The details
A Shopify course built from real, live businesses. Learn how to build and run a Shopify store with Claude AI and Make, from someone who runs a 6,000-course marketplace and a site-services marketplace this way, from a browser.
No code and no developer. Claude AI does the technical work as your AI agent inside your Shopify store and Make account. You decide what you want, approve its plan before anything changes, and check the result.
Most Shopify courses teach you the tools. This one teaches the method I use every day on businesses that take real money: what I built, how I built it, what went wrong, and the rule I follow now. You get the mistakes as well as the wins, so you can skip the expensive ones.
What you'll learn
- How to choose the right Shopify business model: marketplace, services, lead generation, digital products or physical products
- How to set up physical products with accurate weights, stock tracking and shipping rates
- How to connect Claude to Shopify as an AI agent, safely, and use it to build and manage your store from a browser
- How to have Claude change your theme safely on a copy, so you never break a live store
- How to have Claude set up custom fields and content (metafields and metaobjects) without paying for apps
- How to run a catalogue of thousands of products, with Claude applying your rules and making bulk updates safely
- The mistakes that cost money, and the checks that prevent them
- SEO and AI search built in as you go: pages that rank, structured data and answer-first content
- How to have Claude build Make automations for enquiry routing, reports and reminders
- Taking payments: one-off sales through Shopify's checkout, subscriptions through Stripe, and a launch checklist for going live
Course outline
- Start here: what Shopify can sell: a beginner's guide to Shopify, Claude and Make, then marketplaces, services, digital products and physical products, and choosing your model before you build
- Your setup: Claude AI, Shopify and a browser: running a Shopify business without a developer, and connecting Claude to Shopify safely
- Building your store without breaking it: the duplicate-theme rule, metafields and metaobjects
- Running a catalogue at scale: the conventions that took a catalogue from 1,000 to 6,000 products, and bulk updates with Claude
- Mistakes that cost money: the inventory setting that quietly removed products, and the fact-checking rule for AI content
- SEO and AI search as you build: Shopify pages that rank, structured data and AI-ready content
- Automating your Shopify store with Make: webhooks, enquiry routing and scheduled automations
- Payments and going live: Shopify checkout for one-off sales, Stripe for subscriptions, and a launch checklist
18 lessons and 8 module quizzes, about 4 hours in total. It starts with a beginner's guide to what Shopify, Claude and Make each do, every lesson opens with a plain-English summary, and every lesson ends with a short exercise to do on your own store.
Who it's for
Beginners, business owners, operators and founders who want to build a real business on Shopify, whatever it sells, without hiring a developer for every change. No coding or Shopify experience needed. If you've never used Claude, Claude AI for Beginners is a helpful short course to take first (recommended, not required). You'll need:
- A Shopify store. A free trial store is fine: start a Shopify free trial with my link
- A paid Claude plan, to use Claude with its Shopify connection
- A Make account for the automation lessons: sign up to Make with my link
These are referral links: I may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.
How it works
- You take the course in Operator Academy, the course area of drewmitchell.co.uk, using the same account as your order: no separate app or password
- Instant access after payment: sign in to Operator Academy with the email you used at checkout, using a one-time code, with no password to remember
- Lifetime access: one payment, and your access never expires
- Written lessons with screenshots and copy-and-paste Claude prompts
- A short quiz at the end of each module
- Your progress is saved to your account, so you can pick up on any device
Your course appears in Operator Academy under My courses as soon as your order is paid.
Your verifiable certificate
Finish every lesson and pass every module quiz and you get an Operator Academy certificate of completion with your name, the course, your completion date and a unique certificate number.
- Download it as a PDF: a professional A4 certificate, ready to print or share
- Add it to LinkedIn in one click, linked to your verification page
- QR-code verified: anyone can scan the QR code, or enter the certificate number at drewmitchell.co.uk/pages/verify, to confirm it's genuine and see what the course covered
Useful for clients, employers and anyone who wants proof that you've learned to build and run a Shopify store with Claude AI and Make.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know how to code?
No. The course shows you how to use Claude AI to do the technical work, and how to check what it has done.
What does Claude do, and what do I do?
Claude does the technical work: setting up fields, writing theme code, bulk product updates, SEO titles and Make automations. You decide what you want, approve Claude's plan before it changes anything, check the result and press Publish. Every lesson shows you exactly what to check.
Is this a course for drop-shipping or a typical online shop?
It works for any Shopify business. It covers physical products (weights, stock and shipping), but most of it is built from marketplaces, service businesses and digital products, which most Shopify courses don't cover. It doesn't cover drop-shipping.
Do I need a Mac or Windows computer?
No. Everything in the course is done in a web browser. I run my own businesses from a Chromebook.
How long do I have access?
For life. Your access doesn't expire, so you can work through it at your own pace and come back to any lesson or prompt whenever you need it.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. When you finish every lesson and pass every module quiz, you can download a certificate of completion as a PDF and add it to your LinkedIn profile. Each certificate has a unique number and a QR code that links to a page on drewmitchell.co.uk confirming it's genuine.
Independent course by Drew Mitchell. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Shopify, Anthropic or Make. Shopify, Claude and Make are trade marks of their respective owners, used here only to describe the subject. Single-user licence.