6 Steps To Get Your eCommerce Shop Up & Running

If your business isn’t trading online you could be missing out on some big money!

If there is one thing that’s undoubtedly true about the internet age, it’s that commerce has moved comprehensively online. People love the convenience and privacy of shopping on their phone or laptop so much that the amount of commerce transacting online is set to exceed $3.5 trillion within the next five years, according to eMarketer.

Before the internet, any entrepreneur or maker with a worthy idea had a seemingly endless series of hoops to jump through before they could have a business up and running. Often, the start-up costs for a brick and mortar storefront were debilitating, but these days, without the need for brick and mortar, more and more niche and unique business ideas are able to thrive online.

The good news is that if you have a great product idea or something you want to sell, the steps you need to take to start up an eCommerce business have never been easier. Whether you have specific requirements which mean you need to build a custom site, or you are ready to launch with a template, there are numerous platforms you can use which will handle everything including the design product display, and payments gateways. If you are determined and organized, you can have your great idea up and running in just a few days.

Here are the key steps you need to consider to start up an eCommerce business:

Secure your domain: Once you have a name for your company or business, the next step is to register your domain. If your chosen domain is not available, you might consider a name change, as this is such a crucial part of your online identity. Once you’ve settled on the name, you can register it right here with UK2 to make sure no one else takes it.

Choose custom or template: The first step here is to ask yourself how complicated or simple your website needs to be. If you are simply selling products without lots of variation or many parameters it should be easy enough to choose a service like UK2’s Online Shop Builder package, which comes with all you need rolled into one. With just basic computing skills, it’s possible to build a website in a few hours. If what you offer is unique or you want it displayed in a precise way, then you should consider going down the bespoke route and hire a qualified designer to help with your site that meets your specific needs. You can do that with UK2 too, click here to find out more.

Take good images: If there’s one area you should really invest, it’s in high quality images of your products. This is the only way your customers are going to be able to determine if they want to buy your product, so giving them the best possible image is key.

Choose a payment gateway: There are so many ways you can accept payment online now, and the options seem to grow every day. Stripe or PayPal are common options but some websites or businesses require their own infrastructure. Do some research to find out if one of these simple options will fulfill all your needs.

Research the competition: It’s likely that your business has some competition, or at least a website that sells similar products. Search the keywords that are associated with your product and see what comes up. Pay attention to what other people are charging for what you offer and make sure that you are not over or under charging for your goods.

Court reviews: Research shows that online reviews are a big determining factor when consumers shop online. Make sure you have an infrastructure set up for your existing or past customers to review your products, either directly on your website or through a third party profile.

Build your very own eCommerce website with UK2’s Online Shop Builder! Get started today and have your shop up and running in no time at all.