How to open an online store from scratch

Decide what you will sell

The online store is just a tool. It is much more important not how you will sell, but what. Let it be the most convenient site and excellent delivery, but if your product is not needed by people, the business will burn out. So you need to start by looking for an idea.

If you are producing something, obviously this point will be simple for you. If you intend to resell goods, you will have to thoroughly study potential competitors. It is a great success to find a free niche, but in the third decade of the 21st century it is not so easy to do this. Therefore, you will have to spend a lot of time to understand how you can stand out from the peers. For example, suggest:

a wider range of goods - if there is an opportunity to get everything in one order, people are happy to use it;
faster and / or more convenient delivery;
convenient return system;
bonus system.

Until you fill in all the holes in the theoretical part, postpone the transition to the practical.

Register a business

If you are serious, you will have to legalize. You can register an individual entrepreneur or LLC. While you are not selling anything, but just getting ready, the tax office is unlikely to be interested in you. But it’s not her. You need an official status right now to establish cooperation with companies with which you will enter into contracts - suppliers, contractors, and so on.

Find Suppliers

If you don't make the product yourself, you have to get it from somewhere. So you have to deal with suppliers. In order not to overpay too much for mediation and reduce the risk of being "thrown", it is best to contact the manufacturer or its official distributor.

But this is not always possible due to the volume of purchases. For example, if a plant ships only batches of 1,000 or more items, and you need 10 pieces, there is no point in concluding a contract directly for you. We'll have to look for intermediaries.

Some products may require styling. For example, you are selling a leather skirt with an unusual cut. It will become much clearer and more attractive if you collect several images with it and demonstrate it on the model.

And here you may need the services of not only a professional photographer, but also a make-up artist, hairdresser, stylist. In general, go back to budget and common sense.

Register a domain name

No surprises here: the domain name should be easy to remember, fairly simple and short, with a clear extension. Let's say pudra.ru is much better than kosmetikaikisti.narod.hn.

Set up a payment system

To accept payments, you need an online checkout that can be integrated into the site's CMS. With its help, you will send customers electronic receipts that confirm the purchase. You will also need to connect a payment system so that customers can transfer money to you. Now there are ready-made convenient solutions, thanks to which it is possible not only to embed a payment form into a website page, but also to issue invoices with a link sent by mail or in a messenger.

Sign contracts with delivery services

Choose reputable companies. If the goods arrive late or in poor condition, you will still be the last one.

Promote your online store

No matter how well you handled the previous steps, no one will know about your accomplishments without ads. You will have to think about a marketing strategy even at the idea generation stage. The steps to take will depend on your product and your target audience.

Obviously, denture glue and hype jeans are best offered at different venues.

Use the power of social media and advertise your online store there. Order ads from influencers. Raise your site in the search for keywords. Connect an email newsletter. Lure customers with promotions and discounts. Do everything so that people know about you.

Improve your online store

It is unlikely that it will be possible to do everything right away so that no changes are required. There is a lot of work ahead to improve the site where problems will emerge. Listen to advice, guidance, and especially angry reviews. And also constantly analyze all the data to understand where the weaknesses are and what customers want from you.

An online store is a business. A working idea is most important. When they say that making an online store is easy, they mean the technical part of the question. And it really isn't that difficult. However, before you go directly to creating an online store, think through everything you can think of.