Setting up your own online shop from home can be a convenient and fulfilling money-maker that you can either choose to do full-time, or fit around an existing job. To help you get started, here is a quick and concise guide to launching your own ecommerce venture.
Choose The Right Platform
There are several well-known ecommerce platforms that you can choose from, each one with its own unique advantages.
As a result, it’s a good idea to research each platform and then pick the one that suits your needs and your ambitions for your new business.
Make Your Products Stand Out
Once you have chosen your platform and created your store using your preferred template, it’s time to make your products as eye-catching as possible.
This means spending time ensuring that your product images, descriptions, and listings are as attractive as possible. Take crisp, clear pictures of your items, and make sure your descriptions of each product is detailed and enticing. You also need to take care to categorise your products correctly so your target demographic can easily find them.
It’s also important to create separate pages for your online store that set out your policies on everything from customer privacy to returns and refunds, shipping and delivery.
Picking Your Payment Options
Cementing your payment methods is a crucial step before you can launch your business.
While some ecommerce platforms will have this sorted on your behalf, depending on the platform you’ve chosen you may have to create an account on a third-party payment provider. For instance, PayPal is a frequently used option that is simple and convenient, both to set up and to use.
Sort Out Your Storage And Shipping
Storing your products safely is vital to make sure they are kept in good condition. While you may start off storing them at your home, as your business grows it may be more convenient to invest in a storage unit. For instance, if you live in Peterborough, you can find secure and cost-effective self storage in Peterborough with the help of Optima Self Store.
Maximise Your Marketing
Once you have created your store and sorted out every aspect of the purchasing and delivery process, it’s time to focus on crafting stand-out marketing campaigns for your brand-new business.
Don’t worry if you don’t have much money to dedicate toward advertising. You can create your own business accounts on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram and use them to your advantage to spread the word about your store, and interact with customers.
You may even want to launch a dedicated blog for your ecommerce store, and you can use email marketing to alert your customers if you have any special offers, new products, giveaways, or discounts.
Overview
Launching and running your own online store is a surprisingly simple and effective way to make some extra income. While it will take some time and effort to set up initially, once you’ve received your first orders and begun to grow your customer base, you should be well on your way to developing a hopefully lucrative side hustle – or even a full-time business.