The big step by step guide to start your own professional online store in 2023

Hey there! If you haven't dived into the world of e-commerce yet, it's about time to start your own online store! But, you might be wondering, how do you actually go about setting up an online shop, and what important factors should you keep in mind?

No worries! We've got you covered with our ultimate guide to running an online store. You'll find everything you need to know about online shops, including some handy tips, e-commerce basics, and the legal aspects of online trading.

We're here to help you create your very first online store, so you can kickstart your business with a bang! Let's do this!

One smart approach is for companies to expand their online presence by establishing an online store alongside their physical shop.

By doing so, they can reach customers who don't live near the local store or might face limitations in visiting in person. Furthermore, businesses can enhance customer loyalty through diverse marketing strategies such as social media campaigns or email advertising.

The brick-and-mortar store and the online store can complement each other seamlessly in their offerings:

For instance, the online store could offer a broader selection of products compared to the local shop, which may focus on showcasing highlights or selling large, bulky items directly. By integrating both channels and promoting cross-referencing, you can significantly boost both your sales and customer satisfaction!

When you run a physical store, expanding into e-commerce allows you to increase your brand awareness by establishing a presence in both the physical and digital realms. Moreover, it provides a safety net, especially during challenging times like pandemics, when your physical store might face temporary closures. By operating both local and online shops, you gain enhanced flexibility, enabling you to respond more effectively to dynamic market changes.

While each sales channel has its own unique advantages and disadvantages, cleverly combining them creates an unbeatable synergy. The crux of the matter lies in comprehending customer needs and implementing tailored strategies to reach them. By doing so, you can achieve remarkable success, both in the online and offline domains!

Both options represent websites with different scales and distinct functions:

An online store is exclusively owned by a single company that sells its products.

• Advantage:
  

  You enjoy an unrivaled position on the site - it's all about your brand. You have full control over the development and operation of your online store, allowing you to customize it according to your vision and effectively showcase your brand. Additionally, there are no external parties dictating fees or taking a share from your sales.

   
• Disadvantage:

  However, the onus is on you to attract customers to your online store. You must invest in marketing efforts to extend your store's visibility beyond word-of-mouth referrals. Building brand awareness and driving traffic to your website requires strategic and continuous efforts.

E-commerce platforms like Amazon or Alibaba, on the other hand, offer numerous companies the opportunity to sell their products through their platforms.

• Advantage:

  The major benefit is that you gain access to a ready-made and efficiently optimized marketplace where you can operate. Your products become discoverable through the platform's general search function, allowing customers to add items from various companies into a single shopping cart, much like shopping in a supermarket. This convenience creates a strong selling point for marketplaces like Amazon or Alibaba.

• Disadvantage:

  However, this convenience comes at a cost, as you'll be subject to fees from the respective platform. Additionally, you need to ensure that your products are presented in the best possible way within the framework defined by the e-commerce platforms. Customization options may be visually limited. Moreover, depending on the product category, the competition can be intense, posing challenges that you'll need to navigate.

Whether you already operate a brick-and-mortar store or not, these points apply equally to every company:

 Greater Reach

A physical store typically has limited reach, as it can only attract customers from the local area or nearby regions. However, with an online store, you can break geographical barriers and reach customers from all corners of the world, thus significantly expanding your target audience. Embrace the opportunity to sell your products internationally!

 24/7 Open

Unlike a physical store with specific opening hours, your online store remains open 24/7, allowing customers to place orders at their convenience. This way, you won't miss out on potential sales outside of regular business hours, ensuring a continuous flow of orders.

 Better Advertising

Online marketing opens up vast opportunities to promote your store strategically and expand your presence on the internet. Leveraging techniques like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEA (Search Engine Advertising), or social media marketing, you can precisely target your desired audience and effectively promote your products. This enhances your visibility and drives more traffic to your online store, increasing your chances of making sales.

 No physical presentation

The beauty of online stores lies in their virtual nature, eliminating the need for physical storefronts, shelves, or on-site sales staff to showcase products. Instead, products can be directly dispatched from the warehouse, which not only saves space but also reduces ongoing costs significantly. Moreover, with fewer personnel required compared to a physical store, you can often offer lower product prices, delighting your customers with better deals.

