Establishing a Shopify Online Store – How to Do It in Just a Few Days
How is a Shopify online store created? What should entrepreneurs consider in this process? We have compiled a concise guide on how establishing a Shopify online store can be done in a couple or a few days without any previous experience in building an online store or with Shopify.
In this guide, we will start from the assumption that you already have a business, products to sell in the online store, and some visual elements ready.
Why Choose Shopify When Setting Up an Online Store?
Let's start by briefly explaining why you should choose Shopify when there are many other splendid options available for establishing an online store. One of Shopify's leading competitors, which we also prefer in our online stores, is WooCommerce.
Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce is not an independent system, but an add-on installed on a WordPress website. To set up a WooCommerce online store, you must therefore have a WordPress site already built.
There are various add-ons available for WooCommerce that make it easier to implement such an online store without web development skills or previous experience with WordPress/WooCommerce. However, you first have to find the right add-ons and get them set up, which is usually time-consuming if you do not know what you are doing. As a general rule, it can be said that establishing a Shopify online store is easier and quicker for a beginner to do.
Setting up a store on the Shopify platform does not require as much research as WooCommerce or other alternatives. All the necessary tools for setting up a shop are conveniently available from Shopify. For example, online store design tools, product management, and hosting services are included in Shopify's packages. Unlike WooCommerce, you do not need to acquire additional services or integrations.
Shopify is valued in particular by those merchants and entrepreneurs who want an easier path and quick set-up for their online store – possibly in just a few days.
Appearance-wise, Shopify also offers plenty of theme options, which you can customize to your liking without coding knowledge up to a certain point. Even beginners can easily change fonts, colors, and other details of the online store. However, if your online store requires more customization, that is when coding skills and professional help are needed.
Therefore, the platform is relatively simple to use, and practically, establishing a Shopify online store can take as little as two to three days. By then, you as the merchant should have some materials prepared such as product descriptions and images, as well as brand visual elements like logos, colors, and fonts.
Another point in favor of Shopify is the around-the-clock technical support, which provides entrepreneurs with the answers they may need when setting up an online store on their own.
Here's How the Practical Setup of a Shopify Online Store is Handled
1. Create an Account and Establish Your Shopify Online Store
The first step is the easiest – you register on the ecommerce platform and create a Shopify account, of course. As of the publication date of this article, you can take advantage of a three-day free trial, before which you do not need to pay anything to set up your Shopify online store.
When you register for the store, you will first be asked for your personal details and the name of your online store. The name of the store should be unique and easy to remember and write – it could also just be the name of your business or web domain.
However, you do not need to know the final name of the online store at this point, as you can change it later if you wish.
2. Select a Shopify Theme and Customize It
Next, you can start thinking about how you want your new online store to look. You probably have some ideas ready; brand visual elements, color schemes, and guidelines that define the appearance of your online store.
From the Shopify Theme Store, you can find hundreds of free and premium themes from which you can choose the right look for your store and tailor it to your liking.
A free theme allows you to mainly adjust the store's colors and fonts and change the logo. These themes may well suffice for some entrepreneurs and merchants, but often it's worth it to pay for a Shopify theme. In this case, you're able to customize more elements and create a look that definitely suits your brand and looks professional.
Paid themes also allow you to edit your store's code, enabling you to tailor the appearance and individual functions to exactly fit your needs. Depending on the need, the right skills, and time, this can be done neatly by oneself, or you can seek help from a web developer who knows Shopify inside out, for example, from us.
Free and premium themes are available in Finnish, but there is a wider range available in English. If the language of the theme you choose is English, you can update it to Finnish or your customers' languages using Shopify's features. For switching languages and other practical details, you can find more guidance in Shopify's own guide.
Once you have made the necessary edits and officially put the theme into use, remember to also publish it separately.
3. List the Products You're Selling to the Online Store
The next step in setting up your Shopify online store is to add the products you sell. You can do this by navigating to the Products tab in Shopify and clicking "Add Product".
Before you start adding products, it would be good to look at how your competitors and other popular Shopify online stores arrange and present their products, if you haven't already done so.
