Why shopify is the leading tool for Ecommerce

Undoubtedly the best E-commerce platform today, Shopify is a Canadian E-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa and created by, like many other companies, people who sought out for something, didn't get it and decided to make it and avail it to the public.

Shopify has had rapid growth through the years and their purchasing of resources, or better yet other small business brands to further build the company is impressive. What's more impressive is their easy-to-remember slogan: "Whether you sell, on social media, in store or out of the trunk of your car, Shopify has you covered". A better version is: "Shopify, the best place to sell online, in person, and anywhere in-between".

Shopify doesn't leave you hanging either. The platform hosts a Podcast and avails several resources to business owners in the form of blog posts. In fact, you could be an affiliate, investor or someone whom just follows the platform and they wouldn't let you down.

You're new to business and the platform in general? You get posts to help you get your first sale. You're an affiliate? You get the resources you need to help you better understand and promote the platform. You're a professional Entrepreneur with lots of experience? Believe it, Shopify has you covered.

But a platform as this does have its drawbacks, especially since the evident rise of drop shipping in 2015 where it became saturated with people thinking that outsourcing products from AliExpress was a good idea (even though drop shipping has been here since people thought of selling stuff to other people) and everyone who failed labeled it a "Get rich quick" scheme, even though Shopify has never publicly, or privately insinuated that using their platform assures/insures success.

WHY SHOPIFY?

There are a lot of attributes that make Shopify a sexy platform; particularly that it can be customized according to ones wishes. They are listed below;

• User friendly interface.

• Plans catering to your needs.

• World class customer support.

• Easy customization.

• A blog for your store.

• Access to Shopify experts that'll help with your store at a negotiable cost.

• An app store with apps to help you manage your store and many more.

SHOPIFY PLANS

Shopify has plans with features that fits every criteria one may garner. There are generally five shopify plans with specific features available for them. The plans and respective features are discussed below;

THE LITE SHOPIFY PLAN

If you have a Facebook page about a particular activity or service and you have products you could sell on your page, then this is the plan for you. It is limited to only selling on Facebook and costs $9.

THE BASIC SHOPIFY PLAN

This plan costs $29 and has cards rates of: 2.9%+30¢ for Canadian cards, 3.5%+30¢ for Amex or international cards and an in- person card rate of 2.7%+0¢. There are no transaction fees for using Shopify payments as your payment gateway, but using external payment gateways has a transaction fee of 2.0% percent.

With this plan you get these features: two (2) staff accounts, ability to add an unlimited number of products, an unlimited amount of file storage space, a $49 retail package, a "good" Shopify shipping discount, shipping labels printed, 24/7 hour support, fraud analysis, the ability to create orders manually, discount codes, a website and a blog and finally a free SSL certificate. Features you do not get on this plan are: gift cards, professional reports, advanced cart recovery, advanced report builder nor third-party calculated rates.

THE SHOPIFY PLAN

This plan costs $79 and has cards rates of: 2.7%+30¢ for Canadian cards, 3.4%+30¢ for Amex or international cards and an in- person card rate of 2.6%+0¢. There are no transaction fees for using Shopify payments as your payment gateway, but using external payment gateways has a transaction fee of 1.0% percent.

With this plan you get these features: five (5) staff accounts, ability to add an unlimited number of products, an unlimited amount of file storage space, a $49 retail package, a "better" Shopify shipping discount (than the basic plan), shipping labels printed, 24/7 hour support, fraud analysis, the ability to create orders manually, discount codes, a website and a blog, a free SSL certificate, gift cards, professional reports and advanced cart recovery. Features you do not get on this plan are: advanced report builder and third-party calculated rates.

THE ADVANCED SHOPIFY PLAN

This plan costs $299 with cards rates of: 2.4%+30¢ for Canadian cards, 3.3%+30¢ for Amex or international cards and an in- person card rate of 2.4%+0¢. There are no transaction fees (, as usual) for using Shopify payments as your payment gateway, but using external payment gateways has a transaction fee of 0.5% percent.

On this plan, every feature is made available to you. Specifically, fifteen (15) staff accounts, ability to add an unlimited number of products, an unlimited amount of file storage space, a $49 retail package, the "best" Shopify shipping discount, printed shipping labels, 24/7 hour support, fraud analysis, the ability to create orders manually, discount codes, a website and a blog, free SSL certificate, gift cards, professional reports, advanced cart recovery, advanced report builder and third-party calculated rates.

