A Complete Guide on Shopify eCommerce Development Stores: All You Need to Know

Summary

Have you decided to build a unique Shopify store? Or, are you a developer looking for ways to build a Shopify development store?

Well, in any case, I’ve got you covered. This illustrative guide on Shopify development store for eCommerce will help you learn more about why, when, and how you should use it. As a business owner, you will learn how these development stores can add more value to your online store.

Not just that, you will also learn if that’s financially feasible or if you should avail of Shopify Development Services for your store.

So without further ado, let’s begin!

What is Shopify development?

The process of developing eCommerce stores on Shopify is termed Shopify development. This proprietary eCommerce platform can be used for the development of online stores as well as Shopify POS (point of sale) systems.

So, whether you want to build an online commerce site or optimize your offline store with POS features, Shopify is the platform for you. It comes with a complete hosting facility, meaning each store developed on Shopify is hosted on its servers only with unlimited bandwidth.

So, you don’t have to take care of hosting yourself. In fact, every Shopify store has a free 256-bit SSL security to protect your site from various threats. Automated store emails, exclusive themes, and a dedicated app store are some of its other unique features to note.

What is Shopify Development Store?

Now many of you might confuse it with the Shopify eCommerce store development. But, it’s not the same! Rather, it’s a useful part that can help in the development of immersive and engaging Shopify eCommerce stores.

Shopify development store is a free store available only to Shopify partners. It gives you direct access to the Shopify environment to develop and test applications and themes for your Shopify store. It allows you to build, test, and preview themes that you are developing with the help of tools like Shopify GitHub integration and Shopify CLI.

You can create as many development stores as you want and need. If you are a Shopify developer, you also can leverage this store for developing a Shopify store for your client and transfer it to them to earn a recurring commission.

The commission you earn depends on your as well as your client’s location in addition to the Shopify plan you have chosen – Shopify Starter, Basic Shopify, Shopify, Advanced Shopify, Shopify Plus.

For more information on these charges and taxes levied on these earnings, check out Shopify partner earnings.

Read More: Which is The Best eCommerce Platform for Clothing Brands?

Understanding of Shopify Development Stores

Why do Businesses Need it?

Now that you know what is a Shopify development store, you might wonder how it is beneficial for your business. Let’s check how!

I. Testing themes, apps, and add-ons

As you would already know, developing an eCommerce store from the ground up is no easy task and requires a lot of decision-making, planning, execution, and testing. However, Shopify has made the process much simpler with its easy-to-use interface and ready-to-go themes.

You can choose a theme (free or premium) of your choice and get started with setting up an online store. However, that means developing a common online store as thousands of other stores might be using the exact same themes for their stores.

Now, you can always customize these themes to your needs, but can you afford to do it on your storefront? You certainly can’t! What if you end up messing up the existing theme and a potential customer happens to visit your store exactly then?

Well, you can avoid these incidents easily with the help of Shopify eCommerce store development. The environment will help you to customize themes, apps, and test them without having to make any changes in your Shopify storefront.

II. To build demo sites

Businesses can also build demo Shopify sites to check how the entire store looks. They can get the demo checked from an outsider’s perspective to see how it looks. Building these demo sites can also help if you are looking for investors as you can showcase the demo first before the site is built.

Why do Developers Need it?

A developer can build Shopify development stores and transfer it to clients. They can gain recurring commissions against the development and transfer. In most cases, a partner Shopify app development company builds development stores for numerous clients and earns their fair share.

Limitations of Shopify Development Stores

• You can’t create beyond 10 private applications with your Shopify partner plan.
• There are a few partner-friendly applications for you to choose from. If you want to choose any of the premium ones, you will have to upgrade your plan to one of the paid ones.
• There’s no way to use real transactions for getting orders. Rather, you can test orders and payment provider options using either the bogus test gateway or by activating a test run for gateway.
• It’s not possible to remove the password page of the development store unless you move to a Shopify paid plan.

Building eCommerce stores with Shopify development stores might seem expensive, but if you want to create unique experiences, this might be beneficial. However, if you are building a Shopify store for small businesses, you might want to go with readymade themes and apps for your store.

In any case, you should weigh the pros and cons to decide if it is the right option for your store.

How to Setup Shopify Development Store?

