Customising Your Shopify Store

Shopify customisation can often be put on the back burner by e-retailers. Straight out of the box, Shopify is already packed with a lot of great features that are easy to configure from your dashboard. So, why should you customise your theme?

There comes a time when advanced customisation is needed to ensure your business can keep meeting customer demand in a user-friendly way. This includes everything from signing off your emails professionally with https://www.templafy.com/templafy-email-signature-manager/ to ensuring your store adapts based on customer data.

Shopify customisation can be done by yourself - your in house team - if you have one or through a digital agency who are experienced in website design.

It might seem an unnecessary expense but customisation and modifying your Shopify theme requires specialist knowledge of coding in HTML, CSS, and Shopify’s proprietary system - Liquid. Making an error in this coding could have the pitfall of bringing down your shop front, bad for business.

These techniques can be complex as it requires isolating custom code and separating files. Another of the biggest pitfalls to updating and customising your Shopify theme comes when you update to the latest version of Shopify down the line. It is likely that this will overwrite your edited code, meaning your customisation will need to be re-edited and implemented.

Most Shopify themes are regularly updated and it is advisable to do so as they add new features, fix compatibility issues and bugs as discovered. Keeping your theme up-to-date has its advantages. If you are not familiar with using these systems to edit code you should consider hiring a third-party design agency or using an easy website builder with instructions.

Beyond adding and updating Shopify themes to stay current and maintain interest, adding different payment options is an essential step to reaching beyond the current market. Opening a dedicated Japanese bank account will ensure your Japanese customers can shop from your marketplace with greater ease and comfort. They will not need to determine exchange rates or convert currency. It’s a win for the business owner, as well, as there will be a dedicated JPY business account for all eCommerce platforms.


5 Things To Think About Choosing A Shopify Expert

When choosing a Shopify expert to work with in designing and developing your e-commerce shop there are a lot of things to consider. Trust in your website design agency is a huge factor in your collaboration with them. Choosing who to trust is difficult so here are 5 steps to finding a Shopify expert to work with.

 

• Firstly, start by thinking about what you need help with at your business. Shopify experts often specialise and can help you with: Store set up including shipping, payments and product setup. Store design, including theme customisation. Third-party app development and customisation. Marketing solutions such as brand building and finally getting professional quality photography for your site. Write a specification of what you need from an expert digital agency.

• Secondly, take a look at their profile and examples of stores they have worked on. Are these example Shopify stores responsive, what if your first impression of them? And is it close to what you are looking for in design and application?

• Thirdly read reviews and testimonials of their services from previous clients. The key here isn’t the number of reviews itself, but rather the ratings and feedback given by these clients.

• Four, write a shortlist of experts whose credentials, experience and reviews match your requirements and what you would like your site to look like.

• Finally, number five, contact your chosen expert design agency in person. Before you seal the deal talk to them in person, whether face-to-face on over the phone and discuss how their service can meet your needs.