THE SHOPIFY PLUS PLAN

Shopify plus plan is Shopify's "custom" plan. There is barely any information of this plan except that you get what you agree on with Shopify. If a business gets intereste in the plan, they contact an affiliate or some affiliate brands of Shopify and they will submit/refer you to Shopify. After which Shopify will call you and create a store for you based on your agreed criteria.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH SHOPIFY

My personal journey with Shopify has been very interesting. In my first week of opening my first two stores, I've had several abandoned carts. Why so many abandoned carts? You ask! Because living in a third world country, Nigeria, I couldn't get a payment processor. All good options required that a business be registered (Until recently but only for new accounts). It's sad. So if you fail, it's always easier to blame it on your country rather than the platform. It's like back lashing at Google because they didn't have results for a weird name/word you were searching for.

My first store sold geek merchandise and the second store that I still work on, sells Long Boards. I still can't get a payment processor and so have a vast amount of abandoned carts while I simultaneously try to make it look appealing and trustworthy. I haven't given up!

So, I saved the best for last. Shopify allows a 14 day free trial after which you'll need to buy a plan to keep using the platform unless a development store is created for you. There is still no loophole because once a store is 14 days old; you'll need to still buy a plan regardless of if it was created as a development store. The only other option is for you to be added as an employee and when the store makes 50 orders, you'll need to buy a plan and the store gets handed to you. You also have the opportunity to employ Shopify Experts to help you with your store based on what you agreed on.

If you have a product, whether you made it or had it made for you and would like or are ready Launch, then there is no better platform to sell on than Shopify.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jacob_Umar/2539582

Do you know your margins???

Recommend Article Article Comments Print ArticleShare this article on FacebookShare this article on TwitterShare this article on LinkedinShare this article on DeliciousShare this article on DiggShare this article on RedditShare this article on PinterestExpert Author Randall A Magwood So do you know your online marketing costs? Most people don't, and because of it, they wander around online for decades trying to make money in every business possible. But what they don't realize is that no matter what business they try to make money in, it will never work if the online marketing costs aren't accounted for. Have you seen this in your business? So why is it important to know your costs? It's important because it helps you to predict your income each month. If for every dollar you invest in marketing you're making back $30 more, you can't beat that. But you know what? Most people aren't in a position to have those kinds of numbers occur in their business. For most people with a website, they simply guess at their numbers and follow their competitors. Most people think that whatever their competitors are doing it must be working - since they have a lot of website traffic coming in everyday. But people are failing everyday. Your competitor's too. So it's "monkey see monkey do", and "the blind following the blind". You shouldn't be concerned about your competitors. You should be concerned about your numbers so that you can achieve the profitable business that you want. Isn't that what you got into business for in the first place? To escape the job rat race... to be your own boss... to wake up when you want to wake up... to make the kind of money you know that you deserve to make? If THIS is what you really want, then you need to take your numbers seriously. There is only 1 situation where I see people take their numbers to heart, but they don't have the skills to propel that success to a higher level. What situation am I talking about? EBAY. On eBay, your profit potential is predictable. But WHY is it predictable? Simply because eBay provides the traffic for you. Nobody ever asks "Where does eBay gets its traffic from?". Your website and eBay is no different - only except eBay is profitable and the executives know what they are doing. More importantly, they know their numbers. Have you heard of the following term before: "Cost per sale"? Your cost per sale simply means the amount of money you have to spend in order to get a sale. So if your cost per sale is $30, and you sell a $20 item, you lose $10 on every sale that you make. If your cost per sale is $30, and you sell a $200 item, you profit $170 on each sale. Now you may not sell $200 items, but hopefully you get my point. So do you know your cost per sale? Do you know your online marketing costs? How much money are you investing into advertising every month? If you're generating leads, what is your cost per lead? What percentage of your leads convert into customers? What's your web hosting costs? What does your WordPress blog monthly fee cost? What percentage of your customers convert into repeat customers? These are all things that you need to keep track of if you want to be profitable. But if you're like most beginner online business owners, you're sucked into all the hype about all the money that you could be making within your first 30 days. Why is that? Is it because you get sucked into the hype and the promises, and not sucked into what it really takes to run and have a successful business? This is an important question to answer. This is why you need a skilled and qualified internet marketing coach or consultant to guide you in the right direction. Think about your other costs besides your cost per lead and cost per sale. Since you have an online business, you need an internet connection. So there's a monthly internet access cost. There's the cost for your computer. The cost for a merchant account. The cost (potentially) for employees. The cost for inventory (even if you sell eBooks). The cost of advertising. The cost of automation tools, And etc. Online marketing costs are real and it's the most important part of your business. Listen, marketing strategies are important. But no marketing strategy will be effective until you've figured out how you're going to make a profit on every item that you sell in your business. I have no idea what you sell - but it doesn't matter. Every online business owner needs to know the costs in their business, and has to develop the plan for recouping that money back. Online marketing costs are real and are a real consideration before you invest a dime into advertising. This was my fatal flaw when I began. All I heard was "make $30,000 per month", and I forgot everything else. Because of it, I lost over $20,000 over the years of trying to make an online operation work. Once I learned, I started making money. First it started out small, but then it grew into something profound. It started with easy $7 sales, to $37 sales, to $2,500 sales, and now to capturing clients for $300 per hour. Can you say that for your business? Probably not - because you probably don't know the numbers in your business, and probably don't believe the math. The math is real, and trust me I know... the struggle is real. But if you want a real chance of financial freedom and taking care of your situation, you need to know your online marketing costs. If you can conquer this, then everything you do in your business will make sense. You will move from letting your business run you, to you running your business. Then eventually... your money will be working for you, instead of you working in your business for money. You will become a smarter business owner, and you will realize that ultimately, you are a MARKETER first, and a business owner second. This is some of the best advice you will ever hear, so you should act on it and take it to heart - because what I'm saying to you is real and true. So start documenting and knowing your online marketing costs now. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Randall Magwood is one of the most highly-regarded internet marketing consultants on the internet. He has an Internet Marketing Blog and a Free 157-Page Book that helps business owners learn how to promote their website simply and easily. To download his book, simply visit the following website here: Free Internet Marketing Book Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Randall_A_Magwood/131394

