Shopify FAQs

Shopify is an eCommerce platform that empowers entrepreneurs and businesses. It makes it simple for anyone to start and run an online business, and offers retailers the services they need to create and manage an eCommerce store.

Shopify is popular among businesses of all sizes that want to establish an online presence. It’s suitable for small and medium-sized businesses that want to keep costs low, as well as enterprise businesses that want to make the most out of what Shopify Plus has to offer.

Shopify website design, customer engagement tools, shipping, payment processing and inventory management are all popular. Alongside its eCommerce platform, Shopify supports businesses in many other ways, from point-of-sale systems and marketing tools to payment processing solutions.

The Shopify app store also helps businesses to integrate with third-party apps to improve the user experience and functionality of their store.

Shopify prices per month vary according to business needs and budgets. The pricing structure is flexible, scalable, and offers businesses of all sizes a plan within their budget that provides access to Shopify’s features and functionality.

The Shopify Lite plan costs $9 per month and allows businesses and retailers to sell products on an existing website or Facebook page.

The Basic Shopify plan costs $29 per month. This plan offers a fully-functional online store, unlimited products and 24/7 support.

The Shopify plan costs $79 per month. This plan offers additional features including gift cards, professional reports, and an abandoned cart recovery.

The Advanced Shopify plan costs $299 per month. This plan is suitable for high-volume businesses and offers advanced features such as third-party calculated shipping rates and advanced report building.

The Shopify Plus plan starts at $2,000 per month. There’s also a variable fee for higher volume businesses. This plan is suitable for high-growth merchants with a high annual revenue.

Shopify is perfect for beginners who want to start their own online store.

If you’re new to the business world, Shopify’s user-friendly, intuitive interface makes it simple to create and manage an online store without needing technical expertise or experience, helping you to create a professional-looking website quickly.

Shopify offers customisable themes and templates that can be modified to suit your business, and a vast array of tools and resources to help you get started including tutorials, documentation, and 24/7 support.

There are plenty of other benefits of Shopify for beginners. The platform grows with your business so you can start small and expand as your requirements and budget increase.

Shopify pricing plans are designed to suit your business’s size and requirements. If you’re starting your own online store, then Shopify is the ideal choice.

Shopify is an excellent platform to sell your products.

Flexibility and functionality are at the heart of Shopify’s user-friendly, reliable interface making it easy for you to create and manage your online store.

Shopify handles all aspects of online selling, from inventory management and order processing to payment processing and shipping.

This means you can focus on selling your products without worrying about the technical details of running an eCommerce site.

Shopify also provides powerful tools and features to help your business sell more products and grow.

Shopify’s SEO features and marketing tools will help your business attract more visitors to your online store and convert them into paying customers.

You can also integrate third-party applications to manage your products, such as Inventory Planner or Bright Pearl.

Shopify charges a transaction fee per sale in addition to the monthly subscription fee.

Shopify’s transaction fees vary according to the Shopify plan your business is on, the location of your business, and the payment gateway you use.

The Basic Shopify plan transaction fee is 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction.

The Shopify plan transaction fee is 2.6% + 30 cents per transaction.

The Advanced Shopify plan transaction fee is 2.4% + 30 cents per transaction.

With Shopify Plus, the transaction fees are determined by your chosen payment processing method. These are outlined below.

If you exclusively use Shopify Payments for all payment processing, you will be charged by Shopify for both online and in-person credit card fees. However, the rates charged by Shopify are the most competitive for Shopify Plus among all the available plans.

If you use both Shopify Payments and a third-party processor, the transaction fees for third-party transactions may be subject to a minimal rate based on your location.

If you solely rely on a third-party processor, you are responsible for paying the fees imposed by the processor, in addition to a 0.15-0.30% per transaction fee to Shopify.

Shopify’s transaction fees are competitive with other eCommerce platforms, making it an excellent choice to establish and maintain an online presence for your business.

The cost of hiring a web designer for Shopify varies. You need to consider a few factors – for example, what is the designer’s experience and location? How big is your project likely to be? How much integration and customisation will be required? These questions will all affect the final price and are worth considering carefully.

