1. Who is this guide for?
This guide is for anyone who wants to set up an online shop but doesn’t know where to start. We’ll take you through the process step by step, from choosing a platform to building your store to promoting your products.
2. Why open an online shop?
There are many reasons to open an online shop. Maybe you want to reach a wider audience than you could with a brick-and-mortar store, or maybe you want to sell products that are only available online. Whatever your reason, an online shop can be a great way to earn extra income or even make a full-time living.
3. What do I need to get started?
Step 1:Get a domain name and web hosting.
- Domain name will be your online shop’s unique address on the web
- Web hosting is a remote computer that will store your shop online and present it to your customers. You will have to pay a small fee for the service. The following are some hosting providers that are officially recommended by WordPress.
Step 2: Install WordPress. You can do this by using any of the above-mentioned hosting providers.
Step 3: Install the WooCommerce Plugin. This will turn a blank WordPress website into a fully functional eCommerce store. And to achieve that, you have to fill in details into the plugin.
- Store details: You have to fill in the details of your store
- Industry: You have to pick out which industry your shop is involved with, and you can choose more than one option
- Product types: You have to select what type of products you will be selling. The options include physical goods, downloads, subscriptions, bookings, and many more
- Business details: You have to specify whether you already sell online or if you are a first-timer
- Theme: WooCommerce works with any WordPress theme, and there are great ones that are preset. The main intention here is to make each page attractive
Step 4: Choose a Payment Gateway, Currency, Shipping and set up Taxes
- Choose a Payment Gateway: Being able to accept payments online is the key to a functional eCommerce store. At WooCommerce a number of payment options are integrated, primarily PayPal and Stripe. You can choose other options too.
- Understand Sales Tax and define Currency: WooCommerce has a “Enable tax rates and calculations” feature that saves you a lot of bother. You also have to specify the currency you wish to deal with.
- Shipping: This is relevant only for those selling physical products. You can define shipping zones and classes, set fixed prices, offer free delivery, etc. WooCommerce also has an extension to manage drop-shipping
Step 5: Build your Store
- Create pages: Before adding products, you should create pages like
- Home Page
- About Page
- Contact Page
- FAQ Page
- Privacy Policy Page
- Add products or services:
- Product name
- Product description
- Product data
- Product categories
- Product tags
- Product Image
- Product gallery
- Publish: Once you have completed the above details, you have to click on the Publish button to make your store visible to your customers.
Step 6: Make the eCommerce store user-friendly. Some crucial factors are
- A clear design
- Good product images
- The centre display has to catch the visitor’s attention
- Responsive and mobile-optimized
- Good navigation structure.
- Cart and Check-Out are the most important pages.
If one follows the above method, it should not be too difficult to set up an online store. The task becomes easier thanks to hosting platforms like WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, and other such websites.
4. How do I choose a platform for my store?
There are many platforms you can use to build your online store. Some of the most popular include Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. Each has its own pros and cons, so it’s important to do your research before deciding which one is right for you. We recommend Shopify for most users because it is easy to use.