Create Development Store to Test Theme

1. First, log in to your Shopify partner dashboard from here.
2. Next, tap on ‘Stores’ followed by clicking on ‘Add Store’.
3. Choose type as ‘Development Store’ from the store type option.
4. Navigate to the section ‘login information’ and choose your store’s name alongside password, which you will use in future for login. The username is selected the same as your Shopify partner account email address by default. However, you have the option to change it.
5. You may check the option ‘Create store with transfer disabled to use a developer preview’ for activating developer preview. Next, choose the version from the drop-down list.
6. Next, go to the section with the store address and input your address.
7. There’s a store purpose section, you may add details about the reason you are creating it.
8. Next, tap on ‘Save’.

When you no longer need a development store, you can just archive it.

Create Development Store for Client

1. First, log in to your Shopify partner dashboard from here.
2. Next, tap on ‘Stores’ followed by clicking on ‘Add Store’.
3. Choose type as ‘Development Store’ from the store type option.
4. Navigate to the section ‘login information’ and choose your store’s name alongside a password, which you will use in future for login. The username is selected the same as your Shopify partner account email address by default. However, you have the option to change it.
5. Next, go to the section with the store address and input your client’s address here.
6. Go to the store purpose section and write ‘Build a new store for a client’.
7. Next, tap on ‘Save’.

Once you are done working on the Shopify development store for ecommerce, you will have to transfer it to a client.

How to Transfer Ownership of a Shopify Store?

Shopify development store pages are protected with password and can’t be removed unless you upgrade to a paid plan or transfer ownership to the client. Note that they cannot be customized. So, there are only three ways for you to view a development store:

1. By inputting the password for development store,
2. With the help of demo link of Shopify store,
3. By logging in to admin dashboard of Shopify development store,

Now, after you have built the development store, you need to transfer ownership to the client. Here are the steps to help you out in this venture.

• First, log in to your Shopify partner dashboard from here.
• Next, tap on ‘Stores’ followed by ‘Transfer Ownership’ option by the side of the store you are transferring.
• You can now select the new owner for the Shopify development store from the list of eligible ones from the dialog box ‘Transfer store ownership’. Note that you can choose your client only if you have added them as staff before. In case you haven’t, you can do it now by tapping on ‘Add a staff account’ option. Your client will also need to finish setting up the client account before the transfer can happen.
• Once done, tap on the ‘Transfer Store’ option. You can now see the Shopify development store under the ‘Managed’ tab of your partner page. Your client (the new owner of Shopify store) should receive an email with detailed instructions. After they pick up a subscription plan, you will start receiving your recurrent commission.

After the transfer is complete, you can share important information with your client yourself as well. Things like Shopify eCommerce store pricing they should opt for, URL to access Shopify development store, app recommendations, etc.

Does Setting Up a Shopify Development Store Require a Web Development Team?

Now that you have seen how to set up a Shopify development store, you might wonder if you need development help at all or you can do it yourself.

You might as well wonder ‘is a Shopify development store free?’.

Well, to answer your questions, yes, Shopify development store is a free account. However, it is available to Shopify partners with certain limitations unless you have a paid plan in order.

Now, the drag and drop feature of Shopify stores may enable you to create eCommerce stores effortlessly. (For more information on developing a Shopify store by yourself, check out this 16-point Shopify checklist to launch your store.) But, you will be able to develop eCommerce stores much faster and much better with the help of an expert.

When you hire expert Shopify developers, you will be leveraging the expertise on various technologies like HTML5, Javascript, CSS, and Liquid to build custom themes for your store. Not only that, they will use the right tools and technologies to develop an SEO-friendly store for you.

So, even if you do know how to build Shopify store and it doesn’t take technical proficiency, you are better off with professionals. They can custom create Shopify stores based on your requirements and transfer the ownership to you.

And when you no longer feel the need of assistance, you can remove the developer/ development team account.

If you are still in need of finding skilled Shopify developers, then we might be able to help you. We are a leading Shopify development company and can help you with the development of unique eCommerce stores.

Parting Thoughts

So, you have decided to build a Shopify store! Awesome.

But, do you know Shopify development stores can help you achieve this much faster and in a much better way whether you are building for yourself or for a client?

While Shopify development stores for eCommerce comes with many advantages and can help you build engaging storefronts, it also comes with its own set of limitations. However, you can overcome them by upgrading your Shopify plan.

This detailed guide on Shopify development store should help you understand how it works and how it can benefit your business significantly.