The cost of designing a Shopify store can also vary. You will need to think about, for example, the complexity of the design and the number of pages required. A simple Shopify store with a standard template is usually cheaper than a complex store with functionality, features and customised pages. You may also need to consider the cost of migrating over from another platform.

If you are looking to start a project, click here.

Shopify is not free to sell, but Shopify pricing plans cater for business needs and budgets. This makes it an accessible, affordable and convenient option for businesses and retailers.

Shopify’s free 14-day trial allows you to test the platform, after which you can select a price plan to continue using the platform.

Shopify prices range from $29 per month to $2000+ per month. The Shopify Lite plan for $9 per month also allows you to add Buy buttons to a website or blog.

Shopify charges a transaction fee for every sale. This varies depending on your pricing plan and whether you use Shopify Payments or a third-party payment provider.

Yes, you can create bespoke themes on Shopify. Shopify developers and designers can create themes for clients, allowing them to tailor their online store to their needs.

Yes, you can create applications in Shopify. Creating applications in Shopify helps you to extend the online functionality of your business beyond the platform’s features and resources.

Shopify’s API and development tools help you create applications that can automate business processes, integrate with third-party services and provide a more personalised and engaging shopping experience.

Once your application is complete, it can be listed in the Shopify App Store for other businesses to use, or it can be used exclusively by your business.

Shopify Headless is a new eCommerce architecture that decouples the frontend and the backend.

It allows businesses to use Shopify as the backend platform alongside a separate frontend application. Businesses can therefore use Shopify to manage their product catalogue, orders and customer data, while using a separate frontend application to create a custom storefront.

The key benefit of Shopify Headless is that it allows businesses to use a variety of frameworks and tools to build custom storefronts, integrate with third-party services and applications with ease, and deliver a shopping experience that meets customer expectations.

Shopify Plus is an eCommerce platform designed for large and high-growth enterprise businesses.

Shopify Plus offers benefits including higher transaction limits, account management and priority support.

You can use Shopify Plus to customise your business’s online store, and you will also have access to a network of third-party apps and integrations. This helps you increase the functionality of your business’s online store and integrate it with other services and systems.

These benefits make Shopify Plus the perfect solution for businesses requiring advanced features and resources to support their growth. Shopify Plus also offers dedicated support and account management.

Learn more about Shopify Plus here

Shopify Hydrogen is a development framework and platform for building custom eCommerce experiences.

Shopify Hydrogen helps businesses build fast, scalable, and engaging eCommerce stores and simplifies development, helping developers create a unique and engaging shopping experience.

It also allows you to build storefronts that leverage Shopify’s backend infrastructure to power the eCommerce features and functionality.

It’s the perfect solution for developers and businesses requiring advanced eCommerce features and functionality with custom storefronts that meet their design and functionality requirements.

Businesses using Shopify Hydrogen can create unique, customised eCommerce applications that deliver a superior shopping experience.

Shopify Oxygen is a development framework and platform for building eCommerce experiences. It aims to simplify the process of building high-performing and responsive storefronts.

Shopify Oxygen is flexible and easy to use, offering tools and resources to create eCommerce applications using modern web development technologies, such as React, GraphQL, and Serverless functions.

With Shopify Oxygen, developers can build custom storefronts that leverage Shopify’s backend infrastructure to power their eCommerce features and functionality. Shopify Oxygen is built with accessibility and performance in mind, ensuring that storefronts are fast, responsive, and optimised for search engines.

By using modern web development technologies and Shopify’s backend infrastructure, businesses can create customised and engaging eCommerce applications that meet their design and functionality requirements.

Shopify Oxygen also simplifies the development process, making it easier for businesses to build high-performing and responsive storefronts.

Shopify uses a combination of technologies including Ruby on Rails, React, and GraphQL.

Ruby on Rails is a web application framework used for building the Shopify platform, while React is a frontend JavaScript library used to build the Shopify storefront. GraphQL is a query language that enables developers to fetch the data they need, reducing the amount of data transfer between the client and server.

