You’ve heard it a million times: Shopify is the go-to platform for e-commerce. But what about us service folk-the coaches, consultants, designers, or yoga instructors of the world?
Is Shopify a solid choice for selling services online, or should we just resign ourselves to endless Stripe invoices and Venmo requests?
Shopify is not just for product-pushing software. It’s a total game-changer for service-based businesses too. They even have a how-to-guide for Shopify users to sell digital products.
Buckle up; we’re about to dive into the world of selling services on Shopify—and we promise, it’s a lot less intimidating than it sounds. At the end of this article, we hope you'll second guess putting your services on another generic Wordpress or Squarespace site that will stunt your growth.
Why Shopify? Because You Deserve Better than “DM for Rates”
Let’s be real: managing a service business manually is a headache. You’re juggling appointments, fielding emails, and maybe even scrawling your schedule on a napkin (no judgment). Shopify lets you streamline the whole shebang. With features like customizable themes, seamless payment integration, and scheduling apps, Shopify transforms your business from “DM chaos” to “professional powerhouse.”
And the best part? Your clients can book and pay for your services directly from your website with no third party janky integrations, and you can avoid the hundreds of hours required to setup Zapier automations that seem to break every time.
No awkward Venmo requests. No confusion. Just smooth, seamless transactions that make you look like the badass professional you are.
Step 1: Get Started with Shopify for Your Service Business
First things first: sign up for Shopify. It's free as long for the whole time you are in the development of your site before it's launched so it's risk free.
Thankfully, you aren't signing up for some convoluted setup process that requires a Ph.D. in tech. Shopify’s onboarding is so user-friendly that even your tech-averse cousin could do it. There's even a quick start guide built into the platform that is totally dummy-proof.
Just follow these steps:
- Sign up for Shopify - While Shopify comes with a 3 day free trial where you can get started, we recommend working with a Shopify Partner (like us at Arq) where you can get a FREE development store - it's free as long as your site isn't published while you're actively building it to start. All we need is a quick intro and we can set up your development store.
- Add "products" to your store: Set up your services as products with pricing, taxes, and variations of your services. You can even create service bundles and packages. You will simply uncheck the box that the product requires shipping which lets Shopify know there's no Shipping costs at checkout.
- Pick a Theme: Go for a theme that’s clean, professional, and service-oriented. We’ve got a killer list of Shopify themes we recommend (check out our blog for details). Pro tip: Think minimal, functional, and easy-to-navigate. Any theme that looks like it's set up for physical products can be used for services as well. A professional can help you customize you theme to your brands unique look and feel and functionality requirements as well.
- Set Up Your Domain: Custom domains make your business look legit. Instead of “yourbiz.myshopify.com,” go for “yourbiz.com.” Trust us, it’s worth it. Thankfully, Shopify actually has the ability to buy your domain right through the Shopify back-end and it will be seamless to manage as well.
- Install and configure your Apps: Shopify’s app store is like a candy store for entrepreneurs. Look for scheduling apps, chatbots, and email marketing tools—all designed to make your life easier. No more dozens of browser tabs and bookmarks just to run the essential ops of your online business. We actually have a whole free download on the best Shopify apps for Service Businesses, or you can book a free consult call to see if a professional website setup might be best for you to focus on other projects.
- Launch! Once you're happy with your website you can publish to the world and start marketing and getting traffic.
- Get traffic to your website: You can even publish social ads from Shopify to Pinterest, or send emails to your newsletter list and customers and track how your visitors go from visit, through your funnel to purchase, from the Shopify analytics dashboards built right now. You can say "Sayonara" to complicated Google Analytics reports.
Step 2: Optimize for Selling Services Online
Selling services online isn’t just about slapping a “Book Now” button on your site. You need to create a compelling experience that makes clients trust you with their time (and money). Here’s how:
1. Highlight Your Value
Think about what makes you different. Why should someone choose your services over the next person on Google? Add testimonials, portfolio samples, or even a quick explainer video to your site. Let your clients see your magic.
2. Create Service Listings
Your services are your products. Treat them like it. Each service should have its own listing with clear descriptions, pricing, and any necessary details (duration, prerequisites, etc.). Don’t forget to include stunning visuals and engaging copy. You’re not selling a massage; you’re selling 60 minutes of pure, stress-melting bliss. You can add tons of blocks to your "product" templates which will act as a sales page for your service that can be self-serve for your potential customers to understand what you offer and answer the who, what, when, why and how to them.
