Necessity is the mother of invention. Michael Aldrich, the inventor of eCommerce, in 1979, connected his television to the computer and invented Teleputer. And with the growing markets, we have devised many ways of reaching our customers far and wide. Today business first built an online store for marketing. One of those ways has been through the use of eCommerce. But first, we need to know what eCommerce is? eCommerce is a method of buying and selling through the internet.
Getting to set up an eCommerce website may seem like a lot of work, and research is probably right. But with technology, things are getting easy as you can create a website in just a few minutes. Many platforms, such as Shopify, Bluehost, and WordPress, are making it easy for people to transact online. This article will help you learn how to set up your first online eCommerce store.
Firstly, you need to understand the various eCommerce types and how they work. This will be beneficial in understanding eCommerce and how you will build an online store. Below are business models of eCommerce available.
1. B2B model
This model focuses on business to business sales. A big company like Alibaba, for example, provides B2B sales to other companies.
2. B2C model
The business to consumer model is what many companies have. The business sells directly to the consumer.
3. C2C model
These are what we call second hand as consumers sell directly to other consumers. When you have an old classic table that you don’t need anymore, you can sell it on Craigslist to another consumer.
4. C2B model
This is where the consumer sells to the business. This is mostly in the service industry, where individuals offer their services to big companies.
eCommerce Websites Types Explained
- Dropshipping – this is where a seller uses his website to sell his/her products but doesn’t physically own them. The source for sellers who, in turn, fulfill the order by delivering to the customer.
- Physical goods eCommerce – the seller who sells their products directly from their stores online to increase revenue.
- Digital products eCommerce – they sell their products through downloads straight from the internet.
- Service-based eCommerce – a merchant sells its services online. It is freelancing.
Best eCommerce platforms to uses
Many platforms offer eCommerce to clients. The challenges come in choosing the right one for your products. This can be an intimidating process, especially if you are a newbie in eCommerce. The platforms are generally eCommerce website builders.
In this article, I will go through some of the platforms giving their pros and cons, and hopefully, you will be able to choose one that befits your goals. This will be an added advantage when it comes to creating an eCommerce website.
Woo Commerce
It was created to capture people using WordPress to attract markets. When used correctly, it can boost more revenue.
Despite being a free source platform, there are a few costs that come with using it. Firstly, is the cost of hosting and buying your website and also buying more themes to increase your variety.
Pros
- It is a free source software; hence you can develop it; however you like.
- It allows for easy checkout without the need to open an account with integrated payment systems.
- It has pre-installed features such as designs allowing the design of a more appealing look.
- Many features are hence providing leeway for both small and large scale businesses.
- The fact that it is online, you can sell just about anything, both physical, digital as well as make appointments.
- Both the customer and the seller can open accounts.
Cons
- setting up the platform is hard if you don’t have the expertise.
- Despite the many themes, you will need to edit them to align them with your goals.
- Open source means there is no customer support like in other platforms.
- Its web hosting provides limited file storage.
Magento
Again it is another open-source platform. It is one of the best platforms considering that it is owned by adobe. It is a bit expensive if you are considering having the edition, but you can opt for the free version also.
Pros
- It is a free open source that has many users meaning it can be developed according to your needs.
- It can handle both large scale and small scale businesses.
- It is easy to use. Combined with the simple UI, it’s able to make decent sales and can be developed as the business grows.
- It offers a variety of plugins that can be integrated with any third party.
- Offers many extensions and apps for free.
- Good interface providing better user experience.
- Does not have any transactional fees.
Cons
- Hosting is costly and requires large servers.
- It’s challenging to develop the software running of the paid editions.
- It’s relatively hard to use and requires training.
- No customer support.
Open Cart
It’s been a free source, which is very easy to use and run. Its operational cost only lies in the domain and hosting. It is the right choice for new eCommerce entrepreneurs as it can run with a small server, and one can upgrade as the business flourishes.
It also offers personalized themes which come at a fee, though compared to other sites, they are relatively affordable.
Pros
- It provides multiple languages to customers as well as clients, thus tapping on many fields.
- It comes with more than 13000+ modules giving you more additional features.
- Easy integration with other shipping methods.
- Easy to set up as it comes with user guides.
Cons
- Since the platform is very light, it may not be able to accommodate larger business
- Without relevant plugins, it’s challenging to make shipping
- It can cause duplication of URLs due to canonicalization.
Shopify
One of the advantages of using Shopify is that it gives you 14 days” trial to test their platform. It is a multi-tier pricing plan that offers customers differently. This platform has more benefits the more you pay, and hence it’s good to think about it.
Pros
- Easy to use with more even for starters.
- Customer support is a plus; hence you can deal with problems easily.
- It offers both free and premium packages.
- Developers can access a wide range of theme codes and templates.
Cons
- It offers a few theme templates compared to other platforms.
- You don’t have control over your data.
- Additional costs whenever you want to add more features and customizations.
