Think about every large retailer. Walmart. Target. Home Depot. Despite hundreds or thousands of brick and mortar outlets, the majority of them have an ecommerce channel. It’s an important indicator of online commerce as the present and future of business. According to the National Retail Federation, about $1 trillion of the $4.58 trillion retail sales in the US occurred online in 2021.
If you are contemplating starting an ecommerce business, you are on the verge of joining great company. Whereas the opportunity is apparent, how do you start an ecommerce business if you have never done it before? Check out this practical guide.
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Determine Product(s), Business Type and Business Model
Just like a brick and mortar store, there are numerous types of products you could sell on an ecommerce website – from industrial machinery to toothpicks. And it’s not just physical items – you can sell digital products such as software. You likely already have some ideas in mind. These can be a useful starting point. Test each idea for its viability in the context of cost, demand, availability, profitability, competition and market size.
Is your online store going to be business-to-consumer (e.g. Walmart, Amazon), business-to-business (e.g. Alibaba, Rakuten) or customer-to-customer (e.g. eBay, Craigslist)? Also, determine the model that would be most suitable for you. This could mean going for retail arbitrage, drop shipping, white labeling, private labeling or even own product manufacturing.
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Business Name, Registration and Plan
Choose a unique business name that will be the foundation of your brand identity. Go for a name that is simple, memorable, relevant and that sets your business apart. The name you’d want may already have been taken by another business. It’s best to have three or four names just in case your first one is unavailable.
At this point, it is prudent you confirm the domain name and social media handles for that business name are available. The name of your business and the name of your ecommerce store do not necessarily have to be identical but keeping it consistent is ideal to minimize the risk of brand confusion.
Next, formally register the business. Thereafter, design a logo that’ll be the primary symbol/artwork of your brand. Write down a business plan showing a roadmap for finances, marketing and operations. Obtain the requisite licenses and permits depending on the product you sell and the jurisdictions you will be selling to.
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Ecommerce Platform
Coding an ecommerce website from scratch requires advanced programming skills. It is prohibitively expensive, time-consuming and prone to errors. At their core, online stores have numerous elements in common. Ecommerce platforms negate the need for you to reinvent the wheel. They provide a convenient means to accept orders, receive payment, ship products and track inventory.
Your decision on platform will be one of the most important in the success of your ecommerce business. There are hundreds of platforms you could choose from. The best ecommerce platforms include Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Wix Stores, Magenta, Ecwid, OpenCart and Big Commerce. Most platforms will allow you to create, customize, launch and manage your online store. Actual features vary from platform to platform. Find the one that best supports your overarching ecommerce strategy.
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Domain Registration and Store Design
Next is the hard work of store design. Before that though, register a domain name. Your domain name should ideally include the name of your ecommerce business. Like business name registration however, this depends on your preferred domain names availability. If it is already taken, consider using a different version but that still includes your business name in some way.
Store design is more than layout. It also involves keying in product names, prices, descriptions, images/videos and payment details. You can do the design yourself. Ecommerce platforms are after all meant to make this process easy allowing you to complete a small online store in just a day. If you can afford it though, contract a professional. Store design should create a seamless intuitive path that guides prospects from initial curiosity to eventual purchase.
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Source and Manufacture/Develop Products
The next phase is ensuring products are available. How this happens will depend on the product, business type and business model you settled for. For example, product sourcing for drop shipping is different from own manufacturing. With own manufacturing, you have to actively keep track of the production pipeline and existing inventory. For drop shipping, much of that is in someone else’s hands.
Overall, if you are selling a tangible product (such as shoes), sourcing and/or manufacturing is more complex than for intangible goods (like a SaaS product). With tangible products, you have to calculate or estimate the amount of inventory to start out with.
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Promote the Business
For your website to become a business, you need customers. The Internet is a vast space with over a billion websites. Your ecommerce business will disappear into this endless void unless you elevate its visibility through a well-thought-out marketing and promotion campaign.
A multi-pronged approach is best. Pay per click ads via Google Ads, Meta Ads and/or Microsoft Advertising can jumpstart visibility and get your name out there quickly. These should be complemented by search engine optimization (SEO) that includes quality content, responsiveness (device-independent), keyword research, blogging, guest posting, link building (backlinking/crosslinking) and optimal page loading speed. You can use a feature rich tool like SEMrush to handle most aspects of SEOa dndigital marketing from within one dashboard. You can also use rewards and incentives in your digital marketing campaigns to get more people to buy.
Work with influencers to further expand your reach. Check if the ecommerce platform you chose is built to support your online marketing efforts. For example, Shopify connects with your Instagram and Facebook accounts allowing visitors to shop on your website.
Conclusion
That’s it. You have the basics to get your ecommerce store in operation. There is no end to growing and improving the business though. Keep track of its performance. Establish where your traffic mostly comes from, the rate of lead conversion and the rate at which shopping carts are abandoned.
Fix leaks in the sales funnel. Optimize your pages and product listings. Explore opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration and partnerships. Double down on what works and make changes to what doesn’t.
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