In addition to physical and digital products, you can sell services in your store. Services could be teaching classes, fixing bikes, or consulting people around the world. You can use your online store to help you establish a customer base, sell services online, and grow your business.
When you add a product to your store, you can uncheck the shipping checkbox to indicate that you are selling a service instead of a physical product.
Tip: Your items should always include a detailed description of exactly what your buyer receives, how they receive it, and when it will be received.
Adding a service
To sell a service, you have to add it to your product catalog and disable shipping for this product. Here’s how you do it:
- From your Online Store dashboard, go to Catalog > Products.
- Click +Add New Product.
- Next, add your service name and description. You can also upload an image related to the service.
- Add your price, quantity, and SKU, if applicable. Untick the option Requires shipping or pickup:
- In the Tax and Shipping section of the product page, move This Product Requires Shipping or Pickup option toggle to the Disabled position.
- Click Save.
- Repeat these steps to add more services that you are offering.
Accepting bookings
Accepting bookings is ideal for small businesses or individuals who take appointments such as babysitters, interior decorators, and others. The booking process can be automated to save time and avoid unnecessary emails and phone calls. To accept bookings you need to integrate Google calendar to your product page. Here’s how you do it:
- Add a service to your Online Store catalog following the steps above.
- In product details, head over to Options. Add a Date picker input type and name the option Date:
- Add the second option named Time that consists of a text field. Your client can let you know the time at which they wish to book your service.
- Make sure both of these options are marked as required options:
These steps allow your clients to choose a date and time they wish to receive your service.
Adding your online calendar
You can add your online calendar to the service description. If you have a Google Calendar, get the embeddable code and paste it into your product description. Here's how to do get the embed code.
After copying the embed code, return to the Online Store and click on <> in the top right corner to add the code in the HTML mode:
Uncheck the HTML option and check the result:
Add a few details for your clients explaining how to make a reservation. Let them know that they have to check your calendar before they book with you to make sure you are free.
Tip: If you only have a certain amount of spaces available, for example, in a class, you can fill in the stock level to correspond to the number of places you have to offer. When you sell all the spots in that class and have no spaces available, the stock level will reach zero and the product will be marked as out of stock.
Best Practices for Writing Service Descriptions
Service descriptions are critical to defining the scope of work you are delivering to your customer. Your clients should know exactly what, how, and when they will receive it.
Good service descriptions should include:
- Deliverables: Tell your customers what you will be providing.
- Timeframe: when will the deliverables be received by your customer.
- Special conditions and limitations: any special terms and conditions of your service.
Here's an example of a service description from an Online Store where you can get a nutrition consultation or buy a private cooking class:
Private Farmer's Market Field Trip + Cooking Lesson
[Deliverables] Shopping at the local Farmer's Market sounds great, but once you're there, are you overwhelmed and confused? Concerned you'll buy too much, not enough or that things will go to waste?
You're not alone. Most people feel this way. Together, we will navigate through all the producе, including those artisanal olive oils in a simple method using basic techniques suitable for all skill levels.
[Timeframe] This service begins with shopping, then heading to the kitchen and spending a couple of hours preparing food in a simple, yet delicious manner.
With most meals consisting of less than three ingredients and three steps, you'll fall in love with how easy it is to create beautiful meals in a short period of time that are both good for you, and taste amazing as well!
* Does not include the cost of food.
* Prices subject to change based on travel time.
*No refunds.
Add more information about yourself and the services you offer. This can be a couple of sentences of what you offer and how you can help your clients, testimonials, and contact information.
This feature is available on all Online Store plans.