How to create an online store

Creating an online store is an exciting endeavor that allows you to reach a global audience and tap into the vast potential of ecommerce. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a small business owner looking to expand your market presence, establishing an online store can be a game-changer. 

However, the process may seem overwhelming at first, but with careful planning and the right tools, you can bring your vision to life. From selecting a suitable platform to designing an appealing website and optimizing it for conversions, this guide will walk you through the essential steps to create a successful online store that captivates customers and drives sales. 

Chapter 1

What is an online store

An online store is a website where people go to purchase goods electronically choosing from the catalog of products and services showcased. An online store is also known as an ecommerce website. It's a virtual site where users or individuals come to purchase goods and services over the Internet.

Online shopping has become even more popular as the day goes on, and surprisingly it has made life easier than ever. Imagine a world void of online shopping, it can be very stressful. The world is rapidly evolving and online shopping seems to be the future of shopping. During the time Michael Aldrich invented the first ever form of electronic shopping in 1978, he had in mind to create smooth online transactions between business and their customers. 

As a business owner, adopting this concept will skyrocket you to greater heights and expand your business. As the popularity of online shopping is growing everyday one can say that online shopping will be taking over traditional shopping or maybe become the shopping itself. The power to transform your business is in your hands, you can choose to remain as an in-store retailer or switch over to having an online store. The choice is yours, but also remember that the future of ecommerce lies in our hands, and with time most shopping will be done online, if not all.

Key features of an online store

Here are the key features of an online store to help you succeed:

Easy to navigate

This is one important feature of an online store. This will help customers to easily find whatever products they might be looking for. You wouldn't want your customers to bounce out once they find your store is a bit stressful to navigate. 

Your product should be categorized logically and according to brand or category. Save your audience the stress of trying to find the products manually. They wouldn't want to solve those puzzles if you put it up, making your site user-friendly and easy to navigate for individuals.

Simple design

Yes, you might want your ecommerce website or online store to look professional but you also have to keep in mind to make it look as simple as possible so people can understand its features and how to access it. A simple online store design leads to a higher conversion rate because it allows customers to find what they need exactly without hassle and stress. 

Make your design so that even when a novice enters your store they will be comfortable and easily understand what its features are, where to get the products they need, and also where and how to make payments. When you do this they will likely come back after each purchase.

Mobile optimization

This shouldn't be an option as the rate of users making purchases online does that with their smartphones and tablets. You wouldn't want to miss out on the potential, and power of mobile optimization for your store. The majority of people make purchases right from their mobile phones.

By optimizing your store for mobile use, you are setting it up for success, with the increase in the use of ecommerce sites to make purchases of about 54%, and this number is expected to grow. Make it easier to use by mobile optimization, you can also create a mobile app for your store if you wish. However if you still think mobile optimization isn't worth it, then don't. Your site will only face penalization from Google for lack of mobile optimization.

Site speed

Slow site? No, I wouldn't want to experience that myself! If your site's speed is very slow it will lead to a higher bounce rate and you will only end up losing your customers to your competitors. No one wants to come across a site that almost takes forever to load. Your site's speed speaks volumes, it converts visitors easily, instead of running away they will stay and navigate through your site to find out more.

According to a study in the U.S., a slow store cost the ecommerce market more than $500 billion annually. Sounds scary right? You wouldn't want to have an abandoned cart by customers. To avoid such scenarios then try as much as possible to increase your site's speed, this is more important in this era than in the former. I wouldn't want a user running away from my site because of a slow loading time, also your sites speed determines your ranking on Google search results so you need to increase your site speed not only because you want to keep your customers coming and not lose them to your competitors, but also to make Google happy so it can rank your site in search results.

To increase your site's speed, first and foremost you will need a good web hosting, you need to have a company with reliable hardware to host your site. You also need to enable caching, this reduces the loads of some systems in the server. Images and videos are some of the most popular things that can slow down your site's speed. To avoid this you have to optimize your images and videos by compressing them to reduce their size.

High-quality content 

Whatever is going to be on your site, whether it be products, images, or texts it must be of top quality. You should note that the resolution of your image matters a lot. No one wants to see an outdated photo, and blurry photo, so make every of your single piece of image to be of high resolution. Make them look professional and maintain that professional look. If you consider using stock photos, select ones with high quality, don't select poor quality images as users can view them as meaningless.

Most people still love the traditional method of shopping, they want to feel the product before buying, if you want them to trust your store, make your image of higher resolution. You can also enable a 3D image model.

You wouldn't want to be taken less seriously by your customers, because of poor-quality content. However, make sure your contents are not blurry, and make them of high resolution, especially the image. Let your content not only focus on its looks, and clicks but also try as much as possible to focus them in the interest of your customers, making your content add value to their lives.

Customer reviews

The fact that customers cannot see your products, or experience them physically is enough to enable rating and reviews. Your customer reviews are very important for the growth of your online store. It speaks to your customers more and helps convince them. Most customers before making any purchase in any online store or ecommerce website will go through the reviews of those products first to see what other people think and how their experience was with the company.

Include the functionality for customer reviews, because they might be the only thing your clients might rely on before making any purchase. They influence people's decisions, reviews, and ratings on your store and influence the next action your customers take.

