8 Clear And Unbiased Facts About Shopify Partner Program

Using Shopify is rather straightforward. This is one of the qualities why it is currently one of the world’s most popular e-commerce site builders. Shopify has a user base of millions of online merchants and boasts a global economic activity of over $444 Billion. Several resources are available to support the users with using the platform. These include online courses, blogs, an online community, and a help center.

Even with the availability of all these resources, there are still some areas where users might require professional assistance. That is where the Shopify Partners come in. These partners may be photographers, developers, coders, designers, influencers, marketers, or freelancers. Some of the best Shopify developers can easily earn $79663 per year. Some experts have managed to start top Shopify development companies by building apps and themes for merchants.

The earnings in the Shopify Partnership program depend on the activity performed. A person becomes a “Shopify expert” after entering a formal contract with the company. This contract is reviewed on an annual basis based on performance. Some of the most common tasks carried out by Shopify Partners include developing Shopify apps, generating affiliate referrals, and setting up a development store. 

1. Shopify Partner Program and Shopify Affiliate Program is not the same

Shopify Partner Program and Shopify Affiliate Program are different from each other. In the Shopify Affiliate Program, the users can earn commissions by referring new Shopify merchants to Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans. 

However, not all users are accepted into the affiliate plan. The approval rate is relatively low as Shopify reviews each affiliate application and approves only those that meet its requirements. 

Shopify Partner Program brings together many affiliates, marketers, developers, and designers who are experts in Shopify. They offer their services to other clients in building e-commerce projects using the Shopify platform. Shopify allows clients to sell their products anywhere reliably and securely using the multi-channel platform. 

Furthermore, clients can customize their online stores precisely as per their requirements. That is why the merchants on Shopify constantly need experts and professionals to facilitate them with app building, theme building, and marketing of their products.

There is also an option to use the affiliate link to earn commissions in Shopify Partner Program. This allows the user to work not only as an expert but also as an affiliate. The expert can publish Shopify themes or apps on online stores and sell them on a subscription basis or for a one-time fee. 

The positives

• With Shopify Partners, one can access the platform’s affiliate program through which passive income can be generated for each new user that registers with Shopify from the offered personalized link.
• There are multiple ways to generate revenue in the Shopify Partner Program.

The negatives

• There is no recurring commission in the Shopify Affiliate Program.
• Training is only available for beginners.
• PayPal is the only payment method.

2. Shopify is one of the highest-paying affiliate programs online

Shopify offers one of the highest-paying affiliate programs online. Many people have adopted being a Shopify expert as a full-time job. Millions of businesses are currently using Shopify’s platform. This is an immense opportunity for the experts to offer their services and earn revenue.

Apart from providing expert services, Shopify Partners can also use their affiliate links to earn revenue. Shopify offers a 200% bounty for each successful sign-up on the platform. To support the partners with their referral conversion rates and marketing activities, Shopify provides various resources on its website. 

These include educational materials, creative assets, and lead magnets. The personal affiliate dashboard provides all the necessary insights experts can use to track their performance. The amount of revenue that Shopify Partners earn depends on their activities as an expert, the kind of merchants they refer to, and the techniques they use to refer to them. 

Shopify’s official website lists revenue breakdowns for all the ways revenue can be generated, calculated, and paid out to the experts.

The positives

• Bimonthly payment of commissions.

The negatives

• Limited payment option.

3. Joining the Shopify Partner program is entirely free

Anyone can join the Spotify Partner Program regardless of location. These Shopify experts who participate in Shopify Partners act as strategic partners so that users can get more benefits when developing and managing their e-commerce store with Shopify. Participating in Shopify Partners as an expert on the platform will provide several benefits. 

There are no recurring fees or payments to become a Shopify Partner. The experts can consult with Shopify professionals on any matter related to the portal, receiving quick and efficient responses (with 24/7 customer service). Shopify has millions of merchants worldwide who are potential leads for the experts at Shopify Partners.

Signing up for the Shopify Partners Program requires providing data such as email and name and generating a secure password. Once the portal is created, one can request to join the Shopify Partners Program. Being a member of Shopify Partners is an opportunity to take advantage of the skills and experience one has on the platform. 

