If you want to start a business, setting up an online store can be a great way to do it. You can sell anything that you feel there’s demand for, and there are multiple ways of either sourcing or making the products that you want to sell. Getting an online store set up may not even take that long, so you could begin trading in only a matter of days or even less.
There’s the possibility of starting a store using an existing service such as Amazon, Etsy, or eBay, but you can also start an independent e-commerce website if you want to have more control. If you want to set up an online store, follow the steps below.
Research Your Business Idea
Don’t set up a store before you’ve worked out whether your business idea has legs. It’s important to have a good idea of whether you’re going to be able to make your online store successful. You’re likely to be facing a lot of competition, so it’s essential to do some research and find out whether there’s demand for the products that you want to sell. Find out about your potential customers as well as your potential competitors. What are other online stores doing and what are they not doing? Where might there be a gap in the market?
Decide How to Source Products
You need to know how you’re going to source the products that you sell in your online store. There are various ways you might find or make the products that you want to sell, depending on your business model. You might order products in bulk that you will then slowly sell through your store. If you don’t want to handle any inventory, you could consider drop shipping or a fulfillment service to do it all for you. If you want to make your own products, it could involve making them yourself or finding a manufacturing partner, as well as sourcing the materials that you need.
Design a Sleek Website
While you can quickly set up an online store using an existing service, there are benefits to creating your own self-hosted website. You have more control over your store if you create your own site instead of relying on the services of another provider. You can list as many products as you want, promote your store how you want to, and create a unique image for your brand too. Try using a no-code website builder to build your store without the need for any coding skills. You can find useful tools designed for e-commerce that will make it easy to put your store together.
Consider Legal Issues
Your online store is a business, so you need to think about any legal issues that could affect you when you’re selling products to the public. One thing that you might need to think about is insurance to protect your business against liability issues. If your products or services cause any damages to your customers, you want to be covered. Think about the legal matters of the store itself too. You should have clear policies for things like data privacy, shipping and returns, and anything else that it’s important to define when you’re selling things online.
Set Up Payment Methods
Providing your customers with a choice of payment methods can help you to increase your sales. People like to have options and may have a preferred payment method when shopping online. Setting up secure payment gateways will ensure your customers can pay in the way that they prefer and they can trust that their payment details will be safe. There are various plugins, APIs, and other useful tools that will help you to connect different payment methods to your store.
Create Attractive Product Pages
Making your products look attractive is obviously important if you want to set up a successful online store. Creating product pages that show the best side of your products is one of the most important parts of setting up your store. When you’re adding products to your store, you should ensure they have photos and descriptions that provide an accurate picture but also help to promote your products. Write creative descriptions that work for your brand and use eye-catching photos. You might want to add other elements too, such as product videos or related products.
Work on SEO
Search engine optimization will help people to find your store and the specific products in your store too. You should pay attention to SEO when setting up your site and creating product pages. Use both short-tail and long-tail keywords to help people find your products, especially if you have a lot of competition. You should cover different SEO techniques, from on-page content and metadata to off-page SEO methods such as link building.
Offer Online Support
Support for your customers is a must if you want to provide a good level of customer service. They want to know where they can get help if they need it, and it shouldn’t be difficult for them to get in touch with you. You might offer a way to get in touch via email or phone, but there are also other options you can offer. A live chat function can provide them with real-time support when they need help. You can use a combination of a chatbot and human representatives to provide the support that they require.
To do this you’ll need a reliable internet connection. The last thing your customers want is to have to wait patiently for a reply while you deal with a bad connection. ATT internet plans are ideal for small businesses that operate online and heavily rely on good internet connection. You can’t provide your customers with the support they need without a solid online presence.
Promote Your Store
When your store is set up, it’s time to start promoting it. Working on SEO is one thing that you should be doing, but there are other ways to promote your store too. For example, PPC adverts using Google Ads and similar ad networks will allow you to start promoting your store. Email marketing is another great way to keep customers coming back and to find new customers too. Content marketing is another option if you want to promote your store.
Set up a successful online store by using the right tools and designing a store that appeals to your target market.