Right now, it is no longer profitable to simply have a business. You also need to have an online presence.
Many businesses often opt to have social media pages for their business. But perhaps, you want to do it a little bit differently. Perhaps you want to build a proper online store for your business.
If so, then here is how.
First decide on the ecommerce platform
Before doing anything else, you need to first figure out which ecommerce platform you will want to use. An ecommerce platform enables you to build and start an online store, fulfil orders and make sales.
An ecommerce is more than just a web builder. But they can do so much for your business including controlling inventory and marketing, customer support and other tools you need to thrive.
Pick a viable niche and have a target audience
The online audience is a very fragmented one. Simply listing your products, no matter how innovative or brilliant they are, can have very low sales if you don’t find your niche and define your target audience.
So, conduct market research and find out first, what your target audience is. Once you identify your target audience, then you can use them to find your niche.
Chose the right business model
DO you want to sell to other businesses, B2B? Or do you want to sell to customers directly, B2C? Or do you want to simply join an online marketplace like Amazon or Ebay and let the site do the rest for you? Or do you want to do drop shipping?
Whatever it is, ensure that you first select the business model best for you and your product before setting up shop.
Create a brand name and brand your assets
Of course you cannot claim to be a business if you do not have a brand name. So, select a logo, business name and other things such as web domains. Canva can help you with logo ideas if you feel stuck.
Register your business
Before beginning any transactions, ensure that the business is registered. To process payments of the online store, you will need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) if you are in the U.S.
More tips on how to set up an online store can be found here. Remember, after everything else, excellent customer service should be your top priority if you want success.