This is particularly important as the solutions you end up using to showcase your products will either positively or negatively affect the success of your online store. Clear product categories and listings not only help potential customers find your products faster and more easily, but they also contribute to your online store's visibility in search engines, along with other solutions.
In the opposite case, search engines may not understand the structure of your site. Likewise, a paying customer may get confused, causing them to leave your site quickly. Both scenarios can weaken your sales and standings in search engine results.
Also, when adding products to your online store, always think that there is no opportunity to examine the product in the same way as in a traditional physical store. If enough information is not provided or if the information provided is incorrect, the customer is unlikely to buy from your online store. Therefore, it's worth investing in product details.
Consider at least the following when listing products to your online store:
Product titles: the title must make it clear what you are selling. A good product title is short and concise, attracts the customer's interest, and includes keywords that potential customers use to search for your product online.
Product descriptions: the description must reveal the most important features of your product and the benefits your customers get. You do not need to keep product descriptions very short, as they are the only substantial information alongside images/videos that potential customers get about your product.
Don't start writing a novel, though. Make descriptions easy to read and quick to scan by writing shorter paragraphs and incorporating lists into the text. Remember to also use relevant keywords in the product descriptions.Product images and videos: ensure that the images and videos of the product are high quality and show the product in the best possible light. Products can sometimes remain unsold due to poor images/videos, as low-quality content can easily reduce the trust in the product and your online store.
Product categories: are important both for you and for your customers, as they help potential customers find your products better and facilitate product management as an online merchant. Online store products should be grouped based on product types, genders, ages, offers, or campaigns.
4. Choose the Best Payment Methods for Your Customers
In order to accept payments, you first need to define the payment methods for your online store. Shopify flexibly offers many different options, but even so, you should carefully consider your customers' preferences.
If you are running an online store in Finland, you should consider the overwhelmingly most popular payment method, which is online banking. If this payment method is not found in your online store, purchases may be left undone by some customers.
After online banking, according to Visma, the most popular payment methods in 2022 were credit card, mobile payment, invoice, and installment payment, so it's advisable for the online merchant to offer these payment methods to Finnish customers as well.
Shopify offers its own Shopify Payments service, which allows customers to pay by card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Shopify itself does not offer online banking payment, so this option may be better suited for an online store with mostly international customers.
When selecting a payment service for your online store, remember the fees charged. Most payment services collect some kind of fee for each transaction. Ideally, it would be best to find a service with relatively low fees.
On the domestic market, the best option is probably to use a third-party payment service that enables online banking payments. Based on our experience, the best price-quality payment service provider is Finnish Paytrail.
5. Add Missing Information to the Online Store
You cannot launch a Shopify online store with incomplete information. Before making the online store public, you need to add information related to your business and online store activities.
From your Shopify account settings, at least handle your business information (such as contact information, business ID and VAT ID), the value-added tax chargeable on products, online store delivery methods and prices, and the details asked at the checkout. Before the public release, the online store must also display for visitors the terms and conditions of payments, delivery, and returns, as well as the GDPR-compliant privacy statement, templates of which you can find online.
Also remember to carefully choose the online store's delivery methods at this point. It's worth offering as many delivery options as possible, so customers can choose the most suitable for them and the formation of the sale is not hindered by the lack of a preferred delivery method.
In Finland, Posti, Matkahuolto and PostNord are good and comprehensive options, but in international markets, it may be more profitable to choose a provider like DHL and/or UPS. Our tip is that it's best for the online store to choose a delivery method that is definitely familiar to your customers and therefore a safe option.
In the online store, you should also pay attention to when you announce the shipping charges. If you can present them to the customer earlier rather than later, do so, as unexpected shipping costs announced at the checkout can interrupt too many sales.
6. Choose a Domain Name and Publish the Online Store
Once all the above matters are in order, it's time to choose a domain name and make the online store visible to customers.
You can use Shopify's free domain option. However, if you do not want your online store's address to be something like www.maijankauppa.myshopify.com, you will need to pay for the domain. We recommend paying for the domain, as the example given does not look very professional and may drive away more demanding customers.
