If you look through my archives you will see that I have a series of articles on eCommerce to help you venture into this online business model which can be lucrative for you.

Related Articles:

• The Best Ecommerce Solution for Small Businesses 
• How To Increase Ecommerce Sales 
• The 8 Best Ecommerce Training Courses 

Today I decided to wind things back a little bit and give you a checklist of things that you should be doing to start your own eCommerce store.

This checklist acts as a guide to getting your own eCommerce store set up, from choosing a business name, to loading your store with products, to selling and shipping your products to customer service and outsourcing.

This guide is for you, if you know nothing or a little about eCommerce and want a definitive guide to getting started with eCommerce.

Remember that whilst this article seeks to guide you, eCommerce is a skill set that you need to learn and so you should make an investment in an eCommerce course to teach you how to grow a profitable eCommerce business.

What You Will Learn:     

• How to choose a business and store name
• Select web hosting and a domain name
• Decide on the platform that you want to build your store on
• Where to get wholesale products
• What eCommerce model is best to use
• How to choose your target audience
• How to apply a markup to your products
• How to advertise your products
• Are you ready for outsourcing?
• How to remain profitable. Metrics to look at.

How To Choose A Business And Store Name

The name of your store and business really is not that important to the customer. The customer is only interested in whether your store is legitimate, trustworthy and provides excellent customer service.

Therefore when choosing a business and store name, do not spend too much time here.

You may wish to name your store after some event that is special in your life or it can be a composition of the names of the owners of your store.

For example when I started my first eCommerce store it was named Winton Lane Marketplace. Winton Lane was actually the place where I grew up.

When deciding on your store and business name, I would recommend that you create a name where the social media handles are also available.

You do not want to create a name and then realise that someone else already has a Facebook or Twitter account with the same name.

To check whether this is the case I use a website called Namecheckr which verifies whether a potential business or store name is available across most social media platforms and whether the domain name is free.

If you want ideas for store and business names then you can use Shopify’s free business name generator for ideas.

Select Web Hosting and a Domain Name

Webhosting

Some eCommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce have all-inclusive web hosting with their packages so deciding on where to host your eCommerce store is unnecessary.

If however you have selected an eCommerce site builder like Woocommerce for WordPress where you need to set up your own web hosting, then you will find that the process is not entirely daunting.

Web hosting is provided by sites like SiteGround or Bluehost. I particularly like Bluehost because of the ease of setting up the webhosting with one click and their customer service.

Also if you have decided to use Woocommerce for WordPress, Bluehost is actually their recommended webhost provider making this the number one choice for your eCommerce webhosting needs.

Bluehost has a really great offer where you can get webhosting and a domain name for only $3.95 per month using my referral link. This special offer is available to all my readers.

If you do not want to use Woocommerce for WordPress and prefer all-inclusive webhosting packages then the following platforms are great options:

• Shopify starts at $29 a month. See my comprehensive review of Shopify here.
• BigCommerce starts at $29.95 a month
• Wix starts at $17 a month and perfect for smaller eCommerce stores
• Volusion starts at $15 a month
• 3DCart starts at $19.99 a month

Whilst these platforms allow you to host your eCommerce store, you may still be required to purchase your domain name either directly from the platform or transfer an already purchased domain name to the platform.

Domains

Domain names can be purchased from any domain name provider like Bluehost or Namecheap.

Just like a store name, your domain name is of little relevance however here are a few key things you should consider when choosing a domain name:

• It should not be too long
• It should be something that is easy to remember
• It should be easy to type and spell
• Avoid using dashes within your domain name
• It should represent you and your brand

The .com domain name is still the most popular and easily recognised domain extension for eCommerce stores although this does not directly reflect the success of your eCommerce stores.

It is important to note however that if you have an international domain extension like .co.uk or .de and you are selling products worldwide, that the recognition of these domain extension can cause some resistance from buyers especially when they consider that the product may be sourced in a country that is not local to them.

For example having a .co.uk extension may cause buyers from the US or Canada to panic that the goods is being shipped internationally. Therefore be mindful of this.

