How to Set Up an E-Commerce Website

You probably have a few friends that make a good living selling products online, and you prefer the idea of working for yourself, rather than helping another to get wealthy, and with a lot of careful planning and some market research, there’s no reason why you can’t launch a successful shopping cart website.

Web Design

While it is possible to self-build a website, you should invest in professional web design, as your platform will be your portal to the online world, therefore, it should be professional if you want customers to take you seriously. Once everything is up and running, you can manage your online store using an affordable PC desktop, which you can buy online at the best price. The same company that builds your e-commerce platform can also provide web-hosting services and they can register your domain name. If you would rather the web developer manage your website, they do offer such a service for reasonable rates.

Digital Marketing

It is pointless having a shopping cart website if consumers are not aware of your existence, and that’s where digital marketing comes into play. If your website is optimised with Google, then you will receive regular traffic, which should lead to online sales, and this service needs to be ongoing, due to the ever-changing nature of the Internet. You might wish to consider the benefits of system integration for your business, which helps to streamline processes, making for a more efficient outcome.

Choosing your Products

This is obviously a critical decision and not one you can afford to get wrong. You are advised to carry out extensive market research to be sure that the products are in high demand, and people tend to buy products that are eco-friendly or made with natural ingredients. It is never a good idea to aim for the cheap market, as inferior products have no real future, so always look for top quality products at affordable prices.

Logistics

From the moment a consumer clicks on “buy”, the clock is ticking, and today’s online consumer expects rapid delivery. The best solution is to outsource your packing and delivery to a third-party logistics provider (3PL), as they have the resources to ensure quick delivery anywhere in the world. If you have your products and packaging sent to the 3PL company, you can simply email all orders to them, and they will fulfil orders in a timely manner. The third party logistics industry is booming, thanks to the many small enterprises that utilise their services.

Outsourcing

This is the key to a successful operation and you can manage your online store from a single computer, without the need to touch any of your products. From web design to product delivery, outsourcing allows you to offer a comprehensive service without having to invest large amounts of money, and this is by far the best approach.

If you start by creating a business plan, this will help you to prepare everything, and your plan should incorporate every aspect of the business, including projected profit forecasts for the first 5 years. Once you have finished the business plan, ask a business expert to take a look, as he or she would likely find weaknesses that need to be addressed.