Everything you need to know about getting ready to start your own online store.
Six Steps to E-commerce Success
Prepare to Sell Online
Setting up an online store might seem easy enough, but it’s nowhere near as straightforward as many assume.
As in most things, preparation is the key. These six steps are key to getting your e-commerce store ready to go live...
1. Platform
Your choice of e-commerce platform is among the most important you will make. As the features included with an e-commerce platform determine what you can and can’t do within your budget, we think it pays to select this early in the process and commit to its feature set.
You’ll need a “card not present” merchant account and a payment processor to trade online. There are many options available to New Zealand businesses. Those opting to build an online store using WooCommerce can even use its native online payment processing system. We’ll help you choose the right system for your site.
When a business has many products and services, assembling all the assets needed to sell online may turn out to be the biggest job. For example, you’ll need a photo of every product variant. We know various tricks and techniques that simplify this task and considerably reduce costs.
Classifying each product and enhancing that classification with consistent and logical taxonomy helps customers and search engines find the right product quickly. Taxonomy is another e-commerce task that will significantly benefit from our experience.
Writing succinct, persuasive copy that does each of your products justice and generates desire among your customers is a task worth doing well. Time and effort invested here will pay enormous dividends over time. Matching images and copy further enhances the effect, helping your customers decide to go ahead and buy.
Will your online store offer a refund? What does the law require of you? How about your payment provider and the company behind your merchant account? Every online store needs policies that govern its behaviour and let clients know what you’re like to deal with. You’re going to need a policy statement in place on day one.