Decide On The Platform That You Want To Build Your Store On

There are many eCommerce store builders in the marketplace. With so many options it is difficult to size up all of them when you don’t know what to look for.

When selecting an eCommerce store builder I like to consider the following:

Price

Look at how the platform’s price compares to their competitors. Consider exactly what you are getting for the price and what are the core components of the package.

When selecting packages be sure to look at the cost of transaction fees as these will factor into your expenses when you start making sales.

Features

What features are you getting for the price you pay? Some crucial features that are paramount to the successful running of an eCommerce store include a shopping cart, payment gateways, number of products that you can upload to your store, data storage, customer support, security.

Are there any additional features that one platform provides that another doesn’t? Would a lack of features hamper the success of your store?

Support

Depending on the package that you select, be sure to check out the type of support you can get. When running an eCommerce store and considering that there is the potential to make ongoing sales every minute, I prefer to use an eCommerce platform that can provide ongoing customer support in the event that there is an emergency.

I have done a bit of research and here is how some of the top brand eCommerce platforms do when it comes to customer support.

Shopify provides 24/7 customer support by email, live chat or phone. They also have a huge resource of video tutorials, webinar and a Shopify community.

BigCommerce provides 24/7 customer support as well by email, live chat or phone. You can also search helpful articles and review their common questions if you have a problem.

Wix’s library of information will help you solve most problems with your online store. If you are unable to find the problem in the library then you can connect with a Wix support staff via email only. Premium plans which start from $4 a month do however get premium customer support. Their website does not say whether this premium support is via phone or live chat.

Volusion provides customer support via their library of articles written by Volusion experts. If you prefer to speak with a support staff then there is a chat facility however expect a response within a few hours from the time you lodge your question.

3DCart offers live customer support and you can also access their forums where you can ask questions about your eCommerce store and receive answers from other users of the facility. If that is not enough you can submit a support ticket with any problem that you may have.

Woocommerce for WordPress as an eCommerce WordPress theme provides support for their customers via support tickets and contact forms. You can also access their FAQs via a library of questions.

Ease Of Use

It is always best to look for other customer’s reviews to see how easy it is to sign up for and use the platform.

If you prefer most eCommerce platforms offer a free trial allowing you to test the usability of the program before you commit to a purchase.

During the trial process check and see how easy it is to set up the store, upload products to your store, connect any payment gateways. Look at how quickly customer support responds to your needs. Is it easy to build your store? Do you foresee any technical problems that make running the store demanding.

Performance 

Is there any trouble with glitches? What if you have a lot of traffic to your store? Can they accommodate you with reliable site speed?

I suppose trying to understand the performance of an eCommerce platform will take time to ascertain as you will need to have used the platform for sometime before making a decision on this point.

Furthermore once you have made the decision about the performance of the platform it may be difficult to move to other platforms if there is any trouble.

Be sure to consider eCommerce platform reviews before settling with one. To get a comprehensive review of the Shopify eCommerce platform be sure to read my article here.

Where To Get Wholesale Products

There are tons of places on the internet where you can find wholesale products for resell. If you want the cheapest wholesale products I would recommend sourcing them from Aliexpress or DHGate which are Chinese suppliers.

If you do not mind paying a little extra then local wholesale suppliers will be ideal.

I have created a massive list of over 60 wholesalers from the US, Canada and China which you can download here.

Whilst these wholesalers have been compiled from my own knowledge of running an eCommerce site, it is still up to you to verify how reliable the suppliers are by doing your own research.

What Ecommerce Model Is Best To Use 

When it comes to selling physical products, before you set up your store you need to decide what model you are going to use to deliver products to your customer. In this section I am going to discuss three models that you can use, the benefits and the disadvantages of each model so you know what to expect and can decide which one is best for you.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is the process of fulfilling a retail product via a wholesale supplier.

So when a product is sold, rather than the owner of the store sending the product directly to the customer, the owner purchases the product from the supplier and has it shipped directly to the customer via the supplier.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to the dropshipping model that you should be aware of though.

|Advantages

There is no requirement to hold on to inventory.

Start up costs are kept to a minimum as you would not have to worry about purchasing products upfront for your store.

