How to Start E-commerce Business & Sell Products Online

“If your business is not on the internet then your business is out of business”- Bill Gates. It is needless to judge how true the words of Bill Gates are. The eCommerce business was gaining enough popularity already; the covid storm has only given it a stronger push in the last two years.

We buy almost everything from the eCommerce platforms nowadays. From the latest flagship smartphone to medicines and groceries, we purchase a lot from online stores these days.

If you already have a well-established business, you can take it online to an Ecommerce store by setting up an online store with only a few easy steps.

In this article, we will help you set up your eCommerce store by following some simple steps.

Set up your Ecommerce Website

You need to follow some steps meticulously to set up your ECommerce website and start selling products.

1. Choose an eCommerce Platform.
2. Identify Your Target audience.
3. Choose What To Sell.
4. Partner With a Dropshipper.
5. Connect A Payment Provider.
6. Name Your Store & Acquire A Domain.
7. Design Your Site.
8. Branding & Marketing

Choose an eCommerce Platform.

When choosing an eCommerce platform, there are a few things that we need to keep in mind.

• You need to consider The pricing and payment of the platform. It must comply with your disposable sum of money for creating an eCommerce website.
• SEO friendliness is another important aspect. It would help if you had the audience to find your website upwards in the search ranking. A good SEO strategy is necessary for a higher search ranking and possibly generating more customers.
• The platform needs to be mobile-friendly. Most of the internet searches are now done using a smartphone. Having an ECommerce platform compatible with mobile phones will help your platform to grow.
• The Customer services of the eCommerce platforms are essential. You must check if the platform is providing 24/7 customer service.
• Security is the last and the most important since it determines the credibility of your eCommerce website.

Judging all these aspects thoroughly, you can choose the eCommerce platform you feel is the best for you. Here are a few mentions- BigCommerce, Shopify, Woocommerce, Wix Commerce, Etc.

Identify Your Target Audience

So you have successfully set up your eCommerce platform, and you also have products in mind that you want to sell. But are you sure who you are selling those products to? How old are your customers? What are their interests? Where do they live?

If you have the answers to these questions, you will identify your customers and sell the right products to the right customers.

Knowing the customer demographic will help you segment the customers and provide them with products accordingly. In addition, knowledge about retail management will come in handy if you target an audience and engage in a stable business with them.

Kapil Shah the owner of Apollo Academy said “creating a strong buyer’s persona is the most crucial part for a business while building an online marketing strategy”. 

Choose What To Sell

When you are segmenting an audience, then you may already have some products in mind.

Still, you can ask yourself questions like- what does the current world of consumers need? To which existing products can you offer better alternatives? What new product can create a craze among the customers? Or, can you offer any product or service for a lesser price?

You’ll need to do a lot of research to figure out what your customers will pay and what services you should offer. For example, when setting beer prices, it’s a good idea to consider factors like overhead costs, keg or beer bottle size, and what your competitors charge. 

It would be best if you were very thoughtful about the product segment you will sell on your website.

Partner With a Dropshipper

Dropshipping can be very helpful for an eCommerce website in its early phase. It allows you to sell your products without having an existing store. In addition, the process is straightforward.

• It would be best if you integrate your online store with a dropshipping supplier.
• You will set up a price for an item from the drop shipper’s catalogue.
• Buyers will purchase those products by paying you on the site.
• You forward the ordered item to the drop shipper and pay them.
• The supplier will deliver the product to the shopper’s address.

Connect A Payment Provider

It would help if you offered the customers multiple payment options for the products they are going to purchase.

There are multiple payment methods, and the chances are that different customers will want to use different payment methods based on their locations and purchasing habits.

For example, you can provide these options of payment-

• Digital wallet.
• Credit/debit card.
• Bank transfer.
• In-person payment.
• Payment on delivery.

Name Your Store & Acquire A Domain

Getting a memorable name for your business is very important. For your platform to grow, your customers need to remember the name of your website.

Try out simple names relating to the products that you sell. Then, implement SEO in choosing a name related to what the shoppers look for on the internet. Make sure that the business name is unique and stands out in the big crowd of similar platforms.

Choose a name only after good research, and when you have chosen the platform’s name, you need to acquire a domain and choose a name for the domain. Remember, the domain name needs to match the name of your platform.

Design Your Site

Your customer looks for a well-designed website too when they are looking for a website to buy anything. Therefore, a website with proper segmentation of products, prices, reviews, and pricing options is attractive to the customers.

Besides, proper implementation of high-quality images of the products makes the website look premium and credible. So, as the next task, you need to design your eCommerce platform.

Branding & Marketing

It would help if you made your business appealing and familiar to the audience. For that, branding is an important aspect. Let the logo, name, color palette, business motto align and create a taste that the shoppers cannot forget. A good branding strategy leaves a stain on the mind of your buyers.

Marketing is an integral part of the business. It is a process to take your business out in the open to the shoppers.

There are tons of free and paid marketing tools available. In addition, there is almost no end to social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, Google ads, and Instagram ads. Make sure to use all the marketing tools at your disposal and get the most out of brand awareness.

Last Words

Having a well-optimized and customer-friendly eCommerce website is one of many small business secrets for success. Following the steps in this article, you will surely be able to set up and start your eCommerce platform.

WooCommecre, BigCommerece, Shopify are among the most uttered names in the eCommerce world. So please let us know about which platform you are using to create your eCommerce platform.