You can purchase .com and other international domain names directly from Shopify. Finnish domain names are not available from Shopify, so you will have to procure a .fi domain from somewhere else, for example, Zoner. Alternatively, any existing domain name you have can be easily connected to your Shopify store from the settings.
If you are in a hurry to get the store up and running, not all of the issues discussed in this article need to be resolved immediately; you can publish the online store prematurely and return later to refine details, such as product texts. However, we recommend getting the store into as presentable a state as possible before letting customers browse the pages.
If you already have some materials ready, the establishment of a Shopify online store can indeed take just a couple of days.
If everything is not ready, make sure that even an incomplete online store operates flawlessly, is easy and pleasant for the customer to use, and its content is of high quality. The store should also be checked for typos, and the functionality of all buttons, links, and other operations should be tested before its release.
Remember, Sales Are Not Made Without Marketing
As with all commerce, if you do not market the online store you set up, people will not find it. Therefore, we are giving a few extra tips to make sure potential customers find your online store now and in the future.
Here's How to Make Sure Your Shopify Online Store Sells:
Make sure you have honed your product titles and descriptions to be appealing and optimized them with relevant keywords for Google searches. Produce quality and sufficiently broad content for the entire site; don't leave the online store half-empty. Good content is not just for search engines, it also increases trust in your business and online store.
At least do basic optimization of your Shopify online store for search engines. Search engine optimization involves ongoing and partly technical actions, but you can improve visibility in search results just by optimizing the images and texts of the online store and eliminating unnecessary things that slow its loading time.
To increase the likelihood that a customer will make a purchase when landing on your website, ensure that your Shopify online store is user-friendly and the page experience is as straightforward as possible. When designing your Shopify online store, put yourself in the customer's shoes and ask yourself at least the following questions: What kind of online store and layout is easiest to navigate? How do I organize products so that customers can find them effortlessly? How can I simplify the checkout process?
Make sure that your online store is definitely fast (load time under a couple of seconds, otherwise you risk irritating customers and them leaving the site) and that it works flawlessly on different devices; mobile, computer, and tablet. An efficiently running online store helps promote both search engine visibility and sales.
Advertise your Shopify online store on social media and/or in search engines. Facebook, Instagram, and Google advertising can give a significant boost to online store traffic and thus to sales. However, it is important to note that digital advertising will not save the sales of a poorly done online store if the mentioned aspects are not in place before you start advertising.
To support sales as effectively as possible, of course, you must also invest in a professional and aesthetically pleasing appearance. Ensure, therefore, that your online store's visual choices, such as your logo, fonts, and color scheme, communicate your brand correctly and that these choices are suitable for the online world.
For example, the wrong kind of font can slow down the online store's loading time, a logo with an unsuitable file format can easily pixelate, and a poor color choice can often lead to either insufficient contrast or a diminished look of the entire online store. In such cases, it may be difficult for customers to read the online store's text, and the store might not look as good as you planned.
Branding, however, goes beyond visual elements, as it communicates who your company is and how you differentiate from competing companies and online stores. Careful brand planning awakens trust and creates a competitive edge. That's why it's worth investing in strong brand creation preferably before you establish a Shopify online store rather than afterward.
Often, investing in a professional online store is necessary if you want to build a memorable and trust-inspiring brand as well as an effectively converting (selling) online store.
You can certainly succeed on your own, but it will inevitably take more time with learning and mistakes. If you want an effective Shopify online store right away, it is worth getting in touch directly with an industry expert.
Growly has been conducting goal-oriented brand planning and efficiently converting online stores with years of expertise, with the latest example being the swimsuit brand Halla Halla. You can find the online stores we've designed here.
Establishing vs. Running a Shopify Online Store
We hope these tips help you create an effective Shopify online store if you decide to do it yourself. However, we remind you once again that setting up any online store, whether it's a Shopify or another platform, is quite different from running it.
Even though a Shopify online store can technically be set up in just a few days (not taking into account other factors such as product and brand planning), in the future, maintaining and marketing the store usually takes at least days or weeks per month.
If you don't have the energy to invest in your online store's success, you can also consider outsourcing marketing to a professional agency.
