The growth of ecommerce is happening at a pace with global sales reaching, over $4.9 trillion in 2021 marking a 19% increase from the year. Considering the surge in online shopping now is a time to venture into the world of ecommerce. When it comes to creating a store Shopify stands out as a choice.

Shopify is well known for being an ecommerce platform that provides convenience and flexibility when it comes to creating and personalizing your store. With, than 1 million businesses relying on Shopify for their ecommerce websites it has gained a reputation as a solution.

In this guide we will take you through the step, by step process of creating an ecommerce website using Shopify. From selecting a domain name to adding products and enabling payment methods we’ll cover all aspects of setting up your store.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a professional online store up and running on Shopify. Let’s get started!

Choose a Ecommerce Domain Name

The first step is choosing a domain name for your Shopify store. Your domain is your website address that customers will type in to access your shop.

Some tips for picking the right domain:

• Make it short, simple, and easy to remember
• Include your main keyword or store name
• Avoid hyphens and numbers
• Check availability by searching on Shopify

For example, if you’re starting a store called “Modern Furnishings”, great domain options would be modernfurnishings.com or modern-furnishings.com.

Once you’ve found an available domain you like, you can purchase it directly on Shopify.

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Sign Up for an Ecommerce Shopify Account

Now it’s time to signup for a Shopify account. You can start with a 14-day free trial to test Shopify out.

To create an account:

1. Go to www.shopify.com and click on “Start free trial”
2. Enter your email, create a password and store name
3. Choose your store’s purpose and add your domain name
4. Shopify will walk you through entering billing details to setup your free trial

After signing up, you’ll be logged into the Shopify admin dashboard. This is where you’ll build and manage your store.

Choose a Store Theme

Next, you’ll want to choose a theme to control the look and feel of your online store.

Shopify offers a variety of professional themes, both free and paid. Themes make it easy to customize your design without coding knowledge.

Here are some tips for picking the right theme:

• Browse theme store and shortlist options that fit your style
• Preview themes to see how they look on desktop and mobile
• Consider a paid theme for more customization features
• Ensure the theme is optimized for your type of products

For a clothing store, a minimalist, lifestyle theme would look great. For an accessories store, a sleek and modern theme would fit well.

The “Debut” theme is a popular free option to start with. You can always change themes later as your store grows.

Once you’ve chosen a theme, click “Publish theme” to make it live on your store.

Configure Settings and Payments

With your store theme set up, now you can configure your settings and setup payments.

In the Shopify admin, navigate to Settings to:

• Set up your shipping zones and rates
• Add tax settings for automatic tax calculations
• Connect your domain name
• Configure payment providers

To get paid for orders, you’ll need to setup a payment provider. Shopify offers integration with 100+ payment gateways including major providers like Stripe, PayPal, and Square.

You can choose one or enable multiple payment options to give customers flexibility at checkout. Make sure to configure account details and enable test mode while setting up your integrations.

Create Products and Collections

Now for the fun part – adding products to your store! In Shopify, products and collections go hand in hand.

Start by creating collections to organize your products into logical categories. For example, you may have collections like:

• New Arrivals
• Best Sellers
• Outerwear
• Dresses

To create a collection:

1. Go to Products > Collections
2. Click “Add collection” and name it
3. Choose an image representing the collection
4. Enable manual or automatic product sorting

Next, start adding products to your collections:

• Go to Products > Add product
• Enter product name, description, images
• Set pricing and inventory level
• Select collections for the product
• Configure product options if needed

Repeat for all your products to build up your store’s catalog. Make sure to include detailed descriptions, high-quality images, and accurate pricing.

Optimize Navigation Menu

With products and collections added, you can organize your store’s navigation menu. This allows customers to easily browse your website.

In the theme editor, navigate to Menus to:

• Add, remove, or reorder menu items
• Expand collections into dropdown menus
• Adjust text and labels
• Enable search bar in menu
• Show number of products in each collection

Focus your main menu on the most important pages and collections you want to highlight. Keep top-level navigation concise for easy browsing on mobile.

Enhance Website Pages

By default, Shopify includes basic website pages like an About page and Contact page. Enhance these with custom content to engage visitors.

Some additional pages you may want to add:

• Homepage welcome message
• Shipping and returns policy
• FAQs page answering common questions
• Style guide or lookbook showing products in use
• Blog or announcements page to drive repeat traffic

The page editor in Shopify allows you to easily add and format content without coding. You can include text, images, embedded video and more.

Run Marketing Campaigns

Now that your online store is set up, it’s time to drive traffic and sales!

Shopify offers built-in tools to run marketing campaigns right from your admin dashboard.

With just a few clicks, you can:

• Create email newsletters and collect subscribers
• Run targeted Facebook and Instagram ads
• Build pop-ups and announcements to show on your store
• View marketing analytics to optimize campaigns

Make use of Shopify’s marketing features to raise brand awareness and promote new arrivals to your audience. Focus on creating valuable content and special offers to convert shoppers.

Tracking analytics helps you determine which campaigns are working best so you can double down on those tactics.

Continuously Improve and Optimize

Launching your Shopify store is just the first step. The work continues with continuously improving your store to grow your business.

Here are some best practices for optimizing your ecommerce store after launch:

• Study analytics to identify opportunities – what’s working and what’s not?
• Experiment with new marketing channels and campaigns
• Refresh website content and visuals
• Add new product collections and categories
• Stay on top of site speed and performance
• Monitor and reply to customer reviews
• Send surveys to get direct customer feedback

An ecommerce website is never “done”. By continually testing, learning and optimizing, you’ll ensure your Shopify store stands out from the competition.

Conclusion

Creating an store has become simpler, with the help of Shopify. By following this guide even someone new, to the field can build an ecommerce website to effectively sell their products.

The key steps covered in this guide include:

• Choosing a domain, signing up for Shopify, and selecting a store theme
• Adding products and collections, configuring payments, and setting up navigation
• Creating website pages and running marketing campaigns to drive sales
• Tracking analytics and optimizing to improve your store over time

With a professional Shopify website, you can reach customers globally, manage everything from one dashboard, and expand your ecommerce business.

We wish you the best of luck on your online entrepreneurship journey! Let us know if you have any other Shopify questions as you build your dream ecommerce store.