If you’ve always wanted to start selling online but you’re unsure as to where to begin, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will cover everything that you need to know about creating your own web store.
When it comes to online retail, the first thing that comes to mind is going to the major online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay. While these platforms can be effective in bringing your product to a wider audience, they can impose a lot of restrictive seller policies that can dilute your own branding so they can maintain their homogenous image. Meanwhile, if you build your own web store, you get more freedom in terms of how you present your brand and you have relatively more control over customer experience.
Building your own web store does not necessarily mean investing highly on professional web development services or having to learn programming code. A robust web store builder like Strikingly can help you get the job done in minutes and with no coding required. Strikingly understands the importance of strong support to back up big ideas and upcoming brands. This is why it lowers the barrier to entry for aspiring online retailers by providing a free ecommerce solution.
With Strikingly, you can create your own online web store for free. This is a great opportunity for those who want to dip their toes into online selling without investing highly on infrastructure during their first year. As your business grows, you can expand into a multi-category online store and upgrade to the Pro accounts as needed.
How to create your own successful web store
1. Determine what to sell
When it comes to deciding what to sell, you can either go with a unique product no one has thought of before or you go with a commoditized one that you can easily find on the bigger marketplaces. In general, unique products - those that people never really thought they need but have the potential to change their lives - sell best. However, if coming up with such a product proves to be challenging, you can either start with a niche that you are passionate about or decide on a product with a lot of potential and that which you’re seeing a huge demand for. Do market research to determine if you can sell the product within the area where you want to operate. Consider size and weight to determine shipping costs because these things can influence your profit margins. Learn more about your potential customers and competitors as well.
2. Start building an intuitive free web store
The next step is to start building your web store. Choose from Strikingly’s collection of web store templates and start designing a website that represents your branding. It’s important to create an online store that is user-friendly. Customers should be able to find their way around your site and complete purchases in a few clicks.
Strikingly’s website templates are designed to look great on most devices and screen sizes so you know that your website will render well on mobile devices. This is a crucial component in running a web store because you want to be able to reach customers who are using their mobile phones to go on the web.
3. Connect to a secure payment gateway
A seamless checkout process is an important component of any successful web store. Customers should be able to complete their online purchases securely and easily. Having a secure payment system on your site minimizes cart abandonment and allows for a more positive user experience.
Integrating a secure payment gateway to your Strikingly website is a breeze. The platform supports PayPal, AliPay, WeChat Pay and Stripe. All you need to do is add your email address and you’re all set.
4. Leverage from reviews and testimonials
If you already have an established brand offline and you’re looking to expand into the online marketplace, it would be great if you could add testimonials and product reviews to your site. Customers are more likely to buy from a company that is backed by strong recommendations from loyal customers. Social proof is always better than any marketing and advertising campaign you will ever run.
5. Use high quality product shots
People should be able to see what they are buying into in order to make informed decisions. One limitation of purchasing online is you can only rely on photos and you are unable to use your other senses - particularly touch - to help you deduce the quality of the product you’re looking at. Help customers out by providing them with high resolution product shots. Quality photos also makes your website look more professional and appealing. Pixelated images tend to make customers think that you’re hiding something from them and will make them question the quality of your product.
Start selling online. Create your own web store with Strikingly today.