- Additional cost if you are not using their payment platform
Having discussed the various platforms, their strengths and weakness, it’s time to look at the process of how to create an eCommerce website.
The Process To Create Online Store
Step 1. Build a business plan
Making a detailed plan of your business will be your first stepping stone to achieving, and you use to build an online store. This will entail what you want to sell and payment options that you will need. It will also include your target markets and which approach you will require to approach them. It will also focus on the marketing strategies and billings to generate more traffic and buzz to your new online store.
The plan will also have due diligence against your competitors so that you can have the edge over them. It also gives your ideas of where to source your supplies and raw material needed by your business.
These are some of the questions to answer in the planning process:
- Does having this website make a difference?
- What are other companies with the same products doing, and how am I going to be different from being able to compete?
- What are the needs of the company in terms of personnel and workforce?
- Who is my target market, and how will I capture them?
- What are the methods to use in marketing to reach a wider market audience?
- What amenities am I able to provide in terms of after-sale services such as delivery?
- What are my sustainability and growth plans?
Step 2. Choose A Platform To Build an Online Store Site
Determining which platform to create your website is a significant factor. Before dashing in, it’s good to get a platform that you can utilize most of its potential benefits as well as it is pocket friendly. It also has to be easy to use for both the customer and yourself.
Technology has gone a mile to ensure that creating a website is as easy as ABC. Anyone with basic computer literacy can create an online store straight from their computers. What you need is a good internet connection and your idea, and you’re ready to go.
A right domain must accommodate the following;
- A domain that links to your store or your business.
- It should provide a professional email linked to your accounts where people can contact you.
- It should have Search engine optimization benefits to enhance traffic to your site.
- Finding an excellent hosting platform will guarantee that your online store will have a longer uptime and hence more business. You don’t want your customers searching your website, and it’s down.
Design a good logo and a name that people will be interested in and feel they can trust. Big businesses that have made it in the eCommerce industry have one thing in common. And that is a name that has grown into a brand. People will want to associate with certain brands, and hence your business should also do the same.
It would help if you also aimed to get a name and a photo that people will be curious to know about. They should be able to represent your products as well as build trust. This is because most of the time, people go to companies and websites they trust and are familiar with.
Step 3. Sign up and choose the best plan
After creating your website, it is time to pay the piper as you need to publish and host the website. The reason for paying for the plans is because the websites don’t have access to eCommerce abilities yet, but after spending you to get access. Also, it’s good to note that the plans have different capabilities, and each has its benefits. While starting, it’s probably fair to start small, especially if it is your first time.
This gives you more time to understand the platform, the market, and also the logistics of eCommerce.
Step 4. Set up your products, pricing, and checkout system
Just like pricing on physical products, online pricing uses the same approach. It would help if you considered the following.
- Cost of each item
- Website cost
- Transactional costs
- Shipping fees
- Taxes
- Checkout procedure
This is because you will need to integrate all these factors into your online store. Having done all that, it is time now to add your products online and wait for customers to buy. It is advisable to ensure that your checkout process is simple and precise. This is to avoid kart abandoning. Some of the key points to note include;
- After-sale services such as free delivery if you can. This will encourage return customers
- Ensure that there are no hidden charges. Be frank with the customer to avoid bad reviews.
- Equally important, enabling customers to buy many things at once.
- Apply remarketing to customers who left without purchasing
- Reduce reload times on your pages
Step 5. Marketing your website
Now that you have built your online store, it’s time to market and drive sales up. Marketing and more remarketing will help you achieve those sales. Also, find more ways to bring more traffic to your site.
Best Products to Sell Online
For a new entrepreneur wanting to sell products online, choosing the right product to sell can be challenging. There are several methods to decide on how to identify the best products to market.
- Research on the best products with the highest profit margins. This will increase more sales as well as grow your business.
- Relate with the customer views on a product. By this, I mean that you use straightforward language to convince and relate with a customer and hence closing more sales.
- Take new directions in selling your products. As we all know, new is always a glimmer, and everyone wants the glimmering thing—for example, rebranding and packaging styles to be different from others.
- Following the trend is what most youths follow. It’s good to keep yourself updated on the new and upcoming trends. This will help your business adapt to new markets and changes to come.
- Finally, have a passion for what you’re doing. This will motivate you to work hard and achieve your goals.
Some of those products include;
- Baby Clothes
- Skincare Products
- Mobile Accessories
- Jewelry
- Travelling Accessories
- Pet Accessories
- Women Accessories And Many More
Final Remarks
Information is power, and with the right information, you get to make better and well-thought decisions. eCommerce is here to stay, and with the current figures and expectations, this industry is just at its beginning. If history is something to go by, then we don’t want to be on the wrong side of it. We need to embrace e-commerce as it will be the next big thing. Just a few years ago, people used to meet physically at a market place. Currently, we don’t even get to meet the customer.
Every day new markets are being opened, and each day will be better than the last one. Some of the biggest giants in the industry have shown us that. It’s’s high time to sharpen your entrepreneurial skills and make some money.