How To Add Products To Shopify (A Step By Step Guide)
Starting an online shop can feel really intimidating if you're a first-timer. Luckily, we have put together a step-by-step guide for Shopify, an easy-to-navigate platform where you don't have to worry about the hassle of coding or complicated processes.
Setting up your online store is quick and easy with Shopify - it's one of the most popular hosted eCommerce platforms for a reason. With its user-friendly approach and ability to handle complex source code, you don't need in-depth technical skills to launch your business.
We're here to help you with a step-by-step guide, including visuals, to make sure that adding your first products is a hassle-free process.
You can add thousands of products using the custom fields provided to set up the online store of your dreams!
To get started, you'll need to log in to the Shopify website using your email address and password. Once the store admin page has loaded, click "products" on the left-hand panel, and then click the add product button on the top right of your screen.
Let's add your very first product step-by-step:
Product Details 📝
The first step in adding an individual product is to fill in the product title and description.
Use a descriptive title such as the product name. This will help customers find the product within your store and serve as a powerful keyword for SEO rankings.
The description is an important bit of content. You'll want to write compelling product descriptions which allow readers a quick review of the product benefits, clearly showcases features, and uses valuable keywords for Search Engine Optimization.
Writing a great product description can increase conversions and increase SEO rankings.
If you are using a dropshipping service, it's best to paste and rewrite their product details so that it suits your brand while maintaining the key benefits and features
Product Images 🧐
The next step is to add your product photos. Make sure that the pictures are high-quality as these visuals form a big part of your customer's buying decision.
High-quality images imply a higher-quality product and store. This not only shows the customer what they will be buying but also builds a level of trust in your product.
Along with well-written product details, including images will improve your SEO ranking.
To add an image, you can either drag and drop, upload it from your computer, or add a URL.
Product Pricing 💲
The pricing section has three fields: Price, Compare at price, and cost per item.
The price is what the customer will be paying.
The compare at price is what you will fill in to show that an item is on sale. You will move your original price to this block and then put your sale/reduced price in the price block. When viewing your store, the price will look like this:
The original price of $18 is now crossed out with the sale price showing as $13.
The cost per item is how much the item costs you and will not be shown to your customers. This amount excludes shipping, taxes, and other additional costs.
If you have made the item yourself, then enter a price that is based on your labor and material costs.
The cost per item is valuable as it will help Shopify calculate sales profits and generate stats.
Lastly, tick the charge tax box if your item is taxable.
Inventory 🎁
The inventory block contains the SKU, or Stock Keeping Unit, the barcode, and the inventory quantity in each of your locations.
An SKU is a unique identifying number for each product in your store. You can usually find this on the manufacturer's website, but you can also search to find the information from other store owners.
The barcode depends on your store and requirements. Some sales channels such as Google or Amazon will require a barcode before the product can be published.
You'll see two boxes that can be checked:
Track quantity allows Shopify admin to track inventory of this product if checked. This is a good option if you have a limited amount of stock so you can track product availability and avoid selling out.
If this box is checked, you will see an option to type in the number of units available at each of your locations.
You can also choose to continue selling when out of stock. Only select this if you can keep up with demand. For example, if you are using a dropshipping service or have easy access to more stock, then feel free to check this box.
Shipping 🚚
If you are selling a physical product, check the This is a physical product box to open up the shipping options. If you are selling downloadable products or services, then leave the shipping option unchecked.
Enter the product weight using the options of lb, oz, kg, and g. You must enter the exact weight of the product as it is used to calculate the freight cost.
Next, confirm the customs information. This includes adding the country or region that the product is coming from and an HS (Harmonized System) code option.
An HS code is an internationally standardized system used to classify traded products. Some foreign countries' customs department will require this in order to determine the customs duties and import taxes that will need to be paid when the product is imported into another country.
If you are shipping locally, then you do not need to fill in the HS code.
Shipping can be done via Shopify or a fulfillment service of your choice. If you use a fulfillment service you can add one by going to Settings (from your Shopify Admin) → Shipping.
Product Variants and Options 🌈
If your product comes in a few varieties, then you can check This product has options, like size or color.
This will open up an Option name and Option values section. Here you can name the type of option (color, size, material, etc.) and add the product variant (option values) in the blank fields below.
If your product has more than one variant, such as different size and color options, click on the Add another option button.
After you've entered the options you can upload an image for each variant and edit the price, SKU, quantity, and more, as needed.
Search Engine Listing Preview 💻
This section allows you to refine what shows up in search engine results. The heading that shows up is the product title, while the snippet of information comes from the product description you added to the product details screen.
Make sure that the meta description is eye-catching to attract potential customers.
Simply click edit and make sure the page title, meta description, and URL are all aligned with the product and optimized to achieve a high SEO ranking.
Now let's take a look at the right-hand column, working from the top down, to complete the addition of your very first product.
Product Status and Sales Channels 🔥
The first block contains the product status and sales channels and apps.
These channels are the different platforms where you will be selling your product. As you can see below, this shop has an online store and a chatbot where items can be recommended and sold. The Shopify chatbot is an example of an app that can be used.
Simply select the channels where you would like to make this item available. You could also choose POS, Facebook, a buy button, etc.
When you are ready to post your product live, you can click on the drop-down menu and change it from draft to active. But we'll touch on that again once the product information has been completed.
Organization and Tags 🤓
The next block contains product organization information and tags.
Product type is the product category, such as shirts, ebooks, furniture, etc. This can be useful in automating collections and filtering products on the Shopify admin page. Choose one from the drop-down menu or create your own by entering it into the product type field. A product may only have one product type.
The vendor is the manufacturer, wholesaler, or seller of the product. If you created the product yourself, then enter your business name or leave it blank. This is also useful in organizing products if you work with lots of different manufacturers.
The next field is product collections where you group your products to make them easier for your customers to find in your store. Think of product collections as the grouping in a brick and mortar store, for example, all the sneakers of the same brand are grouped together.
There are two types of product collections: Manual collections and automated collections.
To create a manual collection of products, simply type the name into the field provided.
Automated collections need to be configured with the conditions for which products will be included in a specific collection. For example, to add sales products to collections, mark discounted products with a "sale" tag and it will create an automatic collection.
Lastly, we have product tags. These are searchable keywords associated with the product and will help customers to find your product when they search those tags.
Conclusion 👩🎓
Give everything a quick review, making sure your description and title are correctly written to feature in SEO rankings. If you're happy, go ahead and set it from draft to active. Active products are live in your store.
If you're not ready for active products in your store, simply save it as a draft. To add additional products you can simply click on products in the left-side navigation bar and repeat the above process.
And that is how to add a product to Shopify!