 Better customer retention

An online store provides numerous opportunities to personalize your offers for customers, creating a superior shopping experience. By implementing theme-specific promotions or organizing your online shop based on target groups, you can uniquely address individual customer preferences, fostering a sense of loyalty that pays off in the long run.

 Greater flexibility

As products are not physically tryable, many shops and retailers offer an extensive return and cancellation policy. This varies depending on the retailer and state in the US but is often significantly more generous than what is offered by brick-and-mortar stores, which, in turn, attracts and wins over many customers.

Return or exchange options are not legally mandated for physical stores but are based on voluntary offers by the companies!

  You have your business plan ready, your business idea formulated, and you have considered your target audience and the market?

These are distinct and essential topics that you should thoroughly examine before starting an online store!

If so, here are the essential tips to bring your online store idea to life!
 

The legal requirements - A handy checklist

To start with, you must first define the legal framework. Depending on the country where you operate, there are various legal requirements that you need to consider as an entrepreneur.

These may include:

• Choosing the legal structure,
• Registering your business,
• and possibly trademark registration.

There are also different points that your website or online store must include, according to the applicable local law, such as:

• Privacy policy,
• Cookie banner,
• Terms and conditions (T&C),
• Imprint, 
• Cancellation and return policy,
• Liability information, and Trademark rights

Checklist: Choose the right Online Store System

There are many different online store systems available in the market, varying in functionality and cost. Based on your business plan, you know best how it should look and what features are needed. Get an overview and select the online store system that best fits your company and your preferences.

The checklist - things to consider with online store systems:

• Webshop creation and simultaneous (domain) hosting with the online store system provider.
• Included templates for website layout and legal texts.
• Customizable design and marketing tools.
• Included standard data protection agreement / cookie banner.
• Integration possibility of external software, such as Google Analytics or ERP systems.
• Pre-integrated payment service options.

Here are some of the most widely used online store systems globally, relied upon by millions of merchants:

An overview of the online shop systems:

• WooCommerce - https://woocommerce.com/
• Shopify - https://www.shopify.com/
• Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) - https://business.adobe.com/at/products/magento/magento-commerce.html/
• BigCommerce - https://www.bigcommerce.com/
• OpenCart - https://www.opencart.com/
• PrestaShop - https://www.prestashop.com/
• ZenCart - https://www.zen-cart.com/
• osCommerce - https://www.oscommerce.com/
• Wix - https://www.wix.com/
• SquareSpace - https://www.squarespace.com/

User-friendly optimization

The design of your webshop is your calling card. Create a professional and user-friendly design so that your customers can quickly navigate and be fully convinced of your offerings.

Ensure that your online store is optimized for mobile devices, as a large portion of online customers place orders via smartphones!

Tip from our logistics experts: If you need assistance with your logistics, you can also outsource it to professional fulfillment providers. Find out when it makes sense for you to do so in this article!

• However, there is a catch:
  While many templates are free, the really cool designs come with a cost.

  Your website (or online shop) and domain need to be hosted for a fee, and of course, transaction and shipping costs are incurred. Depending on the extensions you require, there may be additional expenses for newsletter tools, marketing efforts, security plugins, etc.
   

 However, many of these costs are also present with other online shop systems or only included in more expensive monthly packages. With WordPress and WooCommerce, you have the freedom to choose what you need and what you want to pay for.

Shopify

Shopify deserves special mention here! Its versatility has made it one of the most popular online shop systems worldwide. It is user-friendly and ideal for beginners and small businesses that want to launch a beautiful online shop with all the necessary features without extensive knowledge. Design templates, payment integrations, marketing tools, and more are all included.

The starting price after the free trial period is £25 per month, plus transaction fees if applicable.

Wix

In Wix's simple website builder, you can also create and operate a professional online shop. Like all the systems listed here, it offers all the necessary functions, design templates, and numerous integrations. Web hosting, SEO, and marketing tools are also included. The effective drag-and-drop system is highly customizable, allowing you to design your webshop according to your preferences with minimal effort.

Pricing for Wix packages starts at £7.5 per month.