Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Starting An Online Shop for Online Business

An online shop is popping up everywhere now and this should not come as a surprise since the Internet is now an indispensable part of our lives. However, setting up an online shop can seem like an overwhelming task, especially for those of us who can't even use Facebook properly. Nonetheless, you don't have to be a tech-genius to start an online shop and here are a few simple ways to do so.

The first thing you should consider is whether you want to create an online shop on eBay. All you need to do is to sign up for an eBay account and start selling. Everything is taken care of and you have access to a large market. However, you will also face stiff competition because there are probably at least hundreds of other sellers selling the same kind of product. Therefore, your product has to be extremely unique or else it will only be lost amongst the crowds.

If you want to stand out and appear professional, having your own website is a good way to go. If you also want to avoid dealing with any technical matters whatsoever, then consider paying someone else to set up your website for you. There are many companies online that can set up a professional-looking, fully functional online shop for you within a few days. Of course, be sure to shop around for the best company that will fulfill all your eCommerce needs.

However, if you have made your peace with technology and can handle the more technical aspects of the Internet, then you might want to consider setting up everything by yourself. The first thing to do is to register for a catchy and memorable domain name. This will be the address of your online shop so be careful when choosing it. You will then need to rent out server space with a web hosting company. Just think of this as renting out a shop lot for your online business. Make sure you look around for the best rates and check that the company does not have a bad reputation of frequent downtimes (i.e. times when your shop cannot be accessed).

Next, you will need to install a software on your online shop which will display your products and manage all transactions. The easiest way is to install WordPress which is a content management system. It will give you access to a wide variety of eCommerce-related themes and plugins which you can use to set up your online shop. Themes define the general layout and appearance of your shop, while plugins add features to increase functionality, such as a shopping cart system, and inquiry forms. You can opt to include Google Checkout or PayPal which will ensure that all online transactions are secure.

1 comment:

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