How Does Shopify Work?

Here are a list of the important elements of Shopify that tell you how Shopify works. It is important to know these before you start building a Shopify store.

The main aspect of Shopify is the admin panel or dashboard. This is where a lot of your backend work is going to take place. You can change settings, like payment settings, within this area as well as making cosmetic changes to your website, theme, products, collections and more.

You’ll also be able to see and process orders directly from your Shopify admin page.

Themes are the general look of your website. They have standardized designs, sometimes with styles that are variations, that you can apply to your store. You choose a theme from the store and then install it on your website with a click of a button.

Once installed, you can change text, images and other elements within your Shopify Dashboard.

These are small bits of code that can be added to your store for increased functionality. These are bought from the Shopify Apps Store. However, you can make changes within your Shopify dashboard.

When a customer makes a purchase, and you’re using Shopify Payments, they’re taken to the Shopify checkout. Here they put in their customer details and their payment information and Shopify handles the payments for you. Once finished, the customer is sent back to your website, to a thank you page, and then can leave the store.

The order is sent to your orders section within the Shopify Dashboard.

Once every thirty days you will be provided with a charge by Shopify related to your Shopify use. The bill will include the monthly Shopify membership charge, app charges and any payment transaction fees. This is done every 30 days, not once a month on the same day.

There are several membership levels for Shopify, this includes the lowest Basic and the highest Shopify Plus. Each level has their advantages and disadvantages. You have to choose which is the best for you.

With many platforms you have to find a host for your website. With Shopify, the hosting is taken care for you. This gives you one less problem to worry about and allows you to concentrate on running your business.