Every day more and more people make purchases in the most comfortable conditions for themselves – without leaving their homes. This ensures a constant flow of customers from a wide variety of target audiences. The development of the Global Network has provided entrepreneurs with a unique opportunity – to open an online store and trade their goods online.
So, how to create an online store yourself and promote your products to the maximum number of customers? A simple step-by-step guide “How to open an online store” will show you the steps to create a profitable online business.
First of all, you need to pay attention to the fact that an online store is in many ways similar to a traditional offline trading business. The only fundamental difference is the distribution channel – the Internet. No one has canceled in online stores logistics, procurement, personnel management, marketing, customer support, etc. – everything that has been working in traditional offline business for a long time. Newbies often forget about this and, as a result, such entrepreneurs often close their online stores without really starting to work.
The purpose of this instruction is to step-by-step disclosure of the methodology for opening an online store, which would significantly increase the likelihood of your business being successful.
From the idea of opening to a real selling online store, you are just a few steps away. It is important to follow these steps correctly, methodically and professionally. The success of the next steps depends on the competent implementation of the previous one.
How to open an online store?
Idea
Any business starts with an idea. Get inspired by the possibilities of online shopping and start thinking about your online store. There are many successful stores in the network, but new ones still appear every day. The endlessly growing variety of goods, the development of delivery infrastructure, payments and, finally, a new generation of people “used to living on the Internet” are factors that will drive the opening of more and more points of sale in the network for a long time to come.
Choosing a product niche
The following steps will help you choose the segment that suits you.
Assessment of one’s own capabilities (availability of knowledge, relevant skills and free material resources)
The niche should be attractive to the owner of the online store (you should like it)
Market research (involves a comprehensive analysis of its volume and potential, the ratio of supply and demand. For example, if you choose a narrow niche in which there is no or almost no competition, but there is a certain demand for products or services, then in the future this will ensure high efficiency of the enterprise )
The demand must be sufficient to meet the needs of the owners. Using the Yandex Wordstat service, you can find out how many people are looking for a particular product in a certain region.
Competition in a niche should be at such a level that it would be expedient to enter it. The longer competitors work in this market, the more likely they were able to advance in the quality and subtleties of service provision, which accordingly increases the cost of entering a niche for new players.
You must have a clear and precise idea of where you will purchase the goods, find suppliers and negotiate the terms of purchase.
Methodology for finding suppliers for an online store
Search engines (Yandex, Google, Rambler, Mail)
For example, let’s try to find suppliers for products – swimwear. Typing in the search engine “swimwear suppliers”, “wholesale swimwear”, we will immediately see several offers.
Ad portals and online catalogs of wholesalers
There are specialized websites as well as message boards where you can always find offers and advertisements from wholesale companies.
Please note that the minimum order quantity is indicated next to each product. Before buying a large batch, it is better to first familiarize yourself with the product, you can contact the seller by clicking on the “send message” button and ask for a sample.
There is also an extremely useful site sinocom.ru , very well broken down into headings:
- First steps to start a business with China
- Search and verification of suppliers in China
- Business in China, with Chinese and in Chinese
- Legal issues when dealing with China
If you are going to look for suppliers in China, this portal will help you understand the intricacies of work and establish a business.