All three technologies provide different benefits but all are known for their simplicity and flexibility. Shopify’s technology stack gives developers powerful tools for building eCommerce applications that deliver a superior shopping experience for customers.

Yes, you can use Shopify POS with your store.

Shopify is a cloud-based point-of-sale system that will allow your business to create a consistent brand experience by selling products online and in person.

Shopify POS is designed to be intuitive, allowing you to manage your business’s sales and inventory from one location. It supports a range of payment methods, including debit cards, credit cards and mobile payments – allowing you to accept payments from customers using their preferred method.

Other Shopify POS benefits include barcode scanning, receipt printing, and customer management. These help you streamline your business operations and improve customer experience.

Shopify POS is cloud-based, meaning sales data can be accessed and operations managed from anywhere with an internet connection.

Selling internationally with Shopify is a simple process.

Shopify supports multiple languages and currencies so you can easily and quickly reach new customers around the world. You also have access to payment gateways so your business can accept payments from customers in other countries.

Shopify’s SEO tools can even help your business to reach new audiences and drive traffic to your online store, improving its visibility overseas.

Yes, you can use Shopify to sell your products wholesale or to other businesses (B2B).

Shopify’s wholesale channel can help you create a separate online store with custom pricing, discount codes, and product listings. This simplifies the purchasing experience for your customers.

Bulk ordering and invoicing make it easier to manage your wholesale operations, and the Shopify app store includes B2B-specific apps, such as trade credit and financing options. These apps also allow your business to offer flexible payment terms to customers.

Shopify payment providers include PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net and Square. Each payment provider supports debit cards, credit cards and mobile payments.

Shopify’s own payment gateway provides a smooth payment experience. Shopify Payments supports credit cards and Apple Pay, and offers competitive transaction fees. It integrates with Shopify’s other features including its POS system and checkout processes so your business can manage its payments and orders from one location.

Shopify Payments is not available in all countries, so always check if it’s available in your region before choosing this payment provider.

You can add Shopify Metafields to Shopify objects using the Shopify Admin or through the Shopify API to improve and enhance your customer experience.

This will allow you to add custom fields to your products, collections, orders, and other Shopify objects to store and display information including product dimensions, weight and images.

You can use Metafields to customise the appearance and functionality of your business’s online store. Metafields also enhance the functionality of third-party apps and themes, giving you flexibility and control over your store.

You can create recurring revenue with Shopify by utilising subscriptions.

Create Shopify subscriptions by installing a subscription app from the Shopify App Store, such as ReCharge, Bold Subscriptions, or PayWhirl. You can then create subscription plans with the right pricing, frequencies, and product options. Your customers can sign up for a subscription plan and be charged automatically on a recurring basis.

Yes, you can do pre-orders in Shopify.

Shopify pre-orders allow you to create product listings for new releases or products that are not yet in stock so that your customers can purchase the items in advance. They help your business generate interest in new products before you commit to a large production run.

A customer placing a pre-order usually pays in advance or registers payment information to be charged when the product becomes available. When your product is available you can fulfil the pre-order and ship the product straight to the customer.

Adding discounts to Shopify is a quick and simple process. You can add discounts to Shopify through the discounts feature in the Shopify admin panel.

Select the type of discount you want to offer – this might be a percentage off, for example. You can then specify the conditions for the discount.

You can promote the discount to your customers through email marketing and social media. Customers can redeem the discount through the coupon code at checkout. They can also click on a promotional link that automatically applies the discount to the order.

The Shop App is a Shopify mobile application that simplifies the shopping process. It allows users to find products from their favourite Shopify-powered stores via a personalised shopping experience.

Users can track orders and receive real-time updates on shipping and delivery status. The Shop App also allows users to manage their orders and returns.

Using the Shop App allows merchants to increase their visibility and reach a wider audience, providing a smooth shopping experience.

You can set up price lists in Shopify by installing a price list app from the Shopify App Store. This helps you streamline your sales process and increase your revenue.

The price list apps include Wholesale Club or Bold Custom Pricing. With these, you can create a new price list.

Setting up price lists in Shopify helps you offer different product prices to different groups of customers, such as wholesalers, retailers, or VIPs.

