Your dream is to open an online store but you don’t know where to start?
If you sell your products and / or even services (when I talk about services I mean non-physical products, for example a consultancy in the sector in which you specialize) in a ecommerce site is the goal you have set yourself to achieve from now on in the coming months, I can reassure you: it is not an impossible undertaking.
But it is good that you know the very first thing: you have to get hold of the right information, because, let’s face it, the blablabla on the web is a bit bored!
I mean: if I put myself in your shoes now, I would like to understand from A to Z what needs to be done to inaugurate a ‘online sales business, without too much useless chatter, I just want clarity and concreteness … right?
I cannot tell you that this guide will be the most comprehensive ever written on the subject, I want to do everything but make fun of you.
I can assure you, however, that I have used all my experience to gather the most important and concrete information.
The goal is to make your mind clear, so that you understand well how to open an online store.
Basically I will explain how to leave (so first of all I will talk about costs!), then I will show you what are the most important aspects to take care of in yours virtual shop to ensure that it has the right visibility (without visibility you do not sell, know it), I will suggest how to capture the attention of your user until they push him to buy, I will even talk to you about the implementation of payments and also about shipping.
So much stuff, in short 🙂 But (eh, yes, there is a but …) I have to warn you … “There are no free e-commerce and whoever tells you is cheating you”.
THE online stores that they sell and that you may have seen on the web, they are all online activity for which a certain budget has been invested but above all time to implement it and then also improve it.
It is generally believed that digitizing sales leads to much greater and more satisfying results than a physical store could achieve and, above all, with less money to spend.
It’s not really like that… and I want to prove it to you.
Now: how fascinating are you just the idea of being able to sell a product (or service) on a e-commerce all yours?
So much, right?!?
Well, then relax, avoid any distractions, ask not to be disturbed (if you are at home) and put the phone on silent mode just for five minutes, the time to read this article of mine, and I assure you that afterwards you will have a lot more ideas clear and you will finally know what to do.
I can’t suggest strategies for you yet online selling (we could talk about it together later) because I don’t know which direction you are oriented in and I don’t know your project, but I’ll give you a hand anyway.
Are you ready? Let’s begin.
How to open an online store: the complete guide
If you want open an online store, surely you are spoiled for choice among the platforms intended for this purpose.
The most popular are certainly eBay, Amazon, Etsy, but also Facebook and Instagram.
What does it mean?
It’s very simple: instead of create an ecommerce site from scratch, you can sell your products (but also services on Facebook and Instagram in particular) on the platforms I mentioned to you.
They are called marketplaces because they are a sort of ready-made online shopping centers, which offer you your own space to sell, you simply have to insert the products.
As a real market, in fact, they allow you to open your shop within them.
Whoever searches for a particular product will see several results, including the one you sell.
The main advantage is precisely to take advantage of their traffic (just imagine how many people surf on Amazon, eBay or Facebook!).
But there are big, big disadvantages: for example if you want to take advantage of this type of online commerce, you have to pay a commission for every sale you make.
Also, offering your products on a third party platform, you completely lose information about your consumers, so if you wanted to create a relationship of trust with those who have already purchased your product, you could never because they would return to Amazon or eBay, certainly not from you, because you have chosen not to create a site web, but to rely on marketplace.
Not to mention, the competition is really hard to beat. On these types of platforms, you have very few tools to be able to stand out.
All the user will see will be a product in the cauldron of many other very similar products.
So how do you differentiate yourself from others?
Your name, your brand, your identity no one would know … disturbing, right?
Of course, one thing may not exclude the other, in the sense that you could easily sell on marketplaces and have your own e-commerce site.
So let’s go back to the starting point: how to create an ecommerce?
The platform, which I recommend you to use, is definitely WordPress!
But what is WordPress?
There would be so much to say and explain about this platform, I invite you to discover its world in a guide article where I explain in depth what WordPress is .
Suffice it to say, in summary, that WordPress is an open source CMS, where CMS stands for C.ontent M.anagement S.ystem.
It is an easy-to-use tool for those who have no technical knowledge of programming and which is used for the management of website content, such as the creation of an online store.
