This is a guide for beginners that covers 20 steps to start an online store. From zero to the day of payday.
Configuring how to begin an online store All on your own it can be daunting. It’s true, there are lots of questions: What do you offer? How do you convince people to purchase? Where can you promote your products? How can you receive funds from individuals and process transactions? What is the best way to handle credit card information? and so on.
But don’t fret we’re here to address your questions and assist you in learning how to set up your online store efficiently and effectively, in a manner that will convince people to buy!
Here’s everything you should learn about selling online. The next section is an 20-step step-by-step guide for opening an online shop.
Editorial Note: This article was first published on November 9, 2018, and has been completely overhauled and revised to ensure completeness and accuracy.
How to begin an online store that is successful Your beginner’s guide in 20 steps
Table of Contents
- Choose the appropriate e-commerce platform
- Don’t neglect mobile users
- Create an incredible first impression
- Why photos matter
- Enhance the navigation on your website
- Have a unique idea
- Craft a strong USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
- Begin blogging
- Create a stunning About Us page
- Design a successful SEO strategy
- Make sure you are targeting the right person by offering the appropriate product
- Chat Live Chat to assist customers who are interested in using it to make quicker decision-making
- to coupon, or not coupon
- Enhance the Shopping Cart Experience
- Create a successful shipping strategy
- Request feedback
- Think about your approach to newsletters
- Let people know that your website is secure and reliable.
- Make use of the potential of social media in order to advertise your business
- Introduce a referral system
Step 1: Select the most appropriate e-commerce platform
If you’re planning to begin an online store the first item to be done is choosing an online shopping platform.
A platform for e-commerce is a specific kind of website which allows customers to purchase the products or services of your small-scale company. This tool allows customers can complete their purchase without leaving your website. A eCommerce platform will notify you when an order has been placed in.
It’s basically your all-in-one online selling system.
If you’re looking to master the art of selling online it is impossible to achieve it without a high-quality eCommerce solution available. Tools like these can help bring your business concepts to life, and will ensure that you make profits online.
Knowing how to select the eCommerce platform is the crucial difference between the success and the failure of your store.
In the end, you do not want the burden of dealing with problems with transactions or orders of customers disappearing or shipping details that are incorrectly set and don’t get my mind going on about security issues.
Here at ecommerce-platforms.com, examining and testing the top ecommerce solutions in the market is literally all we do. Every week, we evaluate what’s latest in the world of e-commerce and then let our audience of freelancers, business owners and affiliate marketers know the outcomes.
The most recent research projects we’ve been conducting is our chart of comparisons of the most popular e-commerce platforms on the market. We consider a variety of aspects into consideration in determining which platform is the most popular.
Step 2 – Don’t neglect mobile users
A successful online business requires knowing how to get your business to customers no matter where they are. ,
An effective mobile plan doesn’t only about not ignoring people who use mobile devices…
Actually it is recommended to begin with mobile from the beginning!
It might seem odd, however mobile is the final destination for understanding how to set up an online store. The reality is that more people browse the internet via mobile devices than laptops and desktop computers together. Here’s how statistics for 2017 is interpreted:
| Usage | Percentage |
| Desktop | 0.37 |
| Mobile | 0.63 |
However, there’s more that is to the mobile tale.
Nowadays, Google also takes mobile more seriously than desktop. With one of their recent modifications to their algorithm Google has decided to create the “mobile index” the primary index of the entire search engine. The meaning of this in simple English can be that Google is now using mobile-friendly content on your website to determine your position in the search engine.
If, for example, your website doesn’t display properly on mobiledevices, it’s likely that your entire business will fail, regardless of the fact that you’ve got online classes or webinars, podcasts, or even just blog posts on your website.
Fortunately, the platform we recommend to each new eCommerce store proprietor to choose Shopify Shopify is as mobile-friendly as it can be. For owners of businesses it means you don’t have to be concerned about this aspect in the least. If you’ve created your own online presence for your business using a different platform such as a self-hosted combination with WordPress or WooCommerce (which is also a well-known solution) You must ensure that the site appears well on mobile devices of your own.
To verify if your website is mobile-friendly, you can use Google’s mobile friendly tool. Enter your web address and then check the results.