Establishing a Shopify Online Store – How to Do It in Just a Few Days
How is a Shopify online store created? What should entrepreneurs consider in this process? We have compiled a concise guide on how establishing a Shopify online store can be done in a couple or a few days without any previous experience in building an online store or with Shopify.
In this guide, we will start from the assumption that you already have a business, products to sell in the online store, and some visual elements ready.
Why Choose Shopify When Setting Up an Online Store?
Let's start by briefly explaining why you should choose Shopify when there are many other splendid options available for establishing an online store. One of Shopify's leading competitors, which we also prefer in our online stores, is WooCommerce.
Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce is not an independent system, but an add-on installed on a WordPress website. To set up a WooCommerce online store, you must therefore have a WordPress site already built.
There are various add-ons available for WooCommerce that make it easier to implement such an online store without web development skills or previous experience with WordPress/WooCommerce. However, you first have to find the right add-ons and get them set up, which is usually time-consuming if you do not know what you are doing. As a general rule, it can be said that establishing a Shopify online store is easier and quicker for a beginner to do.
Setting up a store on the Shopify platform does not require as much research as WooCommerce or other alternatives. All the necessary tools for setting up a shop are conveniently available from Shopify. For example, online store design tools, product management, and hosting services are included in Shopify's packages. Unlike WooCommerce, you do not need to acquire additional services or integrations.
Shopify is valued in particular by those merchants and entrepreneurs who want an easier path and quick set-up for their online store – possibly in just a few days.
Appearance-wise, Shopify also offers plenty of theme options, which you can customize to your liking without coding knowledge up to a certain point. Even beginners can easily change fonts, colors, and other details of the online store. However, if your online store requires more customization, that is when coding skills and professional help are needed.
Therefore, the platform is relatively simple to use, and practically, establishing a Shopify online store can take as little as two to three days. By then, you as the merchant should have some materials prepared such as product descriptions and images, as well as brand visual elements like logos, colors, and fonts.
Another point in favor of Shopify is the around-the-clock technical support, which provides entrepreneurs with the answers they may need when setting up an online store on their own.
Here's How the Practical Setup of a Shopify Online Store is Handled
1. Create an Account and Establish Your Shopify Online Store
The first step is the easiest – you register on the ecommerce platform and create a Shopify account, of course. As of the publication date of this article, you can take advantage of a three-day free trial, before which you do not need to pay anything to set up your Shopify online store.
When you register for the store, you will first be asked for your personal details and the name of your online store. The name of the store should be unique and easy to remember and write – it could also just be the name of your business or web domain.
However, you do not need to know the final name of the online store at this point, as you can change it later if you wish.
2. Select a Shopify Theme and Customize It
Next, you can start thinking about how you want your new online store to look. You probably have some ideas ready; brand visual elements, color schemes, and guidelines that define the appearance of your online store.
From the Shopify Theme Store, you can find hundreds of free and premium themes from which you can choose the right look for your store and tailor it to your liking.
A free theme allows you to mainly adjust the store's colors and fonts and change the logo. These themes may well suffice for some entrepreneurs and merchants, but often it's worth it to pay for a Shopify theme. In this case, you're able to customize more elements and create a look that definitely suits your brand and looks professional.
Paid themes also allow you to edit your store's code, enabling you to tailor the appearance and individual functions to exactly fit your needs. Depending on the need, the right skills, and time, this can be done neatly by oneself, or you can seek help from a web developer who knows Shopify inside out, for example, from us.
Free and premium themes are available in Finnish, but there is a wider range available in English. If the language of the theme you choose is English, you can update it to Finnish or your customers' languages using Shopify's features. For switching languages and other practical details, you can find more guidance in Shopify's own guide.
Once you have made the necessary edits and officially put the theme into use, remember to also publish it separately.
3. List the Products You're Selling to the Online Store
The next step in setting up your Shopify online store is to add the products you sell. You can do this by navigating to the Products tab in Shopify and clicking "Add Product".
Before you start adding products, it would be good to look at how your competitors and other popular Shopify online stores arrange and present their products, if you haven't already done so.
