Shopify

I'm an experienced Shopify designer and developer. I can help with your existing online store or help you launch a new one from scratch. I can help with code changes for theme customisations, app research and setup, graphic design and asset creation, on-site optimisations, as well as help with automations and back-end apps to help run your business more efficiently.

Shopify is very popular with my clients and favoured for is value, flexibility and ease of use. It's relatively quick and easy to get a basic site up and running and most of the requirements for an online store are included as standard. Apps can be installed to extend the functionality further to enable you to make your store work just the way you need it. It's a managed service so the subscription includes hosting, security and updates, which means you don't need to worry about these aspects and can spend more time focussing on running your business.

How can I help you with your Shopify store?

I can help with nearly all aspects of your Shopify store for the majority of small to medium sized businesses. I specialise in smaller businesses and providing a high agency level of service at an affordable price.

Shopify Support

If you already have a Shopify store but need general help and support, I can provide this. I can advise you how to optimise your website, assist with theme changes, help add apps and third party services, or just help with technical support of how to set up and operate Shopify. I can provide this on an ad-hoc basis or offer a monthly support contract at a discounted rate. Find out more about my Website Support service.

Shopify Theme Customisations

If you're happy with the day-to-day running of your store but need some specific changes to your theme, I can help. I can help with additional templates, adding new sections and elements, making non-editable elements editable, and aesthetic styling.  

Wordpress & WooCommerce to Shopify transfers

If you're using Wordpress and WooComerce and wish to change to Shopify, I can help you with the transition. You can usually transfer the vast majority of content over to Shopify with relative ease, so this may not be the headache you think it might be. Find out more about my Wordpress & WooCommerse to Shopify service.

Shopify Theme Updates

I can update your Shopify theme if it has gotten out of date and you're missing out on new features. Sometimes this is a straightforward process and can take only an hour or two if your site is simple, but this can be a more involved process if your site is large, you have a lot of customisations, or your theme hasn't been update in a long time. If you have a theme that's not yet on the 2.0 theme architecture, you're potentially missing out on some nice features. I can upgrade your theme to the latest version.

Shopify Theme speed optimisation

As stores are added to over time and apps installed and uninstalled, your Shopify website's speed and performance can degrade. Loading speed is critical to a good user experience and to help Search Engine (Google) ranking. I can audit your Shopify store and highlight opportunities to improve the loading speed and rectify and issues.

Shopify Store Setup

If you don't yet have a website and are totally new to selling online, I can set you up a Shopify store from scratch and get you up and running. I can guide you through the while process so by the end you'll be able to mange your store on your own.

Shopify app selection, installation and setup

Shopify has a vast marketplace of apps to extend the functionality of your store and help you run your business more efficiently. There are apps for almost anything you can think of but popular areas are advanced shipping options, pre-ordering, reviews, loyalty schemes, live chat, product customisations and warehouse management, to name a few. The right apps can save you many hours of manual work and make life running your online business much easier and potentially more profitable. Selecting the right app can be a difficult and time consuming process but I can help you find and setup the right one. I will often already have a favourite app for a given task, but if I don't, I can test out apps to find out of they meet your requirements.

Shopify Conversion/Sales optimisations

If you have a store already and want to make it perform better and sell more, I offer and Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) service. I can audit your site and highlight areas for improvement and provide solutions which will help you to sell more of your products. This can range from minor text changes and e-commerce best practices, to complete product page overhauls. Find out more about my Conversion Rate Optimisation service here.

Shopify Advanced Theme and App development

If you're looking for advanced complex custom theme development or custom app development, then I may not be your man directly, but I do have contacts that I work with closely if you do require this level of development. I'm happy to talk to your about any Shopify project and outsource if necessary, but this is rarely needed and I usually find a solution that I can carry out myself.

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Why Shopify?

Shopify is now the top e-commerce platform for serious online businesses, and of the top 1000 e-commerce stores, Shopify holds the highest market share. It true there are technically more installations of Wordpress and WooCommerce, but this is largely down to the fact that they are open source and therefore free to install, which leads to a high installation rate but also to a high level of inactive stores. I have not  had a single client be disappointed with the Shopify platform.

Key reasons to use Shopify

• Speed of setup:
  • Shopify offers a quick and streamlined setup process, allowing merchants to launch their online stores within minutes.
  • Pre-designed templates and intuitive tools expedite the setup process, minimizing the time and effort required to get started.
• Ease of use:
  • Shopify's user-friendly interface makes it easy for merchants to navigate and manage their online stores without extensive technical knowledge.
  • Intuitive features and drag-and-drop functionality simplify tasks such as adding products, managing inventory, and processing orders.
• Ease of editing:
  • Shopify provides a user-friendly editor that enables merchants to customise their store's appearance and content with ease.
  • Customization options are intuitive and accessible, allowing for seamless updates and modifications to the store's layout, colors, fonts, and more.
• Managed Service:
  • Shopify is a managed e-commerce platform, handling infrastructure, security, and updates, allowing merchants to focus on growing their business without worrying about technical maintenance.
  • Regular updates and maintenance ensure that merchants have access to the latest features and security enhancements.
• Top notch security:
  • Shopify prioritizes security, employing industry-leading measures to safeguard merchants' data and customers' information.
  • Secure payment processing, SSL encryption, and PCI compliance provide peace of mind for both merchants and customers.
• Excellent hosting:
  • Shopify offers reliable and high-performance hosting, ensuring fast page loading times and minimal downtime for online stores.
  • Robust infrastructure and scalable architecture support the needs of growing businesses without sacrificing speed or performance.
• Apps marketplace:
  • Shopify's extensive app marketplace offers a wide range of third-party integrations and extensions, allowing merchants to extend the functionality of their stores.
  • From marketing tools and analytics to inventory management and customer support, merchants can find apps to meet their specific needs and preferences.
• Shopify Point Of Sale (POS)
  • Shopify can also manage  your in person sales with their POS service.
  • If you have a bricks and mortar store as well as an online one, running everything through one system using Shopify can save on costs and simplify your business processes.
• Scalable:
  • Shopify's scalable architecture and flexible plans accommodate businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprise-level operations.
  • As businesses grow, Shopify can easily scale to handle increased traffic, sales volume, and inventory without compromising performance.
• Huge developer and customer community:
  • Shopify boasts a vast and active community of developers and customers who contribute to a rich ecosystem of knowledge sharing and collaboration.
  • It's relatively easy to find a new Shopify developer who will be able to pick up your site work on it if you ever find need to change providers.

Shopify vs Wordpress & Woo Commerce

When comparing Shopify to WordPress with WooCommerce, Shopify emerges as the superior choice for many businesses due to its all-in-one solution and ease of use. Unlike WordPress with WooCommerce, which requires separate hosting and plugin management, Shopify offers a fully hosted platform with integrated features, including hosting, security, and support. This integrated approach simplifies the setup process and reduces the technical burden on merchants, allowing them to focus on growing their business instead of managing infrastructure. Additionally, Shopify provides a more intuitive user interface and a wider range of customizable templates, making it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise. With Shopify, businesses can benefit from a comprehensive ecosystem of apps, a robust developer community, and dedicated customer support, all of which contribute to a seamless and scalable e-commerce experience.

When is Shopify not the right choice?

It's true that it's not right for every store but this can be said about any platform. Unless you are a large enterprise business which requires a fully bespoke website, Shopify can almost always do what you need. At the other end of the spectrum, if you have a very tight budget with very low sales, you may not have any choice but to go with a cheaper or Open Source platform. However, be aware that this if often false economy as you may need to rely on web designers or developers more than you would for a managed platform like Shopify.

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