Technology serves as one of the driving forces in the world today. From soft robotics and AI-powered home systems to excessive industrial automation and high-tech shopping solutions, the world is experiencing a technological boom. Technological advances have been particularly beneficial when it comes to ecommerce, not just for regular shoppers but also for small business owners and young entrepreneurs. These advances have made setting up small-scale retail stores easy, simple, and, most importantly, affordable. As a result, in the past decade, the ecommerce sector has gained serious momentum, encouraging many small-scale businesses to establish a presence (sometimes exclusively) in the online world.
The good news is that even as a small business owner with limited resources, you won’t have to worry about extensive monetary investments, as running an online retail store is much more cost-efficient than operating a brick-and-mortar store. Setting up even a small-scale traditional retail business requires large investments. Furthermore, with ecommerce, you won’t have to hire a huge workforce to maintain smooth operations throughout a physical store. Payment technology companies like North offer access to fast, efficient, and secure online payment gateways that make payment ecommerce payment processing stress-free for businesses owners in any industry.
One of the smartest ways for you to enhance the visibility and boost the sales of your small business is to create an ecommerce store. Building an ecommerce website is relatively simple and should require fairly minimal effort on your part. These simple steps can help any aspiring entrepreneur get their online store up and running in no time.
1.Conduct thorough market research.
The first step in building your ecommerce website is to check out those of your competitors. The online retail world is filled with business owners battling for the same consumers. Before you step into the market, it is best to understand the strategies your competition is using.
Market research will also help you identify your Unique Selling Points (USPs). Having a clear USP is essential for all businesses as it allows you to differentiate your brand and thrive despite market saturation.
This vital first step will also assist you with defining your user persona and identifying your target audience. This will allow you to create targeted marketing strategies that should provide excellent results with minimal marketing expenditure.
2. Choose the right platform.
Once you’ve completed your market research, you can move to the second step, which is to choose the right ecommerce platform. Several ecommerce platforms are available that can help you set up an online store in just one day using easy-to-use templates. These platforms make Search Engine Optimization more manageable by automatically boosting the ranking of your website.
3. Create engaging content.
A crucial aspect of any ecommerce enterprise is content creation. If a business website sees high traffic but declining sales and conversions, your online content could be failing. Once a visitor is on an ecommerce website, the content and messaging needs to be powerful enough that it encourages a visitor to take action and complete a purchase. Creating engaging content along with clear call-to-actions are big factors in turning browsers into purchasers. Product descriptions also play a vital role when it comes to creating engaging content. Be sure to include the right keywords to help increase your conversions.
4. Pick a suitable payment gateway.
Business owners need to choose a suitable payment gateway for their ecommerce website. North offers seamless connections to 7 different online payment gateways that make managing online transactions effortless. Payment gateways help make online payments less of a headache for business owners.
Be advised that before you accept online payments on your website via your online payment gateway, you’ll want to make sure that it complies with PCI DSS requirements. This is how you protect sensitive cardholder data from cybercriminals and yourself from liability for a data breach. There are products such as PCI Plus that can help you make your website PCI compliant without requiring much input, effort, or expense on your part.
5. Test and “go live.”
The fifth and final step in building your online store is to test the functionality of your website and to publish it. There are several factors that you’ll need to check when testing your online store. You can start with the main pages, product pages, categories, and shopping carts. Other essential factors to check include payment gateway functionality, compatibility with web browsers, and responsiveness. In addition to this, performing security and vulnerability assessments are crucial in this step. Once the testing phase is complete, it will be time for your website to go live!
These are the five steps that will help you build and run your online store. Once you’re up and running make sure to maintain the security of your site, while continuously updating your content to keep it fresh
