Open an Online Store

After five years of running my own blog, I started to research more about eCommerce and how I could turn my passion for shopping (and decorating) into a side hustle. So in February 2017, we launched our very own home decor business. Opening a shop feels like the next natural step for us. I love to decorate, and Mark loves to build furniture. I also enjoy styling vignettes and photography.

For years I’ve talked about having a brick and mortar. I would drive by cute little houses in the area and dream about flipping it into a storefront all my own. But after a lot of conversation and many glasses of wine, Mark and I agreed that a brick and mortar just doesn’t suit us at the moment. Our lifestyle calls for too much freedom and mobility. My kids need me right now…so being available for them is my #1 focus.

Our surprise “launch”

It all began after a few days of tinkering with Woocommerce. One morning after my site was technically “live” – I woke up to find three new transactions in my inbox! It was a bit of a shock because I wasn’t quite ready for it. My plan was to launch in March. Sure, the site was live, but somehow I expected the internet to “understand” that I still had some technical to-do’s and was pondering my launch strategy. But the internet people found me quickly — somewhere in Pinterest-land, some “pinners” found and ordered the custom signs on our site…and the next thing I knew, we were in business!

{Above, a built-in feature on Shopify called “Buy Button”}

As new orders rolled in, some transactions were smooth, but others had problems. I proactively called customers who were having transaction issues and they worked with me as we solved some technical kinks. A special shout out to Joan and Katie who were extremely patient during their initial use of the new website. <3

Woocommerce versus Shopify

It’s such a thrilling adventure to curate a store filled with things that I’d love (or already have) in my own home. In true snazzy form, I’m creating this with NO budget. It’s true – anyone can open an online store these days! But you have to have an eye for what will sell. You also need to be tolerant of risk and understand that it’s wrought with nerve-wracking and unexpected twists and turns. As I take this leap of faith, I’m in bit of a learning curve. No matter how much research I do, there will always be some “surprises” along the way — such as slow or exorbitant shipping costs, and glitchy technology.

My initial challenges…

I’m happy to say that I actually gave Woocommerce a try. I hang tough when it comes to technical matters on my blog. I’ve built numerous WordPress blogs myself (and run three of my own). But, it only took a few days to recognize my plans had some chinks in the armor. Shortly after my two customer calls, I totally scrapped my Woocommerce store.

The main issues I had with Woocommerce…

“Some assembly required”

This is a bit of an understatement 🙂 The designer in me loved having the freedom to create my store from scratch. But now for an analogy – imagine assembling a car with all the loose pieces laid before you. That’s how you build a Woocommerce store. After watching lots of YouTube videos and studying the manual (there isn’t one), I loved my site and I felt extremely accomplished since it was pretty complicated. But…

Frustrating little glitches:  

The more technology (or parts) I integrated into my store, the more problems I encountered. For example, when a customer tried using their credit card, it was declined because they input “St.” instead of “Street”.  Troubleshooting became difficult. Having so many loose pieces made it hard to pinpoint the exact source of the problem. I lost days trying to find the solution, and was on edge…and nervous about what problems the next transaction might bring.

via GIPHY

Third Party Plugins:

Woocommerce, while it’s customizable — it relies heavily on plugins (often a source for security issues). I love that it’s open to creative developers, but to continue with my car analogy – plugins are like car parts were created by independent manufacturers all over the world. Some are more experienced and skilled than others. If something goes wrong with the engine, you don’t know which plugin is causing what problem…and where. And while the shop looked pretty, it felt like at any minute, the wheels would fall off.

Surprise costs:

I was okay at first building the Woocommerce platform (for basically free). But soon I realized that I needed plugins for everything – even the necessary, bare-bones functionality. The cost started to add up, and the “savings” is negated by being forced to have paid plugins.  And there were always gaps in functionality that only a new plugin could solve.

Auto notifications

I’m supposed to receive emails when a transaction takes place – but out of nowhere, they stopped working! Then I became obsessive and watched my dashboard constantly – I found 2 transactions (without notices) and processed them manually. That was the straw…

Mind you this is simply my opinion, so for those of you that have a Woocommerce shop, it may be working just fine for you.  I consider myself fairly technical, but the Woocommerce platform felt like it required constant monitoring and babysitting.  (After I wrote this, I now see how many other  folks have used a car analogy to explain Woocommerce, so forgive me if this is cliche).

I love Shopify

Here’s why:

• It’s a turn-key for small businesses, and it’s 100% functional out of the box.
  • Which means no need to hunt for important functionality via a plugin
• Free templates (over 20 of them) that are beautiful, instantly. My template is a freebie.
• Pinterest buyable pins / Facebook store / I can “IM” a product / A “buy button” – as seen in the farmhouse sign posted above 
• The sales dashboard, it’s so detailed! A very simple at-a-glance on your daily, weekly and monthly sales. 
• I had real emails from real people asking me if I needed help setting up my store. Proactive support gets an A+
• Hosting is included – and I like the idea of this on a separate server from my blog.
• Any apps you download are meant to enhance the user experience, or add the fun “bells and whistles”. 
• I had my site running in 2 days…and it looked beautiful! 
• Only preapproved apps exist in their app store. 

Technically, the store is done! Now it’s all about filling our inventory with fun finds. Some of the items are our own handmade creations — the rest will be vintage-inspired items or unique items that I find at auctions or antique stores. If you haven’t visited the store yet, take a peek here or click “Shop” in the menu above — more items are being added soon.

Try Shopify for free (use my affiliate link here). 

Our “why”…

I hope you enjoy shopping with us and as always, we’d love to hear your feedback!