Creating an online store has never been easier! Many times people say that it is difficult to bring ideas to life, but if your idea is to create an online store, that statement does not apply to you. Learn how to start an online store by following these basic principles.
Just 9 steps! That’s all you need to start selling online. Many people fail because they try to plan everything perfectly without even taking a single step to achieve their goals. If you’re reading this guide, chances are you’ve reached a point where you’re ready to take action. So these are the steps you need to follow to bring your ideas to life.
Before you get started, you need to create a store with Shopify or Other. If you already have a store with another platform, don’t worry, you can easily migrate your store to the Shopify store using our import tool.
1. Find what to sell
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of setting up an online store, you need to know what product or service you want to sell. You can look at your local market and try to find a space there. Maybe you have a digital product (art, tutorials, comics, e-books, etc.) that you would like to sell. You can also find some inspiration by looking at our list of the best products to sell.
You have many options here, for example, if you are thinking about ‘how to start an online store without inventory?’, maybe you should learn about Dropshipping. Different products require different logistics and support services, as setting up shipping for a luxury product is very different than setting it up for low-cost products. These are the questions you will have to ask yourself sooner or later, and it is best to answer them at the beginning of your journey.
2. Understand your target audience
Who are you selling to? Before thinking about how to market your product/service, learn about your target audience, and who your ideal customers are, since these are the people you want to visit your online store. Creating a buyer persona can be very useful in this sense, as it not only informs you about your ideal customer base but also provides you with information about their behavior so that you know where to approach them and prioritize the channels they use the most
3. Create your store
Now that you have a better understanding of your potential customer and the products/services you will sell, it is time to Create your Store and select a plan. Shopify store plans are different, we have a plan for businesses in various stages of growth. Understand which Shopify store plan best suits your business by reading our Plan Guide. Next, you need to configure some basic settings, change your currency, and make sure you have the correct store name set.
4. Adding Products
It is very easy to upload products to your Shopify store. Here you have options to add and edit your products, add multiple images per product, and control the stock of your products. If your products have more than 1 variant, it’s also easy to manage product options and custom fields. If you have many products, you can divide them into several categories and Manage your Catalog, this way it is easier to manage for you and easier for customers to navigate your website. You have options to add, edit, delete, and reorder categories, and you can also assign products to categories, delete and reorder them.
![E-commerce Platform Selection](https://blogmarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/pexels-shoper-pl-17485350.jpg)
Dropshipping
If you are following the Dropshipping model for your online store, you can add products using the Importify app. For that, you must follow the following steps:
- Create a Shopify store.
- Sign in with your Shopify store on Importify.
- Install the Importify Chrome extension (you must have Google Chrome).
- Select a wholesaler from the list.
- Start adding attractive products to your store (for some websites, you must subscribe to a specific Importify plan to add Products).
- Find more instructions by watching the video guide.
5. Brand
This is where you bring your creativity to work. We have a wide range of themes in our Theme Gallery that are suitable for all types of businesses. Select the one you like the most. You can also customize Shopify themes to small details to match your dream.
- Personalization: Customize colors, graphics, and text, or create your own custom theme.
- Add a Favicon: Then you can evaluate some details. To make sure your brand is strong and your store looks completely professional, add a Favicon.
- Get your own domain: Having a custom URL is also important to give your business that professional look and an imprint of your brand. Plus, if you ever decide to switch shopping carts, you can keep your domain name, which is how your customers will know you ( Get a free domain for your first year ).
6. Payment and shipping methods
- Payment gateway
Choose the most appropriate payment method for your customer and how to configure it in your store. Once you’ve set up your store, you need to solve the important problem of collecting payments for the product or service you sell. Now, this can be complicated as there are many variables to consider that depend on the country in which you operate. You have to check which types of payment gateways are the most popular, and then you will also need to consider your audience in the market and see how they would be willing to pay: do they prefer bank transactions, cash on delivery, or perhaps a digital payment gateway like PayPal? Sometimes you may even have to integrate more than one.
- Shipping rates
Set shipping rates, free shipping, flat rates, or table rates (based on number of items, weight, or total order price). There may be many shipping options available to you, and sometimes the cheapest option may not be the best, so you have to think about customer satisfaction and order fulfillment is an important part. Shopify has integration with popular shipping platforms, select the ones that best suit your needs.
7. Opt for optimization
Even if you have a good product or service, if the website is not easy to use and navigate, visually appealing, fast, etc., it will be difficult to keep visitors’ attention and convert. Before continuing with your online store’s marketing campaign and spending money on ads, it is advisable to test it, see if everything is working well, and if anything can be improved. Remember, first impressions are important.
Plus, with Shopify, you can easily set up Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website, whether it’s for product descriptions or your blog. Use this feature to appropriately structure your store content to make it easier for Google to rank your online store in searches.
8. Configuration analysis
Something all good companies do is keep track of their customers’ habits and learn from them. You can easily manage Orders in your admin panel and your store Dashboard. You will have all the important Statistics to help your business move towards growth.
Even if you want to do a detailed review and analysis, you have free tools like Google Analytics that you can use to look at data that wouldn’t otherwise be visible. You can evaluate your audience, see how they arrived at your website, what is the most popular medium they use, etc. This will also help you understand where to invest your marketing budget.
9. Market your business
After launching your store, it is best to initially use Google Ads to start attracting customers and start collecting information about their behaviors and preferences. Another popular way to promote your business on a budget is by using social media, and Shopify has a Facebook app that allows you to connect your online store to your Facebook store.
You can create Special Promotions to entice visitors to make a purchase, drive traffic by creating content pages, and increase sales through the use of discount codes.
Conclusion
Paying attention to details is good, however, when it comes to opening an online store, don’t let the small details stop you. Sure, there will be things that you can’t fix right away, but not everything has to be perfect in your online store. So don’t wait until you launch a perfect product, as time can also be an important factor in the success or failure of a business.