This is particularly important as the solutions you end up using to showcase your products will either positively or negatively affect the success of your online store. Clear product categories and listings not only help potential customers find your products faster and more easily, but they also contribute to your online store's visibility in search engines, along with other solutions.
In the opposite case, search engines may not understand the structure of your site. Likewise, a paying customer may get confused, causing them to leave your site quickly. Both scenarios can weaken your sales and standings in search engine results.
Also, when adding products to your online store, always think that there is no opportunity to examine the product in the same way as in a traditional physical store. If enough information is not provided or if the information provided is incorrect, the customer is unlikely to buy from your online store. Therefore, it's worth investing in product details.
Consider at least the following when listing products to your online store:
Product titles: the title must make it clear what you are selling. A good product title is short and concise, attracts the customer's interest, and includes keywords that potential customers use to search for your product online.
Product descriptions: the description must reveal the most important features of your product and the benefits your customers get. You do not need to keep product descriptions very short, as they are the only substantial information alongside images/videos that potential customers get about your product.
Don't start writing a novel, though. Make descriptions easy to read and quick to scan by writing shorter paragraphs and incorporating lists into the text. Remember to also use relevant keywords in the product descriptions.Product images and videos: ensure that the images and videos of the product are high quality and show the product in the best possible light. Products can sometimes remain unsold due to poor images/videos, as low-quality content can easily reduce the trust in the product and your online store.
Product categories: are important both for you and for your customers, as they help potential customers find your products better and facilitate product management as an online merchant. Online store products should be grouped based on product types, genders, ages, offers, or campaigns.
4. Choose the Best Payment Methods for Your Customers
In order to accept payments, you first need to define the payment methods for your online store. Shopify flexibly offers many different options, but even so, you should carefully consider your customers' preferences.
If you are running an online store in Finland, you should consider the overwhelmingly most popular payment method, which is online banking. If this payment method is not found in your online store, purchases may be left undone by some customers.
After online banking, according to Visma, the most popular payment methods in 2022 were credit card, mobile payment, invoice, and installment payment, so it's advisable for the online merchant to offer these payment methods to Finnish customers as well.
Shopify offers its own Shopify Payments service, which allows customers to pay by card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Shopify itself does not offer online banking payment, so this option may be better suited for an online store with mostly international customers.
When selecting a payment service for your online store, remember the fees charged. Most payment services collect some kind of fee for each transaction. Ideally, it would be best to find a service with relatively low fees.
On the domestic market, the best option is probably to use a third-party payment service that enables online banking payments. Based on our experience, the best price-quality payment service provider is Finnish Paytrail.
5. Add Missing Information to the Online Store
You cannot launch a Shopify online store with incomplete information. Before making the online store public, you need to add information related to your business and online store activities.
From your Shopify account settings, at least handle your business information (such as contact information, business ID and VAT ID), the value-added tax chargeable on products, online store delivery methods and prices, and the details asked at the checkout. Before the public release, the online store must also display for visitors the terms and conditions of payments, delivery, and returns, as well as the GDPR-compliant privacy statement, templates of which you can find online.
Also remember to carefully choose the online store's delivery methods at this point. It's worth offering as many delivery options as possible, so customers can choose the most suitable for them and the formation of the sale is not hindered by the lack of a preferred delivery method.
In Finland, Posti, Matkahuolto and PostNord are good and comprehensive options, but in international markets, it may be more profitable to choose a provider like DHL and/or UPS. Our tip is that it's best for the online store to choose a delivery method that is definitely familiar to your customers and therefore a safe option.
In the online store, you should also pay attention to when you announce the shipping charges. If you can present them to the customer earlier rather than later, do so, as unexpected shipping costs announced at the checkout can interrupt too many sales.
6. Choose a Domain Name and Publish the Online Store
Once all the above matters are in order, it's time to choose a domain name and make the online store visible to customers.
You can use Shopify's free domain option. However, if you do not want your online store's address to be something like www.maijankauppa.myshopify.com, you will need to pay for the domain. We recommend paying for the domain, as the example given does not look very professional and may drive away more demanding customers.
