Estimates show there will be more than 2 billion digital buyers around the world in 2021. With the global population getting close to 8 billion people, that means over 25 percent of them shop online.
An online business makes it easy to reach those buyers. If you’re wondering how to start an eCommerce business, read on to learn 6 simple steps.
1. How to Start an eCommerce Business — Decide On a Niche
The first step in starting a business online is to choose your niche. While you can launch an eCommerce store that sells all kinds of different products, you’ll end up competing with stores like Amazon and Walmart.
It’s much easier to find buyers if you focus on a specific niche.
2. Complete Any Administrative Requirements
Once you know what you’re going to sell, you’ll need to deal with some administrative things. This includes tasks such as:
- Choosing a business name
- Setting up a legal structure (proprietorship, LLC, etc.)
- Applying for an EIN if you expect to hire employees
- Obtaining the necessary business permits and licenses for your area
These tasks aren’t exciting but they might be required legally so don’t skip them to save time or money.
3. Choose Your eCommerce Platform
In the early days of eCommerce, you had to build your own platform. That meant things like getting a merchant account to accept credit cards, building a shopping cart, and creating a database for your product information.
Today, many eCommerce platforms handle all the technical stuff for you. Tools like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Squarespace make it easy to add your products, launch the website, and start accepting payments. You can even use a tool like FBA Wizard Pro to sell your goods on Amazon.
4. Create Your Website
Once you settle on an eCommerce platform, you can build your website and launch it. Most modern eCommerce platforms have web design features built in so you can get a simple store up and running with no coding or special technical knowledge.
5. Source Your Products
Your eCommerce store won’t be very effective if you have no products to sell. You’ll need to find a wholesale source for the products you want to carry or develop your own products if you’ll be selling something of your own design.
6. Start Marketing Your Business
When your website is live, you’ve got products in stock and ready to sell, and you’re ready to start accepting orders, it’s time to start marketing your store.
Advertising platforms like Facebook Ads and Google Ads let you target the people interested in what you have to offer. You can get started for a few dollars a day and have traffic coming to your site within an hour or two.
An eCommerce Company is One of the Easiest Ways to Start a Business
Knowing how to start an eCommerce business is like a superpower. You can set up a store and start generating income faster than any other time in history.
What are you waiting for?
Check out the SEO and Business sections of our website for more helpful tips for setting up an eCommerce store.
One reply on “How To Start An Ecommerce Business: The Basics Explained”
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