Starting an online store used to require millions of dollars. Now anyone with some spare change can start one in a weekend. There are some important details about how to start a digital store.
Pick Niche
The first step is to pick a niche for your store. Also, think of your customer base: who are you selling to? It’s important to be somewhat specialized. Only behemoths like Walmart and Amazon can sell everything under the sun.
It’ll help if you choose something you have a personal interest in. Expert knowledge and passion can help you stand out from the competition. For example, If you like and know everything about candles, consider setting up a store about candles.
Do some in-depth research as well. Browse Reddit and Quora to get an idea about your potential customers. What are the challenges are they currently facing? What products are available on the market?
Choose Store Name
Choosing a store name will come naturally for some individuals but could be a tricky step for others. The best names are brandable, easy to pronounce and memorize. Most important of all, it’s available as a.com. The year isn’t 1995. A lot of good domains are already registered. Finding a good one is going to take you a good amount of trial and error.
Create logo
A lot of entrepreneurs get hung up on this. There’s no need to spend thousands on a logo. Your store just needs something that looks professional. You can try hiring someone in a place like Upwork or run a design contest on a site like 99designs. It doesn’t need to look like a Fortune 500 company. If your store is successful, you can always invest more money in a better logo later.
Set up Web hosting
You need a web host to hold all your website data like images and text. When someone tries to connect to your website, they’ll be directed to the files on your host.
There are many choices out there for web hosting. Fortunately, there is a piece of eCommerce software out there that is free and powerful. It is called Woocommerce and is everything you need to set up a store. It runs on the open-source (and also free) software WordPress. Woocommerce hosting is not expensive but you should choose a reliable host.
Set up
The set-up process is quite easy. You’ll need to get your domain repointed so that when people enter it in the browser they’ll go to your host. It’s different for every host, there should be instructions in an email from your web host.
The actual setting up of the website of your digital store is just pointing and clicking. The software development team really made it easy. You don’t need to hire someone to do it for you. WordPress is frequently a pre-installed script on a web host. After you install it, install WooCommerce as a plugin.
Add products
It’s time to add your products now. This might take a while. If you have hundreds (or thousands) you can use Woocommerce bulk add feature.
You’ll need to add things like the product name, price, and shipping info. Spend a decent amount of time on product descriptions because they really can make your store stand out.
Theme
WooCommerce designs are known as “themes”. To change the design of your store, you don’t need to hire a designer for thousands of dollars. You can just pick a new theme and install it with a few clicks.
The default theme for WooCommerce is known as Storefront. It’s quite basic but gets the job done. Popular options include Neve and Astra.
Setting up your own digital store has never been easier. WooCommerce makes an excellent choice.
