Who are Shopify Partners & How to Become One?

Shopify, the online store with its Canadian origin, closed Q2 in 2020, with an increase of almost 97% over last year. An incredible record that seems to be all set to go past Amazon’s spiraling growth story! 

Many online merchants and retailers are turning to Shopify to expand their market reach, and considering that the platform is growing at a neck-breaking speed, things seem to look bright and beautiful here.

While online Shopify retailers are poised for an eventful 2021, there are reasons why individuals who use the Shopify platform to develop apps, themes, and websites like you and me can also make hay while the sun shines.

How to do so? By becoming a member of the Shopify Partners Program! 

At present, Shopify has more than 1,000,000 active merchants and retailers who need professional help in many aspects. 

It could involve building or upgrading a store. It could be an app or theme that you could create and help the merchants. 

You could offer expert advice to merchants and help resolve their issues; at least 33% of merchants need professional assistance once every six months. Or you could become an affiliate and promote Shopify and start earning money. Become a Shopify partner and take your business to greater heights. 

Who Are Shopify Partners? 

The Shopify Partner Program can generate a passive program and help one grow their online business alongside the platform’s exponential growth. 

As part of the Shopify Partner Program, members need to convince online retailers at Shopify to upgrade to Shopify Plus. 

One can look at it as an entrepreneurial opportunity where enterprising individuals can make extra money on the side, and all that they need to do is to either upgrade existing retailers on the platform or recommend the platform to merchants looking for a viable platform.

One can also design apps or themes, such as posting the URL of affiliates on their blogs and sites.

The best part is that one does not require to pay any membership fees to enjoy Shopify Partner perks. It is free. Besides the opportunity to earn money, partners can network and connect with a growing community of Shopify Partners. There are other perks too. Designers can create test stores, be the first to get introduced to new features and carry out trials on the platform.  

Who can become a Shopify Partner?

To become a Shopify Partner, you need to prove that you have helped create at least five Shopify stores. The selection process involves submitting these proofs, which experts then evaluate before you are officially enrolled. Once enrolled, you are ranked on the Shopify website, and there is a specific process of ranking the partners on the site.

1. A freelancer is a person who is not associated with any company; rather, such a professional works for himself. They are not regular employers of any company but work as per contract terms and conditions.
2. Marketer digital marketers are involved in the promotion of products and services on the online platform.
3. Photographer a person who uses his camera to earn his livelihood is a photographer. They usually work as amateurs and work on a contractual basis with the client party.
4. Developer Developers are responsible for designing and testing software programs. They are also in charge of maintaining the software program or app.
5. Coder a person who is excellent at coding or writing codes while they are good at designing programs too.
6. Designer designers understand the ideas and beliefs of their clients and express the same through their work. They are responsible for drawings and plans.
7. Influencers are people who influence the decision of others, especially during their purchase cycle. Social media influencers are now playing a more prominent role in helping others decide what to buy and when to buy with social media growth.

Advantages of Being a Shopify Partner

1. Earn money there are different ways of getting paid. 

• Affiliate referral earn money in numerous ways, and one of the most commonly used methods is the Affiliate marketing program. Through Affiliate Marketing, you can create new themes and apps for Shopify users and get new customers. The average earning for every referral is about $58. 
• Development store by helping develop the merchant’s store on Shopify, you are eligible for a commission regularly. The merchant needs to be part of the Shopify Platform to get the fee every month, and it is about 20% of the subscription fee. 
• Shopify Apps purchasing your designed app’s monthly subscription in the Shopify App Store, 80% of the total revenue.
• Shopify Themes Shopify Partners can earn via two options; in option one, partners get as much as 70% of themes sold. However, in this case, they are responsible for fixing the bugs and answering queries from partners. Option two is where partners get only 50% of the theme sold, but they handle only bug fixing, and merchant queries are answered by Shopify.

2. It is easy and simple to become a part of the Shopify Partners Program, you do not have to be a specialist or pay any fee. Anyone who can prove that they helped create at least five outstanding Shopify stores can enroll in the program and start earning money by referring new retailers and merchants.
3. Perks in the form of discounts on using different software and tools that can be used for product designing, testing, development, and management of projects. To know more about perks, check the site www.shopify.com/partners/all-perks. If you are certified as Shopify Experts, then there are different sets of perks available for you.
4. Free access to pieces of training and other online resources that can boost your business. You can access some of the upcoming features even before they get formally launched, and also, the customer support resolves queries on priority.
5. You can also gain access to Shopify Experts Marketplace. However, remember that only limited people have access to this Marketplace.

