Have you thought about opening an online store? Before you become an e-retailer, there are a few things you should think about to make sure you don’t get lost in the confusing world of e-commerce. Think about everything that’s important, and if you have a well-thought-out plan, you can start your dream business.
You can look at criteria for what to think about before opening an online store from different points of view. At the moment, we will help you with some general but not necessarily obvious things that you might not think of if you have never run an online store before.
All of these things are just the beginning of what you have to worry about. When you have figured out all of these things, the next steps you need to take will come to you on their own.
We hope this list of things you need to do to open an online store will help you get ready for your new business.
What Should You Think About Before Opening an Online Shop?
If you want to start an online store and use a dropshipping service to run it, there is something you need to know. You’ve probably heard from every direction that you can start a dropshipping store with no money and become a millionaire. This information is not true.
You have to build your store and set up a website, which costs money. Also, it’s not true that all you have to do is set up your store and wait for customers and orders to come. You have to be really lucky for Google to find you. You need a good plan for what to sell, who to target, how to run your store, and how to market what you sell.
Can you pay for it?
Every business needs money to start up. The following costs are the most important ones to think about when opening an online store. This list is by no means complete.
- Subscription to the e-commerce platform your store uses Domain name, hosting, SSL Applications and software (Product data uploading & updating, Abandoned cart reminders, Newsletter software, Marketing apps, Accounting software)
- Hiring a web designer or paying for themes or templates for your website
- Costs of marketing (advertising on social media and Google)
- Costs of the payment gateway and payment processing
- Cost of shipping, logistics (optional)
Please don’t forget about the costs of starting a business when you open an online store. Also, you can’t find one article that talks about every kind of cost. You have to educate yourself by reading information from many sources. You’ll also learn from what you’ve done.
There is one thing I didn’t talk about above. It pays for the stock of the product. I didn’t include it because it depends on whether or not you want to do dropshipping.
Working with dropshipping or having real stock?
In the last, let’s say, 5 years, dropshipping has become popular. People are opening online stores because they have heard that they can make a lot of money with little effort and without having to stock products.
This is by far the best thing about dropshipping. You don’t have to spend money on a physical stock of products. If you don’t ask the company to ship to you first, your supplier will send the product straight to the customer.
When you open an online store, you need to decide if you want to keep products in stock so that you can ship them as quickly as possible and maybe even the same day. In this case, you need to make sure you have enough products on hand. Make sure you’re not wasting money by keeping too many products on hand or by buying things you can’t sell.
If you choose dropshipping, things will go more smoothly for you. You don’t have to deal with logistics, shipping, keeping a physical inventory, or paying a fee to a warehouse. But if you choose this type of business, make sure you work with reliable suppliers who sell high-quality goods that aren’t already on the market.
Your Supplier’s Location
If you want to start an online store that uses dropshipping, you need to choose where your supplier is located. It depends on where your audience lives. Make sure the warehouse of the supplier is close to where your customers are. It’s important to be able to ship products quickly. If the shipping takes more than 1.5 weeks, you should look for a different supplier. For an online store to do well, it needs to ship items quickly.
What will you sell?
In short, we can say that you should sell unique, high-quality products that your target audience needs. Everything else depends on you.
You need to like and be interested in the product you sell. For example, it has to be a line of products that have to do with a hobby you love. Make sure you choose something you will enjoy working on so you won’t lose interest.
If you want to start an online store, you can also look at what products are selling well right now. You can choose whether you want to sell winning products or products that fill a niche.
Make sure you know exactly what kind of product you want to sell to customers. By doing this, you are giving your business a name. You will also have to choose a style for your brand. It’s important if you want to stand out in the market. You should also know why you are selling those things.
Even if you find a product category you’re really interested in and want to sell it, that’s not enough. You also need to make sure that your target audience needs it and that there’s a lot of money to be made in it. When starting an online store, make sure you won’t just waste money by selling things that can be found in every supermarket and plaza. It’s not easy to find something that isn’t on the market. But you can stand out from the crowd with a creative twist. For example, you could sell only one color of clothes.
Your Target Audience
When starting an online store, it is important to know who you are selling to. Many new people who do e-marketing don’t even think about it. But whoever can’t decide on this or see it through can’t have a successful business. Not in marketing, in particular.
Having a clear idea of who you want to reach with your online ads will help you reach them. It’s also important so you can come up with a good message. It’s also helpful so you can plan your business strategies around it.
Define your buyer personas, or your target audience, based on these factors:
- Demographics (age, gender, location, education, family size, income, married or not, having kids or no) (age, gender, location, education, family size, income, married or not, having kids or no)
- Job details (eg. job title, position, company sector, company size)
- Hobbies
- Goals and problems (main and secondary goals, main and secondary problems, and how you can help them reach and solve these goals and problems)
- Values & fears (what they value and fear during the sales process)
- Identifiers and psychographics (beliefs, culture, attitudes, personality traits)
- How people buy (eg. compare prices a lot, trend-follower, or choosing unique items)
- Influences (receive influence from ads, social media and YouTube influencers, preferred media outlets) (receive influence from ads, social media and YouTube influencers, preferred media outlets)
- What they like to buy
You also need to spell out how your products and services can help these people.
