4. Build an amazing website or marketplace store
You need a forum where you can showcase your goods as you start to sell online. You need a website or a shop for that, where people can come and see your items.
On sales channels such as Shopify, Magento, Woocommerce, Bigcommerce, etc., you can set up your store.
We recommend you to opt for Shopify as it is the most feature-packed platform. From here on we will consider Shopify as the default platform to set up your online store.
Start your free Shopify trial
The first step to launch your online store is to visit shopify.in. You get an eCommerce app free trial upon sign-up.
Here you can pick your store name, which will become the URL or domain name used by your customers to buy from your website. We suggest beginning with the Simple package but you can still upgrade if you see fit.
You will need to add your credit card or address to PayPal. Since you are on a 90-day free trial, you will not be charged for the duration of the trial period, and you will be sent a reminder before your trial ends.
Select a theme
Find the best theme or design template for your online store in the Shop Theme Department. You can start with a free theme designed by Shopify, or you can buy a theme created by one of our Partners.
You want to synchronize your brick-and-mortar store with your online presence, so try to explore themes by collection or industry and pick one that better suits your brand. Of course, no theme is exclusive to any industry, it’s only helpful to get you started quickly. Your theme can still be changed later.
Prepare the critical pages
The sooner you make your online store available, the sooner consumers will be able to purchase products from you. Concentrate on the basics: ensure that your shop has familiar elements of your business (such as your name or brand colors) and make it convenient for customers to search and order.
No need to be worried about the frills. Your focus should be on bringing your goods online and selling your stock in-store. Before you start, here are the pages we suggest you create:
Homepage
Treat your homepage in the same manner as your store. Shoppers use the dashboard to find new offers and promotions and to search the product pages. Consider having a banner or notification bar that communicates important information with customers, such as what payment or delivery services you’ve made available to them.
FAQ
Current developments in the supply chain have impacted shipping systems in unexpected ways, and the clients may have some shipping-related concerns. Ask about to see how other local firms are actually coping with their Shipping FAQ. It is important to share any additional measures you take to keep consumers safe when delivering orders to their door, such as extra safeguards while preparing or packing your goods.
Returns and Exchange Strategy
A structured return policy helps you to provide simple, concise rules for how consumers should exchange or repay their orders. Dealing with return and swap requests on a case-by-case basis is not feasible and can bring needless complication (and cost) to your project.
Contact us
Product Pages Your web pages are where you’re selling the value of your goods, so it’s important to keep them comprehensive and convincing. Make sure the product descriptions supply customers with important information about the features and benefits of the product so they’re compelled to buy. Optimize the product images on product pages for better user experience.
Add your Products
It can take some time to add your products if you have a large catalog but there are ways to get started quickly. Recently Shopify has rolled out changes to make this process faster and easier, and they are now offering free data migration services for the first time when consumers start their online store.
Here are a variety of ways you can incorporate products:
- Bulk upload from your admin shop. If you are a Shopify user, you can do a quick bulk upload of your product to Shopify.
- Please use Shopify Mobile. If you haven’t been up-to-date on your inventory, use the Shopify Mobile app to take pictures of your items on your mobile device camera and link them to your online store with one quick workflow.
Set up a gift card
Selling digital gift cards is one of the fastest ways for a brick-and-mortar business to start selling online and secure instant cash flow. This is how it works:
- Develop a digital gift card
- Customers can order and pay for gift cards from your new online store.
- Purchased gift cards are then sent to the customers via email.
- Both used gift cards can be registered and handled in Shopify while consumers can redeem them in the future.
- When you launch new products that can be purchased online or make the products available for local delivery or pick-up, consumers can collect gift cards at check-out. By default, the gift cards you generate will never expire.
Set up the shipment
Shoppers are trapped at home and often need deliveries to reach their doorstep, which implies that an affordable and convenient delivery service is now critical. Here are some tips to keep the business moving in these challenging times — while staying safe.
Maintain shipping costs down
Shipping costs can be quickly absorbed in the margins of independent retailers, so be careful about how you handle shipping and distribution. Here are a few ideas for this:
Opt for manual shipping: print labels, send notifications, and monitor any aspect of your orders and, where possible, handle orders manually.
Establish “pick-up” for the local customers
Pickup lets your local shoppers order something online and pick it up outside of your store — without even having to leave their vehicle. Not only does this “drive-through” option reduce person-to-person encounters, but it’s also much quicker and decreases delivery costs. Here are the steps:
- Your customer will buy you online and pay you through your new online store
- You can receive the order by email, so you can easily prepare it
- You will then inform the customer when the order is ready for pick-up
- Your customer rides to your shop and opens the trunk
- You’ll put their order comfortably in their trunk
- That’s it, done!
Setting up payments
When you choose which payment options to offer online there are a few things to remember. All leading payment providers in India are available at Shopify. You’ll need to enter details of your payment account in setting and you’re all set to receive payments.
All payment mechanisms enabled by Shopify depend on third-party service providers to handle the transactions. These providers can charge additional fees, as well as impose rules on which goods you may sell using their service. Check with the organization offering the service to ensure you understand their rules and procedures before setting up a payment system.