If you are thinking about starting an online shop, there are tons of different tools and things to consider.
With so many choices, it’s hard to know what the best route is for you, and you want to make sure your shop is a total success without too much risk. Luckily, the Internet is a treasure cove of resources, tools and tips to make any project a reality and a success.
When you finally create your own eCommerce store, it doesn’t matter if you are selling stuffed animals or Goth poetry for download, there are many tools and resources that you can find and use without spending a penny on them and the results will help your shop’s sales go through the roof.
1. Web Design and Marketing
There is no need for you to spend a thousand hours learning web design and marketing, or paying a professional to design your shop.
Instead, you can find many specialized sites that offer incredible designs for your shop, with thousands of choices, and that you can personalize to make it look unique, be easily navigated and be enjoyable to shop at.
2. Managing an Online Store
Managing a store, even if it’s an electronic one, requires that you find a POS solution, that is, a way to manage your sales, invoicing, stock, and account balances.
Even if you set up shop in an online marketplace where they take care of matters like shipping, invoicing, and such, the rest is still up to you.
It can be a bit confusing to handle it all. For this reason, your best chance is to get good POS software that handles all sides of the shop in a cohesive and easy way, so you don’t have to constantly move information from one program to another, and end up making mistakes.
3. Analyzing Data and Customer Info
The importance of knowing how your store is doing is obvious. But it’s not only about how many sales you make.
When you have an online store, there are many other factors you need to know about like, traffic routes, devices used, what your customers do while on your site, when they leave, how they pay.
Every bit of data is important in letting you know more about your target audience and how they react to what you show them. Information is power, and the more you know, the better you can improve your shop and your sales.
4. Making Sales
When you set up a shop, one tiny little detail that might get past you is also one of the most important, and that’s payment.
You should never take for granted how people are going to pay you, because not everyone is willing to use a credit card, nor does everyone have one. Make sure that in your shop, you have as many payment gateways as possible.
You have many tools at your disposal to allow credit cards, checks, mobile payment, and even cash in a secure way both for you and your customers, so be sure to make them available.