How to Build an Online Store from Scratch Complete Step by Step Guide

In this blog, we teach you how to open an online store step by step. If you’ve never started an e-commerce store from scratch, it’s impossible to understand how time-consuming and detailed the process is.

You need to Consider below Factors while Selecting an eCommerce Solution

•  Pricing
• Flexibility to implement custom designs and features
• Possibility and ease of third party system integration
• Mobile friendliness
• Inbuilt marketing features available
• Ease of order & inventory management
• Possibility to scale as your business grows
• SEO friendliness
• Security

Build store From Scratch

Below is a list of all the steps we took to get started and successfully build our e-commerce site:

Decide On Your Niche:

It’s about what you’re going to sell and who you’re selling it to. Find your e-commerce business niche:

1. Make sure to gauge customer interest.
2. Competitive analysis.
3. The product margin has to make sense.

Market research:

Doing some basic market and competitor’s research is critical as it will help you to realize about competitors are doing, what works for them and whatnot. What challenges they are facing, product personalization option do they offer on their product pages, payment gateways and shipping methods your target audience prefers the most.

Perfect E-Commerce website builder:

There are loads of online store builders out there. Some are cheap, some are expensive, some are reliable, and some… aren’t. ECommerce website builders are incredibly easy to use. When it comes to creating an eCommerce store, the most painless, fuss-free solution is Shopify,  WordPress, Magento and WIX.

To set up your store, you need to have a domain name, web hosting, and a SSL certificate. Web hosting is where your website lives on the internet. SSL certificate adds a special security layer on your website, so you can accept sensitive information. Normally a domain name costs around $14.99 / year, web hosting costs around $7.99 / month, and SSL certificate costs around $69.99 / year. Bluehost has agreed to offer our users a free domain name, free SSL certificate, and a discount on web hosting.

Find a web developer:

If you want to launch your site in a relatively short time span and in a professional manner, make sure to do your vetting when it comes to hiring a developer. This is a crucial component in launching your e-commerce site. Appedology provides the best methods of e-commerce website design, working according to your choice and preference with the most cost-effective packages in the industry according to the requirements of your business.

Choose a Theme:

Customizing is easy, and you can change just about anything. This includes yours:

• Text Size and Font
• Color Scheme
• Images
• Positioning of Products
• Features
• Embedding Social Media.

Most online store builders will also allow you to embed apps. These are found in the app market, and can be used to cover any features you need, that the platform may not already have inbuilt.

Upload Your Products:

The better the product categorization is on your eCommerce website, the easier it would be for your customers to locate specific products that they need. Using an online store builder, you have great control over your product pages. A Few things you need to add a product such as a name, price, category, weight or file. The different website builder has different limits of products, options and product variants. According to recent research, about 71% of consumers think that video explains products better. Product explainer videos on your web site will make it easy for users to understand everything about your products and help them to make buying decisions

Payments Methods:

This is a crucial part of converting a browser into a buyer. Payment gateways are an integral part of the eCommerce webshop checkout process. If you don’t offer right and easy payment gateway options to your customers, your eCommerce business will not be successful. You should offer your customers all major payment gateway options such as PayPal/Braintree, stripe, direct bank transfer etc. While selecting the payment gateway, you should check for PCI compliance and SSL certificate in order to avoid any security problems in the future.

Shipping:

Online buyers care much about the shipping options that you offer and delivery fees. Research says that 45% of shoppers abandoned a cart when they didn’t find the free shipping option. You should integrate shipping methods that can offer your customers faster and cheaper delivery options on your webshop.  If you are unable to satisfy your customers in either area, then you will lose the sale. You should clearly specify order delivery dates with live order tracking features. A positive delivery experience will increase the trust of customers and encourage them to shop again.

Social Media Marketing:

Social media marketing is the process of leveraging social media networks to interact with prospects and ultimately increase traffic and sales to a website. In addition to driving traffic to your site directly, the communal nature of social networks provides an extra benefit: organic customer acquisition. If you provide content that users find relevant to their interests, they will share it with their friends and contacts.

Ways to promote your online shop:

1. Offer Deals on a Regular Basis.
2. Use Email Marketing to Remind Customers to Shop.
3. Start a Blog.
4. Contact Bloggers About Your Products.
5. Start Guest Blogging.
6. Offer Video Tutorials/Behind-the-Scenes Shots.
7. Branch Out With Social Media.
8. Highlight Products on Social Media.