The partners can solve merchant problems, create apps, build or migrate stores and work on affiliate marketing. To build trust with potential clients, it is always a good idea to build a portfolio and demonstrate what the expert can do for them. To stand out among all the other experts, they should ensure that the portfolio contains the best work.

The positives

• Free access to a development store where the experts can get familiar with what they can do as a Shopify Partner.

The negatives

• The user must have a running website and an established audience to join the Shopify Affiliate Program.

4. To join the Shopify Partner Program, one needs to be a designer, developer, or marketer

With the right skills, such as web development, designing, and marketing, users can become Shopify experts. Besides the resources provided by the official Shopify website, there are thousands of articles, blogs, and Youtube videos available that can train and guide the individuals interested in joining the Shopify Partner Program. Thanks to the Shopify Partner Onboarding, the website walks you through all the necessary processes required to complete the tasks and help in designing Shopify website.

Becoming a Shopify Partner is very straightforward. Still, there are merchants who might require assistance with setting up their online stores. Apart from store development, they might also require services like designing and marketing. Shopify has made it easier for them to search for experts with these skills in Shopify marketplace. One of the main objectives of the Shopify Partners program is to help other Shopify users create their e-commerce store within the platform. Technical support might be provided to users willing to migrate to Shopify from other development platforms such as PrestaShop or Magento. 

The Shopify Partner Program is ideal for digital marketing, web development, or web design businesses. This program comes with huge earning and learning opportunities. Shopify offers tremendous support to new partners by providing them with the Shopify toolkit and unlimited access to the development store environment. This allows the users to test, optimize, and iterate on their best work. The experts may also use the development store to showcase their work to attract more clients.

The positives

• Stable hosting with 99.98% uptime.
• 24/7 customer support is available.
• Over 6000+ apps can be integrated directly with Spotify.
• Unlimited free development stores.

The negatives

• Several apps are free to use in development stores but will charge premium monthly fees once actual use is started.
• One has to learn Liquid (template language) to build themes on Shopify’s theme store.

5. Yes, influencers can also earn revenue through Shopify Partner Program

While photography is an essential element of the Shopify Partner Program, more and more merchants are turning towards influencer-generated content. It has been observed that the content generated by the influencers builds better trust and that trust further leads to conversions. Entrepreneurs can set up an influencer marketing startup and join the Shopify Partner Program. A good strategy requires gathering marketing insights, setting a brief, choosing the right influencers, and finalizing the campaign.

The influencers can spread the message and use the Shopify affiliate links to redirect the customers to the relevant stores. In this way, the partners can earn commissions every time someone purchases the products using the affiliate link. Some of the factors to consider in Shopify Influencer Marketing are output, time frame, content usage, payments, the goal of the campaign, and sponsored hashtags to be used. Influencers can be paid in various forms, including free products, commission percentage, or pay-per-post.

The positives

• There’s an element of trust and credibility.
• The relevant audience can be targeted.
• Various mediums (pictures, videos, etc.) can be used to deliver the message.

The negatives

• Mistakes or wrong messages delivered by the influencer.
• There is risk involved.
• It’s a time taking process.
• Managing influencers, their content, and their payments manually can be stressful.

6. Shopify Plus Partners are likely to generate higher revenue

Shopify Plus is an enterprise commerce platform that provides merchants with premium features such as built-in augmented reality, 3D, and videos for their products. This helps them create a cutting-edge shopping experience for their customers. 

Furthermore, Shopify Plus customers enjoy automated workflows and custom storefronts so their business can run smoothly. Shopify Plus is a highly reliable platform that offers unlimited bandwidth and web hosting at no extra cost. There are currently 10,000+ brands that are using Shopify Plus and leading the charge.

Shopify Plus Partners are different from regular Shopify partners. Shopify experts mainly deal with small-to-medium-sized businesses. On the other hand, the Shopify Plus Partners are responsible for facilitating high-volume merchants. Unlike the Shopify Partner program, the application process of the Shopify Plus Partners program is much more rigorous. 

Considering that the Shopify Plus Partners are associated with high-value clients, their earnings are also relatively higher. Shopify Plus Partners have to adopt the role of specialized service partners and certified app partners and provide services like building custom apps and managing branding. 

