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How To Sell Courses On Shopify

When people want to learn things these days, the first place they go is the internet. If they want to learn something, acquire new skills, or become qualified in a new sector, online courses are often their main road to success.

How To Sell Courses On Shopify

How To Sell Courses On Shopify

When people want to learn new things today, the first place they go is the internet. Whether they want to gain a new skill, get certified, or pursue a passion, online courses are often the go-to solution.

That’s why the online course industry is booming - and it's only getting bigger. The market is expected to grow by 8.56% between 2024 and 2029, reaching a total value of $279.3 billion. In 2024 alone, it's already worth over $185 billion.

Despite the increasing competition, there’s still plenty of room for new courses and new sellers. Many new learners are coming from emerging markets where people are actively upskilling to meet global job demands.

If you’re thinking about selling courses on Shopify and wondering how to get started, you’re in the right place.

This guide walks you through why Shopify is a great platform for online courses, how to set up your store, how to create and deliver your content, and how to market and scale your course business.

Building Foundations – Understanding the Online Courses Market

Online education has quickly become one of the largest eCommerce industries in the world.

This growth is driven by the increasing availability of digital tools and the rising demand for continuous learning and skills development.Well-structured online courses are helping people fill gaps left by traditional education systems, empowering them to compete globally - no matter where they are.

From upskilling for work to learning about your passions, there are many different types of online courses with different teaching, creating a vast and diverse market with plenty of space for newcomers.

Is Selling Online Courses Worth It?

If you choose the right topic and execute it well, absolutely.

There are a few big reasons online courses are so popular:

There’s a reason online courses have become so popular - they have several significant advantages over traditional in-person education. 

First comes the global reach. Online courses are available to everyone and anyone worldwide who can speak the language your course is in, massively increasing the number of potential subscribers.

In addition, following its initial creation, your course can essentially provide passive income, requiring minimal effort to maintain while it brings in an uncapped number of new subscribers. This makes online courses extremely scalable and making good money even easier.

So long as you create evergreen content for your course, it can remain relevant and profitable for long periods of time with only minor updates and maintenance.

Why Shopify?

Shopify might not be the first platform people think of for online courses, but it’s a powerful option.

It’s one of the world’s top eCommerce platforms, powering over 10% of the global market.

It’s user-friendly, integrates easily with marketing and payment tools, and supports apps like Tevello that simplify course delivery and community building.

Getting Started: How to Set Up Your Shopify Store

To launch your course store on Shopify:

  1. Sign up for a Shopify account

  2. Choose a plan (you can start small and upgrade later)

  3. Customize your store with your branding, theme, and course details

Pro tips:

Into the Thick of It: Creating and Uploading Your Course Content

The most important part of your course business is the course itself.

Start by identifying your target audience and their challenges.
Build your content to solve those challenges directly.

Organize your course with:

Before launching:

Upload your course with an LMS app like Tevello, which allows you to manage lessons, track student progress, and issue certificates.

Getting the Word Out – How Should You Market Your Course?

Now that your course is glistening and ready, it’s time to find yourself some new subscribers.

They won’t just stumble into your new, unknown course, after all.

With the right marketing strategies, you’ll be able to attract new students and drive sales in no time. Here’s how:

Using External Marketing Strategies

When you first get started, you’ll want to get your course out there into the wider world. Some of the best ways to do this include promoting your course on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn. These channels allow you to build a strong presence by sharing valuable content, short previews, or even behind-the-scenes looks into your course. 

You should also consider building and nurturing an email list from day one. Collecting leads through your website or landing pages allows you to create a direct relationship with potential students, which is crucial for long-term growth.

The digital courses market is massive, and connections go a long way. Collaborating with influencers, subject-matter experts, or even fellow creators can introduce your course to fresh audiences and lend it immediate credibility. These partnerships can be casual or structured - affiliate programs, for example, offer a great way to incentivize others to promote your course in exchange for commissions.

If you're looking for quicker traction, paid advertising on platforms like Google or Facebook can help you get your course in front of the right audience fast. While not ideal as a standalone strategy, it's a great complement to organic outreach when you’re launching or scaling.

Combining these external strategies helps you reach more people while testing which channels resonate most with your audience.

A solid blend of different marketing strategies will set you off on the best path to success in making money with digital products.

Turn Your Online Store and Course Into Its Own Marketing Hub

While external platforms are helpful, your own site can be just as powerful - if not more. Start by making your Shopify store SEO-friendly. Research the right keywords, then optimize your course product pages, headlines, meta tags, and descriptions to help your content appear in relevant searches.

Beyond that, treat your course page as an active marketing tool. Offer limited-time discounts, flexible payment plans, or bundled packages to entice new sign-ups. Creating time-sensitive offers - when done thoughtfully - can give students that extra nudge to enroll now instead of later.

Don’t forget the students you already have. Keep them engaged by creating spaces for discussion and feedback, whether through forums, live Q&As, or comment threads.

Using apps like Tevello, you can manage all these interactions in one place - keeping discussions, feedback collection, and course updates centralized and easy to handle..

When your store becomes both a sales and engagement hub, your marketing works even when you're not actively promoting.

The Final Step: How To Manage Your Success

With your online store created, your course up and running, and sales coming in, it’s time to figure out how to sustain - and scale - your success.

Start with the essentials: ensure every transaction is smooth and that customer support is fast, friendly, and helpful. These seemingly small details create the kind of trust that leads to glowing reviews and repeat business.

Next, focus on improving from the inside out. Gather student feedback - not just through public reviews, but with private surveys or in-course prompts. Combine this with your website analytics to understand which pages convert best, which messaging lands, and what course features your students love the most.

And don’t underestimate the power of community. A thriving student space creates stickiness - students stay longer, engage more, and become advocates. Host live discussions, provide support spaces, and check in regularly. The more connected your students feel, the more likely they are to complete your course and recommend it to others. 

Apps like Tevello simplify all of this. From one dashboard, you can manage your courses, certification workflows, community forums, and student messaging - without bouncing between multiple tools

What Should Your Next Course Creation Steps Be?

Now that you understand the opportunity, the tools, and the process - it’s time to take action.

Turn your course idea into a thriving business - Tevello makes it simple.

Try Tevello to simplify your course delivery on Shopify, offer a polished student experience, and grow your business without managing multiple platforms