Last updated on October 23, 2016
This is the perfect time for starting an online store. This is because more and more people are shopping online, which is convenient, fast and time saving experience. This is one of the main reasons why so many offline businesses that do not have e-commerce websites are quickly losing customers. Simply put, online shopping is great for both the shoppers and business owners.
The biggest advantage of starting an online store is that it allows small businesses to compete with big companies. Not to mention the fact that it’s much easier to start an online store than opening a retail space.
The good news is that online retail stores can be incredibly profitable. Numerous businesses that were on the brink of failure became very lucrative once they opened online stores. However, starting an online store can be overwhelming for many people. In this article you will learn the basics of setting up e-commerce stores as well as some solutions that make building online stores super easy and fast.
Tips For Starting an Online Store
– Do not open a general store. There are thousands of these on the internet and it will be very hard to compete with them. Your store should be focused on just one niche and sell only products that belong to this niche. Using this method, you will be viewed as an expert. This is a huge advantage over those stores that offer all kinds of items, such as Amazon.
– When building your online store, you can choose between several platforms. Every one of them has its own benefits and drawbacks, but there is one e-commerce website builder that is my first choice. More about it at the end of this article.
– The best thing you can do is to set up your store on your own domain. This will give you much more control than creating your store on sites such as eBay, Amazon and others. Pay special attention to selecting a good domain name. Think about the word choice and make it something that people will remember. Also make sure that it is relevant to your store. Be creative and don’t come up with something boring like “Bobs Store.” All this will help you in the long run.
– Your next job is to build up inventory. You may be tempted to sell every product you can find that belongs to your niche, but do not do it. It will be much more profitable if you have a good selection of products. So, offer only the best items.
– Another crucial aspect of your store is the layout and design. Please do not use generic templates offered by various platforms. It is very important that your online store has unique and clean design and layout. It means that your customer needs to put little effort to find the product that he/she wants to buy. For this reason, include the product search bar on top of every page.
– You need to provide the right amount of information about the products you are selling. Your customers must have enough information to make a buying decision.
– When it comes to pricing products you are going to sell, it is good idea to check out the prices of your competitors. This will help you avoid pricing your products too high or too low. Do not forget that the cost of the products can be dependent upon size, quantity, etc.
– At this point you should choose a payment plan. You can have a payment gateway or a merchant account. The best option is to have both. A payment gateway is service that authorizes payments for your online store. A good example is PayPal. When you set up a merchant account, you are able to accept credit or debit card payments on your e-commerce website.
– You also need to think about your shipping method if you are selling tangible products. There are three methods for shipping items: free shipping, flat rate shipping and variable rate shipping. Free shipping is usually for purchases over $100. Another option is to use a drop shipper if you don’t want to pack and ship your orders.
– Once you are finished with starting an online store, your need to start promoting it. This means getting visitors to your store. You can do this by optimizing your site for free search engine traffic, setting up a Facebook page, or using Google’s advertisement service AdWords.
If you do all the steps correctly, you should start earning a decent income very fast. You need to keep promoting your store. In addition, treat your customers properly. Pay special attention to repeat customers. They are your most important asset. Do all you can to make your customers happy and your business will grow.
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