Opening an online store is a business idea without a large financial contribution. Stories about the need to invest crazy money in order to start an online store should be put between fairy tales. Constantly developed e-commerce solutions today provide ready-made tools that allow anyone to run an online store. How to start? What to look for when choosing ecommerce software?
What do you need to run an online store?
Since you already know that anyone can sell on the internet, it’s worth understanding what you need to run an online store. It is not technical knowledge or programming abilities! See tips below:
- Online store software. This will be your basic work tool, so you should think about its choice. When opening an online store, it is best to bet on SaaS, a system for which you will pay a monthly subscription. It is a ready-made tool adapted to warehouse, payment systems, courier services, integrated with wholesalers, marketplaces and price comparison websites. For its service you do not need any technical knowledge, because the administration panel is intuitive, and the IT department of the chosen company watches over the efficiency of the software.
- To sell on a larger scale, it is necessary to set up a company.
- Products. Think about niche goods, that will be desirable and unique. You can integrate your online store with the selected warehouse and gain access to various products.
- Warehouse. You will run it independently, so take advantage of outsourcing and delegate responsibilities to an outside company or you can bet on dropshipping.
- Agreements with courier companies and payment gateways. Before you agree on the terms of cooperation with the selected contractor, check whether your software has been integrated with it. If so, after signing the contract with the selected company, you can turn on the option in your store.
- Terms and Conditions of the online store
The best online store software
There is no doubt that online sales will be the easiest to start by using the software in the subscription model. To choose the best e-commerce platform for your online store, put attention to:
- The ease of the first configuration and access to guides provided by the service provider.
- Number of integrated wholesalers (including dropshipping) and frequency of inventory updates.
- Stability of server infrastructure.
- RWD technology – this will allow your customers to conveniently purchase via mobile devices.
- Maximum simplified shopping basket process, because too many steps effectively discourage customers from finalizing the transaction.
- Adaptation to SEO: friendly links, high-speed page loading, the ability to enter metadata in products, the ability to run a blog.
- Adaptation of the store to sale on eBay, integration with a Facebook store, marketplaces and price comparison websites.
- Handling orders flowing from different sales channels to one administration panel.
The good choice will be Offerer.com which include all these features.
How to start selling online easily?
Many new sellers are scared by the vision putting crazy money into stocking the store. Finding contractors, renting a warehouse and managing it, as well as subsequent parcel shipments, require the good organization of work. What’s more, they often also require the employment of an additional employee which increases the fixed costs of your business. Fortunately, the solutions available on the e-commerce market allow you to easily start online sales and gradually learn the rules of online commerce.
The best logistic model eagerly used by beginners is dropshipping. The principle of sales can be included in a few words because dropshipping allows you to run an online store without your own warehouse and the need to buy products “on stock”. It is possible thanks to the shipping of products from the warehouse directly to the customer of the online store. How does the process look like in practice?
- Familiarize yourself with the list of dropshipping wholesalers and select the contractor with whom you want to cooperate. You do not have to limit yourself to one warehouse.
- Integrate your store with the wholesaler. As a result, the goods will appear in your offer in a few moments, which will save time and money spent on manual data replenishment.
- Focus on marketing and start selling
What is the implementation of a dropshipping?
- The customer orders the product in the online store.
- The order appears in the store’s administration panel.
- You send the info to the warehouse via a panel.
- Usually, this is tantamount to paying for the products, unless otherwise agreed during the negotiations.
- The warehouse packs the parcel and sends it directly to the buyer.
- The customer receives the ordered products and the invoice or receipt via e-mail.
Begin your ecommerce adventure and start selling today!
