As the boundaries between digital and physical commerce blur, the rebirth of ecommerce is occurring at an alarming pace. Digitally native brands are exploring new technologies like voice commerce, headless commerce and augmented reality-enabled O2O (online-to-offline) experiences. As online e-commerce platforms are reborn as experiential destinations, the world is rapidly becoming a shopfront.
Statista reports that worldwide e-commerce sales reached $3.5 trillion in 2019. This is an 18% increase over the previous year. The projected growth to $6.54 trillion in 2022 is also reported by Statista . E-commerce is becoming a very popular activity worldwide. E-commerce solutions are now more popular than ever because sellers prefer to sell their products online rather than in brick-and-mortar shops.
Shopify is the preferred platform for sellers who are looking for simplicity, quality, and rich features for their e-commerce shops. Shopify developers use the platform’s ecosystem for merchants to help them with their online store design. Shopify developers can create a Shopify development store to help clients sign up and offer demos, testing themes or apps. An Shopify Partner has unlimited potential to create multiple development shops for different clients.
The Development Store is a Shopify account that you can access from the Partner Dashboard. It has no time limitations, processes unlimited transactions and offers functionality comparable to the Advanced Shopify plan. You can’t switch to a paid account until then.
- Install paid apps, except for a few apps that are Partner-friendly.
- More than ten apps can be created privately
To ensure that the client receives a recurring revenue sharing, the Shopify developer must create a development store. The Shopify official website has more information about budget sharing and how much you could earn from the Shopify Partner program.
You will need to know development shops to become a Shopify Developer. These are for installing and testing your apps. They can also be used to sign up clients to Shopify.
This article explains everything you need about development stores in a step-by–step guide.
Shopify Development Stores: Why is it Important?
Developer stores allow developers to showcase their themes and apps to potential customers as a portfolio. Shopify development shops make it simple to create Shopify websites.
As a development shop, you will create a Shopify site for the client that you refer. After the project is completed, you will give your client ownership of the development shop. They will then choose the Shopify plan that best suits their business.
These accounts can also be used to showcase your work and attract new clients. Without being able view the work of other developers, it is difficult to gauge their abilities. You can showcase your project management skills and creativity in development stores.
You now know more about Shopify development shops. But you may be wondering how to create one. Let’s take a closer look at this.
Understanding development stores
An development shop account on Shopify allows you to:
- All apps you create should be installed and tested
- Show an example store on your app listing page
- For a client, set up a store
- You can test a theme you have created
Shopify Partners have unlimited access to their Partner Dashboard, which allows you to create development stores.
These are free, have no time limitations, and provide most of the same functionality that the Advanced Shopify plan. You can also conduct unlimited test transactions with Shopify’s Bogus Gateway. But, you cannot do this until you upgrade to a paid plan.
- Orders can be processed through an active payment provider
- Install paid apps, except for some partner-friendly apps
- More than 10 apps can be created privately
- Remove the password page
To install your Shopify app, you will need to create a development shop. If you use the Shopify App to create a Node.js/Rails app, you’ll be prompted to choose a development shop before the app project is created.
Although you can’t remove the password from a development store, the password page will not be displayed for example shops linked to your Shopify App Store listing. The password page is automatically bypassed when a visitor clicks the demo link in a listing. This functionality can be enabled without changing any settings in your development store.
To receive a recurring revenue share, you must create a store in development for each merchant that Shopify refers to.
To receive a recurring revenue share, you will need to create a store in development for each merchant you refer to Shopify. Our revenue sharing breakdown will provide more information about what you could earn as a partner.
Creating development stores
You have unlimited access to development stores so you can create, test, and explore as many test account as you like.
Here are some ways to get started.
1. Click Stores from your Shopify Partner Dashboard.
2. Click the Add store link on the Stores webpage.
3. Choose Development store as your type of store.
4. Your store’s name, URL, password, and purpose should be given.
5. After you are done, click Save.
Once it has been created, you will be able log in to your new development store via the Stores Tab on your Partner Dashboard.
You now know how to set up a development store so you can begin building your app.
Enhancing development store functionality
Shopify App Store allows developers to install apps onto their development stores. Shopify Partners have access to our Partner-friendly app. These apps are free when tested in development shops. Once the development store has been upgraded to a paid plan, the paid apps will start charging.
If you have an app already in the Shopify App Store and would like it to be free on the development stores, you can submit the form to request your app to be added to the partner-friendly selection.
Remember that you must transfer your development store from a free plan to install apps not compatible with partners.
This is how to install apps on a development store.
1. Click on the Shopify App Store app that you want to add.
2. Click the Add App button.
3. To authenticate the app, enter the address of your store.
4. Confirm installation
5. Use the app immediately.
Developer preview stores
You have the option of enabling a developer preview when you create a new development store. You can get early access to Shopify’s new features through a developer preview. This allows you to build and test your apps against the upcoming features before they are released to merchants.
Developer previews are enabled for development stores. However, the store cannot be transferred to another owner nor can it be converted to a paid plan. Our developer documentation provides more information about developer previews and the versions available.
Transferring ownership of a store
You will need to be able to give the reins to your client when you have finished designing and building a store.
This is the fun part. Your clients are now ready for action. All that is left is to transfer store ownership in just a few easy steps.
1. Log in to your Partner Dashboard and click Stores.
2. Select Actions, and then select Transfer ownership next to the store you wish to transfer.
3. Select the new owner from the Transfer store owners dialog. Click Create a new client account if you have not yet added your client to your staff.
4. After you are done, click To transfer store. You will receive an email from the new owner with instructions on how to create an account and choose a plan. The store will remain suspended until your client accepts the transfer.
Once a client has started to shopify, a colleague account will be automatically created. You then start receiving your monthly revenue share.
Archiving development stock
Development stores you aren’t working on can be archived. If you don’t want to stop working on the store after you have archived it, you can always unarchive it later.
To archive a development store:
1. Click Stores from your Partner Dashboard.
2. Click on the name of the development shop you wish to archive.
3. Click Archive.
Unarchive a development store
You can unarchive a development file if you need it to be restored.
To unarchive a development store:
1. Click Stores from your Partner Dashboard.
2. Select Archive and click Filter.
3. Click on the link to go to the store you wish to delete.
4. Click Unarchive.
Develop stores are a great way to get up and running
This guide will help you and your team get off to a good start.
The ideal test environment for your app projects is the development store. It offers a 14-day free trial. To earn revenue share, you’ll want to use them when building or referring clients stores.