Product recommendations

This uses a special kind of machine called machine learning or predictive intelligence that showcases products to customers based on their interests or purchase history. This is a proven success strategy as customers will be left satisfied feeling that the company cares about their interests and needs, hence enabling them to buy more and also come back to make some more purchases.

FAQ page

This is one of the most important features of an online store. This feature enables your customers to understand your store better. Frequently asked questions are an important feature, it saves you the stress of having to answer some of your customers' questions about the store or products. Frequently asked questions can easily answer a customer's questions in detail.

Multiple payment options

An online store should include different payment options for checkout. To avoid losing customers because you don't have the payment method they use, then make sure you provide different payment options for checkout, and for anyone that you can't provide, provide the necessary information as to why your store doesn't haven't that payment method. 

Most customers go for some kind of payment method because they trust the company and they are comfortable with such a payment method, while some also don't trust that company. 

Providing various payment options like debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, Payoneer, credit cards, Google Pay, etc. the more advantage you would have. Also, make sure you make the payment process as easy as possible.

Security features

Your store should have enough security features that are very important in your ecommerce website or online store. Your customers want to know that their details and information are safe and secure. 

There are a lot of cyber criminals whose main aim is on online stores or ecommerce websites. To get past their traps you need to make sure the platform of your ecommerce website or online store starts with HTTPS and has an SSL certificate. This allows secure payment on your site. There are some platforms like a self-hosted platform that let you work on your site's security features. Here are some security features to consider:

- Regular SQL checks

- SSL certificate

- Update and patch your site when necessary

- Use a firewall

- Apply two-factor authentication

All these are some security measures to take to ensure security on your site.

Types of online store

There are several types of online stores and we will be looking at them in this section categorically. We will make sure you understand the models of ecommerce because this is the first thing to do when looking at ecommerce websites.

Here in this section, we will be studying types of online stores according to their different models:

- Business model

- Revenue model

- Website type

Business model

You need to understand the different online store business models before starting an online store. Ecommerce website falls into different business models they include;

Business-to-business (B2B)

This type of business model focuses mainly on selling to other businesses or companies instead of selling to consumers. These types of online stores deliver their products to businesses who request them, these products could either be physical or digital. For example, an online store that operates as a B2B can be a software company like Salesforce, HubSpot, or SurveyMonkey and their  products are for the benefit of these businesses.

Business-to-consumer (B2C)

This type of business model focuses on providing their services to consumers, unlike the B2B business model which focuses on providing their products and services to companies and businesses, this model instead focuses on how their consumers can be satisfied. It's a straightforward model which provides or sells its products to consumers either online, physically, or through mobile phones.

You already know what a typical B2C business model looks like. This model is what you and I adopt every day like when we purchase food stuff, books, clothes, and home appliances either online or physically we are simply practicing the B2C business model.

Some B2C ecommerce companies include Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, and Alibaba.

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)

This model involves a consumer selling products to another consumer either physical products or Online products.

Consumers can adopt this model and start selling products to other consumers on Amazon, Etsy, etc. They can also set up their C2C personal website with tools like WooCommerce.

Consumer-to-business (C2B)

This is the last type of business model on our list today. This model involves consumers selling their products or services to businesses or companies. For example, the consumer could be a consultant, a freelancer, or a social media influencer.

Revenue model

Haven looked at ecommerce business models, it's time to look at types of online stores according to their revenue i.e. according to how they make money.

Dropshipping

This can be a very lucrative and successful revenue model for your online store. In this model it involves selling products you don't make or own, through a third-party supplier. In Dropshipping the seller may not even come in contact with the products, the seller can decide to sell the products received under his brand but this depends on the partnership agreement with the supplier which can either be a third-party wholesaler, manufacturer, or retailer.

When a customer makes a purchase, they will pay your store, and you as a drop shipper will forward the order to the supplier, you pay for the products, and the supplier ships down the products to the customer.

Affiliate marketing

This is a type of revenue model where you gain commission from selling someone else's products in your store. Just like affiliate marketing, you get paid by generating leads or sales for them through your store.

White labeling

This model is very common and legit. It involves purchasing a product from a manufacturer and repackaging it or rebranding it. This model is a very common model used by cosmetics companies. You can adopt it too.

Rent and loan

This type of revenue model involves a customer paying for the use of a product instead of buying it. For example, a car rental company is a perfect example of this. Companies like Airbnb and Fat Llama rent out their products, and gadgets such as drones, cars, cameras, camera lenses, etc. to consumers.  

Website type 

Online retailers

This is a common type of online store according to their revenue. This type of store can be seen when online retailers purchase different products directly from the company's brand at wholesale and now sell them at a retail price on their website.

Let's look at it this way, I can decide to buy products from brands like Nike, Adidas, NorthFace, etc. directly from them at wholesale or I can go to a store that sells varieties of products from different brands. I will buy from them and sell them on my website.

Single brand website 

This is a type of website where the owner focuses mainly on a particular brand. They sell a particular brand's products. Most website stores focus on this type of website. For example, Adidas stores sell only Adidas products and no other brand products can be found there.

You can decide to sell a product from Nike, you will have to sell all of Nike's products, their shoes, caps, clothing, etc. no other brands' products will be added.

Multiple seller type

A perfect example of this kind of website is Amazon and Esty. These sites let individuals list their products for sale on their sites. You can be successful if you have this idea. Some of the largest successful online marketplaces are Esty and Amazon.