Starting out as an online newbie.

The first steps to me venturing out into the online world was a strange one, A world where i was not quite sure how it functioned and what was waiting for me on the other side of the keyboard. I was short on money but full of excitement to get started on my journey not a clue as to what i would be doing, selling or creating. There is such a broad spectrum of Niches available to you when getting started so i read through all of them and chose 2 that i found worked for me given the current circumstances but also as found could make the most progress in quickly. In this blog post i am going to tell you a little bit about my Ebay journey. Starting out i had contacts from the business that i run on the day job so i could arrange a deal with, Now just because you don't have contacts does not mean you cannot make them. What i'm referring to here is pick up the phone or email and get making contacts. So i started to research on Ebay the products that i sold day to day with the business checking out prices and shipping costs. In doing this research i came across the word "DROP SHIP". DROP SHIPPING - A way of not holding the stock but advertising the item (S) once sold shipping from a distributors warehouse. Figuring this out i then made sure i could market the products on Ebay with the permission of the supplier and also checking they had good stock levels and what they're shipping costs were, With this in mind i then advertised the products on the site with the pictures and item descriptions, Offering free shipping really making the advert stand out above the competition. It worked my first sale and item sold, Money received by pay pal, I rang the supplier gave the address for the buyer, Paid them and order was shipped. WOW! I said to myself this was amazing not only had a i sold something but i did not have to buy it and spend money upfront till it was sold, How could i do this more. This was the start of something so easy, No upfront costs, No storage costs and it was just a clicking exercise from my behalf and the buyers, Easier said than done as you need to have the products people want. By this i would say choose a niche or area that you have knowledge in like a common interest or passion for as this will automatically give you the expert edge as you are familiar with the product, Ultimately making the process a lot more smoother in the early stages. It's also very important to build up a rating with Ebay as buyer's are very conscious of this so it may take time but be patient with it and persist as this is just a hurdle and everyone started from zero, Once the products start selling the reviews and ratings will automatically rise. As your journey continues you will discover what works and what does not work but ultimately you have to just take the first step to make the process happen. Time to go Online

AMAZON AFFILIATE MARKETING for Beginners in 2020 (Tutorial) - Make $100 ...

