In this technologically advanced world, launching an e-commerce business or store is not an easy job with a lot of competition around.
All the planning and online coordination can be quite challenging. Researchers tag the failure rate of e-commerce startups to be over 80%.
Maybe it is the thought of actually being able to do business with zero investment which becomes the stumbling block but in reality, it can be done.
In this article, we will outline the ways you can launch an e-commerce store without capital.
I have tried to make the entire contents of this article as easily understandable as possible.
This will be especially productive for the people interested in getting their e-commerce store up and running in the least time possible.
Point-to-point instructions are included to make sure that everything is easily comprehensible.
Keep in mind that after reading this article, there should be no excuses for starting an e-commerce store online. So let’s get right into it.
1. Setting up Shop
There are two ways to set up shop. The first way is to either set up shop by yourself (self-hosted) or you can rent an outlet from an e-commerce platform supplier (hosted).
Since we already know that you do not have a nice chunk of change, the first option is not for you.
The first option is usually for more experienced vendors. They will be setting up shop with a specific content writing strategy and other preconditions for their customers.
The easier way is to rent a ready-made shop from an e-commerce provider such as Shopify. There is more than a type of e-commerce provider. Shopify gives you all the basic options to set up shop for just $30 per month.
You can find out which e-commerce platform is the best choice for your online store. Initially you will not be asked for any payment details.
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Register Your Shop:
Once you have decided which platform you want to finalize for your shop go ahead and register with that platform.
Deciding a perfect name is not important at this time as in most cases this can be easily changed later on. Shopify gives you the option to market your product to Instagram, Facebook, Amazon and even eBay audiences.
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Choosing The Store Appearance:
The best part about registering with an e-commerce site is that you can choose from a wide variety of themes. It is important to find a setting which you find appealing.
This will be the place where all of your products will be displayed. A majority of the themes have been designed by experts to streamline and optimize sales.
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Adding Content:
Content is king! While this may be somewhat true, the contents of your store don’t exactly have to be completely perfect at this point in time.
Developing effective content will take time depending on your products and clientele. The important thing is that the main pages such as the About Us and or Delivery Information pages should have appealing content.
Crowd Writer is a tool you can use to get custom content drafted for your store. The Terms and Conditions, Return Policies and Standard Privacy pages can be drafted using these free tools.
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Adjusting Billing & Shipping Details:
Once you are on the settings page, you will need to enter a payment provider, create shipping rates and enter your billing information.
US residents setting up shop with Shopify can use the Shopify payments gateway. International users will need to use their PayPal account. Add the free shipping strategy.
This will give you the option to include the price of the shipping in the product price based on the destination.
2. Finalizing Shipping Details
You want to complete setting up shop in a day. You don’t have the time to find products and deals online to purchase and stock at your house to sell later.
The best way to overcome this problem is to search and deliver products with the help of a drop shipping service provider like AliExpress.
The idea is to bring the product from that website to your own store. You get to set up your own prices and profit margins on your own store.
Once a customer buys the product from your store, you purchase it from the original website and have it shipped directly to the customer.
Amazon, Sears and Zappos all offer the drop shipment option. You have the shipping details sorted out now but you can’t relax while working just as yet.
3. Coordinating Products with Suppliers
There are chances that a customer purchases a product which is displayed on your store but that product is not available on the actual supplier’s website.
Oberlo works exclusively with Shopify to bring you products which can be delivered worldwide.
You can conduct a feasibility study of the niche market you are interested in pursuing and find the best products on Oberlo.
You will not have to worry about the hassle of a customer ordering a product which might not be available on the suppliers’ website.
The important thing to remember is to initially start with products which are priced at or under $60. Import at least 40 to 60 products.
Once you have achieved the proficiency of being able to sell inexpensive products, slowly work your way up to more expensive products.
4. Associating Social Media with Profits
So you have finished setting up shop in a day. Now you can focus purely on generating sales. It is important that you do not make any alterations or adjustments too soon.
Simply because you have completed setting up shop doesn’t mean that customers will start coming in from day one. The world wide web is an enormous universal network.
It will take time for the sales to kick in.
The best thing to do is to start linking your shop to your social media sights. If you have a large circle of friends on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, and similar apps, start linking your shop to your social media circle.
You need to get the word out there about your store.
Putting it all Together
Don’t get overexcited trying to involve friends and family into your store by offering them commissions just yet.
The first few months will be tough no matter how you look at it.
It isn’t easy to reap a profit in the first month of business. You have to keep experimenting to see what works and in which market niche you can be successful.
Like all good things e-commerce also takes time to achieve success and acclaim.
It is very important that you overcome your fear of failure.
Perpetual success awaits us once we get past the fear of failure.
Another thing that will help you ensure that you achieve success is to start with a product which you feel passionately about.
That passion and faith will help you reach your profitable and business goals more easily.