Chapter 2

Why do you need an online store?

There are several reasons why you need an online store, with the rate at which online shopping is growing one can say that it is the future of shopping. Here are reasons why you need an online store:

1. The internet rules

It's no longer enough to have just a physical store with the rise in the way consumers make decisions based on the internet, this should be the reason why you need an online store. 

Time has passed when people go to physical stores to get the things they need. Now people do online research before purchasing any products, they read reviews and ratings from other buyers and go through the company's profile before making any purchase online.

2. Greater reach

The physical store has a lot of limitations, the only ones that get to know your business are those who live near your store, but with an online store, you can reach thousands of people in different countries. With an online store, your business will have a wide reach, people can search for your store online and order your product right from the comfort of their home.

People will be more motivated to make a purchase, they have enough time to search for the products they want, and most importantly you won't have to wait for customers to find your store on the street.

3. Increased sales opportunities

With an online store, you can generate more sales than you would with just a physical store. Thanks to the benefits of online stores your store will be open 24/7 to customers to purchase products at any time they want regardless of where they are located. You don't need to worry about how to attend to customers during non-business hours. You can generate a lot of sales outside business hours.

4. New sales tools

Unlike a traditional store, an online store is much better, it comes with so many tools to make your business easier. There are tools to help you run campaigns for your store, there are tools to automate various areas of your store. There is a wide range of tools at your disposal.

5. Online shopping will continue to grow

There are billions of online buyers around the world, and it is said that online shopping is the future of shopping. Most individuals prefer buying online to going to a physical store to purchase their products. This is the reason you should start an online store. The Internet has made things easier and so has it made shopping. 

If you want to expand your business reach and get more customers, then you need to start an online store. Leverage The power of online shopping by starting an online store.

6. Improve company image 

An online store improves your company's image. Nowadays any company without an online image leaves customers wondering if they are serious with their business. For your customers to value your company, you should start an online store. It adds credit to your company's image and establishes you as an authority in your business.

7. Improved customers support

With an online store, you can serve your customers better, they don't need to travel down to your physical store to lay a complaint concerning any products nor do they have to travel down to make some inquiry about your company. 

You can create a video or a FAQ (frequently asked questions) to help answer most questions your customers might be likely to ask. You can also automate some messages for your customers. This doesn't only save you time, but it also improves your relationship with your customers.

Importance of having an online presence for businesses

Visibility leads to more audience reach. An online presence determines how people will find you. In years past when there was no internet or social media platforms, there isn't a need for an online presence, people found you only when you told them where you were located. In this section, we will be looking at the importance of having an online presence for your business.

There is so much importance that I can't wait to let you know. During the COVID-19 building, an online presence became a priority for many businesses and they saw the benefits, after the COVID-19, most businesses adopt the fact that an online presence is beneficial for their business expansion, and growth regardless of the lockdowns in various countries now enjoy streams of revenues, but those that didn't suffer it. Some businesses went down because of the pandemic while some blossomed because of the pandemic.

Sit tight let's take this smooth ride:

Accessibility

The more reason why you need an online presence is because your competitors are also online trying to expand their reach. You will likely lose your customers to your competitors when they search for your product online and find out that you are not available online, they will abandon the search and move over to your competitors.

Your business needs an online presence to enhance accessibility. To make sure your company shows up on Google search results, invest in improving your site SEO because this helps Google rank your site above your competitors. Make your business and products effortless for your customers to find, make sure that your site speed isn't slow because that can be a big turn-off for your customers. Imagine losing potential customers to your competitors because of inaccessibility, or load issues. Avoid this by working on your online presence.

Wider reach

Focusing on selling traditionally in a physical store, limits the reach your business can get. An online presence allows customers to reach you easily and also improves your company's image and also increases your sales. You don't need to worry about your business hours, with an online presence your customers can purchase products at any time of the day and also make payments through the payment gateway provided. 

Reaching more people is easier when you have an online presence, customers will also refer you to their friends, and families if they love your products and services. This is the reason you need an active social media account. If people want information about your business they can easily come to you.

Helps builds relationship between you and your customers

An online presence helps to boost your relationship with your customers. You can easily reach out to unsatisfied customers and help them resolve their issues. This is why comments and reviews are very important. It helps you know what your customers have in mind about your products or brands, and by replying to their queries you are showing them that you care about their satisfaction and are ready to give them the best shopping experience.

Ignoring bad reviews or comments on your site to move forward with your business sets a bad image for your company. It's better to resolve an issue if there are unhappy and unsatisfied customers than to make ahead with your normal duties making it look as if their opinions and satisfaction don't matter.

Showcases your products and services

An online presence makes it easier to showcase your products and services to potential customers. Your online presence will make it easier for the world to know about your business, what you sell, and how you offer your services. With just a search and a few clicks on your sites, customers can see what you offer and make a choice. They don't need business hours to do this, that's the interesting part of an online presence, regardless of when your business operates, customers can always make purchases at any time and any day.

Brand awareness and recognition

Your social media platforms, blogs, and website helps to tell your audience about your brand or store. They are the most common ways of increasing your brand awareness. Distance isn't a barrier to how much your business can reach, and the recognition your business can gain. To get recognized by your audience, build an online presence, invest in having an active social media account, and regularly update and promote your brand to reach a wider audience by doing so, customers can easily share the word about your business with their friends and families.

