Your breakthrough business idea is ready, and you are in the process of registering your Shopify store. A few form fields down the line, you are faced with a requirement asking you to list your business address. And then it hits you — you’re operating from home.

How to Get a Virtual Address for Your Shopify Store

If you find yourself in this situation, you’re not alone. People often have to decide between registering their Shopify business at their home address, renting a PO Box, office space, or by opting for a virtual business address for their Shopify store. Sounds familiar? By the end of this article, you’ll understand how to get a virtual address for Shopify and the overriding benefits for using one for your business.

Virtual address for Shopify: A brief overview

As we've already mentioned, you have three main options for how to register your Shopify store:

Home address: It’s possible to list your home address as your Shopify business address. While this is tempting, using your home address for your Shopify business isn’t recommended for a number of reasons we’re going to explore later in this article.
PO Box: A PO Box protects your privacy and provides a more professional image to your customers, but you won’t be able to use it if you ever want to incorporate your business with Companies House.
Virtual Business Address: Like a PO Box, a virtual address protects your privacy and enhances your professional image, but there are also a number of other key advantages that you should be aware of.

So what is a virtual address?

A virtual address is a physical address that you can use as your registered company address, promoting it to your customers, suppliers and on your website. It’s valid for all of your business needs, including registration on Companies House website, and of course for your customer facing Shopify store.
You can then use this address to manage your product orders and returns, as well as receive official business correspondence from Companies House and HMRC. What’s more, a virtual mail forwarding service can send digitised copies of your mail to a central portal, as well as forward products to an address of your choice.

Let’s explore the main benefits of a virtual business address for your small ecommerce business.

Top benefits of a virtual address for Shopify

A virtual address isn't just a paid alternative to your home address when you register your business on Shopify. If you’re still wondering if you need a virtual address for Shopify, here’s a list of the advantages:

1. Makes your business look professional

As one of the most popular ecommerce platforms, Shopify is a fertile target for scammers and deceptive practices. In fact, according to an analysis of the platform, 21% of Shopify stores pose a risk to their customers.

For that reason, customers don’t necessarily trust Shopify brands at face value anymore, which is why ensuring your business looks as professional as possible is so important—and using a residential address or PO Box doesn’t achieve that.

By contrast, a virtual office address will set your Shopify brand apart from the competition, providing you with a prestigious London business address that consumers will trust.

2. Privacy

Under the UK Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, online traders must make their business name, address and contact details ‘easily, directly, and permanently accessible’. This means you need to provide a physical address when you set up a Shopify store, and crucially make it available to your customers. This can be a residential address where you live, but do you really want to provide all of your customers and suppliers with your family’s home address?

A virtual office address is the ideal solution because not only does it protect your privacy, but it also avoids business correspondence getting mixed up with your family's post.

Although a PO Box can be used for your Shopify store, they are more expensive than virtual offices and provide fewer additional benefits, while you can’t use a PO Box to incorporate your Shopify business with Companies House if that’s something you want to do in the future.
This means that if you use a PO Box for your Shopify store but then want to incorporate, you’ll have to use your family residence. This also impacts your privacy, as under the Companies Act 2006 and related disclosure rules, all UK limited companies must have a registered office address listed on the public record at Companies House, meaning anyone can look it up and discover your home address.

3. Call forwarding and mail forwarding services

It's compulsory to add contact info during the Shopify registration process. This means you will frequently get calls and emails related to orders. This can be a problem when you don’t have a physical office because you’ll need to use your mobile or home phone number, making it hard to switch off from your business.
Fortunately, the best virtual office providers can also offer virtual phone number services, with forwarding to a phone number of your choice to protect the privacy of your personal number while also being able to specify set times for when calls can be forwarded.

4. Cost-saving

The early days of running a Shopify store are never easy, especially before you establish a regular customer base and a consistent revenue stream.

This means renting dedicated office space is usually out of reach for Shopify startups, with the cost of rent and the associated overheads making it hard to justify, particularly if you’re based in London or one of the other major UK cities.

By contrast, a virtual office address can be available for a very low monthly cost. For example, a virtual office address from Hoxton Mix is available from just £19 per month, allowing you to present a professional image without the price tag.

5. Convenience

A virtual office provides Shopify business owners with a simple and convenient way to manage their orders, returns and official business correspondence from the comfort of their own home, while additional services like virtual phone forwarding can make it even easier to run your business remotely.

What’s more, you can set up your virtual office online within minutes, with no lengthy application process to go through. This means you can get started promoting your new address to customers straight away.

Steps on how to get a virtual address for a Shopify store

Before securing your Shopify store’s virtual address, you should already have a Shopify business name and have decided on your business structure (sole trader, limited company or partnership).

Once you’ve done that, there are just four simple steps to getting started with your virtual office address.

Step 1: Determine the virtual office type that suits your shop

First, what are you selling or intend to sell on Shopify? This is important for determining the virtual office services you need for your e-commerce business.

If you’re selling a digital product, you only need to get a virtual office address that provides mail scanning, while you might decide that a virtual phone number is also useful..

However, if you’re going to be selling physical products, you’re also going to need mail and parcel forwarding to ensure you can process orders and returns effectively.

Step 2: Pick a virtual business address and a subscription plan

To choose a virtual business address for your Shopify store, simply select a virtual office provider and the package of your choice. For instance, at Hoxton Mix, we offer mail scanning as standard for just £19 per month, while mail forwarding is available as an optional extra for an additional £150 per year. You can also choose to pay monthly or annually and save around 30%.

Step 3: Make a payment

Finally, all you need to do is enter your payment details, and your virtual office address will be ready to use immediately for your Shopify business. Note that with Hoxton Mix, there are no setup costs or hidden fees.

Choose the Hoxton Mix and set up your virtual business address in a matter of minutes

Hoxton Mix — your best bet for virtual services

Here at Hoxton Mix, we’ve been providing virtual office services to small businesses just like yours since 2010, helping over 60,000 companies in that time. We have also helped hundreds of entrepreneurs kickstart their Shopify business.
Contact us to find out more about the difference a virtual office address can make to your Shopify business.

Final thoughts

Securing a virtual address is a great solution for Shopify business owners who don’t have a brick-and-mortar store, are not yet in a position to invest in one, or who want to remain online-only.

Ready to explore address alternatives for your business? Discover our virtual address solutions starting from £0.63 a day.

Have questions? Contact us via live chat, call 020 3475 3374 or email help@hoxtonmix.com.

FAQ

What are the benefits of using a virtual address for Shopify stores in the UK?

Advantages of a virtual address for business include cost-savings compared to a physical office, enhancing your professional image, protecting your privacy and allowing you to register your business with Companies House without having to publicise your family home.

How much does a virtual address for a Shopify store cost?

At the Hoxton Mix, the starting price for a virtual address offering basic plans is £19 per month. However, we offer a number of additional services, such as mail forwarding and virtual phone numbers, for relatively small additional fees.

Why use a virtual address for Shopify instead of a home address?

There are a number of drawbacks to using your home address, not least risking your family’s privacy. What’s more, consumers might not trust your business if it appears to be based in a residential area, while it’s also harder to manage business correspondence and order processing.

Can you use a PO Box for Shopify?

You can use a PO Box on your Shopify shipping labels, but note that you cannot use it for payment processing, although this address isn’t made public to your customers. However, although a PO Box can be used for your Shopify store, if you ever wish to incorporate your business and register with Companies House, you’ll need a virtual office address or use your home address, which would be publicly available information.