The problem
A social enterprise whose trainees make candles, furniture or prints often sells only at markets and its own small shop. If an online shop brought in 20 orders a month at $33£25€30A$48C$47 that would be $665£500€595A$960C$940 a month of sales the business isn't making now.
What the AI does
Shopify is an online shop platform with checkout, stock and an AI assistant called Sidekick in the admin. Sidekick can draft product descriptions from the facts you give it for you to check and approve, and Shopify's pricing page lists abandoned checkout recovery on every plan. Photograph each product, write down the facts (materials, size, care, who made it and what the sale pays for), ask Sidekick for a draft, correct it and publish. Orders come in through the shop, and trainees can help pack and post them as part of their training.
A worked example
A social enterprise in Sheffield trains young adults with learning disabilities in woodwork and sells chopping boards, planters and bird boxes at local markets. It wants to sell online too.
Before
Sales only at 2 markets a month and the workshop door
After
About 20 online orders a month at an average of $33£25€30A$48C$47
What it's worth
About $266£200€238A$384C$376 a month in profit, at an assumed 40% margin after materials, packaging and postage on $665£500€595A$960C$940 of extra sales (20 orders at $33£25€30A$48C$47). Shopify Basic is $33£25€30A$48C$47 a month, or $25£19€23A$36C$36 a month billed yearly; card processing fees come on top, and the page doesn't say whether VAT is added. The 20 orders are an assumption; an online shop needs promoting to get them.
How to set it up
- Choose 10 to 15 products you can make reliably and price them to cover materials, postage and trainee time.
- Sign up for Shopify Basic, set up delivery rates and photograph every product in good light.
- Write a fact sheet for each product and ask Sidekick for a description using only those facts.
- Check each description, including any claims about impact, before approving it.
- Share the shop with your supporters and track orders monthly.
What goes wrong
- Impact claims ('every board funds a training place') must be true and provable under consumer protection law.
- Handmade stock runs out. Keep stock counts right in Shopify so customers can't order what you can't make in time.
- Sidekick's features and limits vary by plan, according to Shopify; test it on your plan first.
- Online orders mean returns, delivery problems and customer emails. Plan who handles them.