These are some of the reasons you need an online presence. As a modern business, you shouldn't be left behind in what the internet can offer you. You shouldn't be left in the dark and focus only on traditional means of shopping or marketing, leverage the power of building an online presence and see the transformation.

What do you need to start an online store?

To start an online store there are a few things you need to start an online store and here they are:

Business plan

This is a document created that includes your company's goals, vision, marketing objectives, financial projections, etc. Before starting an online store you will need to sit down and count the cost. Lay out plans, goals which include long-term goals, short-term goals, and mid-term goals.

A business plan is very important for the success of any business, it's like a light that shines on your pathway, it directs your business to the right place and lets you know where you are going, and when you are moving off the track. As a company grows so should your business plan change, your business plan shouldn't be rigid, it should evolve with your business. Now even with a business plan most companies fail, having a well-laid-out business plan without a strong leadership or good strategy will make the plan fruitless. To accomplish your business plan you need to stay focused on the plan.

Domain name

A domain name is what helps people find you, they are an integral part of your website, without a domain name visitors can't find you online.

You can see a domain name as a passcode for your brand, once your visitors input it, it grants them access to your site. Choosing a good domain name for your store is very important, it makes it easier for customers to find you, and it also improves your ranking on search engines. Make your domain names short, let them reflect your brand, and make them unique and easy to remember. You can get a domain name for any domain name registrar like NameCheap, GoDaddy, etc.

Website platform

Before starting an online store, you should select an ecommerce website platform for your online store. However, you can also select a content management system (CMS) that supports online stores. You can also decide to choose a Pre Built ecommerce store rather than hiring a web developer to build one for you.

Some website builders that will help you set up and effectively manage an online store include; Shopify, WooCommerce (built on WordPress), Magento, and BigCommerce.

Website hosting

Website hosting makes your website content accessible to people. It helps to publish your website on the internet. There are different types of web hosting. There is Shared Hosting; this involves multiple people sharing the same servers including memory, processing power, and storage space. We also have Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting; Here your website also shares the same servers with other users but the difference here is that there is a virtual partition for each user. 

This type of hosting is best for blogs with rapidly growing audiences, medium-sized sites, and ecommerce stores. There is also Cloud Hosting; this type makes use of several virtual servers to host sites. In case one server goes wrong the rest can carry out the task. Businesses with multiple websites, and also some eCommerce stores can benefit from it. 

Design and layout 

Before creating a website for your ecommerce store, make sure your designs and layouts align with your company's image. This alone increases your brand reputation and sets you as an authority in your niche. Create a visually appealing interface, you can hire a web designer to do that for you.

Products and services

Of course, before starting an online store you should already get your products ready. Are you selling digital products, will you be selling them to companies or businesses or will you be selling to consumers? Will your store focus on multiple products from different brands or will it focus on products from a single brand? Will you be dropshipping or wholesaling?

Answers to these questions help you to know the track you're on and help you focus on it.

Payment gateways

As I once emphasized earlier in this article, make sure you adopt different payment gateways for your store. You wouldn't like to lose a customer to your competitors simply because they can't find the payment options that are convenient for them. Include various types of payment gateway such as PayPal, Payoneer, Google Pay, Apple Pay, credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, etc.

Security

Your customers will love to know their information is secured. An SSL certificate helps to encrypt customer data, secure payment transactions, and protect sensitive information. Make sure that these certificates are properly installed on your site. Customers won't like to risk their information only to find out that they aren't safe with you.

Factors to consider before building an online store

We will be listing 5 things to consider before building an online store. Make sure you read this section carefully.

What Products are you going to sell?

This can be a very difficult question sometimes. Some people may have vast options on their minds, but it's hard for them to pick one, while for some they might have thought this through before thinking about an online store.

Now the big question is: What products are you going to sell on your online store? Know what you are interested in. Are you interested in selling travel gadgets, scuba diving gear, cosmetics, clothing, Home appliances, homemade products, camera lenses, etc? Make a wise choice, also make sure you research competitors in your niche to see how they are performing and draft a strategy on how you can perform better.

Resale license, business entities, and insurance

You need the presence of an attorney, insurance agent before you start a business. Okay! You might be wondering why! You need these people to be able to find out the legal steps you need to take to protect yourself and your business. 

You need them to find out if you need an LLC, to know if your state requires you to register your business name and get a business license. You also need to find out if you will need product liability insurance, and also if you will be needing a resale license (a resale license is very important as it enables you to get discounts from manufacturers if you buy in bulk).

Your customers

Who are your customers? What are their needs, and interests? These are questions you need to ask and also find answers to them before starting an online store.

Don't stop at the first two factors above, this step is a very important step to take before starting a business. Your customers and who they are helps to provide you with the necessary information you might need in the future and also helps you to draft out a good marketing strategy.

Who are your go-to source 

Know who you would be marketing to, and know where you would market. Would you market only on your website, or would you extend to social media platforms or eCommerce retailers? 

Online reviews

This is very important when it comes to online shopping. This speaks volumes to your customers more than what you portray. They want to see what others say of your products and services, they want to see those reviews with both negative and positive comments. Reviews influence customers and compel them to take action. Most customers don't leave reviews but you should learn to encourage them to do so.