You can purchase .com and other international domain names directly from Shopify. Finnish domain names are not available from Shopify, so you will have to procure a .fi domain from somewhere else, for example, Zoner. Alternatively, any existing domain name you have can be easily connected to your Shopify store from the settings.
If you are in a hurry to get the store up and running, not all of the issues discussed in this article need to be resolved immediately; you can publish the online store prematurely and return later to refine details, such as product texts. However, we recommend getting the store into as presentable a state as possible before letting customers browse the pages.
If you already have some materials ready, the establishment of a Shopify online store can indeed take just a couple of days.
If everything is not ready, make sure that even an incomplete online store operates flawlessly, is easy and pleasant for the customer to use, and its content is of high quality. The store should also be checked for typos, and the functionality of all buttons, links, and other operations should be tested before its release.
Remember, Sales Are Not Made Without Marketing
As with all commerce, if you do not market the online store you set up, people will not find it. Therefore, we are giving a few extra tips to make sure potential customers find your online store now and in the future.
Here's How to Make Sure Your Shopify Online Store Sells:
Make sure you have honed your product titles and descriptions to be appealing and optimized them with relevant keywords for Google searches. Produce quality and sufficiently broad content for the entire site; don't leave the online store half-empty. Good content is not just for search engines, it also increases trust in your business and online store.
At least do basic optimization of your Shopify online store for search engines. Search engine optimization involves ongoing and partly technical actions, but you can improve visibility in search results just by optimizing the images and texts of the online store and eliminating unnecessary things that slow its loading time.
To increase the likelihood that a customer will make a purchase when landing on your website, ensure that your Shopify online store is user-friendly and the page experience is as straightforward as possible. When designing your Shopify online store, put yourself in the customer's shoes and ask yourself at least the following questions: What kind of online store and layout is easiest to navigate? How do I organize products so that customers can find them effortlessly? How can I simplify the checkout process?
Make sure that your online store is definitely fast (load time under a couple of seconds, otherwise you risk irritating customers and them leaving the site) and that it works flawlessly on different devices; mobile, computer, and tablet. An efficiently running online store helps promote both search engine visibility and sales.
Advertise your Shopify online store on social media and/or in search engines. Facebook, Instagram, and Google advertising can give a significant boost to online store traffic and thus to sales. However, it is important to note that digital advertising will not save the sales of a poorly done online store if the mentioned aspects are not in place before you start advertising.
To support sales as effectively as possible, of course, you must also invest in a professional and aesthetically pleasing appearance. Ensure, therefore, that your online store's visual choices, such as your logo, fonts, and color scheme, communicate your brand correctly and that these choices are suitable for the online world.
For example, the wrong kind of font can slow down the online store's loading time, a logo with an unsuitable file format can easily pixelate, and a poor color choice can often lead to either insufficient contrast or a diminished look of the entire online store. In such cases, it may be difficult for customers to read the online store's text, and the store might not look as good as you planned.
Branding, however, goes beyond visual elements, as it communicates who your company is and how you differentiate from competing companies and online stores. Careful brand planning awakens trust and creates a competitive edge. That's why it's worth investing in strong brand creation preferably before you establish a Shopify online store rather than afterward.
Often, investing in a professional online store is necessary if you want to build a memorable and trust-inspiring brand as well as an effectively converting (selling) online store.
You can certainly succeed on your own, but it will inevitably take more time with learning and mistakes. If you want an effective Shopify online store right away, it is worth getting in touch directly with an industry expert.
Growly has been conducting goal-oriented brand planning and efficiently converting online stores with years of expertise, with the latest example being the swimsuit brand Halla Halla. You can find the online stores we've designed here.
Establishing vs. Running a Shopify Online Store
We hope these tips help you create an effective Shopify online store if you decide to do it yourself. However, we remind you once again that setting up any online store, whether it's a Shopify or another platform, is quite different from running it.
Even though a Shopify online store can technically be set up in just a few days (not taking into account other factors such as product and brand planning), in the future, maintaining and marketing the store usually takes at least days or weeks per month.
If you don't have the energy to invest in your online store's success, you can also consider outsourcing marketing to a professional agency.