Shopify Tips: 5 Issues To Prepare For When Starting Your Shop

There is no software tool out there that’s perfect. That’s the reality with any human invention that has even come into existence. Everything has its own flaws that need to be dealt with and solved in one way or another. No matter how advanced our technology is there will always be imperfections here and there and that’s exactly what you’ll find out when you start using Shopify.

It’s being the number one e-commerce platform doesn’t have anything to do with perfection or anything. It is topping any polls because of many other positive reasons but in terms of perfection, it just isn’t the case. Just like the other platforms out there, there are some issues that you’re going to encounter when you decide to go with Shopify but thankfully, there are plenty of solutions for it and if you don’t know how one problem is fixed, you can always contact their customer support or even consult their community forum.

Through the years, Shopify has had several issues but its development team has always been proactive in solving and fixing them. That’s actually one of the advantages when you are using the top e-commerce platform ever however, there still are customers that feel skeptical about it and doubt its capabilities. But what are the common problems that people encounter and what the ways in solving them are, we’ll explore these and more in this article so just read on to learn things everything.

1. Product Uploading Problems

One of the most common Shopify issues that are faced by novice users is on the product uploading process. It can occur in both the marketplace and at times even in product listings. Uploading by bulk is actually possible in Shopify using CSV files but the issue comes when the uploading process detects even the slightest error! When it happens, you will either need to re-upload via CSV or try to zero in on the real cause and that would take a longer time.

When all of the above-mentioned solutions fail, you will end up just uploading products one-by-one. CSV uploading will work for a few products but if it’s thousands that you want to get loaded to your online shop then the possibility of getting an error early on or halfway through the process is always there.

2. Issues in Analytics and other Third-Party Apps

There are problems that occur when you install third-party apps at times. But the most common one occurs with those apps that are meant to analyze site traffic and overall web ranking. It’s not really on the overall functionality of such apps but the on their usefulness. Most of the apps that are available will only show general data and a little bit of great aesthetic design here and there, but in terms of insights on Google Analytics and Shopify data, they fail badly.

When running a store, you will need access to those valuable data that can help you make decisions on product development, marketing, and other promotional efforts, and as well as other crucial matters such as change in theme, adding a new payment option, etc. There’s no app that can do that as of now so all we can do is wait.

3. It is Hard to Increase Sales

Increasing sales in Shopify is almost synonymous to increased advertising efforts and of course, a higher budget. It is almost impossible to get any sales without doing any online marketing effort and the sad thing is most of these efforts and strategies will require you to spend for them to start running. This is another issue that most Shopify merchants are aware of but thankfully, there are many other creative and innovative ways that cost less but are almost as effective as social media ads such as content marketing and blogs.

4. It is Difficult to Find Customers

This is related to the issue about increasing sales because it is the customers where sales would come from. Without customers, to patronize your products, there will be no money at all that will flow into your shop. Finding customers is one of the greatest challenges that a newbie Shopify store owner will encounter and it becomes even harder if you’ve got no budget at all. If you look into any master guide for online business even those that don’t use Shopify as a platform, you will always be advised to invest time and money on marketing.

The aspect on time is cut shorter if you’ve got budget for advertising but if not, you’ll need to invest a lot of time and effort building up a blog, FB Page, or YouTube Channel that you can use to get the word about your business out into the world and to your target audience/customers. That’s how difficult it is but we’re not discouraging you in any way here, we are just being realistic about the many challenges that you’ll go through especially in this aspect of finding your very first customers and getting that very first purchase.

5. Costly Way To Expand

As your shop demand increases, you will need to move from one Shopify subscription plan to the next higher plan. This costs money of course and that is imperative since you’re also seeking to get more return. The more you expand, the more you will need to spend for that expansion. There really is nothing that’s free in this world except for Shopify’s free 14-day trial of course. But seriously talking, it becomes more evident that Shopify is really up for the “profit sharing” concept especially as you move to the higher subscription plans. Plus, if you accept credit card payments, you will also be charged additional fees per transaction.

Another possibility that could happen as you expand is that you will need the help of third-party apps to add more features and capabilities to your shop. Most of these apps also come as a subscription so you’ll need to add more to your monthly operating budget in order to run your store and make it perform more efficiently. Again, this is but normal but remember to still see some aspects where you can get some savings.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that Shopify remains the undisputed number one in the field of e-commerce platforms but you shouldn’t expect it to be perfect. Too much expectation always leads to utter disappointment so it is always a good practice to tame those expectations and be happy with what the platform has to offer as you start growing and discovering more about your shop.

Don’t stop when you see some negative attributes because as we said, there is nothing that’s perfect in this world. But those imperfections will actually hone you into a better businessman if you only look at it in a constructive manner. Challenges, difficulties, issues, and technical problems will always be your nemesis when running an online shop/business but you can easily defeat them if you’re always prepared.

‍