Within the last few years, the era of online small businesses and small business owners has rapidly skyrocketed. Shopify has become one of the most popular companies that sellers use to sell goods online. Based in Canada, consumers and sellers all around the world seem to find themselves coming across a Shopify advertisement, whether they are shopping online or watching a YouTube video. There are a few reasons why Shopify has become so popular. If someone still needs help in getting started on Shopify, they can easily hire Shopify expert to help them. In addition to having a popular merchant platform they also have a Shopify Partner Program. So what is the difference and is it worth getting into? Below we take a look at what it takes to be one of many trusted Shopify partners and is it worth getting into.
Perks of Being a Shopify Partner
Besides being able to make a free account and having access to a few discounts, there are a few other reasons why becoming a Shopify Partner can be beneficial to an online seller.
- Affiliate Marketing
One of the key tools to growing your business is being able to market it to a broader audience and that is where affiliate marketing comes in. As a Shopify Partner, one of the valuable perks included is affiliate marketing. Each referral offer earns the seller 200% of each subscription fee. The affiliate program is free to sign up for, you only need to complete the application. This is highly beneficial as a business owner when you are trying to boost not only traffic but sales.
- Free Training
Shopify offers all of its Partners an opportunity to learn more in order to enhance their business. They provide free full training courses in different areas. Some of these areas include Project Management, App Development, Theme Development, and Store Operation Fundamentals to name a few. Not only do these courses help sellers better develop their business but Shopify Partners will also have the opportunity to learn about the inside scoop on how Shopify runs on the inside. In addition to that, they can also learn about new and upcoming features that Shopify will release in advance.
- Easy to Use Interface
Everything on Shopify Partner’s website is made easy for any seller no matter the experience or what kind of items their business consists of. Shopify has designed everything from the buttons, page links, and more to not only be user friendly but also sleek and clean to be easy on the eyes. Although it comes with self-explanatory designs, Shopify Partners can always ask their always available customer service team for help.
- Create Apps
Shopify Partners have the opportunity to create apps. Creating their own app gives merchants more control of their shops and how they are run. They also give merchants the opportunity to create more ways to reach their consumers.
- Shopify Plus Partner
Shopify Partners have an opportunity to level up their product quality by becoming a Shopify Plus Partner. The businesses that benefit from becoming a Shopify Plus Partner the most are usually marketing agencies, design agencies and more.
Disadvantages of Shopify Partners
Despite having a number of valuable perks that are exciting when modifying your Shopify site, there are a few disadvantages that come with being a Shopify Partner as well.
- Features
The biggest complaint that comes from most Shopify partners is that they don’t have enough default features. This results in most people’s shops looking similar to one another. This also results in the merchant to have to purchase and install more features to accommodate their shop and their consumers. The merchant may even have to hire a coder to get their shop exactly how they like it. A number of merchants would like to increase the number of default features and themes available.
- No Email Hosting
Merchants who want to create an email with their business name attached through Shopify won’t have the opportunity to do so. The only way to get around this disadvantage is by having a 3rd party email host connected.
- It Can Be Expensive
Although signing up to be one a trusted Shopify Partner is free but if you want to take advantage of all of their most valuable perks there will be some fees for some quality functions for your site. The plans typically range from $29 to $300. With each new function that Shopify introduces the prices can become even more expensive.