How does the Shopify Partner program work?

Shopify offers three distinct ways to earn money as a partner. The ways are:

1. By referring a potential client.
2. By designing and creating new themes and having them published on the Shopify Theme Store.
3. By designing and creating applications and having them published at the Shopify App Store.

As a Shopify Partner, you get lots of privileges like free training, documents, resources, and also access to the opportunity to be a part of the Shopify Plus Partners program.

How to Become a Shopify Partner?

To enroll yourself in the Shopify Partner Program, you need to create a partner account.

Step 1: Go to Shopify Partner Program Website

The first step is to open the Shopify Partner Program site at https://www.shopify.com/partners.  

Step 2: Enter the email address and click “Join Now.”

Once here, you will see the green-colored ‘Join Now’ button. Your email id needs to be entered in the blank space. Click on the green tab to create your account. 

Step 3: Verify Your Email Address

If you are already a Shopify member, you will not be asked to verify your email address. If, however, this is your first time at the Shopify platform, you need to wait for your email id to get verified by Shopify. There will be a link that will be sent to this email id by Shopify to verify it.

Remember, the link expires in 24 hours so you need to keep a check. On pressing the ‘Confirm email’ button, you will be taken back to the Shopify website for partners.  Here, you will be greeted with the message ‘Email address verified.’ 

Now, you will be asked, ‘Where do you want to go’? You need to select Shopify Partners.

Step 4: Enter Your Details

Once you click on ‘Shopify Partner,’ you will notice a blue-colored tab with the words, ‘+Create a new partner account.’ Click on this. 

People who already have a Shopify account can sign in at the Shopify Partners site using their registered email id. On signing in, you will be redirected to the creation of your partner account.

You will be required to fill in the details about your business and your information on the creation partner page. There is detailed information related to the Business name, primary business email address, website (optional), Address 1, and Address 2.

Once the commercial details are entered, you will find the ‘Tell us a little about yourself.’ Here you will encounter questions from Shopify that will help the platform to offer personalized experiences so that it helps you in optimizing your work. Some of the questions asked here include:

• What is the primary way you plan to make money as a Shopify Partner? (there are options to pick from)
• Do you already have an app? (options are available to pick from)
• What e-commerce platforms have you worked with? Please select all that apply. (you have choices like BigCommerce, Demandware, Lightspeed, Magento, PrestaShop, Square, Squarespace, Wix, WooCommerce, WordPress, and others. In case you have not worked with any e-commerce platform, there is a box that you can tick to notify the same. Finally, you need to click on ‘I have read and agree to the Partner Program Agreement’ and click ‘View your dashboard.’
• Ensure that you read the Shopify Partner Program Agreement before clicking on the same.

Step 5: Navigate Shopify Partner Dashboard 

Clicking on the ‘View your dashboard’ helps you to look up the different Partner programs. You are welcomed to the page with the message ‘Welcome to the Shopify Partner Program.’ 

Here, you can check the free training modules to learn new skills and get certified. You can also read about the Partner Perks, for example, access to designing tools like Invision or Facebook free trials, access to HelpScout, Access to Proposify, and so on.

You can also keep reading the latest tips shared for partners by Shopify Experts. The tricks are all updated in the Partners Town Hall.

Step 6: learn From Shopify Partner Academy. 

The Shopify Partner Academy offers training courses and tools that are mostly free and need to enroll. The courses that you can learn from and get certified in are divided into four divisions:

• App Development, 
• Product Fundamentals, 
• Business Fundamentals, and
• Theme Development.

As a Shopify Partner at the Academy, you have seamless and non-stop access to all the educational resources online. The resources help you in passing the examination to get certified. The good part is that the exams can be taken by partners innumerable times.  

Use the partner dashboard or Shopify Support to ask your queries or clarify the same.

Frequently Asked Questions about Shopify partners

Are Shopify Partners and Shopify Plus Partners the Same?

It is one of the most general reasons for confusion between interested partners. The answer to this question is no. Shopify Partners and Shopify Plus Partners are not the same. 

• Shopify Partners mostly handle small-sized and medium-sized online businesses. Shopify Plus Partners work with bigger-sized merchants. 
• To become a Shopify Plus Partner, the partner needs to go through a thorough application process. Only vetted partners by the platform can look at becoming plus partners. You need to prove your skills and expertise in e-commerce-related apps and themes. Along with the platform, the plus partners can offer holistic services to their clients. 

