How to start an online store?

Creating an online store may seem challenging, but by following best practices and strategies efficiently, you can turn your idea into a real and profitable business in the online world.

If you want to create your own online store but don't know where to start, we'll show you everything you need to be successful and start creating your online store.

Types of online stores

Online stores for physical products

The online store for physical products is concerned with the sale of tangible products such as clothes, electronic devices or furniture, for example. In this model, it is essential to manage stock and ship products, ensuring that customers receive their orders quickly and efficiently. You need to consider logistics and suppliers to ensure the success of your online business.

Online digital product stores

An online digital product store sells digital content such as e-books, online courses, software or music, for example. This model allows you to have low operating costs in terms of the need for physical stock and its management. Product delivery can be immediate and automated, providing an agile customer experience.

Online service stores

The online service store is geared towards selling experiences, consultancy, cleaning services, among others. When operating in this model, you should consider how you present the value of your service and trust to the customer. Clear communication and a good reputation are essential for attracting new customers.

To create an online service store, you should focus on developing a robust portfolio and publicizing case studies and positive reviews from previous clients. Providing advice or satisfaction guarantees can be a good strategy for gaining public trust.

How to create an online store?

Defining your niche and market

Before starting your online store from scratch, it's important to define your niche and identify the market you want to enter. This means choosing a specific market segment and understanding your target audience.

By directing your efforts towards a target audience, you can better meet their needs and make it easier to understand who your competition is and stand out.

Choosing an e-commerce platform

Selecting an e-commerce platform that meets the needs and objectives you have set for your online business is important if you want to be successful.

Consider factors such as ease of use, customization options, available payment methods and technical support. You can explore platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento to understand and find the one that best suits your business model.

Many of these platforms can end up being limited, depending on your needs and objectives, and may not respond to what you want over time. Therefore, another option is to create your online store through a company that specializes in developing online stores tailored to your needs and objectives.

M&A Digital as a specialized company in the creation of online stores

With experience in developing technological solutions and online sales platforms, at Digital we identify the best strategy and ensure the development and monitoring of the creation of your online store or the transition of your business to online.

We use the latest online payment technologies - MB Way, Klarna, EasyPay and much more - to make them available in your online store and guarantee a practical and intuitive shopping experience for your customers.

Domain registration and hosting

Once you've chosen the platform or medium you're going to use to create your online store, the next step is to register your domain and choose a hosting service. The domain refers to the address of your online store, so you should choose a name that is easy for the public to recognize and that matches your brand, and hosting is the 'space' where your site's files will be stored.

Domain registration should be done with trusted providers, as it will have an impact on your online identity. In addition, hosting is essential to ensure the speed and security of the site. Consider the quality of the technical support provided by your chosen hosting service.

Design and browsing experience

You must ensure that the design of your online store is attractive and functional, providing visitors with an agile user experience. With intuitive layouts and navigation so that your visitors can easily find your products or services. Quality design attracts the public and can also encourage them to buy.

Investing in responsive design is essential due to the high use of mobile devices by users. Colors, fonts, images, everything should be in line with your brand identity and design elements, CTAs, should be tested to optimize conversion and ensure that the user experience is pleasant and intuitive.

Product presentation and descriptions

Each product should be presented with high-quality images and detailed descriptions that effectively inform visitors about features, benefits and prices, in order to demonstrate transparency and increase user confidence in order to generate sales.

When adding products, you should always use relevant keywords to optimize your pages in terms of SEO on search engines. In this way, you help customers make a purchasing decision and improve the online visibility of your products.

Always keep information, prices and stock up to date to avoid frustration on the part of the customer during the purchasing proces

Important factors for the successful creation of an online store

Digital Marketing Strategy

To ensure the success of your online store, it is essential to develop an effective digital marketing strategy. This includes a presence on social networks, email marketing and paid ads to reach your target audience and increase your brand's visibility in the digital world.

Creating a strong online presence through the best Digital Marketing practices and techniques gives you the ability to attract more customers and boost your sales.

Stock management and logistics

Efficient stock management and logistics are key to ensuring that your online store runs smoothly. Use a management system to ensure that there is always stock available, as well as efficiency in the distribution of orders to help minimize delivery delays and guarantee customer satisfaction.

