Shopify is a versatile business platform that allows potential entrepreneurs to easily access a vast pool of customers. Right from setting up the online marketplace to advertising your offerings to an array of customers, Shopify takes you through all the steps in a systematic manner. Since businesses are of many types, Shopify can be tailored to allow entrepreneurs across the spectrum to reach their ideal customers.
The platform provides several unique features that make managing a competitive business a rather straightforward process. Shopify has hosted over 4 million businesses on its platform since its launch in 2006 and continues to expand the frontiers of online businesses.
If you’re looking for ideas on how to make money on Shopify, you‘ve come to the right place. In the subsequent sections, we provide 20 practical suggestions and shop ideas for your Shopify business. Whether a unique product or a reselling company, Shopify provides you the opportunity to make the best of its online platform to market to customers across the world. Read on to know more.
Why Should You Become a Shopify Seller?
Shopify provides dozens of store templates to help businesses set up their online marketplace. It is a one-stop shop for all business owners who have a unique concept, service, or product but can’t invest in coding or the internet architecture to set up their e-commerce platforms. Shop owners are provided with a vast data set of digital assets such as images, graphics, videos, and site templates for business owners to beautify their customer-facing marketplace. Entrepreneurs can also choose their own set of logos and branding to create a unique store identity.
A Shopify store has a centralized dashboard that integrates several aspects of your business like inventory, sales, orders, prices, products, and shipping to allow businesses a hassle-free approach. Having a store on Shopify provides business owners with the added advantage of business analytics that can inform key operational decisions. Lastly, choosing the Shopify Payment method to manage collections can further streamline your online store’s finances as all aspects of your business will be managed under the same roof. If you’re worried about financing your business, Shopify Funding can help you actualize your dreams and help you establish a functioning Shopify store.
20 Ways to Make Money with Shopify
Below are a few intuitive shop suggestions to move an online business from concept to execution. These tips will help you streamline efforts when structuring your business idea and operating model on the Shopify interface.
E-commerce Business
Shopify’s malleability is a result of its vast trove of store-building tools that business owners can utilize to create their e-commerce businesses. You can use Shopify to add various product classes, inventory, and options, and use Shopify Payments to collect funds from your customers. Not only is the checkout process simple you can also capitalize on the overall ease of doing business while you use Shopify’s domains to host your e-commerce website. Businesses can also utilize focused strategies like SEO and keyword-focused blogging to bring traffic to their e-commerce store. Shopify’s expertise in the area makes it the ideal choice for businesses that want to make money while selling a motley of products.
Print-on-Demand Shops
The print-on-demand model is popular among artists, content creators, and media personalities, as it allows them to customize and brand unique products without the need to hold onto significant inventory. A print-on-demand company will print and brand a product whenever a customer places an order. Popular POD products include T-shirts, mugs, bags, accessories, and more. The model is designed to be low-risk and helps you produce only as many products as customers want instead of investing in vast amounts of raw material. Businesses can set up their POD shops on Shopify with relative ease.
Shopify Dropshipping Business
One of the most straightforward methods to make money through Shopify is to set up a dropshipping business. Several business owners make considerable margins through dropshipping. The business model does not involve holding onto inventory or the responsibility of shipping products to the customer. The primary role of a drop shipper is to drive consumer traffic and manage the customer service aspect of the e-commerce business. Because of minimal investment and no need to hold onto any inventory, drop shippers can sell products based on trends to ensure maximum profit. Several third-party applications connect dropshipping suppliers to Shopify stores, allowing them to seamlessly access inventory for their business.
Start a Handmade Goods Business
Handmade goods offer the potential for business owners to showcase their unique talent while making money from their online store. A Shopify store can be a good way for creators to tap into an alternate source of income in addition to their social media sales. Shopify seamlessly allows shop owners to integrate and market their Shopify listings on their social media handles. For businesses that run a store on other marketplaces like Etsy, third-party applications can connect their Shopify stores with their Etsy marketplace.
Setup an Online Thrift and Vintage Store
Selling unwanted items or old but trendy goods to interested customers is a great way to earn money while also maintaining a sustainable business. Moreover, the business model also allows business owners to clear the clutter at home. Businesses can utilize applications such as Depop or Poshmark to list products from their Shopify store and access greater reach for their products. Marketplaces like eBay and Craigslist also offer a good opportunity for businesses selling second-hand goods. While most businesses of this type market to a local customer base, setting up a Shopify store can also help you reach out to customers outside of your region.
Create and Sell a Unique Product
One of the more complex yet unique ways to make money on Shopify is to create and sell a unique product directly to your consumers. Try to explore common, everyday problems faced by people and think of a product that can be a solution. Design prototypes to test out the concept and its functionality before finding a manufacturer to produce the product. Unique and original products are among the best offerings on Shopify.
Influencer Marketing
In case you have a considerable following on your social media handles, you can monetize your accounts and partner with Shopify to enhance your earnings. Referring your followers to products you have tried and prefer can help you earn a commission every time they make a purchase. Shopify Collabs – the platform’s official influencer marketing program – can help you work with specific brands, create brand-specific content, and earn commissions on products.
