6 Important Things to Know Before Starting an Online Store

Starting an online store may be straightforward, but the hardest part is getting customers to purchase from you. Having good search engine rankings and motivating customers to come back is an even bigger challenge.

When writing a business plan for your online store and doing your retail business planning, be sure to set aside a solid budget for sales and marketing. As you move forward, customer acquisition, retention, and conversion are going to be your biggest challenges.

Here are 6 things you should know before starting an online store:

1. Select A Good System - Choose a popular system to set up a shop. This will be the 'location' of your store in your business plan. If you’re not too familiar with code, a hosted platform is your best option. These are easy to set up and run, and the plans are affordable. If you prefer to have complete control over your website, consider using WordPress or OpenCart. Although the base of these systems is free, you will have to pay extra for additional functionality and themes.

2. Optimize For Speed - Customers hate slow page loading speeds. In fact, it’s the number one reason why customers abandon their carts and go to another e-commerce site. If you’re opting for a hosted store, then you don’t have to worry too much about page loading speed. For e-commerce businesses set up on self-hosted systems, fast page load speed should be a priority.

3. Look At Competitors - Use a keyword related to your business and perform a search. Check out your competitors’ websites and compare theirs with yours. Look for sites that are outdated or poorly designed. Don’t forget to examine websites that are doing well too. Jot down ideas on how you can do things better or differently with your website. Pro tip: Even after you’ve set up a shop, it’s a good idea to always check out what your competition is doing! 

If web design is not your forte, you might consider hiring a website/graphic designer. Again, be sure to include this aspect in your business plan.

4. Strive For Uniqueness - If you’re making and selling your own products, then you’re already unique. What if you’re selling someone else’s products? This means your content will resemble other online stores that are selling the same products (because they purchased from the same supplier).

To appear unique, rewrite every product description and use your own creativity. If possible, take new product images. Consider taking them from different angles and using a plugin that enables customers to rotate the images so that they can get a better understanding of the product.

5. Selling Isn’t Enough - When you’re setting up your online store, you must be able to offer customers more than just the product. Keep in mind, there are thousands of shops worldwide where customers can shop. You have to offer additional value. Use your skills and product knowledge to write blog posts on various topics. Include internal links to your products. By sharing your knowledge, you’ll eventually become an industry expert and build a community around your business.

6. Have A Presence On Social Media - This might sound clichéd, but your online store should be on social media platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. It’s an invaluable marketing strategy that lets you interact directly with customers. Social media platforms are a chance for you to answer your customers' queries, address complaints, share links to your blog, offer information about future product offerings, sales, etc. At the start, you can do these tasks yourself, but as your e-commerce store gets busy, you might want to hire a social media manager. Don’t forget to budget for this in your business plan!

Setting up an online store is easy but running and growing it can be challenging. Your business plan must have an ongoing and flexible budget for sales and marketing as this is going to help you set up a functional and attractive website, optimize for speed, be present on social media, write stellar content, and ultimately stay ahead of the competition.