How to Set Up an eCommerce Store for Your Brick and Mortar Shop

1. 1 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

2. Running a brick and mortar shop is challenging enough; you have to constantly deal with your customers face to face, check-up on you staff, hire security to prevent theft, spend on store maintenance, and then if you are hit by a pandemic like situation you will have to close the doors and withstand zero sales for a prolonged period of time. Which gives you all the more reasons to start an ecommerce online store. If you take your brick-and-mortar business online and just focus on your local market you can make your business more profitable. Setting up and managing an online store is cost-effective; reaching your target customers is easy; running marketing campaigns, accepting payments and managing your inventory is more effortless than it was for running a physical store. In this article you will learn how to set up your own ecommerce store and our suggestions on the top ecommerce platforms and technologies to choose. I will explain in detail the steps to follow while taking your business online. How To Start Your eCommerce Business? We have written this blog assuming that you have a brick-and-mortar store and are well aware of your target customers. This blog will guide you to take your business online using industry best practices that many successful ecommerce store-owners have followed to become successful. 2 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

3. Determine the Products You Want to Sell Online If you have a brick and mortar store you are already clear about what you will be selling online on your ecommerce store. But ecommerce is a vast space where your competitors will be selling a lot more variations of the products you are selling. Moreover you have to look into the possibility that selling the products you want to sell online is a viable option? For example: if you sell low-cost items, you have to attract customers who will purchase in bulk so that you can reduce the shipping charges, otherwise it will become an unprofitable business. 3 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

4. Another example: if you want to sell ceramic items, which are expensive and fragile, you will have to find logistic partners who can guarantee secure shipping of your products without mishandling the items. Which is why it becomes essential that you determine the products you want to sell online and ensure that you can fulfil your customers’ orders without fail. Run a Competitor Research to Know What You're Up Against When you have already figured-out the products you will be selling online, the next step would be to run a thorough competitor analysis and find out ways they run their online store. Starting from your local businesses to global stores, you can derive a ton of insights into how they run their online business. Here are a few pointers to look into when researching your competitors: What products they are selling online. Learn about their shipping partners and how they fulfil their orders. Payment gateways they employ to accept payments. Technologies your competitors are using to run their store. Figure-out their marketing strategies and ways they engage with their competitors. Most importantly, find out your unique selling point and how you can compete in the market to win. 4 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

5. You may already know how to run a brick-and-mortar store; however, running an ecommerce store is a completely different business model. Researching your competitors’ business will guide you into figuring out the right approach you can follow to make your ecommerce business a success. Register a Domain and Choose an eCommerce Development Platform At this stage you need a hosting provider who can host your website as well as store and manage your online store data. There are over 300,000 hosting providers in the world to choose from but there are some hosting services who are ecommerce friendly. Here are top 5 ecommerce hosting providers: GoDaddy Hosting InMotion DreamHost Bluehost Hostinger SiteGround 5 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

6. Top Factors to consider when choosing your hosting provider The next step is to hire the right ecommerce development company, who can guide you to choose the best ecommerce platform for your online store. We suggest opting for CMS (content management systems) platforms which enables store owners to create their online store without having any coding skills, they can use their content management systems to upload product items and publish their store in 24 hours, literally! 6 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

7. Here are a few eCommerce platforms to choose from: Upload and Publish the Products You Want to Sell Online After selecting the ecommerce development platform for your online store, you can upload and publish your products with ease using the content management system. At this phase you will need to opt for a professional eCommerce development company who can upload, populate and publish your products to make your ecommerce site live. An ecommerce development agency can prepare upload files with all product details which can be employed to bulk upload products. Create a maintenance plan for your online store 7 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

8. Now that your online store is up and running you need to put in place a maintenance plan to ensure smooth running of the ecommerce store. eCommerce is an ever evolving industry where you need to keep up with the changing market trends to thrive and succeed in your business. A maintenance plan for your online store is to ensure that you stay ahead in the market and your customers derive a better shopping experience: The benefits of site maintenance includes: Update store security features to keep it secure from trespassers Give your customers a better user experience Update store UI and UX to give your customers a better shopping experience. Make your online store search engine friendly 8 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

9. Top ways to maintain your eCommerce site: Update CMS version and themes Update site plugins Back up your store regularly Monitor store analytics to find ways to improve customer experience Maintain site security Monitor server performance to prevent server downtime Optimize website speed Update and optimize store contents Update product SKUs and descriptions Keep and follow a maintenance schedule 9 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company

10. Wrapping Up! Setting up an online store is basically the same everywhere in the world. You have to stock-up your inventory, buy a domain name, choose a hosting provider, choose an ecommerce platform, upload product details and publish. To accomplish all the above actions efficiently you should hire an eCommerce development agency who can set-it-up for you at a fraction of the cost. If you can do all that as well as manage to sell your products, your ecommerce store business will take care of its own; you only have to take care of maintaining the site and implementing marketing strategies to keep your store going. 10 From the resource library of andolasoft.inc | web and mobile app development company