Shopify have recently announced that their free trial has been extended to 90 days due to the Covid-19 Pandemic to assist new Shopify customers in setting up their online store and trying out the platform before starting to pay their monthly fees on their chosen plan. Please note, that the moment you are ready to start selling, you will have to choose a plan and start paying the monthly Shopify fee.

There are many benefits for choosing Shopify as your e-commerce online platform, including:

• Easy installation
• 24 hour customer support
• Free themes
• Customising and editing themes without development experience

Pricing ranges from 29USD per month for the Basic Shopify Plan, 79USD option per month for the Shopify Plan and Shopify Plus costs 299USD, but I would only recommend this for large businesses. It is important to keep in mind that Shopify has recently started charging 15% VAT on their plans in South Africa.

As per President Ramaphosa’s announced last night, the 21 day lock-down that will be starting midnight on Thursday, the 26th of March 2020, now might be the ideal time to start working on your Online Store. You can sell you arts and crafts, illustrations, online services, printed items, such as T-shirts and other clothing, your music, and much more. Sign up to Shopify today!