Many people in Sri Lanka are currently starting dropshipping, and Shopify is a very suitable platform for it. The truth is, many people today are starting with Shopify without knowing what it really is. Let’s begin by understanding what Shopify is all about. I won’t go into the history of who created Shopify and when. As members of Shopify LK, you must be aware of dropshipping. Essentially, it’s about selling a product from Aliexpress on eBay for a higher price and keeping the profit. The same thing happens on Shopify but in a more professional way. On eBay, you’re just seen as a seller. But on Shopify, you can go beyond that. Imagine you take a product from the market and sell it in a small shop within the same market; that’s what eBay does. Shopify, however, allows you to take that product, put it in a big store, brand it as your own, and sell it to people as your own product.

Generally, when you set up a small shop in a market, daily business comes in because people are always coming to the market, browsing, and comparing prices. But think about it: if you wanted to buy shoes, you’d go to a store like DSI. If you wanted to buy a phone, you wouldn’t go to small stalls in the market; you’d go to a store specifically for phones. In Kandy, for example, you’d go to Champa or Toyto to buy a phone. So, instead of having a small stall in the market, Shopify allows you to create a superior store of your own.

Now, many people in Sri Lanka are doing Shopify. They’re creating their own good stores. But there’s a saying, “If you know, you go to Kataragama; if you don’t, you stop halfway.” This applies to Shopify too. Many people are starting Shopify these days because it’s trendy. They quickly create a store, import some products from Aliexpress, spend $10-20 on Facebook ads, and think their store is ready. They expect sales to come in right away, which can happen by chance, but no business succeeds immediately. Today, many people in Sri Lanka are starting Shopify expecting quick profits. Maybe you, reading this, are also thinking about starting Shopify.

Think about it: you take a product from the market, put it in your big shop, and then distribute a small leaflet among people saying, “Here’s our shop, come buy from us.” Will people come to your shop? Probably not. Why do we generally say, “Have you checked Nano Tech for computer parts?” (This is just an example.) We know Nano Tech is good for computer parts. Similarly, people need to remember your store when they think of buying something specific. This is fundamental for a Shopify store. (I’ll discuss how to make these stores in another post.) Many people stop doing Shopify because they don’t get business and still have to pay the $29 monthly fee, which is about Rs. 5600. Most people pay for up to three months and then stop if there’s no business. That’s why it’s important to start Shopify with a good plan. Nothing succeeds immediately. Several factors contribute to success.

1. A good product
2. A good store
3. Marketing budget
4. SEO

No one will come to your store unless they need what you’re selling. Many people starting Shopify choose to sell items like ladies’ fashion, which often don’t succeed. We need to understand what people really need. For example, five babies are born every second in the world. Why can’t many people start a store with good products for babies? This is just a small example. When creating a store, think beyond the obvious and consider people’s needs. People won’t buy something unless they need it.

No matter how good your product is, if your store is new, it won’t matter. When a customer visits your store, if it’s not attractive, they are more likely to leave. Many people import images from Aliexpress without any changes. Sometimes customers will go to eBay or Aliexpress and see the same product image for a lower price. So they won’t buy from your store. Also, if the fonts, animations, and page layouts are messy, customers will definitely leave. It’s important to create a store that customers won’t want to leave once they visit.

Another thing is that many people allocate only $30-40 for marketing on Shopify. This can be enough, but it can also be insufficient. When marketing through Facebook, many people just boost a post, which often doesn’t work. We typically target first-world countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia) for Shopify. Ads in these countries are relatively more expensive. I’m currently running an ad in the USA where it costs about 30 cents per reach. So, it’s best to allocate a budget for ads right from the start. Many people run conversion ads, which often don’t succeed. I previously mentioned the example of a leaflet. Conversion ads are similar. When advertising, we first need to find the right audience for our product. For example, we can’t sell a jacket for cold weather in a hot region. We need to find who needs the jacket first.

After finding the right audience, the next step is to show our brand to them frequently. This is where brand awareness campaigns come in Facebook ads. Even I don’t click on an ad for a product I like the first time I see it. We need to show our product to the right audience repeatedly. For example, we can first run a brand awareness or traffic ad for a week to our audience, then run a different ad the next week offering a discount. Now, our audience has already seen our store and product before. If they see the offer, and they need the product, they will likely buy it.

The next important thing is SEO. Often, we can drive traffic and sales to our store without a big Facebook campaign through SEO. I won’t go into details now. Imagine you have a store with baby products. If someone searches on Google for “how can I get the best baby products?” you want your store to rank high in the search results. This is what SEO does using keywords. You need to use these keywords in blogs, product descriptions, etc., to rank higher. I’ll discuss this in another post.

I hope you got some idea about Shopify from this post. If you have any comments or things I didn’t mention, please share. Best of luck! 🔥