Why choose Shopify for an online T-Shirt Shop? Because they have been around since 2006 and they know the game better than anyone else. Lots of small and large businesses use Shopify as their platform especially in the clothing business. I've seen many T-shirt brands come and go and the more successful of the lot were Shopify users. They are the ideal choice for start-ups and established brands that are self reliant and or that use Drop Shipping services (Neato has a damn good one). I'm impressed enough to be a proud affiliate of Shopify's services. This disclosure is in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
Is Shopify for an Online T-Shirt Shop Convenient?
Shopify is very quick to set up. You can start a trial for free to see if it is right for you. In as little as a minute you can set up the layout. Once you add your inventory and images you are ready to go on the fly. Granted you will need to optimize the shop with proper SEO and do some networking but Hell they make that easy too. They have integrated their platform with Pinterest so you can have your pin and boards work for you. Not to mention Call To Action buttons for the Facebook side of marketing. Twitter is a breeze too. They thought of it all. And for the reports... They are in-depth. Sales, Traffic, and so on.
There is a pricing plan to fit your budget, regardless of your business size.
- Basic ($29/month + 2.9% and 30p per transaction): unlimited products, 24/7 support, no transaction fees, fraud analysis tools and Shopify POS
- Professional ($79/month + 2.6% and 30p per transaction): the same features as the Basic plan, plus gift cards, professional reports and abandoned cart recovery
- Unlimited ($299month + 2.4% and 30p per transaction): the same features as the Professional plan, plus advanced report builder and real-time carrier shipping
Best Ways to Promote and Run Shopify For An Online T-Shirt Shop?
Promoting, marketing, and running any type of online shop is tedious. Shopify makes it a lot easier. They want you to be successful because that means that they are successful. Along with the Pinterest and Facebook integration mentioned above you can easily sign up for Affiliate Marketing companies to pick up a lot of that slack. Refersion is a very popular one that has proven successful for many Shopify users. Since many Shopify members do everything themselves, they can afford to do this because they are not going through some middle man. Especially if they do the printing in-house. After all, the POD Services and Screen-Printers take the biggest cut of the T-shirt Sales.
Shopify works for people that want to be a middle man as well by starting their own brand or even Limited Edition Tee site that uses a drop-shipper. But be careful with the latter, I've even seen some shops that do this business model go under because they could not keep up with the volume of sales. Which is no issue if you know how to handle the business like a professional and ANTICIPATE high volumes, Severe Weather, and other delays. Isn't that messed up? Too many sales and have to shut down as a result from getting too far behind in printing queues? It happens, so plan ahead, delegate to a trustworthy 3rd party printer or something.
As for advertising, don't waste your money on PPC ads or Facebook for a marketing strategy. Unless you have thousands of dollars to spend every month (or day) I wouldn't waste the time. Use that budget for targeting specific websites that fit your NICHE's demographic.Examples of Successful Shopify T-shirt Shops.
So Why Choose Shopify For An Online T-shirt Shop?
Because of the of all the options that are available to you from Shopify that's why to choose them. If you don't like any of the 100 default templates you can always code something yourself or hire an outside firm to help you set up as many features as your heart desires. If you want API go for it. There is nothing stopping you from integrating everything that you want into your ideal T-shirt shop. Lollapalooza uses Shopify and so does Third Eye Blind and that's two of the best damn endorsements there is.
Shopify Pros:
- No Hosting Worries. You only need a domain.
- Great Support - Forums, Guides, Blog Posts, Helpful People.
- Quick Setup - Templates make it easy.
- Reports - Detailed Statistics that truly matter.
Shopify Cons:
- There is the monthly cost of running whatever plan you choose, but what business doesn't have overhead?
- Like all 3rd party software, any add-ons and extensions used on Shopify requires updates. Just like your phone and computers constantly do. Staying on top of this is a necessity.
- Does not have the best blogging features. Shopify is eCommerce centered. The blog feature is more like an after thought. It is still useful but it is rather limited. Some people prefer the opposite and rely on the blog for customer interaction and bringing in traffic.
- Editing the items once they are entered is a bit bothersome. Be sure to add all of the product options for the item the first time... colors, sizes, styles etc.
The Pros outweigh the Cons in my opinion. Those are my reasons for choosing Shopify For An Online T-shirt Shop.