Chapter 3

Planning phase

This section focuses on helping you plan how your online store will follow the steps provided below. Let's go!

Determine your niche and products

This is a very impatient step to take in the planning phase. You should determine what area you will like to focus on and what type of products you would love to sell. A niche is a focused area that a business specializes in. You wouldn't want to be called the "Jack of all trades, master of none." A niche helps you to be more focused in a particular area of business, it separates you from companies that are in the mass market, thereby lowering the competition rate.

Knowing the niche and products you want to focus on, helps you to draft out an effective marketing strategy for your store, it also builds a loyal audience who are interested in what you do.

Conduct market research and competitive analysis

Conducting Market research and competitive analysis helps you to know how to better position your business for success and to effectively serve your customers.

This involves knowing who your customers are, what their interests are, and finding out how to meet their needs. Without knowing who your customers are, what they do, what their interests are etc. It can be very hard trying to create an effective market strategy for them. This is why conducting market research is very important, it gives you an overview on the Dynamics of your market, such as volume and value, potential customer segments, buying patterns, competition.

• Who are my customers?
• What are their buying habits?
• How large is my target market?
• Who are my main competitors?
• What are my competitors’ strengths and weaknesses?

These questions help you to answer your customers' questions making it possible to solve their needs. Knowing your market, audience and competitors well helps to reduce any risk. Also conducting a SWOT analysis also helps to identify any risk in market trends.

Research and brainstorm product ideas 

When we want to devise a solution to a problem we brainstorm now we will be brainstorming product ideas. This method is the oldest and yet the most popular method of generating ideas. Brainstorming can be effective for generating product ideas. You can decide to brainstorm alone or with the help of your workers. 

Here are some ways to help you in brainstorming:

1. Mind mapping

This is a common way and also a great way to organize your idea. To mind map you should the problems you want to solve on your computer or maybe a whiteboard, but whiteboards are ideal for mind mapping. 

Write down every product idea that comes to your mind, and expand it by writing down each problem associated with it. For example, let's say you have an idea to start a Cosmetics online store, you need to expand it by conducting more research on its traffic, competitors, revenue model, etc. This will give you a clear insight into what it's like to go into a cosmetics company and you will come to a conclusion on whether you will continue with that idea, and if not you continue with your second idea.

2. S.C.A.M.P.E.R

This is used for questioning your ideas and improving on them from all angles.

For each letter ask yourself a question about the products or niche you want to enter:

Substitute: What would happen to the products or niche if we swapped Y for Z?

Combine: What would happen to the products, project, or niche if we combined Y and Z?

Adapt: What changes would be needed to adapt this product, niche, or project to a different context?

Modify: How could we modify to create more value on this issue?

Put to another use: What other uses or applications might this product, project, or niche have?

Eliminate: What could we remove from the niche, products to simplify it?

Reverse: How could we reorganize this product, or niche to make it more effective

This is an effective method for conducting keyword research, and market research.

S.W.O.T. Analysis

You might have come across this, it's commonly used by entrepreneurs. S.W.O.T. = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

This is a very useful method to create a successful business model. You can create a better project plan, you can analyze your plans. 

Evaluate the competition in your niche

To evaluate the competition in your niche, you will need to determine your niche first. You have to know who your target audience is, what are their needs, pain points, and goals, how you intend to solve those issues, and how you intend to serve them better than your competitors. You should answer these questions to help you evaluate the competition in your niche.

Another step to evaluate the competition in your niche is to conduct keyword research using keyword research tools. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Moz, or Ahrefs can help you find keywords related to your niche. You can find keywords based on trends, difficulty, search volumes, etc. To find long tail keywords tools like AnswerThePublic, and Ubersuggest can be the best fit.

When you are done with keyword research, you need to filter out high-competition keywords. You need to avoid words with high competitors, or keywords that are used by highly competing sites, especially if they have high domain authority, content quality, strong backlinks, etc. As much as you are going to avoid such keywords, you should also consider avoiding keywords with low search volumes, or low relevance. However, you should select keywords with low competition keywords, high opportunity, and value, but low competition.

Define your target audience 

These are people who will likely be interested in your product line, and services. To define your target audience there are key factors to consider they include:

- Age 

- Gender 

- Language

- Location 

- Lifestyle

- Career 

- Interests and activities

- Socioeconomic status 

- Stage of life

- Motivation and priorities

These factors help you to know who your target audience is and what their interests might be. When you know who your target audience is, you can choose the tone to talk to them, just like there are different tones of voice used to talk to a child, and also a different tone used in talking to a 70-year-old man. If you want to succeed in whatever niche you are, you should know who your target audience is and how to serve them effectively.

Knowing who your target audience is will influence your tone and language, How you market your products to them, Where you market, What platform you use, Price point, Design of your branding and product, and also Product updates.

Set clear goals and objectives for your online store

Any business aiming for success should have clear goals and objectives. Before starting an online store knowing where you are going is equivalent to success. Write down your goals, you can also choose to store them on your computer but writing things down makes you more organized and accountable for those things. What are those top priorities you have for your business, using a SWOT analysis to create goals for your business? Then review your goals with your team, sit down with them, and get their feedback. Make them SMART:

S- Specific

M- Measurable

A- Attainable

R- Relevant

T- Timely

Chapter 4

How to build an online store

The time we have all been waiting for is here! We have covered a lot of things you need to know before creating an online store. In this section, we will be talking about how to build an online store.

