About this test store

What does your store sell and why? 

My store sells hand-made ceramics, since I made too many and they do not fit in my cupboard anymore.

Who's your target audience?

Buyers who want to discover beautiful and unique hand-made ceramics for theirs homes.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in creating your store?

Knowing how to work-out the shipping and taxes stuff.

Selecting a theme also seemed like an easy task in the beggining. I selected "Express" theme, since it said it was Mobile first. However after spending time setting up the store and taking pictures of my products, I realised that this theme only supports one photo per product! 

What worked really well when using our platform?

Initial set-up is very easy for users that don't have technical or design knowledge. Themes are easy to use and easy to customize. It was very quick to make it go live. 
However, when I decided to fine-tune the storefront a bit more, I realised how man small details are there to think about, and I started to feel quite overwhelmed with all the things to think about. And this is just a test store! 

What could be improved when using our platform?

Once the store is live, it would be cool if someone from Shopify could review it and tell me what is missing, what I need to improve, how to do marketing.
I kept thinking that it would be cool to edit content directly in the preview mode, without having to switch between pages. 

How did this experience help you build empathy for our merchants?

Setting up the initial store seems easy, however there is so much to do to make the business a success. 

What is your biggest takeaway from this experience?

It requires a lot of investment and love into making a store look good, and that is just the first step. All the fulfilment, customer support, taxes, etc. - that is a lot of work!