If you're a Nigerian freelancer—whether a designer, copywriter, social media manager, or developer—Shopify store owners are some of the highest-paying clients you can land. A store owner running ₦2–5 million in monthly revenue isn't shopping on Fiverr or Upwork for a ₦5,000 gig. They're looking for professionals who understand their business and can directly impact their bottom line.
The problem? Most freelancers don't know how to find these clients or how to pitch them. They keep competing on saturated platforms instead of going direct. This guide shows you exactly how to get Shopify store owners as clients in Nigeria—with realistic income figures, timelines, and the tools that actually work.
Let's start with numbers. A typical Shopify store owner in Nigeria making ₦1–3 million monthly will happily pay ₦150,000–₦500,000 for:
In USD terms, that's $100–$300+ per project. If you land 2–3 Shopify clients per month at this rate, you're earning $200–$900 monthly just from them. That's ₦360,000–₦1.6 million naira monthly—far more sustainable than gig-stacking on Upwork.
But here's the real advantage: Shopify owners are motivated. They have cash flow from sales, they understand ROI, and they'll pay for results. They're not the "I'll pay you when I get paid" type you encounter on freelance platforms.
You can't just Google "Shopify store owners Nigeria" and get a list. Shopify stores don't come with a publicly searchable database. You need either:
Most Nigerian freelancers don't realize option 3 exists. They waste weeks trying option 1 and give up.
Key Insight: The fastest way to start getting Shopify clients isn't "outreach strategy"—it's having a verified list of Shopify store owners' emails and phone numbers ready to go. Everything else flows from having real contact data.
This is non-negotiable. You need a list of actual Shopify store owners with their email addresses, phone numbers, and store URLs. Here's where to get one:
Freelance LeadsHub lets you download targeted business leads by niche and country. For Shopify store owners specifically in Nigeria, you can filter by:
What you get per lead: store owner name, email address, phone number (when available), store URL, and estimated monthly revenue (based on traffic analysis).
Pricing: The platform offers three plans:
For your first campaign, start with the Starter Plan. Download the Nigeria Shopify list, filter for stores with estimated revenue ₦1M+, and you'll have 200–400 high-quality prospects ready to pitch. Cost: ₦20,000. Potential return: if you land just one client at ₦200,000, you've already broken even 10x over.
Tools like Koala Inspector or Whatrun can identify Shopify stores, but they're expensive (₦50,000–150,000/month), harder to filter by Nigeria, and require manual export. If you're serious long-term, they're worth it. For starting out, Freelance LeadsHub is cheaper and already Nigeria-filtered.
Search "Shopify store owner Nigeria" or "e-commerce business owner Lagos" on LinkedIn. Connect with 10–15 people daily, message them with a personalized pitch. This takes 3–4 weeks to generate one solid lead, but it costs nothing except time (and ₦500/month data).
Recommendation: Start with Option A (Freelance LeadsHub). Spend ₦20,000, get 400+ leads, and run a cold email campaign. While that's running, also do manual LinkedIn outreach as a second channel.
Download a targeted list of businesses with real emails and phone numbers — by niche and country — in seconds. Sign up free, pay once, pitch immediately.
Get My Lead List →You have the list. Now you need an email that makes a Shopify owner open it, read it, and reply. Most cold emails fail because they're generic. Here's what works:
Subject: I checked out your skincare store Hi Zainab, I was scrolling through your skincare line yesterday—your vitamin C serum looks solid. I noticed you're getting good Instagram traffic, but your email list seems small. Most store owners I work with have the same issue: plenty of visitors, but too many one-time buyers. Then they're stuck spending more on ads just to survive. I help Shopify stores build email sequences that turn browsers into repeat customers. I worked with a Lagos-based beauty brand last quarter—they went from 8% repeat rate to 22% repeat rate in 90 days, just by fixing their post-purchase emails and abandoned cart flows. I'm not promising magic, but if you're interested in seeing what's possible for your store, I'd like to grab 15 minutes next week and walk through some quick wins. Down for a chat? —Chioma | Shopify Email Strategist | +234 901 234 5678
Notice: specific, personalized, problem-focused, one solution offered, real result mentioned, easy ask. This gets replies.
Don't send 400 cold emails manually from your Gmail. You'll get rate-limited, flagged as spam, and your account might be suspended. Use a bulk email tool built for cold outreach.
Recommended: Zaram Web Mailer (zaramwebmailer.online). It's designed specifically for cold email campaigns and handles:
Load your Freelance LeadsHub list into Zaram Web Mailer, set your email sequence, and launch. Send 50–80 emails per day. Expect 15–25% open rate and 2–5% reply rate from good cold email campaigns.
Pro Tip: Send emails Tuesday–Thursday, 9 AM–11 AM Nigeria time. Weekend and Monday emails get lower engagement because business owners are swamped.
