What to Consider When Expanding Beyond Your Shopify Storefront

So, you sell on Shopify. And is your business going from strength to strength? If so, that’s a very good sign – and yes, you have every right to be happy with yourself. After all, it means you’re doing something correctly. However, when this happens, you might be tempted to consider expansion.

Expanding a Shopify business often means scaling without costs exploding. Such an adjustment won’t always be easy, though. Certain aspects need to be prepared for, particularly if you want to transform it into an omnichannel brand. This could mean selling on social media channels or even selling in-person. Both of these are big changes you’d need to prepare for.

Fortunately, this post is here to help. Below, you will find three key considerations to keep in mind when you take the leap and decide to move beyond your Shopify storefront.

Managing Centralized Inventory Syncing

With products being sold through multiple channels, there is a risk of overselling and stockouts. Neither of these is good for business. In fact, more than 60% of consumers have switched to a new brand when an item was out of stock. Not only does this negatively impact your sales, but it also has dire consequences for customer loyalty.

This is why you must use dedicated multi-channel inventory management software (IMS). Popular options include Linnworks and Trunk. The software will integrate with Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, and even physical retail spaces. As a result, your stock levels will be synced in real time.

But remember, a centralized system is only as good as the data it processes. This means you need to use identical SKUs for the same products across all sales channels. You’ll find that stock-takes are simplified and manual counting errors are eliminated because of this.

Consolidating Cross-Border Tax Compliance

Selling across multiple channels typically means disjointed data. Whether that’s through a fragmented web of sales thresholds, varying VAT rules, or customer requirements. Either way, such issues could cause administrative issues and legal penalties – and no business owner wants to deal with those issues.

Thankfully, you can avoid them by consolidating cross-border tax compliance. Doing so prevents patchy, manual data entry, which is typically the result of following different filing deadlines and reporting formats. Plus, if you expand internationally, you’re subject to diverse duties and import taxes. Unexpected customs delays would be prevented if you automate and consolidate upfront tax calculation at checkout.

A shift is needed to do this. You might have used channel-specific tax settings before, but now you need to use a unified, tech-driven compliance infrastructure. Several steps are required to do this:

Implement a centralized tax engine

Use accounting connectors

Consider a Merchant of Record (MoR) service

Leverage IOSS and OSS

Maintaining a Consistent Brand Experience

Your brand experience is vital for building consumer trust. No matter if it’s on Amazon, social media, or in-person pop-ups. Uniform brand presentation must be consistent. This is a challenge when expanding beyond Shopify, though.

Sure, centralizing operations and inventory helps, but you must go further. For example, unifying customer data. A shopper should be recognized across all endpoints. Use a unified profile to do this. With this, you can then provide personalized interactions, omnichannel gift cards, and seamless policies for returns and exchanges.

How you ship your goods will also play a role. It is worthwhile upgrading physical packaging and controlling digital shipping touchpoints. The biggest modification, however, should be scaling fulfillment through the assistance of a third-party logistics (3PL) partner. Find a service that has experience with Shopify shipping and supports fulfillment for marketplaces, retail, and wholesale orders.

To conclude, going beyond your Shopify storefront when expanding isn’t for the weak. It requires a lot of preparation and effort. If you consider the three points listed above, you will have a much smoother experience – and the transition will pay off greatly.