Ecommerce made easy with Shopify

Launching an online store can be both exciting and daunting. You know what you want to sell, but how do you create an ecommerce site that’s both affordable and effective?

Why Shopify?

Quick, simple, cost effective. Gotta love that! I’ve been working with Shopify for a few years now. I love that this Canadian team is constantly growing and adding new features while maintaining what I consider the most user friendly shopping cart system available.

The ease of use is key to my clients – as most would prefer to spend their time selling rather than figuring out a complicated cart system. This shopping cart is easy enough for anyone to use and it’s simplicity makes it a cinch for me to pop in and tweak things if you need it.

You don’t need to learn to code:

I’ll give you a couple of handy tips to make your layout skills stronger. You’ll become fast friends with the <br/> tag. But beyond that everything is done through a really easy admin section.

Nothing to install and host:

Shopify is a hosted cart – they keep everything on their super-fast servers for you (instead of one that you rent space on and install the software yourself). This means they keep a close eye on any service disruptions or other problems for you. And anytime they improve or upgrade the software it gets added automatically to your shop without anyone having to upgrade it.

Lots of great features – but not too many to overwhelm you:

You need to be able to quickly add and adjust products, process orders, keep track of stock and promote your items. Shopify has the basics covered and then some. Plus there are some very handy apps that we can add on if you extend it’s capabilities (like add user reviews for example).

Sure there are carts out there that have a gazillion features, one-time fee, or are open-source (free to use). But the compromise is the need for complex customization, expensive developer fees for any updates or changes, and a complex admin section that confuses a new shop owner.

If a company has the need for these features and the budget to cover the costs I recommend a system called ProductCart. If Shopify seems too simple for your needs ask me about something more complex.

So where shall we start?

I can customize and launch a site for you in very little time. The hardest part of launching an ecommerce site is developing your content, gathering photos, determining your shipping etc. I can certainly help you with all of that as well – I’m pretty familiar with ecommerce myself.

A basic package is $2000 and includes:

Basic design esthetic using current logo (or typeface company name)
Shopify setup, navigation, layout and coding
Upload and styling of up to five products, five content pages and one blog post.
Setup server hosting if needed
Customization of hosting account to accommodate Shopify
Set-up of blog/news feature
Integration of up to two Shopify apps (add-ons)
Cross browser testing
Unlimited email consultation until launch
One month of corrections and adjustments
Set-up of a free Statcounter account

Included SEO

Basic keyword and competitive analysis
Assistance with copy editing
Best practices for search engines
Submission to Google and Bing

Extra Services Available – Variable costs

Email marketing solution – set up and account (i.e. MailChimp), customize forms and welcome letters, integrate with website
Facebook business page – custom profile graphic, email sign-up integration and welcome tab (if desired), assistance with conversation starters
Twitter account – background and colour customization, locate target audience, assistance with conversation starters
Search engine marketing – add link to directories (i.e. business listings), identify opportunities for links and on-line relationships
Google webmaster account – create and submit sitemap
Email marketing campaign – create and distribute email/newsletter

More about ongoing costs:

Shopify has a monthly fee that starts at $29 dollars per month. What you’ll spend on fees you will more than save on initial development and set-up costs (a more complicated cart will cost much more to have someone like me customize for you). You can learn more about Shopify’s service plans here

Questions?

Email me any questions you have – I’d be happy to help you decide if Shopify is right for your project.