What do you want to say?
When you open an online store, you need to give it a name that is different from other stores. It’s in every store, brand, and business. It could be the name of it, for example. You also have to register this business name and come up with a domain name for this online identity. The name can say something about the goods and services you sell.
Why do you have to choose a message for your brand and store? Because it will help people remember you. It shows what your goal is, and it will also help with the branding process.
For example, your message could be about saving the Earth, and in this case, you would be selling products that are eco-friendly and make little or no waste.
You can also use visuals to show what your message is. Try out different colors, shapes, styles, and images. Don’t forget to make a logo that shows who you are and what your store stands for. Also, make sure your online store has a unique look and that people can tell which store it is just by looking at it. Look for ideas on the Internet about what style to borrow from, but don’t forget to use your own creativity.
When you open an online store, you need to know what you want to sell. You need to know why you’re selling certain things, how they can help people, and why what you’re selling is important. You need to gently explain to your customers why they should choose you over your competitors.
How to Choose an Ecommerce Platform?
When you start an online store, this is a very important decision you have to make. If you didn’t build your online store yourself, you need to look into more platforms and websites before making a decision about which ecommerce platform to use.
Shopify, which has an easy-to-use platform, is one of the most popular platforms. It is the best choice for both new traders and those who have been trading for a long time but now want to switch to a service that is stable, reliable, and has many useful features. It also has an AppStore where you can find an app that will help you solve any problem or meet any need.
Monthly income goal
Keep in mind the goal you want to reach at all times. You have to keep this in mind as you run your business and take each step. This will help you figure out how much money you can and should spend on marketing, hiring people (including technical hires), building your online store, etc.
First, write down everything you spend money on. Your one-time costs as well as your costs over time. The first thing to think about when starting an online store is whether or not you have enough money to start this business. There are some basic costs you will have to pay. Make sure that the costs of these things are also on your list.
When you’re done making a list of your expenses in bullet points, you can set a profit goal, which is the difference between your total expenses and your total income.
Why is setting a monthly income goal important when starting an online store? Because you should be careful not to spend more than you can afford. Also, so you can be sure to make enough money and a profit to keep your business going.
Activities in marketing
If you’re going to open an online store, you need to know that marketing is very important. Not everything has to do with paid ads. It also has to do with emails, newsletters, and posts on social media. If you run an online store, you always have things to do. You can’t just sit around and wait for orders. You have to find a way to reach people and get them to buy.
Do not even start this business if you don’t send emails about orders, registrations, and newsletters that include sales offers and helpful information about products. You need to find an app or piece of software that will give you the email service you need, so that you only have to write the text of the emails.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is another way to market your business that doesn’t require you to buy any software. With its help, you can make a long-term plan that will help search engines give your website a higher ranking.
Your marketing strategy can also be improved by using paid search results on search engines and ads on social media sites. Your marketing and advertising plan needs to be well thought out, and you shouldn’t forget about how things look either. People have to be able to find you when you post something on social media, make an ad, or go to your website.
What other tools can you use to make more sales and get people to follow you? Just to name a few examples, there are gifts, discounts, and special deals. You can see that marketing is not only important when you first open an online store, but it is also a key part of the whole business process.
Keep an eye on your rivals
Before you open an online store, you should look at what your competitors are doing so you can figure out how you can be different. You can get ideas from them if you watch what they do and figure out what works. Just don’t copy everything they do. Give them something better or different.
A thorough analysis of your competitors can help you figure out how to run your business, like what kind of products to sell, how to do marketing, and what kind of business message to send. Also, what shipping options to offer, which suppliers you could work with, and many other things.
When you start an online store, make sure you know who your competitors are. Your real rivals can’t be big supermarkets or online stores that are known all over the world. You wouldn’t be able to do anything to beat them. This is why selling unique products is a great idea. Try to find things that your market doesn’t already have a lot of.
More things to think about when opening an online store
You can probably see now that it’s not easy to open an online store. You could also say that the list of things that need to be taken into account is endless. Check out the following things as well if you want to be ready to open an online store:
- Return policies (you can discuss with your dropship supplier that how you will manage returns together)
- Taking care of credit cards
- Shipping program (carriers, shipping cost, and where you ship; customers may abandon their shopping carts if shipping costs are too high).
- Fulfillment strategy
- SEO (it helps you bring traffic for free, and helps you rank higher on search engines) (it helps you bring traffic for free, and helps you rank higher on search engines)
- User-friendly website
When starting an online store, it’s important to plan ahead carefully. Get a pen and a notebook and write down each of your ideas so that you can keep track of everything in one place. At first, this whole world might be hard to understand, but if you work hard and study a lot, you’ll get there. You might also want to talk to your accountant and other business experts to find out what legal business strategies you can use and how to run your business safely.