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Whether you have unique handmade items you’d like to sell or you want to start a wholesale or dropshipping business, you’ll need a great website with eCommerce functionality to be successful online. With relatively low upfront costs and many great code-free site builders available, it’s easier than ever to start an eCommerce business. In this article, we’ll show you how to start an online store in just eight easy steps. Make your eCommerce business dreams a reality today! payroll invoicing
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The first step in starting your online store is to determine a niche market you’d like to serve. One of the biggest mistakes new business owners make is not focusing on the three components of choosing a niche:
Your target audience is just as important as your niche. You want to make sure the products you sell will interest them and that they can purchase what you’re selling with no trouble. Don’t ask people for their opinion on your product if they’re not in your target audience.
Once you’ve determined your niche and target audience, it’s time to decide on your product or service line. This can be the hardest part of starting your online store. You want to make sure you’re not selling a product that’s too expensive to produce or that no one is searching for. It’s also important to make sure you have the resources, such as storage and shipping, to accommodate your products.
If you choose a product that’s already popular, how will you differentiate yours from the best? Can you improve on an existing product? How will you make sure your online store is the go-to source for this product?
Once you know what you want to sell, the next step is to choose your brand or business name and create your brand assets, such as your logo. For some, this step might come very easily and, for others, this can be very challenging. One way that businesses often weed through name ideas is by going to a domain name registrar, such as GoDaddy and searching for available domains. The reason is, ideally, you want your domain name to match your business name.
If you’re not sure where to begin when creating your logo, Canva is a great place to start. It offers dozens of free and easy-to-customize logo templates. In case you don’t want to try your hand at logo design, you can always hire someone to do it for you from platforms like Fiverr and 99Designs.
To process payments for your online store, you’re going to need employer identification number (EIN). To get an EIN, you need to register your online store as a business in your state. While you can register as a sole proprietorship or corporation, generally small businesses register as a limited liability company (LLC), which helps protect your personal assets should your company get sued.
There are also tax advantages to creating one for your new company, so check with your tax advisor to see if an LLC is the best option for you. The process of registering your business will vary from state to state, so it’s best to refer to your state’s Secretary of State for more detailed information on the process. Alternatively, you can always use a business registration service, such as LegalZoom or ZenBusiness.
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Next, it’s time to choose an e-commerce platform. This is the platform where you will build and manage your online store. There are a number of great e-commerce platforms to choose from, such as Squarespace, Shopify and Square. However, each platform comes with its own unique set of features, which impact affordability, capabilities, and user-friendliness, so it’s worth taking the time to find the right one for you.
Here are a few of the best e-commerce platforms for easily building an online store:
For more insights and information and to help you choose the right one for your online store, check out the best e-commerce solutions.
Once you have decided which e-commerce platform you want to use, the next step is to go to that platform and create an account and begin building your online store. While the steps will vary depending on which platform you’re using, typically the steps will more or less involve the following.
How to build an online store website:
Follow along with our detailed step-by-step instructions that walk you through how to build a website.
Once your online store is up and running, optimize it for search engines so that it can get found online and in search engines, such as Google. This will help your website increase its visibility, gain more website visitors, and generate more sales–all for free.
Here are a few things you can do to optimize your site:
Once your online store is up and running, you need to market it. The reason for this is that building a business through SEO is a key component in your long-term strategy. Marketing your products and services will help bring in traffic now.
Here are several ways you can promote your online store:
The best way to promote your online store depends on your business and the products or services you’re selling. Successful marketing campaigns contain many, if not all, of these strategies at the same time. Try a few different methods and see which ones work best for you.
Customizable templates, Easy drag-and-drop technology, SSL certificate
AI Content Assistant, drag-and-drop editor, premium hosting, live chat
There’s a reason the current generation is often called the instant gratification generation: our world is more connected—and easily accessible—than ever. With a few clicks of a button, people from all over the world can purchase your products and services 24/7, 365 days per year, provided you have an online website. Sometimes, this is referred to as an e-commerce store. The overall look, speed and quality of your site can make or break a sale.
The cost to start an online store varies depending on the platform you choose and the features you need. Some platforms are free to use, while others have a monthly fee. You can find e-commerce solutions for less than $30 per month. Then, just pay for marketing, products and shipping.
You can get products for your online store from a variety of sources, including wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors. Popular aggregators of manufacturers include Alibaba and DHgate. Many store owners use sites like Faire or Abound for wholesale products.
The easiest way to start an online store with no money is to sell services or digital products and choose a free e-commerce platform. This way, you only pay per transaction. Examples include printable products, editing services and PDF workbooks.
An e-commerce platform gives you the tools to design an attractive-looking page or series of pages for customers to visit and learn more about you but that website has to be hosted somewhere, which is what an e-commerce website host does. Websites are hosted on platforms that can support the traffic being sent to them.
In addition to having sections for your goods or services and a place to check out, you should also have sections or pages that include your contact details, an about page that provides details about your store and its offerings, a frequently asked questions (FAQs) page that can help answer some of the questions your customer may have regarding your store of what you have to offer and a policy page that offers you some form of legal protection in case there are disputes―this section or page should deal with information related to your liability, return policy, privacy policy and similar issues.
One of the easiest businesses to start also has the lowest overhead: selling digital goods. This can include items such as e-books, online courses, audio files or software. If you have expertise in a particular area or niche, this is a great option for you. Dropshipping is also a great option because you don’t have to keep inventory. You could also buy wholesale products or create your own. Once you create your product, you can sell it through your own website or third-party platforms, such as Amazon or Etsy.
tax consultancy shanghai Katherine Haan is a small business owner with nearly two decades of experience helping other business owners increase their incomes.