Choosing the right product to sell is a crucial step when creating an online store.
If you are already a trader and want to switch to online trading, this question does not apply to you.
Likewise if you have already thought about your activity or want to sell your creations.
If you just want to get started in online business, but you don’t know what to sell, then this paragraph is for you.
It is therefore very important to think about a sales concept.
We invite you to read our resources on the subject, but here are the essential questions to ask yourself when you want to create an online store.
In any case, you absolutely must stand out from the competition , thanks to one or more of the following points:
What to sell on the Internet?
As you research, make a list of products that interest you and group them into a single niche . That is to say a specific area of online store idea. For example, fitness fashion, eco-friendly gardening or organic pet food. The more precise, the better, as your target will be easier to aim for.
Online store creations: uppliers
If you manufacture your own products, you can skip this paragraph.
Otherwise you have to find good suppliers before creating your online store.
All you have to do is consult online directories or go to trade shows related to your industry.
In any case, do not stop at the first supplier. Meet them, chat with them, test the merchandise and negotiate prices or quantities.
If you want to create an online store without stock, you can turn to print on demand. When you want to create your clothing brand without too much budget, for example, Print on demand is clearly an interesting option. According to this model, it is the suppliers or printers who send the products directly to your customers.
You have your designs printed on clothes or objects, by intermediaries who also take care of the delivery.
All the info on the POD can be found in this article: Print on demand: definition, suppliers and advice
Create an online store: set prices
It is obviously essential to correctly calculate your prices and your commercial margin .
To help you in this task, you can make a provisional balance sheet , in which you will note all the fixed costs related to your commercial activity. You then add the costs proportional to your activity (manufacturing or purchase price, delivery costs, packaging, marketing, etc.). Have you found a free e-commerce site? So much the better ! It is always that less to deduct.
You will adjust all of this later according to your objectives and your activity, but also for marketing reasons. You will indeed see when creating an online store, that the notion of psychological price is real and that the lowest prices are not necessarily those that work best.
Develop your e-commerce brand
Now that you have your products, you will be able to develop your brand, if you haven’t already.
To create an online store, you will need a name and a domain name (these must be similar), a logo, a slogan (optional) and a graphic identity. The graphic identity is the style of your brand, the values it embodies, translated into colors and aesthetics.
The name is the most important and it is also one of the first things you will be asked when creating your store.
You can then think about the branding and positioning of your brand. Positioning to be defined according to your target of course. From there, you can define one or more colors necessary to create an e-commerce site.
For the logo, if you want to save on the graphics budget, you can use a logo generator. You’re bound to find one in this list of 30 logo maker tools .
Finally, focus on creating packaging design for your brand.
Create an online store: the domain name
Once you have your brand name, you will be able to purchase the corresponding domain name.
When creating a Shopify account, a domain name will be generated for free in the following format: boutiquename.myshopify.com.
If you want to have a custom domain name , you can purchase one from Shopify. In the meantime, you can check the availability of a domain name directly on Shopify.
Status: create a self-employed online store
Knowing how to create an online sales site is good, but you must above all know that to develop a commercial activity, you must absolutely have a legal status. If you do not want to start creating a business right away, know that you can sell online legally thanks to the self-entrepreneur status.
You will thus be able to launch your micro-enterprise in a few hours and benefit from a flexible status. It is enough not to exceed 176,000 euros in turnover in the first year. But who knows, maybe you’ll blow it all up? We will see, but we can anyway start simply like that to create an online store.
How to create an online store for free?
Here we are on the hot topic of this article: is it possible to create an online store for free?
We will immediately break the atmosphere: a free e-commerce site does not exist. But easy to set up and cheap, yes.
That said, if you absolutely want to open an online store for free, you can turn to alternative solutions: for example , open an online store on Facebook .
