How to Start Your Own E-Commerce Business with Shopify

Gone are the days when people like to work under somebody or someone. In the present time, everyone wants to be their boss and be in charge of their organization. With the advancement in technology and the availability of the internet, this goal is more accessible than ever. And, eCommerce is one exciting avenue for success.

Still, sometimes people can be seen perplexed as to how to start an eCommerce business that helps them generate enough revenue on the investment made. There is so much information available on the search engine, but before all, creating an action plan is very much necessary. This helps you prioritize the things and streamline the business operations.

Tips for starting a successful eCommerce business

• Great Website Design
• Top Notch Customer Support
• High Quality Product Images
• Unique Selling Proposition

In the end what matter is sales. If you have failed to make sales, you’ve finished before you’ve even really started.

Kickstarting an eCommerce Business – While you may have thought of a lot of big ideas, it is recommended to keep those ambitions aside and focus on the practical aspects of your business plans. For starters, you need to build a simple online platform to sell your products and services. A basic store template on a reputable platform like Shopify will also serve the purpose. The key to be a successful entrepreneur is to launch quickly and then with time think of generating more sales and revenue.

Look for eCommerce Products – What to sell is one of the major constraints which usually stops people from taking the plunge in starting their own eCommerce business. Therefore, while identifying a set of products or niche, you have to be both mindful and strategic. Don’t choose for products and services of which there already exists a lot of major players. Instead, choose to go ahead with the products that appeal to a large number of people. Once you start looking, you’ll find inspiration everywhere and you can always verify on Google Trends before finalizing.

Know about your competitors – Research forms an integral part of every successful business online. Once you have chosen the products, look at the competitors what they are selling, how they are selling, their website, who is their targeted audience, the response from the audience and so on. This will let you help build your unique selling points to attract the targeted audience at large. A thoroughly carried out research will help you establish your business in the long run.

Build your own website – Choosing eCommerce CMS tools like Shopify can help you easily set up your store. They provide you with a myriad of options to start with. It is easy to integrate eCommerce platform that does not need any development support. Choose a theme in accordance with the tastes and preferences of your targeted audience and prices that reflect the success you envision. Name your eCommerce business something memorable that everyone remembers. The same applies to your logo also.

When your website is ready to accept the orders, try a test order for yourself to know whether the process is hassle free or not. Alleviate any additional steps needed to buy something online and ask only for the information that is required for the checkout process. While testing, ensure to monitor the payment methods. Usually, this is the stage where customers face the most problem.

With Shopify Point of Sale System popularly known as POS, you will not face any such concern. It offers one of the best blends of advanced functionality, affordability, eCommerce tools and an intuitive design. As the system is well integrated with almost every aspect of the business, it becomes easier for retailers to sell their products and accept payments.

Not only does this software centralize inventory management, but also supports online sales and refunds. With Shopify, you can accept all payment methods, including credit card payments on-site as well as on the go. Till date, Shoplift is a preferred POS system for more than 800,000 business owners across the globe.

Customer Service Support – It has been estimated that half of the people abandon their transaction or cart if their questions and queries are not addressed quickly. Therefore, exceptional customer support forms part of every business’s long term success. Therefore, form a dedicated customer support team who has an answer on tips to the queries raised by the customer or create an FAQ page featuring answers to the common questions raised. You can also live chat support. This all helps build trust and loyalty amongst the customers.

Conversion Optimization – It has been observed that 69% of the customers leave your page while making a purchase. How much would your revenues increase if you were capturing those sales instead of losing them? Optimize your customer journey. Create limited-time offers. Launch a cart abandonment email campaign. You can even set up a re-targeting campaign. Test out a bunch of different tactics and try to understand which one works best for your business.

Inventory Optimization – In the eCommerce store, the best selling products or for the products for which you host flash sale tend to sell fast. That is why it is recommended to keep your inventory optimized. Constantly look for new product ideas that fetch traffic to your website. Do not rely on a few products to drive sales and revenue. Rather, time to time launch new offers, exclusive discounts on the existing products and conduct customer surveys frequently to know what exactly your target audience is looking for.

Final Words

The few takeaways from this brief guide on how to set up your eCommerce store with Shopify is developing a business plan, focus on sales. Do not worry about perfect web design in the initial days to sell your products and services. Once you begin turning a profit, invest funds in eCommerce marketing plan to continue growing your business by leaps and bounds. Follow this guide for streamlined and hassle free business operations.