I am new to e-commerce and currently in process of developing an active lifestyle clothing brand. I want to get ball rolling on a shopify store but wondered how it worked with the 14 day trial as I think it will take me at least a few months to get all the relevant information together and during that time I would like to have the option to change tack if I don’t find I like a particular theme etc.
If I end up purchasing one theme, can I change to another as long as it is the same price? And can I easily migrate information from one theme to another?
Our standard free trial period is 14 days as you noted here and we feel this is enough time to give prospective merchants an idea if Shopify would be right for their business.
If you feel you need a few extra days’ trial time, you can reach out for account support via our Help Centre here where we can see what we might be able to do for you.
After this point, you would need to select a paid plan in order to continue using Shopify.
If you feel you need more time to work on your store before launching to the public, then after 60 days on a paid plan you can move your store onto our Pause and Build plan so you can continue to refine your site.
It sounds like you’re just starting out with using Shopify, is that correct? Are you moving your business here for another provider or looking to start selling for the first time?
In terms of theme purchases, while you are free to preview any paid theme for your store and even customise it to your liking before going live, once you have actually purchased a theme all sales are final and refunds cannot be considered for theme purchases due to the digital nature of these sales.
For changing themes, this is as simple as downloading or purchasing a new theme from our theme store though you would then need to customise your new theme in terms of sections and settings as it would not come previously edited to your preference.
The info coming from your Shopify admin, such as products, navigation, and settings would not be affected by changing themes in this way.
So if I go in and preview a theme, then start to customise it - how long can I have in that mode before I need to make a purchase? And if I change tack, can I transfer that content to a different theme?
And yes, this is my first business so very much starting from scratch.