If you find that the design isn’t ideal, think about altering the design of your online store’s style as soon as you can ( here’s some more information on this topic). If you’re a small-scale business owner who is using the free design template, and aren’t sure how to alter the design of your website and you’re not sure how, you may need to find some additional assistance. There are a lot of web design professionals that can help you on the basis of an hourly rate. But, you may find that the most efficient option is to move to an alternative eCommerce platform that is easier to modify.
Step 3 – Create an unforgettable first impression
There’s a reason why running an online business can be extremely complicated.
It’s not just working as a freelancer and selling your services on the internet. You must figure out ways to earn money online while engaging with your customers. To master the art of how to sell on the internet first of all you have to ensure that you keep users on your website. It takes around half a second for users to determine whether they’re satisfied with your site or not.
You’re looking for – and you need to be as original as you possibly can. It could be like the header of your website or the name you use for it. These guidelines can help you select the most appropriate name and website for your online store. It is also essential to choose the most effective design , so select the appropriate template for your design and provide an experience that is unique for your customers. Or, you can contact an expert in web design if you require.
The first impression you make can last for a lifetime So you want your site to be memorable and unique as you can but still in line with the goals of your website and what you plan to sell your goods online.
Step 4 – Why photos matter
There’s definitely a lot more involved in managing an online business nowadays than simply enrolling with dropshipping vendors and finding the perfect web hosting provider to help bring your business plans to reality. If you’re looking to begin making money full-time through your online venture, you’ll need lots of support.
The most crucial things you can invest to increase your odds of conversions is using images.
Your clients will be able to remember 80percent of what they see , and 20 percent of the content they read.
Large product images and a stunning design are two of the main areas to concentrate on if you wish to create a visually appealing e-commerce website.
Cool photos checklist:
- Make sure to use a completely white background to let your products shine
- Make your purchase big enough to grab the attention of your customers and let them know exactly what they’re purchasing.
- Enable zooming so that your customers can view every single minute detail.
- Provide product images from different angles
- If you don’t wish to, or do not have the appropriate equipment, go with professional photographers (not affordable if you’re selling hundreds of things)
Examples: Free People Free People is a great illustration. They have cool and trendy product images You’ll get lost on their website by clicking on products after products. It’s addictive. On the main page, they offer a variety of deals and products organized in categories, but they change their images frequently to give you a completely fresh look each time they release.
Example Minted
In a completely different market, Minted has the most elegant and vibrant design. They usually incorporate decor with their merchandise, making them Pinterest-friendly.
A few facts about good images of products that could make you want that you should invest your money in this part of learning how to sell on the internet:
66 percent of customers would like to see other perspectives on an item
for 75% of the population for 75% of people, the quality of pictures is the primary element.
61% of customers would like for zooming in the image
Do you need free images for your blog or to showcase your images? Consider bookmarking these 40 websites offering free images for reference. They all have modern and stunning images.
Alternately, you could think about taking yourself business pictures. You can easily take or edit the pictures using your smartphone and basic software. This is an excellent method to allow your business online ideas stand out by having something distinctive.
Step 5: Improve the navigation on your website
In addition to creating your small business’s website to appear attractive, you’ll have to ensure that it’s working properly. Whatever business model you’re looking to pursue such as dropshipping, affiliate marketing and online classes webinars, podcast publications, or even sales on products to product sales – UX is crucial.
The term UX is a reference to “user experience” and is the way your visitors feel surfing your site. One of the most effective methods to enhance your UX is to boost the way you navigate.
You’d like to provide a stress-free navigation to visitors, so that they can quickly find what they’re looking for. If they are unable to locate it, they won’t be able to purchase it.
These strategies are easy to implement and have proven to be highly effective
A) Include an “What’s the latest” category
What ever type of business you’re running from a dropshipping shop to a traditional eCommerce environment, you’re likely be updating regularly.
Your loyal customers are likely to want to check out your latest offerings. They won’t want to scroll through old items in search of new products. Add a “New Products” tab on your navigation menu to draw attention to it and also to draw new visitors to stick around on your website.
B) You should have a “Recently seen” feature.
It’s a pain to look online for something only to decide to go back to a product that you’ve seen several clicks ago, but finding it’s not that simple. Users can Use your back button to go back to the category, or go through the history of browsing.
