
Tired of managing inventory and shipping hassles while selling products? If you want to turn your expertise into income, selling services on Shopify in 2025 is your best bet.
Selling online services such as cooking classes or design consultancy lets you run a business without the burden of inventory or shipping. Whether you are a designer, chef, developer, or teacher, you can start selling online services and earn profits easily.
But how to sell services on Shopify? Isn’t it an ecommerce platform selling products?
In this article, we will discuss practical steps for selling services on Shopify. These steps will walk you through a complete service-based Shopify store setup, from adding services to optimizing your website for conversions.
Shopify for Services: Best Service Businesses to Start
Selling online services has become lucrative because of the rise of tools like Shopify that provide a platform for entrepreneurs to sell their services. The global digital commerce market is expected to reach $7 trillion by the end of 2025.
Here are some of the best service businesses you can start in 2025.
Health & Wellness Services
- Personal training
- Therapy sessions
- Yoga or meditation classes
Home Services
- Home cleaning
- Interior design consultancy
- Landscaping or gardening services
Event Planning Services
- Wedding, birthday, or party planning
- Photography
- Travel booking & planning
- Food catering services
Education & Training Services
- Online courses
- Skill-based webinars
Tech Services
- Website development
- App development
Consultancy Services
- Business consulting
- Marketing strategy
- Financial planning
- Legal consulting
Why Sell Services Instead of Products on Shopify?
There are many advantages of selling services over physical products.
No Inventory Management
With services, you don’t need to hold inventory as they are digital. This frees up your space and time for packing and shipping.
Potential for Automation
Order fulfillment is easy as the process can be automated from ordering to delivery. For example, once the customer places an order, an eBook can be mailed to them automatically.
Pricing Flexibility
You can set up a tiered pricing model for the same service you provide, offering more pricing options.
Easier to Upsell or Cross-sell
With services, adding upsells like extra hours or premium service is natural. For example, “Add deep kitchen cleaning for $30” converts much better in services.
4 Steps to Build a Shopify Service Business
Here’s how you can use Shopify to build a service business. Follow these simple steps to build your store to success.
Step 1: Add services to your Shopify store
Add services as standard products to your Shopify store. Navigate to Products > Add products and write the title, description, and add media of your service.
Add a detailed description and upload images that showcase your services.
Don’t forget to uncheck the ‘This is a physical product’ in the Shipping section.
Step 2: Tiered pricing & Shopify apps for customization
Set tiered pricing that lets customers pick a service package that fits their needs and budget.
For example, a home cleaning service might offer Basic ($100) for two bedrooms, Standard ($200) for three bedrooms, and Premium ($400) for four bedrooms and deep cleaning.
The customer needs to book the package and the service’s timing. Use Shopify services plugins (apps) like Sesami to create service listings like “Home Cleaning” and directly offer tiered packages (Basic, Standard, Premium) on your Shopify product page.
Customers can choose a package, pick a date and time, and confirm their booking directly on your site.
Step 3: Set up a good service website
Your service website is the first impression of your service-based business. Keep it clean, professional, and focused on what you offer. Use a clear headline, list your key services & images, and include a strong call to action based on your service.
Here’s an example of Luxe Lens. They offer digital products such as Adobe Lightroom presets for designers and photographers.
Get help with Shopify themes. Navigate to Industry > Services and select the best Shopify themes for services. Search based on your needs, including bookable services on Shopify, tiered prices, and any other feature you need in your store.
Step 4: Mobile optimization
The mobile-first approach is gaining momentum, and service pages optimized for mobile devices have a higher chance of converting. 76% of adults in the United States shop using smartphones.
Make sure your booking forms load quickly and display clearly on smaller screens. Use large, easy-to-click buttons and keep forms short to reduce drop-offs.
Test your site on both iOS and Android devices to ensure a smooth experience. A mobile-friendly store builds trust and leads to more bookings on the go.
