How to open an online store: costs, platforms and everything you need to know
The world is constantly changing and evolving, how can you be prepared? If you are thinking of opening an online store, we will help you! Think about the world of shopping: stores are no longer what they used to be, many companies have understood the importance of managing their web business and selling online. your products, here's how you can move. If you are not yet an expert, take a look at these tips for shopping online:
The sale has changed: the online store market
The way we shop has radically changed, as has the way companies present themselves on the market and sell through a website. It is clear that there are many opportunities to explore and understand the needs of approaching e-commerce. If you are here, perhaps you too are intrigued by the dynamics of online shops: do you have your own physical store? try to sell your products by rethinking the sale and management of your online business? Do you want to start from scratch and embark on a new business project? Before doing so, it is right to understand what the costs of an online store are, what are the mandatory things to do, such as the VAT number and the registration in the register of companies, but also the platforms to rely on, such as Amazon or Shopify, and especially how do you create or open an ecommerce site to sell any product on the web.
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How to open an online store: things to do
Opening an online store is quite simple, but there are some things to do and above all to know before starting. First of all you need to understand how online selling works, what are the payment options you have available, how the management of sales, customers and marketing activities works. But above all what are the options to sell that you have available. The possible situations are these:
- 1. your idea is to bring your business online and sell products that are already yours, that you have in stock or in a physical store: in this case you will have to find the right online platform for you and understand how to approach marketing activities or digital promotion. Listen to your customers, understand how they perceive your business and transform your business into an ecommerce capable of meeting their needs.
- 2. you want to sell something that you produce yourself, such as crafts, so you not only have to open an online store, but you have to start from scratch by creating your own brand, your own brand, then inventing a name that strikes potential customers but that is clear and simple. Choose a logo that represents what you will sell and your brand values. Understanding which platform to use: whether to create a website for the sale of your products from scratch, whether to opt for Shopify which offers simple solutions at low cost, and allows you not to have to turn to a developer; choose to sell your products on existing marketplaces such as Amazon, Ebay or Etsy.
- 3. you want to start an "online commerce business but you still don't know how to do it and what to sell: in this case you can either find unlabeled product suppliers and customize them with your brand and logo and then turn to platforms like Shopify to the sale; is instead doing what is called dropshipping, that is, you open an ecommerce site on a platform like Oberlo, and instead of selling your own products, you deal with selling third party products that already have a brand. Thanks to dropshipping you will only deal with to select the products, carefully choosing those that you think may be most loved by your customers, the payment will take place on your ecommerce site but then the supplier will take care of the shipment of the product from his shop.
How to open an online store from scratch
To open an online store, first of all you have to choose what to sell. The advice we can give you is definitely to choose something that is interesting for a niche and not for the same audience as Amazon or Ebay because, as you can imagine, they are so big and powerful that we can hardly compete with them. If you choose something in the perfect niche for your customers, however, there are more chances that you will be able to emerge and be considered authoritative for those types of products.
Once you've chosen your product, choose the platform that best suits your products and your online business. You can open a profile on Amazon, Ebay or Etsy (perfect for artisans), rely on a developer and create your own online site from scratch (a little more complicated and expensive), or rely on platforms that offer a complete service and you allow you to create your site from scratch, like Shopify or Oberlo.
You will then have to choose which payment method you prefer, if Paypal, credit card, cash on delivery and so on. You will then need to advertise your business online and do some marketing activities. You can safely take advantage of social networks such as Instagram and Facebook to make your promotion.
To sell online and open your shop, you will surely have to open a VAT number and then invoice and pay taxes with your tax return. Without VAT, you risk doing things wrong and not legal!
Alternatively, always remember the opportunities offered by dropshipping that eliminate all the difficulties of managing the product and shipping. In this case, you will represent the site that promotes the product by doing the marketing activities, selecting it carefully, but it will be the supplier to take care of the sale and shipping. In short, dropshipping is a revolution that everyone is giving great support to, especially sites like Shopify!
How much does it cost to open an online store?
To understand if we can afford to open an online store, we need to actually understand how much an ecommerce can cost or sell on the web. Surely it is not free: of course, there are platforms like Wordpress that allow us to start a blog without spending money, but to sell there is a cost. If you do not already have your own offline business, then a physical store, you have to put the costs. of the product (both to produce it but also to purchase it from third parties) and warehouse, as well as shipping ones that naturally vary depending on the product and destinations. There are platforms that allow you to open an online store at reduced costs, such as Shopify that offers a basic subscription of 29.90 euros per month, but certainly the costs are not only these. Excluding those listed above, you must add the taxes to be paid, the tax return, the contributions to the INPS and all the expenses of the accountant who derive from it. In short, it is not a walk, but it can certainly be an "adventure that brings a lot of satisfaction, also based on one's own sacrifices. What are you doing, are you trying?
Open an online store: the advantages of the web
Whether you decide to open a dropshipping ecommerce site or you have a physical store and want to turn it into an online business, the advantages of an ecommerce web store are many. Among these advantages we have:
- the possibility of reaching a wider customer audience, on a national but also international scale if you have the ability to enter more than one market,
- the streamlining of some processes, from setting up a physical showcase to preparing a very expensive warehouse and logistics service, especially if you choose the dropshipping formula,
- the possibility of following fashions through digital trends (to be discovered with Google Trends)
- the opportunity to take advantage of social networks and reach users and customers of very different age groups,
- do digital marketing activities, both paid and organic, to sponsor your brand and your e-commerce online store.
In short, how to open an online store for you is no longer a mystery: you know the secrets of the web hidden behind the opening of an ecommerce site as well as the difficulties and costs to be incurred for an online shop. So what are you doing, are you trying?