You can set up different price lists based on product type, customer group, geographic location or purchase history. You can also offer discounts, promotions, or volume pricing.

Alternatively, if you are a B2B company, you can use Shopify’s dedicated B2B platform that allows you to create and manage price lists specifically for your customers. This enables you to offer personalised pricing and discounts to customers based on their specific requirements.

Setting up a Facebook pixel in Shopify is a simple process that allows you to track and analyse the performance of your Facebook ads.

Setting up a Facebook pixel is a simple process:

– Create a Facebook pixel in your Facebook Ads Manager account
– Connect it to your Shopify store by selecting the ‘preferences’ option on your Shopify admin dashboard
– Paste the pixel ID in the Facebook Pixel field and click ‘save’ to activate the pixel.

The Facebook pixel will collect data about the behaviour of visitors that came to your Shopify store through your Facebook ads. This helps you fine-tune the effectiveness of your Facebook advertising and increase your return on investment.

Shopify Capital is the small-business financing arm of Shopify. To qualify for Shopify Capital, you need a Shopify store. You will also need to meet certain criteria, including:

– A minimum revenue threshold
– A good credit history
– A consistent sales history

If eligible for Shopify Capital, you will receive an offer in your Shopify admin dashboard, including details such as available financing, repayment terms and the fees and interest rates associated with the loan.

You will then need to provide additional information and agree to the terms of the loan before the funds are deposited directly into your Shopify Payments account for you to invest in your business.

You will repay the loan through automatic deductions from your Shopify Payments
account, based on the agreed-upon terms.

Shopify profit reports help you track the progress of your business and optimise operations to maximise profits.

You can access a profit report in Shopify through the platform’s analytics and reporting tools.

Go to your Shopify admin dashboard and then the Reports section. From there, you can select the profit report to view a summary of your store’s profit over a specified period.

The profit report includes your revenue, cost of goods sold, net profit and a breakdown of profit by product, variant or collection. The data can be filtered by date range, product type and other settings to see a more detailed view of your profit margins.

Shopify also allows you to see metrics including sales by product, channel, and location, giving you insights into your store’s performance so that you can make informed decisions about your pricing, marketing, and product strategy.

You can view financial information in Shopify through the analytics and reporting tools to gain a more detailed view of your business’s performance.

To access your financial data, go to the Analytics section in your Shopify admin dashboard. From there, you can view insights into your store’s sales, orders, and revenue.

Shopify also provides a financial overview dashboard summarising key financial metrics including sales, revenue, and profit, helping you monitor your financial performance.

Reviewing your financial information in Shopify regularly will give you valuable insights into your store’s performance and help you plan your business strategy and operations.

Shopify Fraud Analysis is a Shopify feature that helps you identify and prevent fraudulent orders.

Shopify Fraud Analysis automatically analyses customer orders and assigns a risk score based on factors including customer location, shipping address, and payment information.

You will be notified of high-risk orders and can either cancel or investigate before fulfilling it. When investigating high-risk orders, you can access information about the customer including their IP address and device information.

Shopify Fraud Analysis is a powerful tool which helps protect your business from fraudulent activity and minimises the risk of financial losses.

Setting up staff permissions in Shopify is an important step to ensuring your staff have the appropriate access to your store’s features and information while minimising the risk of data breaches.

To give your staff permissions in Shopify, go to your Shopify admin dashboard and then to Settings > Account. Click on the “Add staff account” button to create a new staff account or edit the permissions of a staff member.

When you create a new staff account you can select roles and permissions such as a full-access administrator, a limited-access staff member, or a reporting-only staff member.

You can also select which parts of your store’s data and settings the staff member can access, including orders, products, customers, or reports.

Yes, you can set up refunds in Shopify.

Setting up refunds in Shopify helps manage returns and exchanges for your customers. Shopify’s built-in refund system allows you to issue partial or full refunds to customers for orders placed in your store.

You can initiate the customer refund process from your Shopify admin dashboard by navigating to the Orders page and selecting the appropriate order.

