Starting an online store can be a challenging task, but with the right tools and guidance, it can be a rewarding and profitable venture. Whether you are an experienced entrepreneur or just starting out, creating an online store can help you reach a wider audience and grow your business.
How to Start an Online Store
Choosing an E-commerce Platform
Identifying Your Target Audience
Selecting Products
Designing the Site
Connecting a Payment Gateway
Choosing a Business Structure
Preparing the Store for Launch
Launching the Store
Marketing the Store
Choosing an E-commerce Platform
An e-commerce platform allows you to build and operate an online store experience, make sales, and fulfill orders. Most people think of an e-commerce platform as similar to a website builder: you simply list new products and accept payments online. But it can do so much more.
When considering how to create a website to sell products online, think of your e-commerce platform as the control center for your entire business, where you manage everything from inventory to marketing, and it provides you with all the tools you need to sell online and offer customer support.
Key features to look for in an e-commerce platform include:
- Ease of use. Your e-commerce software should be user-friendly, especially if you’re building it yourself initially. Look for an easy-to-use tool that employs a drag-and-drop store builder to easily create your online store. Schedule a demo or a free trial if you’d like to explore it for yourself.
- Available customer support. Look for a platform that offers support all the way through. For example, with Shopify, you can get help launching your site or migrating from another platform, along with ongoing support. Support teams are available 24/7 via live chat, email, or even phone, whenever you need it, in 19 different languages.
- Smooth checkout process. A seamless checkout is crucial for completing sales. Look for an e-commerce platform that makes purchasing products easy for shoppers. If you use Shopify, Shop Pay simplifies the online checkout process, speeding it up by four times. You can also utilize Shopify’s add-ons, with over 100 payment gateways to accommodate different payment methods and currencies.
- Web hosting. A web host stores the information and content for your business website on a server’s database. You need web hosting to allow people to access your online store. Some e-commerce software provides built-in web hosting, while others require you to use a third-party solution.
When choosing your e-commerce software, look at your current and future needs. Some platforms may be the best solution for today, but a robust platform like Shopify can start quickly and support your future growth.
Start a free trial from Shopify and build your e-commerce store with one of our professionally designed templates. The trial period should give you enough time to start an online store ready for launch if you follow this guide and remember you can continue adding products and improving your store after launch. Compare e-commerce platforms Shopify, BigCommerce, Commerce Cloud, Lightspeed, Magento, Prestashop, Squarespace, Webflow, Wix, WooCommerce, and WordPress.
Identifying Your Target Audience
Your target audience is the group of people on whom your marketing efforts are focused. When starting an e-commerce business, knowing your ideal target audience is crucial. This helps you find new customers easily and attract interested buyers to your website, leading to increased conversion rates and more sales.
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Creating an audience of any size or attribute, depending on the products you plan to sell. However, there are three main categories to consider as a new e-commerce entrepreneur:
- Demographic attributes. These include characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, education, and income.
- Location. This groups segments the market based on geographic location, so you can better serve a specific area.
- Interests. These are based on psychographics and include trends, personality, opinions, and lifestyle of your audience.
If you already have a product, choosing a target audience is easier. Ask yourself: who buys my product? What are their characteristics? How old are they? Compile that information into a buyer persona and include it in your business plan. You will need it when writing your website copy and your marketing campaigns.
If you don’t have a product yet, think about the types of people you know well. For example, you may love pets and understand other pet owners in their forties and fifties well. You are likely to have a good idea of what they like and don’t like, their needs and concerns. These could be your target audience.
To sell your products online, you need to truly know and appreciate your audience. For more help in defining them, read “Finding Your Ideal Customer: How to Define and Reach Your Target Audience.”
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