Here we go!

What are your goals and store plan?

As we explained earlier, your goals help you to be focused and it's better written down. Determine who your target audience are, know what resonates well with them, what are their interests, needs, and pain points and how you expect to serve them better.

Your goals should be clear, well written, and follow the SMART rules

S- Specific: make sure the goals you set are detailed and very clear. If you want your business to survive 5yrs and also make it up to 10 yrs and above, then you have to set specific goals and narrow your focus to what you want to achieve.

M- Measurable: You should be accountable for your goals. This means you should be able to evaluate the struggles you might meet on the way and also the results you expect to get at the end. Measuring your goals helps you to realize when you are off track. Answering these questions can help you measure your goals better: How much? How often? How many?

A- Attainable: Make sure you can achieve the goals you set for your store. Don't set unachievable, or unattainable goals it makes no sense if you aren't going to achieve them. Setting attainable goals not only sets you up for success but also boosts your relationship with your employees and also enhances their engagement level.

R- Relevant: How relevant are your goals? It won't make sense to set goals that you think are easy and probably should be there, or maybe a goal because your competitors have it! That doesn't make any sense!  The relevance of your goals depends on your company's needs. Do you want to increase revenue by 50%? increase audience engagement by 30%? This is how relevant goals should look like, it specifically identifies what you would do to advance your business.

T- Timely: Having a time frame of what you want to achieve is very important as setting the goals themselves. Imagine when a house has no gate, anyone can go out and come in anytime they want. The same goes for a goal with a specific time range, you would probably sleep on the goal as long as you want. A deadline is a powerful motivator and it can help you achieve your goals on time.

You need to choose an ecommerce platform. 

Choosing an eCommerce platform depends on your business model. Here is a list of some eCommerce platforms you can choose from

• Shopify
• Wix
• BigCommerce
• WooCommerce
• PrestaShop
• Squarespace
• Big Cartel
• Weebly
• 3dcart
• Volusion
• OpenCart

We will be looking at some of them in detail.

Shopify: This is a very popular ecommerce platform and also one of the best platforms to build your store. They are great at handling all aspects of your business. With Shopify you can easily obtain a custom domain, there is an excellent built-in marketing tool to serve all your marketing needs, and you can equally sell everywhere online and in-person

and also you will have access to more than 6,000 apps through the Shopify App Store. For a basic Shopify plan, it can cost $39 to start up an eCommerce website.

Wix: This ecommerce platform is best for individual sellers. This is very easy to use, you could build a free website, but to Wix ecommerce features you will have to upgrade your plan. This ecommerce platform has a user-friendly interface and some helpful tools. It is easy to use, fully hosted, and has lots of support from customer service. The business Basic tier starts at $23/month. The Business Unlimited tier starts at $27/month while the Business VIP tier starts at $49/month.

Big Commerce: This ecommerce platform is very good for big or large companies. This platform also offers website hosting like Wix and Shopify. Most of their features include;  SEO tools,  multiple channel selling on social media, Multiple payment options with no transaction fees, and third-party marketplaces.

Its Pricing starts at $29.95/month, Plus tier starts at $79.95/month, or $71.95/month when paid annually while the Pro tier starts at $299.95/month, or $269.96/month when paid annually.

These are some of the details on the first three ecommerce platforms on our list. Let's go over to the next step in building your online store.

Your domain name and web hosting

Once you are done choosing your platforms it's time to register your domain name and set up your web hosting. Your domain name is a very important part of your store. It is your store's address and this is the name people will search for on search engines to find you.

When choosing a domain name make it short, unique, and relevant to your brand. Here are some of the best domain name registrars and web hosting.

Bluehost: Bluehost is one of the largest hosting platforms in the world and I guess you would have probably heard about them or seen their advert on Facebook or anywhere else, but in case you haven't they are WordPress official hosting partners. They also offer domain registration.

GoDaddy: One of the oldest domain registration companies. They have been quite around for a long time now, they manage over 85 million domain names. They have an easy-to-use domain interface, they also offer premium domain club membership for professionals. With GoDaddy, you can transfer your domain name, update contact information, change name servers, manage bulk domain renewals, etc.

Domain.com: One of the most popular domain registration companies on planet Earth! With domain.com you can gain access to tons of management tools like private registration, free whois, whois privacy protection, easy DNS management, bulk registration, easy transfers, email account, email forwarding, etc. You can also purchase website hosting services from them.

Hostinger: This company offers you a free domain name if you purchase a website hosting plan from them. They are a fast-growing company on the internet. With Hostinger you can get access to some business tools like a free business email address, free SSL certificate to make your website secure, etc.

NameCheap: With their powerful domain search tools you can choose the right domain name for your products. Aside from domain name registration they offer domain add-on services like domain privacy and premium DNS.  Their interface is more user-friendly when compared with GoDaddy's. Looking for a registrar that offers free whois privacy in all their domains then NameCheap might be the perfect one for you.

These are a few of the platforms where you can get web hosting for your store and also register your domain name.

