E-Commerce is here to stay. Who hasn't wanted to have their own store? Surely, and without fear of being wrong, you yourself have had this idea many times. However, even if this idea is still in your head, jumping into implementing it is not always the best option, or at least not when you lack the necessary knowledge to implement it.
That's why we've prepared this article with the aim of guiding you through the various steps to create and launch your own online store. Thanks to the digital boom based on the Internet, online sales have experienced high growth, bringing with them a large number of customers, and your business must and has to be part of this sustained growth.
And times have changed. Not long ago, it was very fashionable to open a physical business if you wanted to be successful, but now the trend is to open an online store.
Launching an online store with the possibility of managing it from a mobile application has become the number one goal for most, if not all, entrepreneurs.
What is the reason for this boom? According to data from the INE, e-commerce has grown by 181%3T since last year, which is an irresistible temptation for any entrepreneur. On the other hand, if you already have a small business or physical store and you decided to upload all your products to the Internet so that they can be purchased online, a virtual store is undoubtedly the most popular option. It should be noted that the importance is not profitability but reaching a large number of customers interested in your product.
What are the advantages of having an online store?
- Your business will be open all the time
- You will be able to reach more customers without investing in a new location.
- You will greatly reduce the fixed costs that come with having a physical store
- You will have a more precise analysis of the store at your disposal
- Greater flexibility to make any changes you can think of
- You will have no geographical limits
- Your customers will be more loyal
- Recurring customers at all times thanks to remarketing or email marketing
- Your business will not disappear
The best thing of all is that if you have a physical business:
- You already have trusted suppliers
- The warehouse to have your stock is your own premises
- You know your product and the customer
- Your client will be able to go to your premises at any time
- Greater potential as both stores complement each other
So… What should an online store have to be successful?
Creating your own online store is very important if you want to build a powerful brand in your sector. But be careful... technical development is not the only thing you should keep in mind. “Like any business, you have to think about a business plan and take into account that you will need knowledge in digital marketing, dedication, time and of course a budget, or money, to invest in advertising.” Did you know that one of the most common mistakes when setting up an online store is to dedicate the entire budget to creating the platform and completely forget about advertising to attract traffic? In the end, this is like having a very nice physical store or an excellent commercial premises right in the middle of an island.
Every investment takes time to recover the investment and taking this into account you must know how to manage that budget first to analyze your market niche and then the competition. Also something extremely important is knowing how to choose the most appropriate technology company to implement your business model on the Internet, obviously without forgetting its subsequent evolution and support.
The success of an online store is to have quality products at competitive prices, showing an attractive design adaptable to cell phones and excellent usability. It is important to note that if you want people to buy from you, you need to inspire confidence and you will achieve this through recognized payment methods, good customer service and all the technical security protocols.
Knowing all of the above, let's now go to what caught your attention the most at the beginning of this article: How to create an online store for your business without dying in the attempt
A while ago, to create an online store you had to have knowledge in programming and web design, and even hire a team of developers, all of which was cumbersome and frustrating.
However, nowadays there are a multitude of options to create an online store without the need for any technical knowledge. You just need to take into account the following steps:
Step No.1: Choose the right payment methods
Before embarking on this world, you need to know that one of the main factors in an online store is the method of charging your customers, with card payments being the most suitable. Nowadays, there are a multitude of payment gateways, both national and international, and each one has its pros and cons. To mention some international ones, there are PayPal, 2Checkout, and Stripe, with Stripe being our favorite due to its high flexibility. As for the national ones, you probably already know that in the Dominican Republic there are 3: Azul, CardNet, and VisaNet. You just need a contract and that's it.
Step No. 2: Decide on a good technology provider
The design and programming of your online store can make all the difference compared to your competition. Every detail is important, from the graphic design, the arrangement of the products and customer tracking to the logistics that will bring the products to your customers.
Think of your online store as a sophisticated version of your brick-and-mortar business, so it should be clean and tidy, with all categories in the right order, visually appealing images, and well-organized sections visible to your customers.
Something important to keep in mind when setting up your online store is to have analytics and tracking tools. Just as you know how many people visit your business every day, you should also know where your online store visitors come from, how long they stay, what attracts their attention the most, and why they leave without making a purchase.
For these and other reasons, at Pay2Commerce we have created an online platform that is versatile enough so that you don't have to worry about anything when implementing an online store in your business. You take care of your business and leave the rest to us.
To create a successful e-commerce you need to have an excellent team of professionals to develop your project.
Step No. 3: Take care of the content
Can you imagine walking through a clothing store and continually seeing the same pair of pants and shirts? Just as it would not have any effect on you that would motivate you to buy or even enter, your customers would not be interested in visiting your online store if they always find the same thing. You need to boost your products with banners, offers, news and much more, so that your customers discover new things and interact on your digital platform.
Step No. 4: Train yourself and your employees
A very important point to take into account is that your collaborators know how to work online. You must take into account that managing an online store requires minimum computer knowledge, especially web knowledge.
Your employees must be well trained so that order management and customer service always function in perfect conditions.
Step No. 5: A good communication strategy
It often happens that after having invested large sums of money in developing the best online store, sales are not made, the store does not fulfill its purpose and the owner ends up frustrated. And the truth is that once the online store is set up, the “Selling” factor must be the priority, but this can only be achieved with a good marketing campaign.
The first thing you need to do is set aside a marketing budget to invest in social media and Google. This is the only way you will reach the public interested in your product, which will help get sales started.
You should leverage your social media, especially Instagram, and make sure that every customer knows that you already have an online store where you can process all their orders in an easier, faster, and simpler way.
After taking the steps we have indicated above, you should take into account certain points of interest.
The first point is to avoid the online business growing at the expense of the physical one. You have to separate both worlds, each business has its own audience as well as its own needs.
A second point to take into account is to change your mentality. Selling online is not the same as selling in person or physically. How you attract attention and capture interest is different. It is no longer just a matter of placing a branch in a specific place, but rather now you will have to position yourself on the Internet. You must think about how you position a product, the customer experience, etc. Each sale must be easy and dynamic, with social networks being your main source of traffic.
The third point you should keep in mind is that not everything is about selling. That's right, digital business is not only about selling, it requires certain changes in your business, in your organization. You will have to coordinate measurable actions with your sales team.
When we start selling online, all logistics change. In order for your product to reach the end customer, you must have shipping logistics adapted to your business. Whether you decide to offer home delivery or use an external company, the main point is that the product reaches your customer's hands without forgetting the delivery time, which is one of the most important factors in the digital environment.
