Can You Sell Digital Products On Shopify? Must-Read Guide For Beginners
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Yes, you can absolutely sell digital products on Shopify, and it's a fantastic option for creators, entrepreneurs, and educators looking to monetize their skills.
Whether you're offering eBooks, music, courses, or design templates, Shopify provides tools to help you sell and manage digital goods with ease. Let’s dive into the process of selling digital goods! To know which digital products can be sold and how to start selling them, check the article below.
Can you sell digital products on Shopify?
You can definitely sell your digital products on Shopify. The platform isn't just for physical items; it also supports digital goods. Typically, customers can get access to their digital items as soon as they buy them.
In fact, many entrepreneurs have made millions of dollars by selling digital products on Shopify. As the trend of purchasing digital items continues to grow, you can seize this opportunity to start your own online store.
What kind of digital products can be sold on Shopify?
Shopify is truly a great place to sell products, both physical and digital. However, it doesn’t mean that you can sell anything on this platform. Therefore, before starting your business, you should thoroughly research the types of items you are allowed to trade.
What can be considered digital products?
Digital products are items that exist in a digital format. They are usually delivered to customers through downloads or email, which helps businesses provide value without needing to store physical items. Some popular digital products include eBooks, music, digital art, software, online classes, virtual items from video games, etc.
What digital items can you sell on Shopify?
On Shopify, you can sell a wide variety of digital products, including:
- eBooks: Guides, manuals, or creative works in PDF or other formats.
- Online Courses: Educational content with video tutorials, modules, or downloadable resources.
- Music and Audio Files: Tracks, albums, podcasts, or sound effects.
- Digital Art and Photography: High-resolution images, design templates, or prints.
- Software and Apps: Plugins, themes, or downloadable tools.
- Licenses and Memberships: Access to exclusive content or services.
Advantages of selling digital goods on Shopify
It can’t be denied that selling digital products on Shopify has many advantages. First, the costs are much lower than selling physical products because you don’t need to keep inventory or handle shipping. This makes things simpler and helps you save your money.
Digital products also tend to have higher profit margins. Since there are no ongoing costs for goods, you get to keep more of your earnings. It’s a good idea for sellers to calculate their profit margins ahead of time to see how much they can make.
Another benefit is that delivery can be automated. Digital products can be sent instantly without any manual work, making transactions smooth for both sellers and buyers. This not only saves time but also makes customers happy by giving them quick access to their purchases.
Last but not least, there are endless options for what you can sell. For example, you can offer free products to build your email list, create monthly subscriptions for exclusive content, or sell licenses for your digital products. Each of these strategies can be tailored to fit your business and audience.
In short, we can summarize the main advantages of selling digital products on Shopify as follow:
- Lower production costs.
- Higher profit margins.
- Wide range of products.
- Unlimited stock.
- Lower barriers to entry.
- Global reach.
- Passive income potential.
- Easy delivery.
- Flexible and easy management.
How to sell your digital products on Shopify
To get your digital products ready in your Shopify store,you can just follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install the Digital Downloads app
To sell digital products on Shopify, you need to install the digital downloads app. First, go to the Settings menu and choose "Apps and sales channels." Next, click on "Shopify App Store." Finally, search for the Digital Downloads app and install it.
Step 2: Add your digital products and files
To upload your digital goods on Shopify, you need to log into your store and click on “Products” on the left side of the dashboard. Then, click the “Add product” button to go to a screen where you can enter details about your product.
Here, you can fill in the product title and description, and upload any images. If your product is entirely digital (not combined with a physical item), select “Digital Product or Service” under the “Shipping” section.
Once you’re satisfied with the description and images, click the “Save” button. To upload the digital file, go to the top-right corner of the product page, click the “Actions” link and choose “Add digital file”.
You’ll see an option to add your file. Click the “Add file” button to upload it. After that, click the “Fulfillment” button. You will need to decide how customers will receive the download link (automatically via email or manually later on) and set how many times they can download the file.
Now your digital product is uploaded to Shopify. Once you set it to “Active” and your store is publicly available, customers can buy it. However, before promoting your product, it’s a good idea to run a test purchase to make sure everything works and that the file downloads are ok.
Step 3: Launch the store
Once your product is ready and you have a small audience, it’s time to launch your store and start selling. You can begin with sending an email to your subscribers to announce the product release. Remember to share your excitement and thank them for their support, and include any promised bonuses.
If you haven’t offered discounts yet, consider giving one to the first 100 buyers (adjust based on your audience size). Include a link to your product page and explain the next steps. In addition, you can promote your launch on social media and ask friends or business partners for support if they have relevant audiences.
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Conclusion
To conclude, you can easily sell any digital goods you want on Shopify, as long as they are not illegal.
Selling digital products has one of the highest margin out of all products. It is also much easier to scale with digital products than with physical products since you don't to worry about logistics. So if you are starting out, you should definitely look into it.
If you still have any question, feel free to contact NextSky and we will happily answer it.
To find out how to sell different specific products, you can check out our other articles.