Examples: Pottery Barn Pottery Barn makes this simple. When users land on a page for a product and click on it, they will see at their right hand side the tab ‘Recently Viewed which allows them to browse through the latest products they have browsed.
Make use of drop-down menus
You might use your online business to display a variety of business ideas simultaneously. For instance, you could have blogs on which you could earn money through webinars and affiliate marketing, that can earn passive income, or an online membership site where you can develop an email list within the same site. If this is the case, you’ll need an easy method for your clients to track everything you provide.
The navigation process runs much more fluid and takes fewer clicks, making your customers happy and less stress-stricken. But, you must be certain that your site won’t need to contend with the notorious hover tunnels issue – in the event that you need to take a particular route to get there, the menu will not shut down. The best way to do this is to create a menu that will accessible upon a click, making sure that your visitors can easily navigate.
Examples: John Lewis and Amazon John Lewis and the tiny company named Amazon Amazon are only two instances of using this to benefit.
If you’re interested in learning more about navigation on websites look into the following investigation. It details precisely how menus have changed in the years between 2011 and 2014. on 23 sites.
Naturally, the landscape of online businesses that are successful has drastically changed in the past two years, but this can provide you with a glimpse of how fast things can change over the course of two years.
Step 6 – Have a unique idea
Perhaps the most essential things entrepreneurs need to earn money online, is to think about a profitable idea. Ideas for online businesses might be straightforward to come across however there is a distinction between creating a basic idea and coming up with something that will bring in the team with a steady income. If you’re trying to ensure that your business is worthy of the investment required to start, then you should ensure you’re launching the correct type of company.
In the realm of e-commerce it’s a competitive marketplace where it’s not difficult to be lost in the sea of stores that appear similar. This is why it’s crucial to create a distinct presence and to offer something the competition doesn’t or isn’t presenting in similar to what you offer.
To make it easier for your own, take a look at exploring websites like Pinterest, Instagram, Amazon or Etsy to see what’s trending, what’s generating plenty of attention and so on. Consider what you could do to achieve the same atmosphere and apply it to promote your business efficiently.
Check these websites to see the latest trends:
An example: Beard Brand is a fashion brand for the urban beards man at first, they didn’t realize there was a market for the products they were trying to sell. Evidently, their tens of thousands of Facebook and Instagram customers disagree. They offer a variety of things including mustache combs, to oils for beards and they appear to keep running.
Step 7 – Craft a strong USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
After you’ve compiled an idea of what you want to do for your business to consider You can then consider what makes your small-scale company unique. In the end, there are many businesses online for your customers to pick from. You must convince your potential customers that there’s something unique about your business that is worthy of their attention.
What are the reasons you need to have an original selling proposition? There are about 10 million eCommerce websites! You read that right 10 million. It’s not enough to do it, you must have a unique selling point for you to be able to make those sales and begin living your the life of a full-time entrepreneur.
Every successful company has the “something” that makes it stand different from the rest. You need to take a moment and find out the thing that makes it stand out. A different option would be to conduct your own research, and then look more closely at your competitors. What do they focus on? What do they haven’t got? Do you have a way to make that available customer to them?
Examples: Fifty Three is about helping people to express their creativity and helping “set their thoughts free”. That’s why they’ve created an innovative iPad application for graphic note-taking.
Do you not know where to start with your USP when you’re trying to figure out the best way to begin an online store? Sam Horn, author of the bestselling book “POP! Create the Perfect Pitch title, tagline, and title for Everything” designed this W9 survey to help you understand the foundation of your company and create the ideal USP:
- W1. What can I offer?
- W2. What business issue do I have solutions and suggestions offer to resolve?
- W3. What is the reason it’s worth a try and purchase?
- W4. Who are my customers and what are they looking for from me?
- W5. My name is who I am and my qualifications?
- W6. What are my competitions and what makes me different from them?
- W7. What objections or resistances might people have against this?
- W8. What’s the point to my pitch?
- W9. What date, when and how do I would like people to be able to take action?
Step 8 – Start blogging
Once you’ve identified what your USP can be in your online business concepts You can begin to gain more attention for your business online. There are a variety of methods to draw people’s attention to your prospective customers online including SEO, to pay-per click advertising, even creating your own You tube channel.
However, the most efficient method to start is to start a blog.
