Owning an online store could mean working just a few hours in the day. Opening and starting an online store could be beneficial as you can devote little time to it and still keep your full-time job. That means another source of income besides your regular job.
What you need in order to start an Online Store
There are three things you need before you sell anything online.
- A domain name
- A web hosting account
- Patience
Owning an online store is as easy as that, wondering what the third step is? Your attention to the rest of this article.
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Finding your niche
Before you do anything, you need to ask yourself what do you want to sell? What can you offer your customers that will sell and be trendy at the same time? If you already have a physical store ( let’s say antiques ) then the first thing to do is migrate the whole niche to your online platform. We suggest using Google Trends to find about the newest trends online that can give you an idea of what to sell.
Fear not as many people start with not knowing what their nice is going to be.
Source: Dean LohChoosing a platform
Next up is to choose a platform where you will sell your goods. Amazon and eBay are great marketplaces, but it’s best to think of them as marketing channels rather than a place where you will set up shop. The best option for you is an e-commerce platform. An e-commerce platform will allow you to manage your own brand, and it’s the most viable choice for long-term success. When you decide to start online store, choosing the right e-commerce platform is key. It is recommended to look for an e-commerce platform that offers:
- A high percentage of uptime
- SEO friendly features
- Professionals who will help you grow
- Unlimited technical support
- Strong integration
- Easy, and most importantly, secure payment processing
- Beautiful shop designs.
Do a lot of market research
Let’s say for an example, that you have quality products selling to your customers. If so, then don’t skip this point because you can never give up on adding new items for selling. You will not sell the items you want all the time, and doing your research on the most trendy and up and coming items to sell, could make or break your online store. Having the right baseline data, and preparing for your next batch of goodies to ship online could give you a major boost to your online business.
Look at competitors
Researching your competitors can give you an idea of what’s your customer’s buyer persona. A buyers persona is the image you make of your customer/s. It consists of demographic information such as age, gender, and income, as well as needs, aspirations, and family life. Understand what you buyers need, and what your buyers want, though the research of your well-established customers could help you address future target audiences as you would a friend.
Source: noobpreneur.com
A few things to consider
Budget is another thing to consider when opening an online store. There might be a lot of expenses with opening your e-commerce platform, and the e-commerce store builder, as well as costs for the products, shipping, website hosting and security, marketing, paid advertising, website design and logo, and more.
We suggest doing a lot of research before starting an online store. Preparing good before opening something that will serve you in the long term is the safest strategy.
