How to open an online store: 10 steps to scale sales

One of the values of Torgsoft is the systematization of knowledge. We accumulate and organize the general experience of trading and the experience of our customer-entrepreneurs who have already gone through the process - from the idea of opening an online store to online trading automation.

We share important information for business through the Torgsoft accounting program and our articles. 

In this article, we will tell you step-by-step how to open an online store: where to start and how to build a new business.

1. Choosing a format - a marketplace or your own store?

To understand how to open an online store from scratch, you need to determine how to organize sales, i.e. which form of trade is more acceptable to you. You can open a full-fledged online store, or you can sell on marketplaces.

Marketplaces are one of the sales channels that many entrepreneurs consider as an additional way to promote their products. The main advantage of trading on online marketplaces is that you get a complete set of tools for setting up a trading account and advertising, without having to spend money on developing your own website. 

The trading format, in particular, depends on the following factors. 

2. Business plan

Starting a business is better and easier when you have a ready-made action plan. A business plan is such an instruction. It is worth analyzing the points in it:

• Short-term and long-term goals. 

For example, a short-term marketing goal might be to attract 100 regular customers to a store in three months through organic search. The long-term business goal is to expand the geography of sales and enter European markets in a year. 

• Market and competition analysis in the desired niches.

• Analysis of the prospects of the chosen business area.

• The amount of start-up costs for opening a store. Calculate start-up and all possible expenses in your business plan in relation to your goals. Establish a timeframe when you plan to recoup your investment.  

• The type and scope of work to be done before the launch. 

3. Choosing a niche - a type of business for an online store

The third step is to choose the product range for your online store. To do this, use the criteria of experts who will help you understand how to open your online store without risks and unnecessary expenses:

There is room for development and expansion in the niche. For example, sporting goods can be later "diluted" with goods for tourism or outdoor activities.

You want to develop this particular niche. Choose a product that you know well. This way, you will understand the needs of customers more easily and quickly and provide them with quality service, which means you will gain customer trust.

After analyzing competitors in the chosen field, identify your own advantages and formulate a unique product offer. 

Start with a highly specialized topic - this will protect you from high competition and allow you to stay on the market longer and more confidently. Also consider the seasonality of the product, access to suppliers and equipment.

You can also track the relevance of a product in Google Trends. For example, if you search for "online women's clothing store", you can see the dynamics of user interest in this category over a certain period, in the photo below - over the past 90 days:

4. Study of the target audience

It is important to clarify for yourself an important thing - for whom, what type of people, you will sell goods. Defining the characteristics of your target audience will help you plan your assortment and advertising campaigns more accurately, understand the needs and pains of potential customers, and identify promotion channels. 

Segment customers into groups, create their portraits and a "user journey map" - their path from the first contact with the store to making a purchase. This will allow you to get off to a good start and save money and time on customers who are not yours. 

5. Formation of pricing policy

Prices for goods depend primarily on your expectations of the store's profitability and market conditions. What price segment will you work in? There are only a few: cheap, medium, and expensive. 

6. Search for suppliers

If you don't want to rent a warehouse and engage in bulk purchases, but want to have a wide range of products, use dropshipping. This method allows you to trade without direct deliveries of orders and save money on warehouse rent and product purchases.

Look for suppliers that meet the following criteria:

✓ They would be convenient - they would not create problems with logistics and delivery conditions.

✓ Be flexible — would offer cooperation terms to various retailers, both small and large.

✓ Provide quality goods and services. Even if you operate in a low-cost price segment, refuse to supply goods with defects, incomplete packaging, and other shortcomings.

✓ Provide loyal purchase prices. Choose the average market price and carefully study the terms and conditions to anticipate unexpected expenses. To avoid force majeure, arrange for goods insurance.

Once you've chosen your suppliers, proceed to the creative and technical part of creating an online store.

7. The name of the shop and the branding

Ideally, the store name should reflect your business or arouse consumer interest in your brand. It can contain a keyword. The name of the store should not be too long, be easy to hear, and convey the essence of your business.

When creating a branding, it is important to choose the right colors, fonts, and develop a unique logo, among other things. You can do this yourself, hire contractors or a qualified designer to help you choose the best design and positioning for you.

Our article will help you choose a name for your store. 

8. Launching the site

This step should not be underestimated, as it combines all your ideas, efforts, and investments into a coherent system. The website is the face of the brand and the store, as well as the main sales channel, so you should work hard to create it. 

The process of implementing your own online store consists of the following steps: 

Domain registration

First, you need to register a domain name, without which you will not be able to launch your online store. A domain is a website address that is displayed in the browser bar and ideally contains the name of the store. If you can't come up with a domain, use a name generator such as Namestation or Dot-o-mator.

Choosing a site type

Website development and customization are carried out by using special content management systems (CMS). They differ in price and functionality.

Website designers. If you have only one product or several product categories, use single-page websites. To sell a wider range of products, you can use website builders that are both paid and free. For example, free website builders are SitePro, Elementor for WordPress, Jimdo, and others.

Such sites have all the necessary blocks: text, cover, image or video gallery, ready-made buttons, chatbots, social media links, payment, FAQ, timer, and many tools for promoting and designing pages. However, to customize them, you need basic marketing knowledge and certain technical skills. 

Self-written website. This option can be ordered from a team of developers who will help you realize any of your ideas and practically create an online store from scratch.

Alternatives to website builders and self-written websites are a ready-made platform for creating an online store in one day — Torgsoft Online Market.