The partners help the merchants with Shopify Storefront Renderer, which helps in reducing the storefront response time. Specialized coding knowledge has to be required since the coders have to be involved in innovating with AR, video, and 3D on product pages. The developers might have to work with online wallets, custom discount logic and Shopify’s Selling Plan APIs.

The positives

• Higher revenue.
• Better learning experience, considering that Shopify Plus Partners get to work with high-growth businesses.

The negatives

• The program is not for individual experts. Rather, it only accepts well-settled enterprise consultants, digital marketing agencies, system integrators, and design agencies.
• Partners need to meet Shopify’s advanced requirements.

7. Shopify Partners gain exclusive access to offers on tools that can help run and grow their business

Shopify partners offer a toolkit to help promote and offer the services to other users. These accessories, such as logos and banners, will help promote the business and project an image of seriousness and professionalism. 

Being a Shopify partner means having excellent skills in developing e-commerce on the platform and proven experience. It is necessary to present a professional profile at all times to create a sense of trust in other Shopify clients who need consulting services.

To help the partners with their activities, Shopify has set up a “Shopify Partner Academy.” It includes an exclusive collection of resources and tools required to develop critical commerce skills and become a better Shopify Partner. 

It allows partners to enroll in interactive self-study courses, build exceptional commerce experiences, and understand growth opportunities, thus enhancing their knowledge base. The experts can demonstrate their expertise by attempting skill-testing exams. These exams can be used to test skills in areas like design, development, and sales. These skills will later be used to provide quality services to merchants and deliver consistently solid products.

Another attractive feature offered to Shopify Partners is early access to marketing material and new features. The experts may also be a part of a collaborative community where they can communicate with other experts.

List of Courses available for Shopify Partners:

• Designing for Conversion: Introduction of Design Psychology.
• Theme Development Certification.
• Project Management Challenges.
• Partner Program Fundamentals.
• Store Operations Fundamentals.
• App Development Certification.

The positives

• Once the Shopify Partner account is created, all the content is free to use.
• If there’s anything that is not covered in these courses, it can easily be found on Youtube.

The negatives

• All the courses are for beginners. There are no advanced courses available.

8. Shopify helps businesses increase their client base and revenue

More and more people are turning towards Shopify app development as their e-commerce platform. In this scenario, the Shopify Partner Program provides the service providers with a perfect opportunity to generate passive income by growing their online business and scaling their expertise. There are three ways to grow the client base and revenue in the Shopify Partner Program:

• Create themes and sell them in the Shopify theme store.
• Create apps and sell them in the Shopify App Store.
• Refer new merchants to make them buy Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans.
• Refer new merchants to the development store.

The experts can earn 90% of the total revenue that is earned through providing services in the Experts Marketplace. Shopify Partners get a recurring commission of 10% or 20% of the merchant’s monthly subscription fee based on the Store Plan they’ve purchased. The revenue is much higher when it comes to selling themes and apps. 

Shopify Partners get 80% of the total revenue from the one-time sale price or recurring subscription fees of apps. This revenue can be raised to 100% if the user enrolls in the revenue plan. In the case of Shopify themes, the experts get 100% of the total revenue through the Shopify Theme Store. Apart from these services, partners can earn revenue through promotional activities such as Point of Sale Pro Referral Bounty and Shopify POS Referrals Bonus.

The positives

• Shopify offers an excellent commission structure.
• With an ever-increasing client base, experts have more potential clients to approach.

The negatives

• There is usually no commission if the referred merchant uses the Shopify Starter Plan. It is only after they buy any paid plan that the partner will start earning a commission. 
• All services must comply with Shopify Partner Program Agreement which is quite extensive.
• When selling themes and apps, you earn 85% of total revenue if it’s over 1,000,000 USD.

Conclusion

Shopify Partner Program consists of experts who use the Shopify platform to provide solutions to merchants. They provide many services, including building apps, themes, and websites. To help experts make the most of this program, Shopify offers various resources to build knowledge and expertise and supports them in expanding their client base. 

Besides a learning opportunity, this program also offers an excellent learning opportunity where the experts can earn recurring commissions based on their services.

Before enrolling in this program, it is essential to carefully review the Shopify Partner Program Agreement to avoid future rejection or disqualification. It has all the necessary information to understand the expectations the Shopify Partner Program requires from the experts.

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