Digital Products and Downloads
If you’re thinking of how to make money on Shopify without having to hold onto physical inventories, offering digital services and products might be the best option for you. You can sell a variety of digital products like sheet music, sewing templates, royalty-free soundtracks, spreadsheet templates, and more, based on your skill set. Several Shopify applications support direct downloads and allow your customers to immediately receive the products they pay for. Selling digital products is a great side hustle and can help you make additional income if you have an existing job, but are also skilled in other disciplines.
Shopify Affiliate Marketing
If you have experience in content marketing, affiliate marketing can be a great source of additional income. Content creators can host affiliate links on their websites or social media handles to promote products from specific brands. Customers using your affiliate links will help you earn a commission on the products. Having a good content marketing strategy will help you make the most of your affiliate marketing plans.
Create Shopify Apps and Themes
Creating apps and themes followed by selling them on Shopify is one of the most lucrative options for potential digital creators. All app sales on Shopify allow you to take 80% of the sales you generate, whereas you can keep 100% of all theme sales until you hit the $1 million mark. Following this milestone, theme creators can keep 85% of the sales they make on the platform. However, these are complex tasks, and you will have to market them efficiently and create useful products to ensure customers keep coming for more.
Freelancing
Offering your skills for hire on a Shopify store expands your reach and exposes your talent to a broader market. Shopify stores also provide a more polished and professional look to your freelancer profile and can help you maintain a positive reputation even on other platforms. You can disable shipping and list your skills such as graphic design, logo design, writing, or web content creation as products or services on your Shopify store.
Local Online Grocery Store
If you have links with good suppliers or are a produce farmer in your locality, you can offer your local customers a seamless shopping experience by setting up an online grocery store on Shopify. In addition to physical sales, you’ll also be able to take online orders and allow customers to receive their products at their doorstep. Use SEO marketing and Google Maps to your advantage as they often display relevant local search results when a user enters related keywords in their searches.
Offer Shopify Consulting
Shopify provides businesses on its platform with the opportunity to consult with experts in different business disciplines to help them create a perfect business model. If you have expertise in niches like content marketing, branding, advertising, and managing multiple Shopify stores, you can make considerable amounts of money by consulting for Shopify merchants.
Provide Online Courses
Online courses are among the best things to sell on Shopify. Structuring a detailed course on a defined discipline will allow you to attract potential customers that are looking to upskill or just learn something new. Courses can be bought by any number of people, making them a great source of passive income. Target in-demand skills and market your courses effectively to make the best of your Shopify course store.
Building and Flipping Shopify Stores
Among the more intuitive methods to build a successful Shopify business is to flip established Shopify stores. You can invest time and effort in structuring a unique Shopify marketplace with a defined business model and concept, along with domain names and social media presence only to flip the store for profit. The store will have to be crisp, attractive, and must be capable of generating a good amount of sales. The price you sell your Shopify store will depend on how lucrative the business is, existing sales figures, long-term market potential, and the ability to scale the existing business.
Sell Photos on Shopify
There’s a considerably high demand for quality stock images and photographic content. If you’re a photographer, you can set up a Shopify store by listing your clicks as products for individuals, businesses, designers, and content creators to buy. You can build a name for yourself by showcasing your content on free platforms and then linking your accounts to your Shopify store to drive sales.
Writing and Selling Ebooks
Just like a course or a digital asset, if you’re a skilled writer, you can research in-demand genres and topics to write books and novellas. Try different formats and genres to figure out what works best for your business. Use the Shopify platform to create a store to showcase your works and market your ebooks to potential readers on multiple social media platforms to drive sales.
Create or Narrate Audiobooks
If you have a great voice and a knack for narration, creating and narrating your own audiobooks or narrating existing works might be a unique way to make money on Shopify. You can use the storefront to market your narrations and also host samples for potential employers or clients. Engage with fellow audiobook creators and promote your work on social media to get the networking advantage.
Host a Domain Name Store
Several brands seek attractive and relevant domain names to host their websites. Watching current trends and buying catchy domain names can help you flip them for a profit to a prospective business looking for the domain. Keep an eye on the popular trends for domains and buy these domains from sites like Shopify or Godaddy. You can then host these domains as products on your Shopify store.
Monetize Blogs
If you have a flair for writing and an existing base of followers, you can monetize your blog using affiliate links, sponsored posts, and by hosting paid ads. SEO can help drive organic traffic. The information or opinions you provide on your blogs must be useful and must resonate with your target audience if you wish to convert sales through referrals, affiliate links, and sponsored content.
Shopify Seller Funding and Why You Might Need It
While Shopify is a great platform for online business owners, maintaining the online marketplace, investing in marketing, and holding onto inventory will cost money. Much like a regular brick-and-mortar business, your Shopify store, too, requires regular upgrades and capital for expansion. Moreover, if you’re stressed about emergency expenses, timely funding can solve any cash flow problems and help stabilize the ship during turbulent times. Firms like FundKite offer intuitive, boutique-style funding options to Shopify business owners. Our expert underwriters, rapid funding times, and business-friendly financing solutions are your best bet whether you plan on setting up a Shopify business, funding an expansion of an existing business, or managing immediate expenses such as inventory or payroll.
Sum Up
Shopify is a great platform for potential business owners to begin their entrepreneurial journeys. Assess your options and decide on the best practices to set up your Shopify business and begin making money. Be mindful of the quality of products or services you offer in addition to the marketing efforts you put in to ensure your business receives the visibility it deserves.