Most Nigerian freelancers give up after one email. Don't. Your follow-up sequence matters more than your first email.
Zaram Web Mailer automates this entirely. Set it once, let it run.
For more on this, check out our guide on how to follow up with clients in Nigeria—it covers WhatsApp, phone, and email follow-up tactics specific to Nigerian business culture.
A response or meeting doesn't mean a sale. Here's how to close:
Start low to prove yourself. Land your first Shopify client at ₦50,000, deliver excellent work, then upsell to ₦150,000+ monthly retainers once they see ROI.
Total time investment: 15–20 hours of work to close first client. That's ₦3,000–10,000 per hour if you earn ₦50,000 from first project.
You might be wondering: why not just focus on Upwork/Fiverr? Here's the difference:
| Factor | Direct Cold Email (Shopify Owners) | Upwork/Fiverr |
|---|---|---|
| Project Rate | ₦80,000–500,000 | ₦5,000–50,000 |
| Platform Fee | 0% (paid directly to you) | 20–30% |
| Client Quality | Business owners, not price shoppers | Budget-conscious, "I'll pay you when..." |
| Payment Speed | 3–7 days (direct to Wise/Payoneer) | 14 days after completion |
| Repeat Business | 75%+ become long-term retainer clients | One-off gigs, rarely repeat |
Direct outreach to Shopify owners takes more upfront effort (finding leads, cold emailing), but the payoff is dramatically higher. For how to get high-paying clients in Nigeria, direct outreach is the most reliable method.
You download 400 leads, send one email, get 5 replies, then forget about it. The other 395 never hear from you again. Commit to a 4-email follow-up sequence. That's where real conversions happen.
"I can do copywriting, design, social media, ads, video—pick what you need." Confusing. Pitch one thing: "I help Shopify stores increase repeat customer rate." That's it. If they say yes, you upsell later.
A store owner wants proof you've done this before. Even if you've only worked with one client, use that. "I recently helped a Shopify store in Ikoyi increase their email revenue by 40%." Real number, real result. Builds trust instantly.
Shopify owners have budgets. Charging ₦15,000 for email copywriting signals low quality. Charge ₦100,000+. If they don't bite, they weren't serious anyway. Better to land 1 client at ₦200,000 than 10 at ₦20,000.
First project: one-time ₦100,000 gig. Then what? A month later, you're back to zero. Instead, propose monthly retainers: "I can manage your email campaigns for ₦80,000/month." That's sustainable income.
Once you land your first Shopify client and deliver results, scaling is straightforward:
By month 4, you should have 3–5 active Shopify clients. At ₦150,000 average per project, that's ₦450,000–750,000 monthly income. Scale from there by hiring a junior freelancer to handle simpler tasks while you focus on strategy and closing.
For more on scaling your freelance business, read how to make money online in Nigeria without investment—it covers building systems that generate income on autopilot.
A: The easiest way is to use Freelance LeadsHub, which lets you download filtered lists of Nigeria-based e-commerce business owners with their contact details. Alternatively, you can manually search LinkedIn for "Shopify store owner Nigeria," join Nigerian e-commerce Facebook groups, or use Shopify-specific tools like Koala Inspector (though those are more expensive and less Nigeria-focused). The lead list approach saves you weeks of manual research.
A: Start with your first client at a lower rate (₦50,000–80,000) but clearly state in your proposal: "I'm building my portfolio in the e-commerce space and offering this introductory rate in exchange for permission to use your results as a case study." Once you deliver results, you document everything—revenue increase, email open rates, conversion rate improvement—and use that in your next pitch. Your second client will be much easier to close because you now have real numbers to show.
A: Email first. Cold calls in Nigeria often come across as aggressive and rude, especially to busy store owners. Email is professional and gives them time to read and respond. However, include your WhatsApp or phone number in the email signature. If someone replies via WhatsApp instead of email, that's actually better—Nigerians respond faster on WhatsApp. After 3–4 email exchanges, a phone call becomes appropriate.
A: It depends on the service and the store's size, but here's a baseline: if the store owner is doing ₦1M+ monthly in sales, they can afford ₦100,000–300,000 per project. For monthly retainers, charge ₦100,000–200,000/month for ongoing work. Start low on your first client (₦50,000–80,000) to build proof, then scale rates as you gain case studies. Never undervalue yourself—low prices signal low quality, and Shopify owners respect freelancers who charge professionally.
Getting Shopify store owners as clients comes down to three things:
Start this week. Download a lead list, customize your cold email template, and send the first batch of 50 emails. Your first Shopify client is 10–14 days away. Your first ₦100,000+ payment is 3–4 weeks away.
This beats competing on Upwork every single time.
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