Open source, on the other hand, means in very simple terms that it is publicly accessible: anyone can see it, modify it and distribute it according to their needs, to improve it in every single function.
And most importantly, you need to know the most important thing: WordPress is free!
Now what you need to know is that the CMS is installed on a web server and the web server is a kind of computer that offers many services, which can be accessed by other computers, such as yours.
I refer you to a very clear article, in which I explain precisely what a server is in very simple and understandable terms.
I advise you to read it because, if you want to launch yourself into the online world, you need to know certain concepts, to make the right choice about your business.
In summary:
- WordPress is the free CMS that I recommended to you to create your online store (consider that it is the most used in the world!);
- the CMS is installed on a web server, a computer connected to the network to which users can access thanks to their browser (Chrome, Safari, etc.).
So what you need now is to know which server to choose.
Consider that the server is also called a host, which means “host”, and that’s why we talk about a hosting service when we refer to a space in which to store every single piece of your website.
So which web server (also called hosting service) to choose?
At this stage it’s easy to help: Choose Serverplan or SiteGround .
Both guarantee excellent performance, a very high level of safety and always available technical support, even in Italian.
SiteGround offers a service of hosting optimized just for those who want to open an eCommerce, thanks to its WooCommerce hosting plans.
But Serverplan plans are also perfect for using WordPress with WooCommerce.
But let’s explain it all more clearly.
First: what is WooCommerce?
It is a WordPress plugin, that is a program that allows you to improve and complete the functionality of the CMS.
So with WooCommerce (always free!) you can open your online store and upload the products you want to sell; it is considered the simplest and easiest program to use, not surprisingly it is the most used in the world to create ecommerce.
SiteGround therefore offers you the web space to open your online store, but you will also have WooCommerce already installed.
And as if that weren’t enough, SiteGround also installs for you the so-called shop facade, or its window, the aesthetic part, which in technical jargon is called Storefront.
Storefront is the theme designed and developed by WooCommerce programmers, it can be customized in appearance and colors according to your personal aesthetic tastes.
All very cool, right?
So, to recap again, with SiteGround you will have everything you need to open your own online store:
- web space where your online store will exist
- WordPress already installed in the web space
- WooCommerce already installed, the WordPress plugin to create your online store
- Storefront already installed, that is the graphic part of your online store, which you can later customize to your liking.
If you prefer to choose Serverplan, don’t worry because you can still get all this.
Installing WooCommerce is super easy and you’ll find more information shortly.
So let’s go into more detail and physically find out what you need to do, what steps you need to follow to open your online store.
1. Open an online store: study the tools that allow you to start your business
WordPress is number one because it allows you to make money online and manage an online store in total autonomy, thanks to WooCommerce and its free and paid extensions , without the need to resort to a developer to modify or update your products.
Having said that, WooCommerce is a tool that has hundreds of options and that, to be used at its best, requires some practice but is certainly ideal if you want to. open an online store ecommerce.
The great thing about WooCommerce is that it allows you to sell any type of product:
- Physical products
- Standard services such as online consultancy
- Affiliate products
- Digital products (we sell our video courses via WooCommerce for example)
In short, you can sell anything and everything.
Don’t be scared: you can find all kinds of resources on the web, starting from the WooCommerce site, and we too have a very useful guide to creating an eCommerce .
And not only!
Because we have also thought of a splendid resource for you: the ALL WordPress video course , where you can find a module that will guide you step by step in the creation of your online shop.
Visit the page to discover all our courses , including a new course for those who are beginners and wanttake your first steps on WordPress, I’m talking about the Free WordPress course .
You will just have to put in some effort and spend hours studying WordPress: the results you will get will be great.
There are also other interesting plugins that allow you to build an eCommerce with ease, even if they don’t have all the features included in WooCommerce.
It depends on what you want to achieve – sometimes a simpler solution may be more suitable than a more comprehensive tool.
In any case, in the vast majority of cases, WooCommerce is the ideal solution.
And if you encounter any problems in the management of your eCommerce, we are always there, ready to help you through the WordPress Support .
What if you think that create an eCommerce site independently is not for you, click the button below to find out what we can do for you!
