6 steps to build an ecommerce

From setting your goals to publishing your ecommerce, here’s everything you need to know!

In a world where buying online is one of people’s favorite ways to shop, having a business, but not investing in ecommerce, is a waste of opportunity. The internet affects every single area of our lives and, there, you can find a good search volume of things, with people looking for anything to buy, from books, clothes and craft items to home appliances and even houses and cars.

But even if having an ecommerce is important to business these days, not everyone knows how to start shopping online. It is important to study and know where to start this project. 

In this article, you will find the first steps that you need to know (and do) to have an ecommerce and start to sell online, conquering this big part of the market that exists in the internet.

1. Define the goals of your ecommerce

Do you want to make it one of the ways people can buy from you? Transfer your physical store to the ecommerce? Sell more but make it a way for people to know your physical store? Start your new business? 

The first step to having an ecommerce is to define why you are opening an ecommerce store. This will guide you through all the subsequent processes. 

2. Find an ecommerce platform

An ecommerce platform is like a website that will offer you everything that you need to build your online store, like tools and different functionalities. You will need to find the one that fits better with your objectives, expectations and characteristics of what you are going to sell. 

You can also choose to use marketplaces, like Amazon or eBay, that provide you an already built and known platform where you can sell your products. 

3. Add your products or services to it and define its prices

You need to have something to sell if you want to sell. So, after finding an ecommerce platform that attends to your necessities, you will need to start to set it up to make everything work.

To add your products and services to ecommerce, you will need good pictures of it and also short but useful descriptions: they will help to attract your customers and let them know exactly what they’re buying.

You will also need to define prices, of course. Make a good precification process, considering all your costs and also what your customers are willing to pay: you need to find a balance between these both things.

4. Set up a payment method

Every ecommerce has a payment method: this allows the stores to have a way to collect the payment for the customers. There are lots of payment methods, but it is useful to use the ones that people are already used to: credit cards, for example, or PayPal.

Don’t forget to see how much the payment method will cost for you too, so make a research and balance what your customers need and what you can offer.

5. Publish your online store

With everything setted up, you will need to finally publish your ecommerce. But, before, run some tests to see if everything is working as it should be: the homepage, the cart, the payment methods, the customer area and if you are receiving the orders.

6. Promote your ecommerce

It is time to promote your ecommerce and put your marketing strategies in action! Use the business’ social media and make paid promotions. You can even ask for your friends and family to promote it in their socials: the goal here is to make your ecommerce known by the public so they can buy from you!