Over the past few years, online stores and businesses are the focal points for consumers and shoppers. According to statistics, the footfall for retails stores has been declining by 15% each year. Online stores and eCommerce businesses provide buyers with more convenience. Read on below to learn the basics of starting an eCommerce business.
1. Pick a Product
First of all, start by picking a product you wish to sell. Take your time and find the most profitable product opportunity out there. You can search the internet or look around to find a product that both suits your style and has potential.
2. Pick Business Model
Next, you should try to pick a business model. The common ones are B2B, B2C, C2C, and C2B. Once you decide this, you will get a clearer idea of what your journey will be like.
3. Research
. Try to understand the market and learn as much as you can about the niche you picked. This will include data about your product, your competitors, your target audience, and the suppliers.
4. Write a Business Plan
Once your research is done, you can then start working on the business plan. This will act as a strategic roadmap with a mission, vision and financing plans, etc. Moreover, it will help in telling you how to initiate the process and how to gain traction.
5. Pick a Legal Status
Now, you need to start putting things into action. While registering, you will be getting the chance to start as a sole trader, partnership, limited liability partnership, or Limited Liability Company. Once the status has been chosen, you can then work on the next step.
6. Name and Logo
Here is where you need to get your creative gears rolling. Pick a name and a logo that resonates with the goals of your business. This will also represent the image you want your business to have. For logos, you can get in touch with graphic designers.
7. Build your Shop
You’re almost there! Time to start working on your online shop. The major thing to remember is that your site should have a user-friendly interface and is appealing to look at! You can either get an online website builder or ask someone to code it for you.
8. Use SEO
SEO is the one tool that will help you stay in the eyes of the customers. Learn as much as you can about search engine optimization and incorporate it into your website. The better you are at SEO, the higher chances there are of your content ranking higher on the search engines.
9. Get Publicity
So you are all set up. The next thing is to get publicity for your business. There are multiple ways of doing this; you can either advertise using social media, opt for pay-per-click advertising, send samples to influencers or make use of deals and offers.
10. Order Fulfilment
Try outsourcing for order fulfillment. This means a third party will cater to the tasks of storage, packing, and shipment, etc.
And you’re done! The above mentioned were the most crucial steps you had to go through to create your own online business. Keep up the effort and get to selling!