If you are a blogger , you can boost your visitors’ number by more than 50 percent as well as have more leads every month. These are massive numbers that could bring in lots of additional income! Furthermore, if your blog is of high quality it can increase the likelihood of growing your readers by creating an email list and utilizing email marketing.
This is how you can enjoy these kinds of benefits. firstly:
Create content regularly online!
Ideally, you’d want to be able to have about 3-4 new articles written each week However, most people don’t have enough time to do that So, start slowly. It is possible to write minimum one piece every week, surely? If you’re able to, contemplate writing up 5-7 articles and schedule them in advance so you don’t need to deal with blogging in the coming weeks.
For example: Hershel Supply Hershel Supply publishes quite regularly on their blogs. The posts are brief and include images that are worthy enough to be posted on their Pinterest board. This method is most effective in areas that rely heavily on visual and design elements.
What should be published:
- personal experiences/opinions, so your customers get to know you and your business
- You can recommend products that you like
- Tips from your niche
- contests
- Some information about the store’s past
For a bonus As an added bonus, take a look at my 19 hot tips for marketing content and find out what tips you can incorporate into your blog posts.
Step 9 – Design an incredible “About Us” page
It is important to remember that your About Us page is a way to showcase your company, and you’ll want it to look appealing and modern. About 7 percent of people who visit an online homepage go to an About Us page. The ones who do convert 30 percent greater than visitors who do not. They also spend 22.5 percent more. This alone is enough to inspire you to start creating this page!
A frank, up-to-date as well designed About Us page can spark curiosity andmay, who knows it could lead to some sales from those who were just looking around. Your About Us page is likely to be the first page that thousands of visitors come to find out more about your business. You can also make use of this page to provide links to other information about yourself like the details of your eBay page, YouTube channel, or maybe even the details of your LinkedIn profile.
Examples: Yellow Leaf Hammocks Yellow Leaf Hammocks sells 100% hand-woven, custom hammocks. They have the Kick-ass About page that will certainly help to solve the puzzle of how to market their products online. Visitors will get all of their questions answered. The pictures and graphics keep them entertained and eager to find out more. Inspiring, inspiring, life-changing and for a good reason, Yellow Leaf Hammocks proves the importance of the About Us page is all about.
What information should you share in your about page
- the story behind your brand
- A video or a few captivating images that represent your image
- your friends, as long as you’re not on your own
- One or two of the reviews
- hyperlinks to some of the most popular or best products
Step 10 – Develop a successful SEO strategy
The creation of a beautiful site for your affiliate marketing program or online webinars or other business model is only one of the initial steps you should do as the business owner. Also, you’ll need to consider how you can attract your ideal customers to your website using the search engine’s optimization.
If you’re looking to master SEO and learn more about SEO, you’ll discover that the subject can be a bit daunting. There are a myriad of SEO elements – in essence about the factors that impact the SEO of your website – and the process of mastering them all is almost impossible.
To begin be aware that there are over 2.2 trillion Google search results per year, and 90 percent of people click on the top three results.
- These are a few SEO tips for helping you get started.
The first order of business is:
a) Optimize your product page.
Utilizing search engine optimization for your page for products means making use of keywords but not to an degree that you are over-stuffing your pages. Relevant keywords for your product in your headers and alt tags should be sufficient to boost your rankings and assist you in the best way to sell your product online.
B) Utilize friendly URLs.
The person visiting your site doesn’t want be able to read a million characters, therefore, once always make use of the keywords you’re trying to achieve and not much of any other information. Make sure it’s clean and user-friendly!
C) Maximize the value of the content created by users.
This doesn’t cost you anything and also provides new and exclusive information for search engines. Include the social media plugins and let users quickly go through the products they’ve purchased.
d) Avoid duplicate content.
Tags, archives in error, improper pagination and even basic filtering create duplicate content that can slow your website down.
You can get rid of problems like this by checking the settings on your ecommerce platform. If you’re on WooCommerce you can correct the majority of duplicate content issues using an extension of the Yoast SEO plugin. If you’re using Shopify You should be handled by the platform itself.
If you’re using another method it is possible to make use of the robots.txt file and make the necessary adjustments by hand.
