Content Strategy | Social Media Marketing |
Video Marketing SEO (Basics) | SEM |
Video Marketing | Shopify Marketing