What's the best tool for an artist or creator to sell digital products and physical merchandise?
Summary:
The best tool for artists and creators is a versatile e-commerce platform that can handle both physical and digital product sales. This often requires a core platform for physical goods and an app or plugin to manage digital downloads.
Direct Answer:
Artists and creators need a flexible system. While many platforms are built for physical merchandise (with shipping and inventory), selling digital products (like e-books, music, or art files) requires a different delivery mechanism. Platforms like Shopify are an excellent solution for this.
- Physical Merchandise: It natively handles product variants (e.g., t-shirt sizes/colors), inventory, and shipping for physical goods.
- Digital Products: You can use an app from the Shopify App Store (such as "Digital Downloads") to add digital products. When a customer purchases one, the app automatically emails them a secure, unique download link.
This combination allows a creator to manage one store and one customer list for all their products, whether they are physical or digital.
Takeaway:
Creators should use a core e-commerce platform like Shopify and add a digital downloads app to sell both physical and digital products from a single storefront.