In addition the fact that you can write your own product description rather than using the description provided by your manufacturer can be the best approach. Google will take note and will make you stand out from competitors using the same text for their products.
E) Keep pages that contain items that are not in stock.
Do not delete these pages, particularly if you have a high rank on them. Instead, display the related products or even your latest collection.
f) Be sure to have a well-thought-out the internal link system.
This can lower your bounce rates since the users have something to click. Recent studies have shown that 69 percent of users are influenced by these hyperlinks. Do not overthink it, try to think about your visitors’ viewpoint. What is important to them?
Be sure to think regarding the affiliate marketing links as well. What makes your potential customers be enticed to click?
G) Links to different web websites.
Contrary to the rumors you may hear, linking will not hurt your ranking. It will instead show those who visit your site that you intend to give them useful information and don’t mind linking to external sources. This will make you appear trustworthy and genuine.
H) Utilize Analytics.
It’s an easy decision. You can’t afford to not use Analytics to gain more understanding of what happens within the online shop.
Do you not know where to begin? Take a look at this list of the top 10 Google Analytics resources for ecommerce. It can help you keep on top of what happens within your store.
Who does SEO well?
If you’re looking for top-quality SEO and selling via the web, Zappos is the ideal model.
Example: Zappos They have highly optimized product pages:
- They use more simple and specific product keywords
- Instead of putting in a product description that is overloaded and forced by keywords, these descriptions present the products’ features in a bullet-point list
- They also have a companion product that is featured to keep users engaged and increase the likelihood of an upsell
- the slider that displays products that customers have saw the same item have the same goal
- More reading It is the SEO professional, Brian Dean, put together a fantastic guide to the subject of e-commerce SEO. Read it on this page.
Step 11 – Target the correct customer with the appropriate product
Making your business concepts online to fruition requires more than simply being an affiliate marketer for the correct company, or selecting the best drop-shipping company. You must ensure that you’re providing the type of quality that customers expect.
Product recommendations provide a customized shopping experience, and can increase the value of your purchase by up to 40 percent. That’s why it’s impossible to not employ this method. Of 1000 UK online customers, 53% enjoy getting recommendations for products in light of their prior purchase experience.
Amazon was one of the first companies to implement this, and later everyone else jumped on board too. The infographic is a visual background of the early twenty years for Amazon and also demonstrates some of the tactics Jeff Bezos used to make customers click on “Add To Cart” faster “Add to Cart” button more frequently.
Check out the an info graphic
They employ the technique of “item-to-item collaboration filtering” that encircles the user with products they did not think they required. The algorithm is based on what’s in their cart as well as the previous Amazon shopping history and the products they love or have purchased.
Have you looked for a stapler, only to end with a purchase of one … and a few office supplies, as well as printing sheets … as well as printers, etc? It’s true that suggestion works wonders, and Amazon recognizes that, maybe that’s the reason they’re the most effective at how to sell on the internet.
About 70 percent of shoppers who shop online prefer stores that make use of personal data to give an experience that is more relevant to their needs. The bottom line is that any e-commerce website that wishes to remain on top of the market must provide a more personalized shopping experience for their customers.
What features should be implemented?
- “recommended by you”
- “similar products”
- “complimentary products”
If you’re using an online shopping service such as Shopify, you’ll be able to set up these types of features within your user control panel. If you’re using WooCommerce and WordPress and you’re using WordPress, you’ll need a plugin in order to have some of these features in place.
Make sure to incorporate personalized strategies to your marketing emails as well. Owners of businesses who have their email lists segmented can provide more relevant and engaging content to their target audience.
Step 12 – Make use of Live Chat to aid potential customers make better choices
Although the online marketplace may be more robust than ever but nothing can beat the human interaction that you can experience in the retail shop. If you’re not convinced then just look at the statistics. For example:
What percentage of shoppers who shop online do you think are in agreement with this assertion:
The ability to have my questions answered by a real person during the process of doing my shopping online is among the most important things on the internet.
The answer is 44%..
If you’d like to reap the benefits from this, there’s a better method to achieve it than by implementing the “live chat” feature on your website. Here’s our analysis of the most effective live chat software for e-commerce.
While at the same time you should need that your chat room to appear interactive and encourage the user to engage with it.