How to Sell Digital Services on Shopify? Practical Tips
Like selling products, selling services on Shopify requires a strategy to increase your store’s revenue. Here are some practical tips.
Identify Your Ideal Customer
Your target audience is a specific group of consumers who are most likely to buy your services. Consider their age, location, gender, income, profession, interests and other information based on your services. The more specific, the better.
For example, if you’re offering home cleaning services, your target customer might be busy professionals aged 30–45, living in urban areas like New York or Chicago, with a household income of $75,000+. Many may have children or pets, making regular cleaning a top priority.
By understanding their lifestyle and pain points—like not having time to clean after work—you can tailor your marketing and services to meet their needs.
Conduct Competitor Research
Research your competitors’ offerings in the same service industry, their pricing plans, and what customers say about them. Discuss with customers what they liked and disliked about the competitors. You can do this via calls or online forums like Facebook Marketplace.
You can start building a store that sets you apart from the competition based on your research.
Promote Your Services
Building a Shopify store for your service business is not enough. You must promote your service through social media and offline marketing for local businesses.
Use SEO strategies to boost your content on your website and social media. Focus on service store SEO, talk to your customers and create testimonials on how your service impacted their business. Run targeted ads on social media to reach your potential customers. Make sure your Shopify store is not the only source of leads.
Stay Connected
Customer loyalty is a huge part of service-based businesses. Your work doesn’t end after you close a deal. Try creating longer-lasting relationships with customers through email marketing.
Email them updates on your organization and service discounts, especially for them. A loyal customer always comes back for your services.
Best Examples of Shopify Service-based Businesses
To illustrate the potential of service-based businesses, let’s look at some great examples of businesses that run on Shopify.
Nonna Live
Service offered: Cooking classes
Homemade pasta tutorial is a big industry in Europe. Nonna Live tapped into this industry and found success with different pricing options and customer-focused communication.
The Mobile Locker
Service offered: Rental storage solutions
The Mobile Locker is a company that provides rental storage solutions for event companies. They found success in targeting music festival organisers looking for storage solutions to hold the valuables and items of their attendees that are not permitted inside the venue.
The Fitzroy
Service offered: Fashion rental
The Fitzroy provides a curated selection of high-end dresses available for rent, catering to events like weddings and galas. Their Shopify store allows customers to browse available styles, select rental dates, and complete bookings seamlessly.
If I Made
Service offered: Event planning classes
If I Made offers video classes from industry experts in areas like wedding photography, floral design, and event planning. Their Shopify store allows users to purchase and access courses seamlessly.
Ready to Launch Your Shopify service business? Turn Your Skills Into Profits
If you have an idea of launching your service-based business, Shopify is the ideal platform to get started. If you already have a store, it’s not too late to migrate to Shopify. With the right approach, selling services on Shopify can be just as seamless as selling physical products.
FAQs
1. What’s the difference between selling services on Shopify vs selling products?
Services are intangible, like a home cleaning solution, while products are tangible, like sneakers. A product requires inventory management while a service does not. Services are more about relationship building, while products are more transactional.
2. Can I sell services on Shopify?
Yes. You can sell services on a Shopify store.
3. How to start a Shopify service business?
Select the industry you are an expert in and conduct market research. Sign up for Shopify and add your service as a product. Upload all the assets and get help with Shopify service booking apps and themes to publish and run your store smoothly.
4. Is Shopify good for a service business?
Yes. Shopify is an excellent ecommerce platform to start your service business.
5. Is there a refund policy for digital products or services?
Customers cannot physically return a service. The non-refundable nature of selling services should be communicated to the customer. Add exceptions to the policy if required, such as ‘service is not as expected’ or ‘digital product is defective’.
About the author
Vineet Nair
Vineet is an experienced content strategist with expertise in the ecommerce domain and a keen interest in Shopify. He aims to help Shopify merchants thrive in this competitive environment with technical solutions and thoughtfully structured content.