Shopify Digital Downloads | Everything You Need To Know

What do you know about Shopify Digital Downloads? If you are a business owner, then you know there are many different ways to market and sell your products. Stay with me!

One way that has become increasingly popular in recent years is digital downloads. And Shopify is a fantastic eCommerce website to help you sell your digital offerings. 

Shopify Digital Downloads is a service that allows you to sell digital products conveniently. You can upload eBooks, audio, videos, and other digital files to your store, which customers can instantly download after purchasing.

However, you must install the Downloadable Digital Assets app to get the best service.

Read on for a rundown of how Shopify digital downloads work, what you need to sell digital products in Shopify, and the various digital products that you can sell in Shopify.

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How Shopify Digital Downloads Work

Selling digital downloads is nothing new. It's been around since online eCommerce began. But how do digital downloads work with Shopify exactly?

It's not complex because online systems like Shopify have ironed out everything to make it easy for anyone to sell digital downloads.

Digital downloads include anything that does not have physical properties and can be downloaded from the internet. It's really that simple.

I will go in-depth below on how the system works and what digital products you could sell.

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The app & Shopify workflow

Shopify Digital Downloads is a complete solution for online merchants looking to sell their products in a digital format. The service allows you to upload digital assets to your Shopify store and choose from different payment gateways. 

Here's a roundup of the steps involved in setting up Shopify digital downloads:

1. Create your Products in your Shopify store

After signing up to Shopify and creating an account, you will need to set up the products with prices.

1. First, create the products in your Shopify store
2. You can do that by going to the Shopify dashboard > Products > click the “Add product” button
3. Now, this is where you can add the description, price, images, and other relevant information about each product
4. You need to do this to tell Shopify that the product is digital – scroll down the product page and disable the option “This is a physical product”

2. Install the “Downloadable Digital Assets” app

Once you've added your products to Shopify, you'll need to install a special app that allows Shopify digital downloads. Shopify doesn't have an in-built system, so you need to follow this step.

There are two apps that can be used for this – Digital Downloads (built by Shopify but a bad rating) and Downloadable Digital Assets (built by Shopify Experts with and good rating). Both of these apps allow you to sell your downloadable files directly from your store.

The Downloadable Digital Assets is more scalable and has a lot more file protection features, so I would recommend that one. It has a very generous free plan too.

3. Upload your digital products to the app

Now, you will need to upload the digital files (once you have created some) directly to the app.

The way the app works is that it works alongside Shopify's system. It allows you to attach digital files directly to a Shopify product, so when it is sold, the customer will receive the files that are attached to that product.

1. Go to your Shopify dashboard
2. Go to “Apps” > open the app
3. Go to the “Assets” page
4. Click the “Upload new asset” button. Here, upload your files
5. Once they are uploaded, click on the file and attach them to your Shopify products. All Shopify products are automatically synced into the app

4. Select your chosen payment gateway

I recommend Shopify's Shop Pay integration, which allows you to take payments from Apple Pay, Debit/Credit card, Google Pay, and much more.

Besides, it offers Shopify Protect, which protects your digital products against unauthorized transactions and also has low transaction fees.

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What you need to sell digital products on Shopify

Selling digital downloads on Shopify is easy, but you'll need a few things to get started. These include:

1. An account on Shopify

The first thing you need to do is sign up for a Shopify account. This will give you access to all the features and tools you need to build your store.

2. A digital file for each product you want to sell

It's a no-brainer, but you can't sell digital products without digital files. So, the first step to selling Shopify digital downloads is to create the files you want to sell if you haven't already!

If you're stuck for ideas, visit this best-selling digital products guide to get some ideas.

Here are a few tips to help you create digital files:

• Find out how you are going to market it before creating
• Keep it top quality. There is a lot of competition out there
• Keep the file size small if you can

3. The digital delivery app installed on your store

By default, Shopify doesn't have a built-in feature that allows you to sell digital products. So, you'll need to install a Shopify-approved app to attach the files to your products.

As I mentioned, there are two apps you can use for this – Digital Downloads by Shopify and Downloadable Digital Assets by Massive Monkey (Shopify Expert team).

And while Digital Downloads is a handy app, Downloadable Digital Assets is by far the best for selling digital products due to its file protection features and scalable storage. Just see the differences between both apps in this guide.

With several features, including customer management and a user-friendly user interface, Downloadable Digital Assets is the first choice for many Shopify agencies. Also, it offers digital file copyright protection, which helps ensure that unauthorized users don't share them.

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Digital products you can sell on Shopify

Now that you know how to set up your Shopify store and what you need to sell digital downloads, it's time to talk about the products you can sell in your store.

Here are a few examples of digital products that many merchants use for their Shopify stores:

• Video files: You can upload videos directly from your computer or library of stock footage.
• eBooks: You can add ebooks to your Shopify store in various file formats, including .epub and .mobi.
• Images: From high-res photos to low-res clip art, you can sell images for use on websites, blogs, or social media profiles.
• Music files: Whether it's MP3 or WAV files, you can sell music files.
• Audiobooks: You can also sell audiobooks, including nonfiction and fiction audiobooks.
• Webinars: If you have a video or recording of a webinar that you want to share online, you can use Shopify to sell it as an online training course.
• Digital templates: Selling digital templates is a great way to generate passive income online. You can sell everything from logo templates to email marketing designs and more.

For a visual walkthrough on how to sell digital products on Shopify, check out the following video:

Summary

There are countless options for digital downloads that you can sell in your store. Whether you want to create a PDF course or discover some digital files to sell, you can use Shopify to sell digital products online.

It's just a matter of signing up to Shopify, creating your digital products, and then adding them to your store. And with the tips provided here, you're well on your way to selling Shopify digital downloads!

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