An example: TheoryFor example, here’s how Theory does it in a manner that’s not perfect. The site has an Live Chat link at the lower right corner of the website and it’s not likely to be seen.
Generally, you should place your chat option in your highest-visibility position. It should be always visible regardless of whether your user is scrolling through or looking through a review of a product.
Live chat stats:
- 31 of shoppers online are enticed by an online store that has live chat
- 46 percent believe that Live chat could be the ideal medium for communication
- 62 percent of customers who have purchased via Live Chat are likely purchase from the same site
If you’re not able to devote a lot of time to oversee your live chat platform on your own it is possible to hire freelancers from Upwork to assist you or even hire an assistant virtual. The more employees you hire to help run your business as well, your time will be able to work on growing your site.
Step 13 – Coupon or not
Pricing is a challenge. You must offer the lowest price possible compared to your competitors while still making an income. This brief guide will help you understand the best pricing strategies for you when you’re trying to figure out how to set up an online store.
Once you have the fundamental price, you need decide on which discounts and coupons you will apply. If you are selling a one of a kind item or handcrafted items promo offers aren’t necessary. They can also be more harmful than beneficial in certain instances. For general merchandise and products that are simple coupons can help bring additional business.
The data suggests that about 75 percent of buyers who use mobiles make use of coupons. It is possible to gain many new opportunities for your business by offering your customers something to take them off the fence regarding their purchase.
The majority of e-commerce platforms allow couponing natively. Both WooCommerce and Shopify permit you to activate coupons in just a few clicks.
Here are some suggestions for coupon codes that you can make use of:
- First time buyers’ discount for first-time buyers
- volume discount
- member discount
- Free shipping
- returning customer discount
Step 14 – Improve your shopping cart experience
Your ability to control the shopping cart experience is contingent on the type of business model you’re employing. When you’re an affiliate marketing company that’s fine, but there’s nothing you can do to alter the checkout. If you own your own store on the internet that you manage, you can follow a step-by-step guide to update the shopping cart. A few web hosting providers provide tools to help to get started.
The concept of window shopping isn’t more well-liked, which is kind of sad for us who are struggling to determine the best way to set up an online store! Customers fill their carts with things they’d like to purchase but 70% of shopping carts go unfulfilled.
Why? It’s because of a myriad of reasons. Cost of shipping, slow websites or site time-outs or insufficient payments options (check this article for tips on how to choose the most suitable payment processor for your business) or simply because they were looking around and didn’t have a desire to purchase any item.
It’s a great idea to allow customers to purchase as guests without the requirement to establish any accounts for users. Numerous stores make use of this option and is available on the majority of most popular e-commerce websites (Shopify and WooCommerce are two of them).
In addition, you can use your checkout page as your final upsell option.
Example A good example is The Body ShopFor example, The Body Shop displays their most popular deal in their check-out page in order to attract customers who aren’t sure whether they should purchase or continue to shop. Make a smart decision, but stay clear of overcrowding it with a lot of merchandise.
Pay attention to these statistics for shopping carts:
- 73 percent Of customers will search for options to ship for free
- The highest abandonment rate is for consumer electronics with 74% of the carts abandoned.
- Shipping costs that are high account for about 44 percent of abandoned carts , but just 6percent due to the slow delivery
Do you need more inspiration for selling online? Check out these 12 unique checkouts and look for anything you’d like to copy. Try doing some market research to learn the ways other companies within your field provide an excellent checkout experience.
Step 15 – Develop a successful shipping strategy
Customers want to get their “Free shipping” banners at every store online they go to today. And, in addition 78% are looking for the most affordable shipping option.
The most popular options for shipping currently are:
Free shipping
We’re all bargain hunters , and the word “Free shipping” is enough to make you take note of it immediately even if you’re not in the first place.
Raw data supports this. Free shipping can be the most crucial aspect, and it helps to build customers to stay loyal, so select carefully.
Review your expenses, and If you are able to give free shipping, then do it. This is most effective in the cosmetics, clothing accessories, as well as other similar sectors – because most of the time, the packaging is smaller or of a standard size.
Example: Tattly It’s a tattoo temporary shop which has decided to adopt the policy of free shipping. Their products weigh only about a couple of grams, which means shipping costs are minimal and the strategy does not create a hole in their earnings.