Design your store

The look and feel of your store should match your branding. The name you give to your store should match your domain name for example if your ecommerce store is called 'Beauty House' then your domain name should be 'www.beautyhouse.com,' make sure you go by the common name your customers know you by, you won't like to lose some of your customers to your competitors because of unrecognizable store name.

Your design, themes, and layouts should match that of your brand. Also, your store logo should be attractive and simple because it's going to be the race of your brand. You should also know that your store name and logo should be consistent across all social media platforms, even if you have a physical store, your online store name and logo should resonate with your physical store.

Great photography helps you put your best foot forward. Don't use blurry photos. They are a big turn-off for customers. You can get free stock photos or shoot your photo with your camera or smartphone. Moreover, when designing your store it's crucial to use a responsive theme for your store, you can create a custom design. Users will be visiting your site all the time so you need to make sure you avoid high bounce rate by making your site easy to navigate and user-friendly.

Add products and set up your categories

The main reason for creating an online store is to add your product. Each product you list on your site should have a clear and compelling description, high-quality image, and pricing information.

Here's how to do that:

1. Products description and title

When a customer is interested in a particular product he/she would love to learn more about that particular product. This is the more reason you need a clear description of your products.

Your product title is the first thing that catches your customers' eyes, it should clearly describe what the product is. Your product title shobe short, and clearly fit in the right category, then a clear description of the products can be done in the product description section.

The product description tells the customer more about the products, it tells the customer what the product's color is, size, weight, use, etc. Your description can be bulleted, in sentences or short paragraphs. 

There are some things you need to have in mind before creating a product description

Who is this product for? This is the first question you need to answer before writing a product description. Know what your target audience is. Is the product for male or female, young or old, nursing mothers or ladies, etc? Know who the product you are selling is for.

What are the product details? This includes the color of the products, dimensions, size, weight, materials used, features, functions, and cost.

When should the product be used? Is there a certain time of the day the products can be used? If the products are for a specific occasion, this information is important and should be included in your product description section. 

Where should the product be used? Is there a specific place or area in the body the product should be applied to, is it for your house, car, or kitchen, is it for outdoor activities or indoor activities?

Why are the products useful and why should your customers buy them? Here you need to communicate the value of the products to your audience, let them know how the product will benefit them, and why they should buy your products instead of your competitors.

How does it work? Describe how the product works, if it's for a car, you need to describe in brief or detail how it works.

These are the questions you should ask yourself before writing a product description. When writing a product description, write with the reader in mind, and make sure you address your target audience personally while writing a product description. Imagine the kind of humor they would love, words they use, and words they don't like, and then decide how to write these languages in your description. Also avoid the 'yeah, yeah' phrases. Be specific with your words to avoid your customers saying the 'yeah, yeah' phrases to themselves.

Your SEO is very important for your ranking. Research the keywords that you want your product to rank for, make sure it's something your customers regularly search for, then find ways to add them to your description. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Moz, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, etc can help you with your keyword research.

2. Take high-quality photos of your products 

Take and upload high-quality images of your products. In the media section, you can add an image, video, GIF, or a 3D model of your products. Your image quality is very important, avoid using photos that have low resolution, and are blurry. No customers would want to strain their eyes trying to see clearly through blurry photos. Make sure you maintain the same image ratio, and size across all your product photos on your site.

3. Set prices and inventory levels

Set the price at which you want the product to be sold. This is what your customers will see before making any purchase. For example, the price for producing and packaging skincare products might be $10 and if you decide to sell the product at $25 you will be making a $15 profit. As an online store, some things can influence the way you set your price. They include; the cost of raw materials, shipping cost, the cost of your time, overhead like rent or employees, and most importantly, the quality of your products.

Inventory levels include these include:

SKU: This is a unit used to track and measure inventory for a specific product.

Bar Codes: these are mostly used if you want to add a scannable barcode or if you are reselling a product.

Quantity: This includes how many products you have at the moment.

4. Payment gateway

Choose a secure payment gateway you would love to use to process your customers' payments. Some payment options you can use include PayPal, Payoneer, Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Gift Cards, Amazon Express, Apple Pay, Stripe, Authorize.net.Google Pay, etc. I recommend selling in different currencies. 

Before launching your store, make sure your payment gateway has been successfully set up. Most ecommerce website builders make this easier for you. To create the best payment gateway, you will need to find out where your customers are from, and their nationality and then meet their needs. Most countries don't accept a certain payment gateway, so make sure you include the payment method that resonates well with such countries.

5. Shipping

It's time to figure out how your products will reach your customers. You will need to draft out an effective shipping strategy if you want your customers to experience a seamless delivery process.

To start shipping your products you need an origin address to get started with.

Your origin shipping address is where you are shipping from. Make sure you input a correct shipping address especially if you aren't shipping from your office. Once this has been done you can now print it out.

The next step is to add the Zones you will be shipping to. Of course, shipping rates differ according to each country. Depending on the area the client is in, you can decide to charge cheaper or higher. If the customer is in a nearby state close to your distributing areas then you can charge cheaper but if not you can charge higher. Your shipping method and rates should be based on your products and target audience locations.

Your Tax settings should also be set according to your business location and applicable tax laws.

This is very important. Implement some security measures in your store to keep your store and customers' information secured. To do this install an SSL certificate to keep, and encrypt your customer's details. Also, you should implement some security measures to protect your store and customers against fraud and any unauthorized access.