3. Enable Booking
We've personally tested most of the 100+ booking apps available on the App Store, and presonally recommend our top picks: Cowlendar, BookThatApp or Sesami. These tools let clients schedule appointments directly on your site, syncing with your calendar so there’s no double-booking drama. You can even have the apps embed right into your services sales pages for a one-click experience. Just enable the app on your theme, place the booking block wherever you like and connect the app to your services like Google Calendar, Zoom or integrate it with your downstream applications as needed to provide your service.
4. Set Up Payment Options
Shopify supports multiple payment gateways, so clients can pay however they like—credit card, PayPal, or even cryptocurrency (if that’s your vibe). Your checkout is like sending your client an invoice, and you can do this through your website, or through the backend via an email for a more high-touch experience. All you need is a business bank account and Shopify helps you connect everything you need to start accepting that cashflow.
If you prefer to give your clients payment plan options for your higher-ticket options you have a couple ways to do so:
- ShopPay or payment options like Klarna and Afterpay in checkout. This wil let your client do a credit check and finance the total cost of the service over a multi-month period at no cost or risk to you. These options are available inside of checkout.
- Offer a fixed term payment plan "subscription" - with an app like Appstle Subscriptions where you can set a Subscription to a customer with a fixed renewal amount. This means that they pay a fixed fee that auto-charges their account whenever you set it to until the payment plan is done. The client can even self manage their billing details in their own account portal removing some admin headches from you.
- Manual invoicing through the Shopify Back-end: Send a fixed price invoice, or even multiple invoices, with different due dates to your client via email in the orders manager in Shopify. They will be sent via email, and Shopify will track the payment status for you and even send follow up emails around the due date. Clients can see their unpaid invoice in their customer portal at any time too.
5. Automate the Follow-Up
Use Shopify’s email marketing integrations to send follow-up emails, reminders, and thank-you notes. Automation is your best friend here. Set it, forget it, and watch your client relationships thrive. We love using Shopify Flow to send automated onboarding emails, or thank you messages, from a purchase of a specific service to really create a high touch experience. Plus even some clever use of the customer account area can be like an automated client portal for your clients to manage their billing, and for you to provide any booking details as a self service area.
Step 3: Build Trust and Connection
When selling services, trust is everything. You’re not just selling a product; you’re selling you. Shopify can help you create a professional online presence, but you’ve got to bring the authenticity. Share your story. Use your About page to connect with clients on a human level. Throw in a photo of your dog or a quirky fact about yourself (because why not?).
Also, consider starting a blog on your Shopify site. Share tips, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or industry insights. Not only does this build trust, but it also boosts your SEO (win-win).
We even have a copywriting handbook for you if you need some tactical help with how to write all the copy for your home page, about page, products/services and more even with some Chat GPT prompts to help you along. You can check out our Clever Commerce Copy - Ecommerce Copywriting Guidebook right here or send us a message to learn more.
Real Talk: What About Challenges?
First, some imagination is required. Because Shopify is aimed at product based businesses, using Shopify templates will require a bit of imagination picking which one is best for you. Plus customizing your product page templates to be sales-page style will require a bit more time investment. Setting up your product fields, pages, and how you deliver the onboarding and delivery of your services will require some thinking of how the pieces fit together. For most brands, sending an email sequence after a booking or purchase is enough. For others, a more choreographed technical setup may be required.
Next, we recommend really finding a solid template that has a lot of ability to add blocks to your product page templates to make it less about picking a color and size, and more about telling your story. We have a home-grown service focused template we've developed at Arq specifically for our clients in the creative services, consulting, coaching and media brands to utilize for long-form sales pages and digital and virtual products. Plus a whole service around developing and designing your sales funnel as well. However, once you've done it once it's super easy to replicate, as you can duplicate templates in Shopify and have them connected to your Product/Service data so they can be automated more.
Last, the learning curve. Going from a patchwork of apps you have connected together through blood sweat and tears to an all-in-one system requires you to think a bit differently. We have a 1:1 service that can help with that as well which we can talk about more in a free claity call you can book here.
Take the Leap and Get Inspired
Ready to find out how Shopify can revolutionize your service business? Sign up for our waitlist for Shift to Shopify, our comprehensive guide designed to help service-based businesses thrive online. It’s time to turn those inquiries into bookings and those bookings into bank.
We think some of the success stories that Shopify has put together might help you see what's possible as well!
Oh, and while you’re at it, check out our other blogs for theme recommendations and more Shopify tips.
FAQs
Arq Design Studio, we specialize in creating stunning, functional Shopify sites tailored to your business. Ready to make the leap? Let’s chat
Shopify isn’t just for selling products; it’s a platform that empowers service-based businesses to shine. From seamless booking to automated follow-ups, it’s everything you need to run your biz with confidence. So what are you waiting for? Embrace the transformation and start selling your services online—Shopify style.