Who Is Considered a Shopify partner?

The Shopify Partner program is best suited for seven different categories of professional freelancers, marketers, photographers, developers, coders, designers, and influencers who utilize the Shopify platform to create and develop themes, apps, and websites. Shopify Partners can earn money monthly through three methods  

• By referring online merchants to Shopify, 
• By designing and making Shopify apps and getting them published on the Shopify App Store, or 
• Design e-commerce themes and have the same published on the Shopify Theme Store. 

The best part about being a Shopify Partner is that you can use the Shopify Platform’s various resources to let your creativity make significant changes in your earnings. Plus, partners can take advantage of the online resources and experiment with their creativity.

How does the Shopify Partner program work?

The Shopify Partner Program helps generate monthly income and revenues for the individual. You can refer merchants through the development store and keep on receiving a commission on a month-to-month basis. 

Another way to earn money is to use the affiliate link to keep making a commission whenever a merchant uses the affiliate link to sign up on Shopify. 

The other process is to create and publish apps and themes on the Shopify App stores and Shopify Theme stores. When the apps and the themes sell or get subscribed to, then the partner receives a commission. You can visit https://help.shopify.com/en/partners/how-to-earn for more details.

How do Shopify partners make money?

Shopify Partners need to contribute meaningfully to the Shopify platform and ecosystem to earn money. They need to be actively involved in either promoting the platform or develop themes and apps to keep earning commissions. 

The earnings depend on different factors like the location of the partner, the merchant’s location, local taxes, etc. There are three definite ways to earn money through the Shopify Partner Program:

• By creating and publishing themes in the Shopify Theme Store;
• By creating and publishing apps in the Shopify App Store;
• By referring online merchants to use the Shopify platform.

How much do Shopify partners make?

Partner earnings are directly proportional to the contribution that the partner makes to the Shopify ecosystem. It also depends on the type of partner program you sign up for. The location of the partner and the merchant’s location also influence the earnings of the partner. Also, the local tax policy will impact your final payments. 

The table below shows the potential earnings for a Shopify Partner

Store Plan	Earnings	Terms
Shopify Lite	Recurring commission of 20% of the monthly subscription fee of the merchant.	Monthly recurring only if you are an active partner and the merchant is an active paying customer.
Shopify Basic
Shopify
Advanced Shopify
Shopify Plus	Recurring commission of 10% of the monthly subscription fee of the merchant.	It would be best if you made a development store for the merchant.

Conclusion

Shopping online is growing fast e-commerce sales accounted for 14.1% of the retail sales in 2019. Shopify is the fastest growing online platform, with a remarkable 36% growth on a year-to-year basis in 2019. 

This online shopping platform was started in 2004 by three friends from Canada after a poor shopping experience online. 

Shopify today has a market share of 20% in the online shopping domain. There are distinct advantages of being an online retailer and a partner of the platform the plans are affordable for store owners with a vast affiliate program affiliates can earn up to $ 58 per user.

The Shopify Partner Program is open to anyone and everyone.  Shopify Partners can be coders, designers, freelancers, photographers, marketers, and developers. 

Partners can promote the Shopify platform to merchants or design, develop and create creative themes and apps and sell them to merchants at Shopify. Partners gain a lot they earn commissions, they can access different tools or resources online at the platform as perks, network with other like-minded people and creators. 

Partners contribute substantially towards the holistic growth of merchants and their online stores. As long as the partner is actively involved in the Shopify ecosystem, making meaningful and consequential contributions, you will keep earning your commissions and fees and grow your business too. 

To become a Shopify Partner, you need to open an account with Shopify and enroll yourself on the Shopify Partners page. It is a simple process and does not take too much time to complete the process. 

You can follow the procedure mentioned here to start opening the partner account and set the ball rolling. You will be surprised to see how this platform is going to help you grow and progress. 

Shopify Partners and Shopify experts are often confused and thought to be the same. However, they denote different profiles. Partners usually work at the entry-level and earn commissions by referring merchants to Shopify. On the other hand, experts have been associated with the platform for some time and have a record to prove their knowledge and skills.

Partners need to give examples of at least five success stories of online stores that have done well because of their expertise only then are they considered eligible for being Shopify Experts.

Shopify Plus partners are then proficient at handling the e-commerce businesses of more prominent merchants, while Shopify Partners manages small and medium enterprises.