Adding products to the site

There are several ways to upload products to the site:

• manually - if there are few goods and data about them needs to be taken from different documents,
• import from Excel. You can store product cards in a single Excel file from different sources and then import it to your online store in bulk.
• Using API - integrate your store with various CRM systems. Easily and quickly import goods into the store using the Torgsoft program.

Website usability

Your sales, strange as it may seem, depend on the functionality and mobility settings of your website. Website usability criteria are important, as they will help to increase the time spent on your pages:

• Fast loading of the site. Value your client's time. After all, you often have to pay for time. And often with your own reputation. You can check this option in Google PageSpeed Insights.

• Website adaptation for different types of devices — for computers and mobile phones. 

• Convenience and speed of use and easy navigation. Consumers should have no trouble finding the category or product they want. filters and a search bar are indispensable here.

• Friendly and intuitive interface. The entire user journey in the checkout process should not annoy or scare off the customer. Don't create long registration forms - only ask for key information. Be polite at every step of the purchase. Too familiar a tone, like a high-pitched one, can also repel customers.  

Setting up payment and delivery methods

Make sure that you can set up different payment and delivery options in your online store. You can choose a fixed amount, payment according to the carrier's tariffs, or free delivery from a certain order amount.

Add the most popular payment methods to your website:

• Non-cash payments - card payments via online payment services such as WayforPay, Portmone, LiqPay, or PayPal, Internet banking, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.

• Payment in cash - at a post office via cash on delivery, by courier during delivery or in case of pickup from the store.

9. Legal registration of the store

In order to register an online store, the owner needs to:

- choose the form of registration - private entrepreneur FOP or legal entity - and submit their data to the Unified State Register,

- register with the tax office and social funds,

- open a bank account,

- pay taxes according to plans for a specific group of entrepreneurs.

Keep in mind that starting from January 1, 2022, virtually all entrepreneurs are required to install and use cash registers, regardless of martial law. The exceptions are: Sole proprietors of Group 1, entrepreneurs who provide only services and whose income does not exceed 220 minimum wages, and those who accept payments to a current account.

10. Attracting customers to the site

A user-friendly and attractive online store is already half the battle for success. However, all of them can be lost if users don't know about your site. Therefore, after launching your website, think about which promotion channels are best for your business. We can tell you from our own experience that the more channels you cover, the more traffic you will get to your site in the end. 

There are different ways to drive traffic to a website.

• SEO - promotion through search engine optimization. It helps to bring an online store to the first pages of Google, attract new traffic mostly through organic, free methods. It works in the long run.

• SMM is promotion on social media by publishing content, conducting polls, and customer contests. It stimulates sales on the website, tells about new products and company news, and is great for attracting new subscribers. As a result, it helps to create a positive image of the company.

If you are interested in how to open an online store from scratch on Instagram or another social network, start by analyzing your audience: where they spend most of their time, what they are interested in. After that, segment your customers and start running targeted ads. 

A special Facebook Feed that imports data to the social network through the Facebook Business Manager service will help you upload products to your online store on Facebook or Instagram.

• Contextual advertising — launching advertising on Google Ads platforms. It appears in the Google search feed in the form of text ads, banners on the pages of partner sites, and as product photos on the top search positions.

• Marketplaces and aggregator sites — placement of goods on the trading platforms Rozetka, Prom.ua, and Google Shopping.

For example, thanks to the Torgsoft program, you can quickly synchronize your product catalog with Rozetka, Prom, and other platforms. 

• Email marketing— newsletters and personalized offers sent via email. This method helps to attract a certain type of customer, increase their loyalty, and remind them of your company.
• Working with reputation, or SERM — an indirect method of promotion that helps to increase loyalty and attract new users who may be interested in your product after reading a customer review. You can add customer reviews on specialized services, on your website, on forums, and in social networks.
• Working with influencers — is ordering advertising posts from experts, bloggers, and celebrities. To work with bloggers, you need to have a technical assignment, discuss the terms of cooperation, and wait for the result of the advertising campaign.
• Content marketing — is an additional way to attract users' attention to your store by publishing useful information. You can post texts on a blog on your website or in social media. Such native posts help to solve a problem that is relevant to customers and gently lead them to a purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which format is better: Instagram, a marketplace, or your own online store?

Instagram is ideal for quickly attracting customers through social networks but has limitations for selling. A marketplace helps reduce startup costs for an online business but limits the owner's control. Your own online store offers more freedom and scalability but requires more investment and time to launch. The best solution is to launch a website on the TOM — Torgsoft Online Market platform, which does not require significant investment, technical knowledge, or time.

How to choose a niche for an online store?

Choose a niche with potential for growth and expansion. It's important to have interest and experience in the field, consider product seasonality, and have access to suppliers.

How to find suppliers for an online store?

Look for suppliers via the internet, trade shows, online catalogs, and platforms like Alibaba or Aliexpress. Choose suppliers with a good reputation and flexible terms of cooperation.

How to choose a domain for an online store?

The domain should be short, memorable, and reflect the essence of your business. It should be easy to spell and avoid complex characters.

What is important when designing an online store?

The design should be user-friendly, intuitive, mobile-responsive, and fast-loading. Make sure navigation is convenient and products are easily accessible to customers.

How to attract customers to an online store?

Use SEO to drive organic traffic, social media for audience engagement, contextual advertising for quick traffic, and email marketing for personalized offers.

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