However, it could bring buyers in because they’ll probably be enticed to purchase when they see free shipping. The biggest flaw is that they do not have an advertising banner that tells you about this. You must go to their FAQ section to see what they are asking for shipping.
Free delivery over a certain order value
In addition to the absolutely free delivery It’s the next best thing. It’s a popular choice found on large websites such as ASOS, The Hut, or Free People, and it will increase the number of orders you place.
Example: Faucet Face “FREE SHIPPING! $20 or more. US Only .” In only a few sentences You know that you will receive free shipping when you spend at minimum $20. Faucet Face took the most efficient route and went to use a method that draws customers immediately.
Flat rates for shipping
This is a simple method to follow. It allows you to charge the same price on each purchase. It is also an excellent way to calculate your finances when determining your plans to set up an online shop.
Example: Daniella Draper employs this approach. Prior to the billing process customers, customers are able to view costs of shipping and decide whether they wish to finish the purchase or not.
Shipping rates are based upon the weight, the total order or distance
It is more difficult to setup as you have to determine the exact amount shipping will cost so that you can get estimates.
If you’re selling on Shopify or WooCommerce You can choose to set various shipping zones and tiers depending on the location, weight, and other attributes of the purchase. This is a built-in option in a lot of e-commerce platforms, correctly setting it could take about an hour. But, the time cost is worth it at the final.
One of the benefits you’ll receive once you’re finished with the installation includes a calculator for shipping which your customers can use to determine the exact cost for their purchase.
Example: Total Cycling Total Cycling It does exactly that and provides shipping costs based on address of the customer. Customers just need to choose their country and find out which shipping rates they are able to select from.
Some figures on what is important about shipping charges
- the rising cost of shipping is responsible for 55 of abandoned carts. of carts that are abandoned
- FREE shipment can be more an incentive for shoppers to shop at the store rather than speedy shipping
- Consumers tend to be 82% more inclined go to a shop when they don’t need the expense of shipping
- You can boost the value of your order by 30 percent in the event that you receive free shipping
Step 16 – Request feedback
There are few things that are more essential to an online business more than conducting market research and research and feedback. It’s the best method to gain an insider’s view of the market you want to target.
It’s quite surprising how many eCommerce stores don’t provide a means for customers to leave opinions about their products. This could be a major barrier to establishing an online store. In reality, 77% of buyers who visit online go through a review of the product they are planning to purchase, and 90 percent take a decision from the reviews they have read.
The numbers and stats are applicable to all websites. There may be positive reviews about your website However, you need to see what your clients review your site on other blogs and forums. Are they happy? If not, then contact them to see what can be different. Keep in mind that users use Google to discover your website and will utilize it again to perform a an “background” review of your service.
Additionally, reviews can improve the SEO of your site as they offer fresh and original content, boosting your long tail ranking and increasing the number of visitors you receive.
Expedia makes use of Feefo to show their customers’ reviews. This method takes care of your concerns in approving the reviews and offers the platform to showcase those reviews. Users can also choose to share or tweet the review, which increases the visibility of your review.
For example, Grace Ship. includes a review option available at any time while the scroll, no matter what page that the user is on. The reviews are even accessible on each page for the product.
Do you need to be concerned about bad reviews?
You shouldn’t; 68 percent of people prefer a site when they read both negative and positive reviews. This is quite normal. Whatever your product or service is there’s always a customer who isn’t happy. So long as you’ve got plenty of positive reviews over the negative ones, it’s not an issue when trying to determine how to set up an online store.
73% of consumers have greater trust in a brand following seeing positive reviews
- 67 percent of consumers go through up to six reviews before they decide if they are able to trust a particular company
- 68 percent say they are more likely to recommend a local company because it is trustworthy and professional
- consumer reviews can increase your sales by 18%
Step 17 – Rethink the way you present your email strategy
Are you aware that the average ROI for the email industry is 4,300 percent? An unbelievable number! Some statistics suggest that people are more likely to be frustrated when their inboxes are filled with a lot of emails. But, at the same however, they do find themselves reading the email and then buying something.
Take a look at the strategies below and find out how you can get tens of thousands of people to sign up to receive your exclusive offers and updates.
