Online trade is increasingly becoming the most important sector of the international trade economy. A successful company can hardly do without an online store anymore. To successfully implement an online store, however, many things need to be taken into account.
If you want to create ane-shop,you have chosen a high-growth market in the form of e-commerce.Online retail is growing continuously and e-commerce companies such as Amazonare increasing their sales from year to year.
Step 1: Determine Your Business Model
Before you create your store,it is important to think about certain things, especially regarding your offer and your sales strategy. The following factors can be decisive in choosing the right store system and should be taken into account from the very beginning:
- What do you want to sell?
- Which target group does your product or service appeal to?
- Which payment methods do you want to offer?
- Which filter functions are needed for your products?
- Which connections to marketing portals such as price search engines are necessary?
Step 2: Think About a Suitable Domain Name
Before you create an online store, you need to think about a suitable domain name first. This is a crucial step, as it can give your shop instant credibility.
Remember to do some research to find out if the selected domain name is still available. There are specific tools such as the domain checker from IONOS, with which you can check the domain availability of your desired address completely free of charge.
Top Tips – your domain name should:
…be short and easy to remember
…represent your online shop accordingly
…be easy to pronounce and spell
…not include special characters
Step 3: Find the Right Store System
There are countless providers for online store solutions, but the most suitable for beginners are those that are based on a website construction kit and completely take over the hosting of the stores. With these store systems, impressive results can be achieved even with little prior knowledge and in a short time.
You can distinguish between three online store solutions. The first is the rented online store, such as Jimdo or Lightspeed. The second solution is a self-hosted open-source solution such as Magento. The third variant is self-development.
Generally, the selection of the right store depends on the following 3 factors:
- the individual previous knowledge
- the budget
- and the time available
If you do not want to hire an agency for the technical support of the store, you now need to do it yourself. Download the online store to your web server and install the store. You can usually find instructions on how to do this at the appropriate provider. In addition, you can mostly count on the support of the community of your online store provider.
After the successful installation many further steps must be carried out:
- Find out available delivery options and times
- Access data for your payment providers
- Choose design and display options
- Find cross-selling functionalities
- Carry out an encryption of the website
- Integrate legal content such as terms and conditions, imprint, and privacy policy
- Choose and integrate category names and hierarchy
Step 4: Find the Right Online Payment System
To successfully create an online store, choosing the right online payment system is crucial. According to Statista, the main payment methods for the American market are:
- Credit Card
- Digital/Mobile Wallet
- and Debit Card
Finally, you need to think about the layout of the products you want to sell. A high-quality photo, a memorable and fitting product name, a clear product description, and good price offers are the basis for your success in e-commerce.
Step 5: Conduct the SWOT Analysis
As you all know that SWOT stands for Strength, weakness, Opportunities and threats. It is a great way to assess different kinds of products ideas and also number of niches. If you are able to do right SWOT analysis in right way then it may possible to make your business successful. We are going to explain in detail with an example so you can learn more about it.
For example, if you are going to start a CBD Business then you can do its SWOT analysis
Strengths: Business you are about to start must have personal knowledge in it and also use to own multiple product vertical with growing interest.
Weaknesses: Check out all the possible side effects like shipping restrictions, also challenging cross border expansion.
Opportunities: Try to avail more opportunities like do contractor with restaurants to increase sales.
Threats: Make sure you are overcoming the threats related to products like legitimate test certifications and regulatory issues when selling across country.
