Lessons Learned from Creating a Shopify Store
When I opened The Eric Bank Gallery, several people asked what it felt like to turn finished photographs into a live online space. Not in a technical sense, but in the more practical, slightly uncomfortable decision of what belongs in public and what should remain private.
Your Gallery Is Not Your Catalog
While I have created several websites during my career, creating a gallery is unique compared to making a typical website or an eCommerce site. A gallery is a form of invitation to view your artwork; therefore, it differs from both an online catalog of your artwork and a standard storefront. This conceptual difference impacted nearly every decision I made while developing the online version of my gallery.
Experience vs. Tool Features
Shopify provided the necessary technical functionality to build and maintain my gallery website. My focus shifted to optimizing the user experience and eliminating distractions (e.g., excessive content) to create a clean environment for the art to be viewed without the visual clutter of unnecessary features. Ultimately, the objective was to create a platform where the artwork could stand alone without being visually bombarded with distractions. In other words, I wanted to ensure the artwork remained the focal point and did not compete for attention.
Editing for Sequence and Rhythm, Not for Individual Favorites
The discipline required to remove items that were not essential to the artwork's overall sequence was complex for me. The order of the photographs also needed to be edited based on how each image contributed to the rhythm of the entire series. Viewing the images as a sequence, as opposed to viewing them individually as my favorite photographs, was an entirely new form of editing for me.
The Benefits of Clarity on the Website
Unexpectedly, the development of the website helped me clarify my own perspective on the photographs themselves. The decisions regarding layout, pacing, and tone were not limited to the design of the website; they also influenced how I thought about the photographs -- what questions the photographs pose to the viewer and what they do not. As a result, the gallery website ultimately evolved to focus less on sales and more on creating a serene environment for viewing.
This was a significant transition for me. While Shopify enabled me to develop the gallery, the process of creating it fundamentally altered my approach to presentation, restraint, and inviting visitors to engage with a space, rather than asking customers to make purchases.
Dealing With Shopify Defaults
As I continued to develop my gallery, I came to realize that anyone using Shopify to sell creative work needs to be mindful of what the system encourages by default. Shopify is highly effective at encouraging sellers to utilize additional features, such as more copy, more options, more promotions, increased urgency, and enhanced automation. Each one of these is acceptable, but collectively they can completely overwhelm the viewer's ability to see what you are presenting.
Avoiding Noise and Over-Optimization
It is worth being intentional with respect to the defaults of the system. Promotional messages, pop-up windows, badges, and recommendations are forms of "noise" regardless of how well-designed they are. Before activating any of these features, you need to determine if they serve to enhance the work or take up space. In many cases, providing less structure and less information creates a better experience for the visitor than does a fully optimized sales funnel.
Scale Impacts the Tone of the Store
Similar to the issue of inventory, scale impacts the tone of the online store. Shopify allows for rapid expansion, but expanding the size of the store changes the tone of the store. Adding more products, more product variations, and more descriptions can reduce the clarity of the message if these elements are added too aggressively. However, for certain types of creative work, maintaining a smaller, more focused store may not limit the work's impact; it may actually enhance its value.
Final Thoughts for Future Sellers
My primary recommendation to those who plan to use Shopify for their online store is to slow down the development process. Utilize the tools provided by Shopify, but do not allow them to dictate the experience of the viewer. Determine the type of space you want to establish first, and then let the Shopify tools assist in realizing your vision for the space, as opposed to allowing the tools to shape your vision.