How to Start your own Online Shop

Whether you already own a successful business or are just starting out with a great idea, an online shop can be a real boost to your business and getting started is quick and easy. Read on to find out why you should consider an online shop, whatever your business, and how to get started.

Do I need an Online Shop?

Ecommerce requires a much lower investment than a high-street shop, and it’s a great way for your customers to engage with your business and your brand whenever they’re ready to shop. An online shop is open 24/7, so your customers can make a booking or buy your products at any time.

Online shops are great for service industries as well. Consider the hotel industry – booking online is now an essential part of their model, but there’s no reason why customers can’t book and pay for your services online, too. Businesses of all kinds, from hairdressers to home builders, now allow customers to request a quote, book a time slot and pay for a service online. Ecommerce can be a great way to advertise your business and capture those busy professionals for whom time is scarce.

The Business Plan

An empty online shop is just as useless as empty shelves in a high-street shop. Your first step should be to decide what you’re going to sell and how you’re going to sell it. For many business, this is obvious – if you already have products, it’s easy to upload them into an online shop. However, you should still consider how the orders will be fulfilled and who will do the work, if this isn’t obvious. You should also consider delivery times and costs as its important not to make promises to your customers you can’t keep.

Get Great Photos

A picture, as the saying goes, is worth a thousand words, and with many ecommerce businesses that certainly holds true. A good quality picture of your product reassures customers and lets them see what they’ll be buying. This holds true whether you’re selling clothing or kitchen worktops. Manufacturers will often have images you can use, but if your products are unique it may be worth hiring a professional photographer.

Build your Ecommerce Website

At boxChilli, we provide complete online shops that are ready to use. This means that you don’t need to know anything about computer programming, designing a website or setting up an ecommerce site. We can even arrange for product photography and product descriptions to be written by a professional copywriter. Our goal is to do all the technical stuff for you, so you can focus on your core business. Simply give us a call and we’ll be happy to chat about your needs.

Shout About It

Once your shop is up and running, you’ll need customers. With the rise of social media and the importance of search engines, promoting an online shop has become more complicated and more time consuming. At Box Chilli, we work with SEO experts and online marketing professionals. We’re happy to provide this service, promoting your ecommerce business through social media, newsletters and other digital marketing, or to advise our customers on how to go it alone.

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