As you may have noticed, many of our recent articles have focused on the healthy nature of ecommerce at present. As if you needed more evidence, recent research has shown that amount of Shopify stores worldwide grew by 200% over the course of the pandemic, as entrepreneurs looked to capitalize on the needs of consumers as brick-and-mortar stores were forced to close. As Shopify is one of the leading ecommerce website platforms, it is no surprise that fledgling business owners flocked to the platform.
What Is Shopify?
Shopify is a platform used to create websites, much like WordPress or Wix. However, the thing that sets Shopify apart is the fact that it has been specifically designed to support ecommerce sites. This means that uploading products to a site is relatively straightforward and the site comes ready-made with tracking and analytics capabilities.
Thus it is no wonder that the popularity of the platform has shot up over the last 24 months. The platform has attracted over 2 million new businesses over the last 2 years, with most of the stores sprouting up in the US and the UK. However, the country which has seen the most growth is Germany, where there has been an increase of over 400%. This is indicative of Shopify’s global appeal.
Who Is Opening Online Stores On Shopify?
For the most part it is small businesses that are opening up on Shopify. These sites are typically made up of Amazon sellers or new business owners. In terms of where these users are from, there is perhaps no surprise that the US has the most amount of Shopify users by a distance. There are over 2.5 million Shopify stores based in the US. This dwarves the UK, the second highest country, who have just under 160,000 Shopify stores.
Platforms such as Shopify are best suited to these smaller ecommerce sellers. In order to compete with bigger competitors in the market, these sellers must be willing to focus on customer satisfaction by placing an emphasis on key factors such as deliveries and returns. Shopify is a great place to begin for these sellers since a user-friendly website can go a long way in securing a customer.
How To Get Started On Shopify
It is pretty simple to get started on Shopify. Whilst we won’t provide a full guide here, there are some useful tips you should know. Before signing up for the service and creating a new site, you should make sure that you add your entire inventory to the online store and identify your most successful products ahead of launch, so you can make special pages for these key products.
You should also have all your shipping settings in order and tax settings. Shopify stores can be easily translated into other languages, meaning you can sell to customers across the globe. However, this obviously requires your tax obligations to be completed beforehand. As experts in VAT registration for ecommerce sellers who are looking to expand their business, this is the part of the process that we would be more than happy to assist with.
We Can Help You Expand Your Business
If you are a business who participates in cross border e-commerce, or importing of any kind, we would be more than happy to help you register for an EU and UK EORI number. We can also help you register for UK VAT, the UK VAT deferral scheme, file your UK and EU VAT returns, and help you comply with VAT in case your account faces any issues.
At J&P, helping your business is our passion, and we understand that companies across the UK are at risk now more than ever. We are here to support you through this post-Brexit period, so please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0161 637 1080 or send an e-mail to enquiries@jpaccountant.com.
