E-commerce is an electronic commerce that is done online. In other words, building an eCommerce website is like developing a virtual store where people can stop to shop and buy some items.
Although this may seem quite easy, which practically, is true, but there are few things that you have to put in consideration for establishing an eCommerce site.
As stated by Statista, retail eCommerce sales will reach $4.5 trillion by 2021, and 71% of consumers believe that online stores can give them what they need in a better way than brick-and-mortar establishments.
Are you amazed? Yeah, it would be best if you were, as there is growing optimism around eCommerce. However, if you venture into it without the right plan and strategy, you may have yourself to blame.
Therefore, I will be revealing to you steps on how you can build up an eCommerce website for your business on a low budget.
1). Do the research and make plans
For any successful business, a good plan is a basis. With a shaky foundation, the whole thing starts crumbling in even before it begins.
Therefore, make your findings, understand what eCommerce is all about, how it works, the latest news, updates, and so on. When it comes to eCommerce, know what works, and does not work.
Study the trends of things for your business, your audience, niche products, and likes. Please write down your findings, goal, and timelines, ensuring they are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, and Time-Bound). This step is a good way to commit yourself to get things done.
2). Make a Decision on what to sell
The choice of product will determine the structure and success of your business. Choose well. You have the option of going for a trending product or choose a niche product.
Trending products are products with an increase in demand and popular. Think shoes, headphones, flash drives, bags, etc., while niche products attends to a specifically designed industry or client base. Say for instance, knitting machines, printers, scanners, etc.
Whichever option you decide to go for, choose something you are passionate about.
If you have the flair, you can also sell goods you make with a little bit of creativity and aptitude.
You can either select or create a product that solves a specific problem which your product tends to address. If you want to go into sales of a trending product, then join the trend in the primary stages and not after it is saturated.
Ensure that the area is competitive, keeping in mind that an absence of competition often indicates that there’s no market, either.
3. Registration of Your eCommerce Business and Brand
This step is an important aspect for businesses, and I would not want to avoid this. There are legal protections and benefits attached to registering your business; therefore, it is best to get it done. Select a business name and register your company.
Picking a brand name is also critical for your eCommerce site. Although your website name and the legal name do not have to be the same, being consistent with a name has its benefits. Choose a name that is easily linked to your niche.
Get your business licenses (the Small Business Association can walk you through the process), get your Employer Identification Number (EIN, a unique number that identifies your business aiding you in filing important paperwork).
Apply for business licenses and permits, find the right vendor for what you sell, and work on businesscards.co for a free business card design resource using great templates.
4. Set up your Online Store
As soon as you are an eCommerce business owner officially, the registration of your domain name and URLs redirect might be useful. You are going to need the design information you settled on when you are building your store.
The business design you select is required to be in line with your eCommerce software, too. There are many eCommerce shopping cart platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix. Selecting the best eCommerce software is not something easy.
You are required to carefully evaluate things like compatibility with your business structure, loading speed, features, web developer skills, SEO-friendly features, compatibility with different payment gateways, and more.
In cases you don’t want to be bothered about taking credit card payments, you can make your sales online on a marketplace like eBay, Amazon.
5. Build your Customer Base
There is a need for you to think about driving traffic to your site. The best eCommerce sites available ensure to invest immensely in marketing their business online.
Get your email marketing and automation set up and running. An essential for driving Conversions is email marketing. You also have to think about customer support.
There are sponsored content, social media, pay-per-click ads, or a combination of strategies with low budgets you can maximize. Running giveaway is a marketing strategy to get traffic quickly. Giveaways have the additional benefit of increasing the presence of your brand and product visibility.
Consider user ratings or a comments facility to encourage customer feedback, respond quickly to customer service and product quality issues, and work on building relationships.
Conclusion
Starting an eCommerce site does not require a big investment if you get just a little creative and opt in for an eCommerce platform that provides you with smooth integrations, modern attributes, and is scalable at no extra cost. Success!