As you do not hold inventory as a store owner you can operate a dropshipping eCommerce store from anywhere with an internet connection. All that is required is to maintain a close relationship with your wholesale supplier which can easily be done via WiFi, Skype or a messenger service.

It is so much easier to get started as you do not have to worry about where to store physical products, packing or shipping your orders, tracking inventory for accounting purposes, dealing with returns or managing stock levels.

Overhead expenses remain very low. There is no need to keep up with warehouse expenses or inventory expenses. Some people can actually run a drop shipping eCommerce store from a home office.

You have access to a wide selection of products. Depending on the wholesale supplier you have selected, access to products in any niche is widely available. This is particularly true of Chinese wholesale suppliers like Aliexpress or DHGate.

|Disadvantages

You have no control over the quality of product that is shipped to your customer if you have not received samples beforehand. This can cause trouble if you receive negative feedback from customers who are not happy with their orders when they receive them.

You also have no control over when items are shipped to your customers. Certainly with dropshipping you can agree with your suppliers that products are shipped within a certain time frame however unless you have a close relationship with your supplier, usually you must abide by the supplier’s own shipping terms.

If you are using international suppliers, a major disadvantage is the length of time that customers must wait to receive their items. Sometimes this can be over a period of weeks or months. For customers who are not accustomed to lengthy delivery periods, this can lead to negative reviews which can tarnish your brand.

Supplier errors can happen often resulting in a poor customer experience. Even though this is not your fault you still have to accept responsibility as the customer has purchased the item from your brand in good faith that they will receive the item that they purchased. Whilst errors can always be remedied with good customer service, having too many errors can lead to negative feedback resulting in your brand being tarnished.

Shipping complexities may arise if you are using more than one supplier to provide stock for your store. For example you may have product A and B provided by different suppliers. However when the customer purchases both items they are likely to receive their orders separately resulting in confusion.

Another problem that can arise is the issue of shipping costs and how they are to be calculated. If a customer purchases products A, B and C and they all come from different suppliers, you need to decide whether the additional shipping costs associated with each supplier will be passed to the customer.

Fulfilment Centre

Instead of using the dropshipping model you can use a fulfilment centre or third party warehouse to store your products locally.

Fulfilment centres are places that have been established to assist eCommerce store owners in fulfilling their products. Fulfilment centres receive your products, store them and ship them to the customer on your behalf. Some even go as far to deal with any returns that you may have.

Now dealing with a fulfilment centre may be intimidating especially if you are a startup company. If you are just getting started with eCommerce I would recommend that you start with dropshipping.

However once you have successful with dropshipping, your ultimate goal as your business expands should be to either hire a fulfilment centre to do the work for you, or fulfil your products yourself with a team on board.

When moving onto the option of using fulfilment centres here are a few things to consider:

Many fulfilment centres do offer flexible pricing. In some cases the cost of using fulfilment centres is widely dependent on the number of products that you have to fulfil as is with Dollar Fulfilment where you only pay $1 for every product that you need to fulfil.

Using a fulfilment centre allows you to concentrate on the more important aspects of your business. By outsourcing the storing, packing, shipping and returns process to a fulfilment centre, makes your business more streamlined and you are able to devote more time and efficiency to ensuring that your customers get good service.

You also get to save a lot of time and money with fulfilment centres. Chances are, as your business grows, you need more manpower to handle various tasks. Instead of hiring staff to help you, it may be more cost effective to use a fulfilment centre.

Fulfil Yourself  

If neither dropshipping or fulfilment centres appeal to you and you simply like to have full control over your store, then fulfilling all your orders still remains a suitable option for you.

Of course when deciding to fulfil your own orders you must consider whether you will have enough people to help at a time when your business is growing.

If you have the funds, then hiring staff to deal with the packaging, shipping and returns process may not be a problem.

Always be conscious of the fact that as a business owner you cannot do everything. There comes a time when you need to automate your business and outsourcing certain tasks would be the wisest thing to do as you will be able to devote more time to the marketing of your business so you can get more sales.