You can then choose to issue a refund for the entire order or select specific items to refund. You can also include a reason for the refund and choose whether to refund the original payment method or issue store credit.

Shopify also allows you to customise your refund policies by setting rules and conditions for returns and exchanges. These include the timeframe for returns, whether customers need to provide a reason for the return and whether you will provide refunds or store credit.

Yes, you can use the Shopify API to improve your online store’s functionality and create more effective customer experiences.

Using Shopify API, developers can access and use data from Shopify stores, including data relating to orders, products and customers.

This data can then be used to create apps and integrations that improve customer experience. You can also create custom integrations with platforms and services your customers use, such as social media.

Shopify API is a powerful toolset that allows developers to create custom solutions to help you grow your business and improve customer experience.

Shopify themes are either free or paid depending on the level of features and customisation options each theme provides.

Free themes are usually more basic in their design and functionality, and may offer less flexibility and fewer advanced features than paid themes.

Paid themes are usually more feature-rich with more customisation and design options. They also come with additional support and updates from the theme developers and may be designed for specific niches or industries, such as fashion, electronics or food.

Whether you choose a free Shopify theme or paid Shopify theme depends on your needs and budget. Some paid themes offer a free trial or demo, which can help you decide whether the theme is a good fit for your store.

Completely bespoke Shopify themes can also be created.

Yes, you can adjust the Shopify checkout process to match your branding and customer needs but there are limitations to what you can customise if you are not a Shopify Plus customer.

To customise the checkout process in Shopify simply go to your Shopify admin dashboard and navigate to Settings > Checkout.

From here, you can make changes to the checkout page colours, fonts, and logo.

Shopify Plus customers can also adjust the layout, add custom messaging and fields to the checkout process (such as shipping/billing information or terms and conditions),add apps to the checkout to offer upsells or cross-sells, and integrate payment gateways.

Using reviews in Shopify helps improve your store’s credibility, improve customer confidence and drive sales.

With Shopify’s built-in features and apps, you can collect and display reviews, and you can also customise the review process to match your branding and customer needs.

To enable reviews, go to your Shopify admin dashboard and navigate to Products > All Products. Click on the product for which you want to enable reviews and scroll to the “Customer Reviews” section. You can then enable or disable customer reviews.

You can also browse the Shopify App Store for a Shopify app to manage your reviews. Popular review apps include Yotpo, Judge.me, and Loox. These offer features including automated review requests, photo reviews and social media integrations.

Yes, you can migrate from Magento to Shopify, although the process can be complicated.

Magento is a self-hosted eCommerce platform offering customisation and flexibility, while Shopify is a cloud-based platform providing a simpler, more user-friendly approach.

To migrate from Magento to Shopify, you need to export your data from Magento and use a third-party migration tool or service to ensure your data is migrated correctly.

You then need to set up your Shopify store, configure your payment gateway, shipping options, and other settings, and customise your store to match your branding.

Yes, you can migrate from BigCommerce to Shopify.

BigCommerce and Shopify are both eCommerce platforms that help businesses sell online, but there are several reasons why you may want to migrate from one to the other.

These factors include cost, ease of use, or the need for specific features.

To migrate from BigCommerce to Shopify, you need to set up a Shopify account and choose a plan. Then use a third-party migration tool or service to transfer your data from BigCommerce to Shopify.

Once your data has been migrated, you need to set up your Shopify store. You’ll also need to configure your payment gateway, shipping options and other settings.

You can then customise your Shopify store to match your branding.

Yes, it’s possible to migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify.

WooCommerce is an eCommerce platform for WordPress. Whether you migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify is likely to depend on a number of factors, including the size of your store, the complexity of your products and your budget.

The migration process can be complicated but is easier with the right tools and resources. First, you need to set up a Shopify account and choose a plan.

Then you need to export your WooCommerce data, including products, customers and orders, and import it into Shopify using the built-in import tool.

Finally, customise your Shopify store to match your branding and make it look and feel similar to your WooCommerce store.

Migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify allows you to take advantage of Shopify’s many features and benefits and can be a worthwhile and valuable decision.