** NEW POST ** Snippet into the possibilities of online business building.

Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on Delicious Share this article on DiggShare this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Ever since the introduction of internet and the possibilities it offered a lot of businesses saw the potential of increasing their exposure and made themselves available online which is when the digital economy started. With technology constantly evolving and internet speeds reaching the phase they are in now it became clear that digital economy would topple the traditional economy by a lot and become much better for profit. Recently the digital economy is one of the key drivers of the economic growth in the US and it's grown for about 7.2% annually for the past decade which is a rate about 4 times faster than the GDP. The development of technology has also made way for many businesses to easily improve their efficiency in many fields while having lower costs. The digital economy has a few advantages over the traditional one and those are: 1. Effective resource allocation - in the digital world there is an option to get an algorithm that has information on what people search on Google, what they want and how they want it and it's much cheaper than paying people who may or may not be able to help you sell your product. 2. Location - it doesn't matter where you are as long as you have an internet connection and an online presence. You can be sitting at home in your pajamas and be able to make millions selling services or other products if your online store is well marketed. 3. Faster growth of small businesses - when you get your business online it would about $20-$30 to reach an audience between 3000-4000 people which means it would only cost so little to make your new business known to so many people out there that might be interested in your product or service. Affiliate Marketing Having a website or a blog that is frequented by a lot of people it one of the better things you can have to be able to make money online because if you have one of those you can use it to put up affiliate links and refer people to services for which you'll earn commission. If this sounds simple it's because it is but the hard part is to get to a website or a blog that a lot of people are reading. It takes some time for a new website to become popular and have a lot of traffic. It involves working hard and putting up content regularly but once you build your audience you can truly enjoy the passive income and quit your job to work from home. The way affiliate marketing works is by offering commission for the products or services sold. There are a lot of websites that have various products and services listed and available, and all you have to do is sign up for their site and apply to be an affiliate for a product. Once you get approved (this usually happens really fast) you will get a unique link that you need to embed in you posts so your audience can see it and if they buy the product or service through this link you'll get a commission for it which can be anywhere from 20% to 200% depending on the product and the company offering it. Make sure you refer your readers to products and services you really think are worth their trouble because if you refer them to something mediocre you might start losing your audience and your online income will take a hit. Do your research before you apply for any service to make sure you're an affiliate of something great and you can proudly present it to your readers. There are various affiliate websites that you can sign up for and pick from the products and services they are offering including Rakuten Marketing, Share-a-Sale, Commission Junction, ClickBank, Impact Radius and a lot more but you don't have to use these sites to be an affiliate. There are many companies that recognized the potential in offering affiliate options on their own without using one of the websites above and they implemented an option where you deal with the company directly. Overall, affiliate marketing is definitely the best way to make money online and build up your passive income which will allow you quit your day job and work from home and eventually pay people to work for you so you can enjoy your day and spend your time as you see fit. eCommerce Business eCommerce is a very fast growing business that people can utilize to take advantage of the rise of digital economy and make money online. This method also involves working from home and eventually it can be turned into a passive income stream that will only need maintaining rather than constant working and huge effort. The model for eCommerce businesses starts picking a niche and persona. Once you've done that you'll need a website on which you can create your online store and pick a product that you believe will sell well and have the highest profit margin. It has to be within the niche you picked and match the persona you decided to represent. It's best to start with just one product rather than many because it can get messy if the orders start coming in and you can't cover the costs right away. There might be problems with shipping and returns which is really hard for newly made websites. Once you've established a good profit margin for one product you can expand and find out what else is selling like crazy so you can put it up on your page for your visitors to buy. It's pretty straightforward model but the eCommerce market today is highly competitive and it's not easy to compete with websites that are already well established and trusted by consumers. However, it's still one of the simplest and most effective ways to make real income online using the growth of digital economy. Coaching and Consulting Take Advantage Of The Many Apps Available Apps that are available on your smart devices aren't just for fun and games. There are many apps that have the potential to make you a lot of money if you are really devoted to becoming a part of the digital economy and make money online. There are few apps available that you can use to find a coaching or a consulting job and one of those is the Task Rabbit. Task Rabbit A very simple app to use that can make you some extra money. Clients post tasks on the app and you can apply for anything posted there. The various tasks can be simple and easy which would pay less and might go up to extremely complicated and require expertise in a field but they would also be paid more. To find a consulting or a coaching job you just need to search their database of jobs posted and see if there's anything available at the moment. You can also try other similar apps and not just stick to this one. Utilize Money Making Websites One of the better ways to join the digital economy and make money online is to use the websites available to everyone for making active and passive income. Some of the sites that are set up can be used to sell digital goods like designs for apparel but can also be utilized for consulting and coaching services. Basically the websites we're putting in this category are the ones that focus their attention on long term working relationships with freelancers in various niche areas including photography, design, content creation, online marketing, coaching and consulting. A few of the sites available on the web are the following. Upwork An amazing marketplace for freelancers to find a part time or even a full time job. It's great for selling any kind of digital service you can possibly imagine. The best thing is that what you need for this site is to be good at what you do. No need for creating your own website or a special merchant account. If your service is top-notch and your knowledge in the field you're working in is exemplary you have nothing to worry about. The only downside might be that there is a lot of competition and you'll have to "fight" to get a job but other than that it's an awesome place you can make money online which can easily turn into passive income. Fiverr Another similar website to Upwork but on this one you're posting what you can do for a certain amount while the minimum amount is $5. So if you're looking for coaching clients you can post a gig that will let people know you're available for coaching sessions for an x amount of money and people who are looking for something like that will be able to see your gig and hire you to be their coach. Here's a link where you can sign up for Fiverr. Conclusion The digital economy is a very fast growing economy compared to traditional one and we should all take advantage of the opportunity it offers. The 3 simple and effective ways that we present above are the ones that work best for building your passive income and while affiliate marketing is listed first and it's the best choice, eCommerce and offering consulting and coaching services are close seconds. Picking any of the three ways, or even a combination of them all is something that everyone who has a little knowledge and is ambitious should do. It's never been easier to go online and start your own small business while sitting comfortably on your couch and work from home. Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Ryan_Simon_Smith/589678

�� Shopify Tutorial for Beginners | How to Set Up a Profitable Shopify St...