To optimize stock management, you should implement a system that automates product tracking and replenishment alerts. In addition, a good strategy for logistics can include partnerships with reliable carriers and freight policies that meet the needs of your audience. In this way, you can keep the focus on the quality of the service provided and the customer experience.

SEO strategies

Optimizing your online store's pages for search engines is important to ensure the visibility of your online store. By applying SEO techniques, you can improve the positioning of your online store on Google's results pages, attracting more visitors organically and thus investing less in paid ads to appear.

To do this, you must choose relevant keywords, produce quality content and optimize the structure of your online store's pages.

Investing in effective SEO techniques allows you to increase traffic to your site and improve the relevance and credibility of your online store. Use analysis tools to monitor your online store's performance and make adjustments where necessary.

Customer service and support

Providing excellent customer service and support is essential for building customer loyalty. You must ensure that you are available to answer questions, solve problems and provide assistance quickly and efficiently.

To do this, you should have FAQs in your online store to answer common questions and implement chabots powered by Artificial Intelligence or have a team available and able to respond to users' needs.

Tips to increase sales and traffic to your online store

Social media

Social media is a powerful way to increase traffic to your online store. Use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or TikTok - depending on what makes the most sense in your strategy and in relation to your market - to connect with your audience by promoting your products or services in a creative and engaging way.

Publish content regularly that meets the interests of your target audience, interact with your followers to build relationships and reflect this in sales.

Email marketing and automations

Email marketing is an effective digital marketing strategy for keeping in touch with your customers and boosting sales of your products or services.

By automating your email marketing campaigns and segmenting your audience, you can send personalized offers and promotions that encourage conversion.

Using email marketing automation allows you to create communication flows tailored to your customers' actions, such as abandoned cart reminders or exclusive offers. This kind of customer 'attention' helps to keep your brand in the customer's mind, boosting returns and repeat purchases.

Paid ads and retargeting

Paid ads through Google ADS or Social Ads on Facebook or Instagram can significantly increase the reach of your online store. By creating well-developed and targeted ads, you can reach your audience.

Retargeting is a technique for reaching visitors who haven't converted, reminding them of products they previously viewed but didn't buy.

Investing in paid ads and using retargeting techniques can be decisive in recovering lost sales. Well-targeted ads reach the right audience, while retargeting recalls and reinforces the product in the minds of visitors to your online store, thus increasing the likelihood of conversion on future visits.

Benefits of starting an online business

One of the main benefits of starting an online business is its geographical reach, in the sense that the brand is able to reach customers in different regions and countries, significantly increasing its sales potential when compared to a physical store.

In addition, an online store is operational 24 hours a day and allows sales to be made at any time.

Challenges and disadvantages of starting an online business

Starting an online business also presents some challenges, such as fierce competition and the need for investment and digital marketing to stand out from your competitors.

Building trust with your customers can take some time, especially if you are starting your brand and online store from scratch and are totally unknown in the market.

Another challenge you may face is the security of your online store. Therefore, by creating your online store with a specialized company, you have continuous support for software updates and a security guarantee.

Keeping your online store up to date with best practices is essential for protecting customer data and avoiding information security vulnerabilities. You have access to regular updates and technical support to ensure that your online store and your customers' data are always protected against cyberattacks.

Another factor to consider is the capacity for logistics, stock management and deliveries, as this is something that could become more complicated as the business evolves. This means that you should adopt the best software, suited to your daily needs and integrated with your online store.

Ready to start an online store?

With the essential steps for starting your online store from scratch, you'll be able to make more informed and appropriate decisions about setting up an online store. The internet offers endless opportunities, but it also offers challenges that require planning and dedication on the part of those wishing to launch an online business.

It's important to equip yourself with the best tools and strategies, as well as to keep learning in order to solidify your online business in the market, because the digital world is constantly evolving and new trends and demands are emerging all the time. Keep an eye on innovations in E-commerce and changes in public behavior to adjust your strategy and remain competitive in the market.

Remember that starting an online store from scratch is a process that takes time and effort. You shouldn't hesitate to seek help and support from a specialized online store creation company to ensure that you start right away with everything you need to achieve good results.