Getting started with an E-Commerce Store
Do you have an existing business to bring online? Do you have an idea that you’ve been itching to turn into something? Perhaps it’s that side hustle or hobby? It could be a community project that you’ve been mulling over and discussing with your friends for the past ten years. Or, maybe you love the notion of starting your own business. Sometimes all you need to commence is an e-commerce store. No huge outlays, commitments and legal entanglements in bricks and mortar. Just you, your creative idea, and a small outlay to have a professional get you started.
Should I sell through an online store?
There is no time like the present to become a part of the world of online selling. At the moment we are just like a bottle of soda, shaken vigorously before removing the cap. All thanks to COVID-19, the world might never be the same again.
How do we become “the cream” at the top?
The E-Commerce industry is exploding, and there is bucket loads of competition out there. In that case, how do we become the cream that rises to the top?
Ideally, you want people to be able to move throughout your online store with ease, organically. However, what if a potential client or shopper lands on your store and the layout, product grouping and search facilities don’t make sense? If everything is a little bit clunky, your potential customer will click away and shop elsewhere. Indeed, robust and reliable functionality, aesthetics and search engine optimisation (SEO) is an excellent place to start. Spending time on a little research, planning and strategy to discover the style best suited to your industry, is well worth the investment.
How to know where to start?
Lets imagine, you spend hours pouring over websites that tell you the best way to start an e-commerce site. Inevitably, this will send you down a rabbit hole and create great confusion. Sadly, you may never recover from the experience. The alternative, hiring a professional web designer, will be well worth it. The aim – Saving you time and money and many headaches.
How much control do you want over your E-Commerce website?
Much information is out there on what platform is the best solution when coming up with a balance between control, customisation and costs. Furthermore, e-commerce sites such as Wix, Squarespace, BigCommerce and Shopify are making it easier and easier to get selling.
Inevitably, creating an online store will require your time or someone else’s to set it up. So, you can opt for an out-of-the-box solution or have a fully customisable e-commerce site that can grow and change with your business.
Everything connects.
In short, setting up an online store is only part of the solution. Planning and strategy, design, written and visual content, SEO and digital marketing are all apart of your bigger picture in creating an online presence with successful commercial outcomes.
Get in touch with Anita to discuss how she can assist you in achieving these goals.
