Starting an ecommerce store can be daunting, but we’re sharing three simple ways to get you going, one step at a time, and a little something to consider once you get growing, too.
Start small
If you’re new to selling online, choose a single product from your brick and mortar store that's high margin, small and light. You can start selling on an existing online marketplace, like Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, Ebay or Etsy, while you build your Shopify store.
Low-cost marketing
Marketing doesn’t need to break the bank. Until you have the budget, advertise for free on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. (Be sure to know the rules of each platform and work within them.)
You can also consider influencer marketing, either providing your product in exchange for a review, or turning them into a sales rep with an app like Secomapp Affiliate Marketing.
Think shipping
We’ve said it before: don’t wait till you receive your first order to think about shipping. That’s why we recommend you choose a small, light product to sell first. A lot of smaller businesses can’t possibly cover the cost of free shipping for their customers, so the next best thing you can do to remove friction for your users is to have a flat fee. Here’s our post on shipping considerations -- it’s definitely worth a read!
Walk first, then run
Once you’re an established ecommerce business, and have a larger budget available, the rules change for all of these. You can add sets of products to your store, spend money on marketing campaigns (keeping an eye on your analytics), or create your own "Amazon Prime"-type service that offers free shipping to members who subscribe to an annual plan, but for now, take it slow.
If you want help, contact us. We’re Shopify Plus Partners. We’ll help you take your ecommerce business to the next level with Shopify Plus.