Shopify Cheapest Plan: Online Selling At Just $5/Month

In this article, we’ll provide an in-depth review of Shopify’s cheapest plan, examining its features and core value proposition for new e-commerce merchants who want to partner with the most powerful e-commerce platform in this day and age.

Key Takeaways

• The Shopify Starter Plan, the cheapest option on Shopify, is tailored for individuals, content creators, and small businesses taking their first steps into online selling.
• At just $5 per month, it provides a cost-effective and user-friendly platform to initiate sales through social media channels and in-person interactions, eliminating the need for a full-fledged e-commerce website.
• It does come with limitations, such as higher transaction fees and a reduced set of features compared to more advanced Shopify plans. As a business grows, there may be a need to reassess and potentially upgrade to a higher-tier plan.

Before you decide on this plan, let’s watch a video about how to use Shopify at the lowest possible cost.

What Is Shopify’s Cheapest Plan?

The Shopify cheapest plan is the Shopify Starter plan, a user-friendly e-commerce solution tailored for beginners. 

It offers online merchants a straightforward and cost-effective means to integrate e-commerce features into their websites or initiate sales through social media, eliminating the need for complex tools, high pricing, or even a dedicated website.

This plan is particularly well-suited for individuals looking to sell products on various social media channels or any platform that supports product link sharing.

Additionally, the Shopify POS system in this plan allows you to conduct in-person sales effortlessly without requiring extensive setup time and effort. With its mobile device optimization, the Starter plan ensures that customers can conveniently make purchases, whether they encounter your products online or in real life.

Pricing

• Subscription fees: $5 per month. However, subscribers do not receive discounts for annual commitments.
• Transaction fees (both for using Shopify Payments and third-party payment providers): 5%
• Credit card rates: 
  • 2.9% + 0.30 USD per online transaction
  • 2.7% + 0 USD per in-person transaction

Key Features

So, for a mere $5 per month, what can you get from the Shopify Starter Plan? Here is an overview of the features encapsulated in the plan you can expect:

• Unlimited product listings for sale translate to limitless product and checkout pages
• Shopify’s Linkpop tool for the monetization of bio links across social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter
• A digital shopping cart facilitates the addition of multiple items and streamlines the completion of purchases in a single transaction.
• A secure, protected, and expeditious checkout system is fortified by a built-in SSL certificate hosted on a Shopify subdomain.
• A customizable contact page to enhance communication with your valued customers.
• The Shopify Inbox simplifies customer communications and aids in efficient order management.
• A suite of order management tools that enable you to maintain organization and effectively manage your business
• Access to Shopify’s expansive fulfillment network, encompassing warehousing, packaging, and shipping services, is accompanied by improved shipping rates.

Keeping this in mind, let’s delve deeper into the most outstanding and potent features offered by the Shopify Starter Plan.

Sell directly on social media

A standout feature of the Shopify Starter Plan is its seamless integration with social media platforms, eliminating the necessity of constructing a fully-fledged e-commerce store.

With Starter – Shopify’s cheapest plan, you can effortlessly upload product images, craft compelling descriptions, set prices in the backend, and proceed to market these items across the digital landscape. Notably, this plan empowers you to efficiently manage your inventory.

Furthermore, Shopify’s cheapest plan enables you to distribute product links, redirecting prospective customers directly to convenient checkout pages. These links can be effortlessly shared through direct messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and various other channels. 

When a recipient clicks on your shared product link, they are promptly directed to the respective product page. Here, they can not only make a purchase but also explore your storefront to add additional items before completing the transaction via Shopify Checkout.

This feature particularly appeals to influencers and small businesses with a substantial social media following. It allows them to seamlessly integrate sales into their Instagram pages or personal websites.

Sell in-person

You also have the option to conduct in-person sales with Shopify’s cheapest plan through Shopify’s basic point of sale (POS Lite).

By downloading the Shopify POS app on your smartphone or tablet, you can seamlessly process in-person sales with all data updated in real time and managed through the Shopify dashboard. 

Monetized links in the social bios through Linkpop

Shopify’s cheapest plan introduces a game-changing tool, Linkpop, a rapidly evolving trend in digital marketing where the “bio link” becomes a versatile landing page. In the realm of social bios, where you are traditionally constrained to just one link, it emerges as a dynamic solution.

Linkpop empowers users to create a shoppable landing page, a versatile gateway to their offerings, accessible through various social media apps. This innovative tool effectively circumvents the limitations of a single link, enabling you to share links to your other social media profiles like Instagram, TikTok, etc., showcase sale items, promote new blog posts, or gather opt-in forms.

What sets Linkpop apart is its seamless integration of shoppable links, offering a direct avenue for customers to purchase products with just a few taps on their mobile devices. 

The landing page is meticulously designed for an optimal mobile user experience, ensuring that visitors can easily explore and make purchases from a wide array of offerings, including podcasts, bundle deals, and a multitude of other content types.

Communicate with customers on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp

Shopify’s cheapest plan (Starter) offers seamless integration with leading messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. As an increasing number of individuals seek customer support via social media and instant messaging, this feature proves to be a significant asset.

This invaluable feature not only permits you to engage in customer interactions but also allows you to incorporate essential product details and information directly within your chat thread, affording you the convenience of managing customer service efficiently from your mobile device.