After you might have been done building your store, you need to optimize it for search engines by conducting some keyword research on your product's description and also creating unique and high-quality content to improve your site ranking and visibility.

When you are done with this it's time to launch your site, but before that, you need to test to know if all the features added are working well. Test the payment gateway, and shipping functions, and ensure the functions are working just fine, then you can now launch your ecommerce store.

Chapter 5

Most profitable online store products

The products listed below are considered particularly profitable for any online store:

1. Jewelry
2. Beauty products
3. Skincare products
4. Bamboo toothbrushes
5. Watches
6. Sunglasses
7. Water bottles
8. Electronics
9. Art supplies
10. Women’s apparel
11. Yoga leggings
12. LED lights
13. Auto accessories
14. Fitness equipment
15. Pet Care
16. Kids’ Toys
17. Phone accessories
18. Candles
19. Information products
20. Home office products

These are 20 products you can sell on your online store, but make sure what you sell resonates with your business model. 

Tips to improve your online store

Here are some tips on how you can improve your online store.

1. Website speed

To improve your online store you need to optimize your website speed. Sluggish sites and slow-loading sites can drive away potential customers from your store. Make sure you compress large images and videos, make use of caching techniques, and minimize the amount of code.

2. High-quality images

This is another important step to take to be able to improve your site. Make sure your photos are not blurry, but well lit, with high resolution, and adequate lighting, giving a 360 degree view of your products, and showcasing your product from different angles.

3. Detailed product information

When writing a product description write with your target audience in mind, and write personally to them. Provide them with the necessary details they need to know concerning the product they are interested in. Give details about the product's features, color, size, measurements, etc.

4. Customer reviews

Enable customer reviews on your store. Encourage your customers to leave a review or rating about the products bought. Whether they are positive or negative they are all important to the growth of your business. While positive reviews build trust and credibility, negative reviews give room for improvement.

5. User-friendly interface

Make your site user-friendly and easy for your customers to navigate. Categorize products very well so that your customers won't find it hard to search for products.

6. Multiple payment options

Enable different payment options for your customers. Most countries allow for multiple payment methods. Make sure you give your customers the satisfaction they need by ensuring that you provide the payment method that resonates with them, thereby giving them a seamless experience. 

How to attract people to your online store

To attract customers to your store follow these methods:

1. Partner with influencers 

According to research, 61% of customers trust influencers'' suggestions and recommendations on a particular product.

Find social media users that have a large audience and run influencer marketing campaigns with them. Make sure their target audience and niche resonate with yours.

2. Promotions and flash sales

Most customers love and look for coupons. Use promotions and Flash sales as a hook to draw them to your site, and also stand out on social media. You can create coupons using Daily Deals, MyBulk, etc. Announcing your promotion or flash sales on social media platforms can supercharge your site with sales and traffic.

3. Create videos on trending topics 

Leverage the power of YouTube videos and attract customers. YouTube is a very large company, it's the second most visited platform on the internet. Create engaging videos on trending topics that your customers are interested in.

4. Email newsletter

Building an email Newsletter can attract more customers. It's a direct link to get to your customers. To attract potential customers you need a lead magnet like offering something for free or doing a giveaway. These can be:

i) A free quiz

ii) A coupon code

iii) A checklist or downloadable PDF

5. SMS campaigns 

You can start by collecting phone numbers. This is a powerful marketing tool to drive customers to your store. With SMS Campaigns you can provide excellent customer service to your customers.

How to be successful with an online store

Being successful online takes time and effort, but it isn't impossible. In this section of the article, I will be sharing some tips on how you can be successful online regardless of the competition.

1. Have a defined niche

Identify the market you want to focus on. This will help you to focus effectively on a particular customer's needs and learn how to serve them better.

2. Create a professional website 

To be successful in your online store you need a professional website that matches your brand. Ensure that your website has a user-friendly interface that makes it easier for clients to easily navigate your site, also make sure it's highly responsive, and optimized for mobile devices.

3. High-quality products

When you sell low-quality products on your site, you will likely lose your customers' trust and loyalty. Ensure you offer high-quality products in your niche, and also that the product images are well-lit and clear, and the product description is very detailed and accurate.

4. Marketing strategy

Develop a comprehensive and detailed marketing strategy for your business on how to increase sales, attract more customers, and increase visibility. Channels like social media platforms, email marketing, and search engine optimization are sure to drive traffic to your site.

5. Optimize for search engines

To improve your website visibility on search engines, implement an SEO strategy. Ensure that your meta description, tags, content, and URL are all optimized. Keyword research is very essential for the growth of your business.

6. Provide great customers service

One of the reasons you built an online store is to serve your customers, to provide them with the necessary needs they desire. Offer support to them to build trust and loyalty. Respond to the queries, feedback and give them the satisfaction they can't get from your competitors.

Conclusion 

Final words

I'm sure you have learned a lot today about how you can build an online store. As a business owner, an online store is very important for the expansion of your business. Although this can be overwhelming at first but as time goes on, it becomes easier to understand. 

Nowadays with an online store, you can sell anything you want to sell online. Remember success doesn't happen overnight it takes time, dedication, and effort to start enjoying what you worked for, but trust me it's worth the effort. Always ensure you provide value to your customers and be committed to giving them the satisfaction they need.

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