Shopify Partner Program: How to Become a Partner?

The Shopify Partner Program is a partnership opportunity for developers, designers, marketers, and entrepreneurs to work with Shopify and earn money. This program provides tools, resources, and support to individuals and agencies that help merchants build, grow, and optimize their Shopify stores.

Shopify provides different partnership categories, each designed for specific skill sets, including app development, theme creation, marketing, and building online stores. Partners can earn through commission, selling services, and referrals, making it a profitable opportunity for those looking to expand their business.

What Is Shopify Partner Program?

The Shopify partner program is a contract between Shopify and businesses that provide Shopify-related services to merchants. The program is designed to help business owners generate more sales, and in return, partners earn commissions to promote Shopify. When you become a Shopify partner, you can get benefits like:

Collaboration Opportunities: Being part of the Shopify Partner community offers opportunities to collaborate with other professionals, share ideas, and learn from each other's experiences

Revenue Stream: Partners can earn revenue by referring clients to Shopify, building and selling custom themes and apps, or providing services like store setup and migration. The more successful your projects and referrals, the higher your earnings potential.

Access to Resources: Partners can create unlimited test development stores, allowing them to experiment with stores without cost constraints. This feature is particularly useful for testing and showcasing client projects.

What Are the Types of Shopify Partners?

Shopify categorizes its partners based on their expertise and the contributions they provide within the ecosystem. These categories help businesses find the right experts according to their needs.

Shopify Partner Category 

There are four main partner categories for your store.

Shopify App Developer: These partners build Shopify apps to enhance store functionality, which helps merchants drive more sales. They also develop custom apps according to merchant needs.

Shopify Designer: Designers use their creativity to create a visually appealing and user-friendly web design for your store, which increases user engagement.

Shopify Marketing: Marketer helps merchants promote their stores by creating campaigns, defining your audience, optimizing ads, and improving conversions.

Shopify Affiliate Marketer: Affiliate marketers promote store products through content marketing, videos, website, and newsletters to their audience toward the product and generate sales through affiliate links.

Shopify Partner Levels

There are three Shopify partnership levels.

Shopify Partner: This is the entry-level partnership. You can get access to unlimited test development, store programs, incentives, and early access to new features. This level is ideal for those starting out and looking to gain experience with the Shopify platform. You can earn a monthly commission for every client referred, theme designed, or app developed.

Shopify Plus Partners: Plus partners are experienced professionals who are specialized in providing expert support and solutions to Shopify merchants.

Shopify Fulfillment Partners: These partners handle store inventory, warehouse, and order fulfillment. They provide logistics solutions to Shopify merchants, ensuring efficient storage, packing, and shipping of products.

How to Become a Shopify Partner?

Becoming a Shopify Partner opens various opportunities to grow your business. Follow these steps to join the Shopify Partner Program:

  1. Go to the Shopify Partner Program page.

  2. Click “Sign up” to start the registration process.

  3. Fill out the required information, including your name, email, and create a strong password. Then click on Create Shopify account.

  4. Wait for confirmation mail from Shopify, and verify your email address within 24 hours to activate your account.

  5. Once verified, you can access the Shopify Partner dashboard to start exploring tools and resources.

After becoming a partner, you submit apps to the Shopify App Store and themes to the Shopify Theme Store. You also refer clients to sign up for Shopify stores with your Partner Account. You earn a portion of the revenue Shopify earns from each new client.