It’s worth noting that many standalone chat extension applications with similar functionality often come at a price exceeding the $5 per month cost of the Shopify Starter Plan, making it all the more remarkable that Shopify offers this robust communication tool as part of the package.

Order management

Within the Shopify Starter Plan, you still retain comprehensive access to a suite of robust e-commerce tools on the back end. This includes functionalities such as product management, inventory control, and efficient order fulfillment.

The dashboard provided within this plan mirrors the familiar look and feel of Shopify’s typical user interface, offering a user-friendly experience for managing your e-commerce operations.

When you receive an order, you have the flexibility to process it and prepare it for shipping, whether that involves sending the order to a warehouse, utilizing a dropshipper, leveraging print-on-demand services, or even handling the packaging and shipping process yourself.

What truly stands out is the option to participate in the Shopify Fulfillment Program, available even under this plan, allowing you to pay a monthly fee to have Shopify handle the entire process of picking, packing, and shipping your products. This convenience is particularly valuable for content creators with merchandise needs, providing a straightforward fulfillment solution. 

Sale analytics and reports

The plan supports sales analytics and reporting, furnishing you with the essential insights to monitor and improve your online store’s performance.

This plan includes a diverse range of analytical tools, encompassing an analytics page, financial reports, product analytics, acquisition reports, inventory reports, marketing reports, etc. These resources collectively offer a comprehensive view of your store’s operations, equipping you with the information necessary to detect trends and formulate effective marketing strategies.

The data provided by Shopify Starter extends to individual products, allowing you to swiftly discern which items are popular with your customers and which ones may require additional attention. You can also make product-to-product performance comparisons and track your sales’ overall growth or decline over time. 

Furthermore, Linkpop, a feature integrated into the plan, also offers its own set of analytics reports, adding an additional layer of data-driven decision-making to your e-commerce endeavors.

Who Should Use the Shopify’s Cheapest Plan?

The Shopify Starter plan is designed for individual and small business segments of customers. More specifically, from the value features it brings above, the plan could work well with:

• New entrepreneurs who have just entered the market and want to test the market by selling released products through social media or in person.
• Content creators, bloggers, and social media influencers who want to monetize their online presence.
• Businesses with limited inventory
• Hobbyists and side hustlers
• Sellers have an existing website and only need simple ecommerce features like direct linking to checkout pages instead of a complete e-commerce store setup.

Advantages and Limitations Compared To Other Shopify Plans

Let’s explore how the Starter plan stacks up against its counterparts.

Shopify’s Cheapest Plan Free Trial

Shopify offers a free three-day trial, a special deal of using the platform for three months at just $1 per month, and other discounts to all of its subscription plans, including the Starter. This enables users to upload products, experiment with product pages, and buy buttons on their social media platforms or existing websites.

5 Tips for Success With Shopify’s Cheapest Plan

Unlocking the full potential of the Shopify Starter Plan requires a strategic approach and a keen understanding of its unique features and limitations. 

Thus, we offer five essential tips to help you make the most of Shopify’s cheapest plan and set your online business on a path to success.

• Optimize your product listings: Since the Shopify starter plan does not allow you to create a website and use Shopify themes, ensure that your product listings are visually appealing and informative. High-quality images, detailed descriptions, and competitive pricing can help attract and retain customers.
• Leverage social media: Take full advantage of the Starter Plan’s social selling capabilities. Share your product links on popular social media platforms to expand your reach and engage with potential customers.
• Monitor transaction fees: Keep a close eye on the transaction fees associated with the Starter plan. As your business grows, evaluate whether it’s cost-effective and necessary to upgrade to a higher-tier plan with lower transaction fees.
• Streamline order management: Use the order management tools provided by Shopify Starter to stay organized and efficiently process orders. Timely and accurate order fulfillment can boost customer satisfaction.
• Analyze sales data: Make use of the sales analytics and reports to gain insights into your store’s performance. Identify trends, popular products, and peak sales times to refine your marketing and inventory strategies.

How To Upgrade Shopify Starter To Other Shopify Plans

As your online store begins to yield higher revenue and draw in a broader clientele, you may find the necessity for a plan that can effectively handle greater website traffic and increased sales. You can seamlessly transition to a Shopify plan that aligns with your requirements, all while retaining your orders, data, and settings.

Enhancing your Shopify plan is a hassle-free procedure that can be initiated directly from your Shopify admin dashboard. Follow these simple steps to proceed:

• Access your Shopify admin dashboard by logging in.
• Navigate to the “Settings” tab.
• In the settings menu, choose “Plan.”

• Within the Plan Details section, click on the “Change Plan” button.
• Review the range of available plans and pick the one that best suits your business requirements.

• Click “Choose plan” of the wanted plan to move forward.
• Follow the on-screen prompts to choose a billing cycle and payment method, you can use a co-branded debit card, credit card, or PayPal. Then assess the plan particulars, billing date, and associated charges.
• Select “Start plan” to proceed.

Upon completing these actions, your Shopify plan will be successfully upgraded, granting you access to the expanded features and functionalities of your chosen plan.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, the Shopify Starter Plan offers an accessible entry point for budding entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to embark on their e-commerce journey.

If you’re committed to online selling, Shopify Starter may not be the most suitable choice, and the transition to higher-tier Shopify plans for scalability and access to advanced features is essential.

FAQs