There’s never been a better time to sell online. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve met in ecommerce who have become self-made millionaires, let alone the millions of people around the world who’ve decided to make their living trading over the world wide web.

You may have something in common with just about all of them — they come from diverse professional backgrounds, and hardly any of them have studied how to sell online, and there’s two good reasons for that:

• Ecommerce is such a young concept; Shopify itself was only founded in 2006, so the chances are you’ve had a prior career and are looking for something new.
• Hardly any courses teach end-to-end ecommerce, so there are very few ecommerce graduates.

Before you picked up this book, there’s a pretty good chance you had already heard about Shopify. Shopify is certainly a buzzword around ecommerce, and it has been generating huge amounts of global interest in recent years — a simple search on Google Trends will show as much! Now, just because people are searching in droves for Shopify online, it doesn’t mean you have to try it for your online store — but I definitely recommend you do.

I’ve used Shopify to sell clothes, shoes, pet accessories, furniture, beverages, beds, beauty products — you name it, I’ve probably helped sell it. I decided to write Shopify For Dummies because I’m passionate about online retail and I want to be a part of growing the ecommerce ecosystem. In my career, I’ve founded online businesses, advised online businesses and co-founded a digital marketing agency that focuses on online retail. I’ve decided to share my experience and knowledge, plus the odd trick or two, with a wider audience that’s ready to pick up this book, grab their laptop and a cup of coffee, and start their own Shopify store.

About This Book

I’ve written this book as a practical guide to starting a Shopify store. With each chapter that goes by, you’ll be developing a different aspect of your online store, with the end game being that by the time you finish reading the book, your online store will be ready to go live.

This book is a little different to what you might find on YouTube, or in other books, in that I use my experience to also teach you about the business fundamentals of ecommerce, like how to choose trending products, where to source them and how to price them. You won’t just be learning about the ecommerce platform that is Shopify; you’ll be learning how to grow a business, as well as create a digital shop front.

Throughout this book, I explain why I rate Shopify so highly and share how you can use Shopify to run a successful ecommerce business. I look at all the steps sequentially, in an easy-to-follow manner, so that anyone can pick up the book and develop their store as they go. I also include sidebars (boxes containing examples or some extra background information) and some technical information that you may or may not feel you need to know (look out for the Technical Stuff icons that occasionally appear), but don’t worry — if they’re giving too much information and you want to stay focused on your end goal, you can skip those and keep on reading (you can always come back to them later). And because the book is organized in a logical way, you can always jump back to key topics if you need to refresh your memory.

Foolish Assumptions

This book doesn’t require you to have any prior knowledge of how to use Shopify — that’s my job. However, I do make a few assumptions about you — I assume you’ve got some sort of interest in selling online, and you have an inkling that Shopify may be the platform that can enable you to create a successful online store. Perhaps you’ve read a few blogs or watched a few YouTube videos, or even read other books that piece together various aspects of ecommerce, and you’re looking for something to help you get started.

I also assume you don’t have a product lined up ready to sell (although you might have — if so, good for you!). Whether you have a product stockpiled in the garage or you’re tinkering with your first few product ideas, I show you how to look for products that have the potential to be bestsellers.

Perhaps you’ve started an online store in the past and it hasn’t worked, or perhaps this is your first attempt — or maybe you’re simply looking to assess whether or not this Shopify thing is for you. Wherever you’re starting from, I’ve got you covered in this book.

I do assume you’ve got a computer and the appetite to discover how to build an online store, big or small. If that sounds like you, read on …

Icons Used in This Book

To keep you on your toes, I throw in useful icons throughout the book. I use these icons to draw your attention to key points, little tricks or quick wins, and shortcuts and warnings. The icons are pretty self-explanatory, but here’s a summary of what they mean.

If this were a textbook and you were studying for an exam, you would highlight these parts. These are the key messages that will serve you well as you undertake each stage of building your Shopify store.

I try not to get too technical, but when I do, it comes with a warning. When you see this sign, I may well be talking about stuff that you can brush over, as it’s usually extra information that explains technical features. Mostly, I keep the book practical, and avoid over-techy stuff — but some of these extra details may speak to you, depending on your store.

This is what I call the gold. Hold on to these tips; they’re often time-savers or money-makers!

I use the warning icon when I am highlighting a common mistake or something you need to look out for, so try and keep an eye out for this one — the chances are you’ll be learning from one of my mistakes!

To help you understand how Shopify — and ecommerce — works in real life, I add a few examples so you can start to imagine how the decisions you make may play out for your business.

Where to Go from Here

I’ve written this book so that you can easily navigate to the correct chapter to find out about a particular topic, or how to perform a particular task using Shopify — simply turn to the relevant part or chapter of the book and dive in. Of course, you can read it from start to finish, which is what I recommend — it is written in a logical order that you can follow to gradually build up your online store and understand the intersecting pieces that complement your Shopify store (finding products, storing products, shipping to your customers and marketing to your customers, for example). However, after you’ve finished reading the book, you may want to flick back to certain chapters to revisit key topics.

Don’t be afraid to jump around when you feel ready — you might turn to Part 2 to find out how to build your store, then jump ahead to read more about marketing in Part 5, before going back to Part 3 to develop a deeper understanding of your customer, or Part 4 to set up shipping in Shopify. Part 1 also contains plenty of useful information on sourcing products and identifying sales channels, as well as outlining the different parts of your Shopify admin (where the magic begins in Shopify — get to know your Shopify admin in Chapter 2).

I’ve tried to use my experiences, both good and bad, to take you on a straightforward journey towards building a user-friendly, visually appealing and financially rewarding online store. I hope that as you work your way through the book, you’ll see ways to improve your evolving store and develop the confidence to get started in your new ecommerce career. I’d love to hear how the book has helped you sell your first product on Shopify too — after all, that’s why I’ve written the book, to help more people use Shopify to improve their lives.

I’ve had a great career in ecommerce, and I absolutely love using Shopify. I hope you feel excited about starting your ecommerce journey. Thanks for allowing me to play a small part in your journey — I’m excited for you too, as I know what an adventure it can be.