Have a more direct approach
Examples: Buru, Dickies and Little Joe Woman welcome you with a welcome pop-up upon landing on their websites. It is easy to remove but noticeable for people who wish to receive exclusive offers or announcements about their products. To increase the chances of gaining new subscribers attract them by offering promotional codes to new subscribers.
Be imaginative.
How do you sell on the internet?
Creativity!
Example Cultivated Wit is a sign that they have a more positive attitude. This is evident when you scroll to the bottom and reach their newsletter sign-up field. The “Receive our newsletter” phrase is both funny and tempting, it makes you feel as if you must sign up. If you turn left, on the left side, they’ve got the social button, you laugh at the same time when you read “Monitor the private life of our customers.” This is all about staying fresh and knowing your target audience.
Step 18 – Ensure that people know that your website is secure and reliable.
Secure shopping carts are crucial to ensure security of payment process. Ella Nevill
The data on your website is extremely sensitive therefore, more and more consumers are cautious prior to making an order. That’s why it is imperative to make sure you have checked all the points in order to ensure that your website is safe and reliable. It’s not unusual for online stores to lose about $3.5 billion each year as a result of fraud on the internet. Although larger stores might be able to absorb losses because of this, a company that offers customized soaps is likely to hit rock bottom quickly.
These methods will lower the possibility of online fraud:
- Select a platform that is secure
- use strong SSL authentication
- Track all of your orders
- use strong passwords
Shopify provides its robust security methods as one of their most effective features. There are a number of pages with information about their security policy.
WooCommerce is also quite effective in terms of security. You also can use specific WordPress plugins to improve the security of your site even more.
Step 19 – Make use of the potential on social media platforms to advertise your business
It doesn’t matter if you’re freelance or affiliate marketing, dropshipping or building a company online, you must be implementing a social media plan. Even having the correct linkedin account will help make your domain name visible to more potential customers to view.
Social media is big nowadays. Virtually every online store must have a presence on social media platforms, especially so if they intend to make the most of their potential when it comes to selling online. Social sharing tools such as Add This help users to share your content via their social media networks with families and friends.
Even though Pinterest and Instagram aren’t the best choice to all niches but the two biggest names that are Twitter and Facebook are essential. Create your profiles and make sure you are as active as you can, but without over-saturating your fans.
In the end you should avoid selling something constantly. Customers don’t desire to think of your domain’s name with a continuous selling pitch. Customers would like to know the history behind your brand as well as interesting facts about the industry that you’re in, and how to design and style your products. In fact, you could include a couple of cat pictures to add some personality. The idea is to create a the personal connection.
Step 20 – Establish the referral program
A referral program could be an effective “extra” factor that encourages customers to promote your products more than they would normally.
The guidelines of an effective referral program are straightforward:
- Someone purchases from you
- They are invited to join your referral program.
- They receive the unique URL which they can use to recommend your store.
- If someone purchases something following being recommended, the person receives an additional present, coupon code or reward points which they can apply to future purchases
What’s attractive regarding this from a perspective of the customer is that they don’t only buy something that is beneficial to them (after all it’s not ineffective, is it? ) However, they could as well recommend your products to their family and friends, and earn an extra reward for it.
from a technological point perspective, the launch of the referral program is possible by using many of the most well-known platforms for selling online from the beginning. Find out further about best software to refer customers to online shopping here.
What’s next?
The following is a summary of 20 steps to follow on your journey to learn how to set up an online store. As this document is long, we’ve prepared a an easy-to-follow checklist to help you to follow.
Consider it your reference when you’re going through the steps:
- Select the best e-commerce platform
- Make sure that your store functions for mobile customers
- Create an online presence that makes an impressive first impression
- Use high quality product images
- Make your site more navigable
- Have a unique idea/angle for your business
- Craft an effective USP
- Start blogging
- Create an amazing About Us page
- Create a winning SEO strategy
- Make sure you are targeting the right person with the right offer
- Chat with Live Chat to assist prospective buyers buy
- Determine if coupons are offered.
- Improve your shopping cart experience
- Create a winning shipping strategy
- Get feedback and reviews
- Review your approach to newsletters
- Make sure that people know that your site is safe and reliable.
- Utilize the potential of the internet to advertise your business
- Start an incentive program for referrals
Are you looking for answers about how to begin an online store? Do not hesitate to ask questions in the comment box below.
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