How To Choose Your Target Audience 

Deciding on your target audience is dependent on where you would like to sell your products.

With a dropshipping eCommerce store it is easy to sell your products in any country depending on whether there is a high demand for the product in the country.

As long as the supplier ships internationally, then all you need to do is to consider whether it is appropriate for you to ship your item to a particular country.

Be careful however of countries that have problems with shipping regulations, theft and fraudulent activities. You may want to avoid these countries all together.

How To Apply A Markup To Your Products 

Your markup will determine how much profitability you get from your store. Deciding what to price your products at does not have to be a challenge.

All it requires is some research skills and knowing what your numbers are.

When I say “knowing what your numbers are” I mean, if you know how much your cost of goods are, the amount you are spending in advertisements, plus any transaction fees and additional costs, then you can markup your price well enough to make a decent profit.

If you price your products too low be careful that when you calculate your expenses you may find yourself actually making a loss.

A good way to consider the markup of prices is to look at your competitors. What is a similar product like the one you’re selling being sold for elsewhere?

For example if you see a store selling a similar product for $30.99 then it will be safe to price that product for $28.99 if you want to undercut your competitor or $35.99 if you know that the quality of your product warrants such a price.

Another way to apply a markup is based on a percentage. Some stores add a 50% markup on the wholesale price. Others apply a 25% markup.

Whatever markup you decide to apply to your store, make sure that it is enough to cover all expenses. If you find that during the sales process you are making a loss, do not be afraid to increase your product prices.

You can always test prices to see whether your customers will be attracted to them.

How To Advertise Your Products

When you launch your eCommerce store you must also have sufficient funds for advertising. There are many ways to advertise your store but the best way I have found is to use Facebook Ads.

Facebook Ads

I will commit to writing a detailed post on eCommerce and Facebook Ads very soon. If you would like to be notified when that post comes out then be sure to subscribe to my blog here.

Facebook Ads is a great way to find a larger target audience for your eCommerce store.

The reason why I love Facebook Ads is because it allows you to specifically reach your ideal customer using detailed targeting.

So for example, if you are selling unicorn printed leggings and want to reach an audience that likes unicorns then you can easily target that audience using Facebook Interests.

Facebook Ads is also a powerful advertising platform as it collects a massive amount of data about its users that you can use to form successful advertising campaigns.

Whilst I would recommend Facebook ads as a choice for advertising, you should always invest in educating yourself about how to use this platform before spending money with Facebook.

Facebook experts, Jon Penberthy and Jubril Agoro actually have a brilliant free webinar which you can access here to learn more about using Facebook Ads for your business.

Pinterest

Another great platform for advertising is Pinterest. Believe it or not but Pinterest is a high performer when it comes to driving sales in the digital market.

The reason why Pinterest does so well is because it is a visual platform that inspires audiences to take action. Pinterest eCommerce users actually reported that they received 20% more sales in the week with Pinterest than any other platform.

This is because Pinterest, through its analytics allows you to understand Pinterest audience’s shopping behaviours so you can adapt your content accordingly.

If you have never used Pinterest before and would like to consider this as a traffic source then I would recommend that you start by taking the Pinterest Traffic Avalanche course by Lauren MacManus and Alex Nerney which helps you learn more about driving traffic to your website.

Are you ready for outsourcing?

Remember that as your business grows your main focus should be on improving sales and marketing for your business.

Therefore if you started as a one man band, think about how you can build a team to help you with certain tasks like customer service, upkeep of your store’s inventory, packaging and shipping.

You may wish to outsource tasks like customer service and store upkeep to Virtual Assistants who you can find on places like Upwork, Freelancer or Fiverr.

You can outsource tasks like packaging and shipping to a team that you hire yourself or you can pay a fulfilment and logistics company to handle this for you.

Whatever you decide, it’s all about if your store has grown sufficiently to extend the budget to these additional expenses.     

How to remain profitable. Metrics to look at.

Finally and most importantly always monitor your numbers. Know how much you are making in the front end and what your expenses are.

Nothing is worse than making $10k a month in revenue but when you calculate your expenses you find that you actually have expenses totalling $11k. A similar scenario happened to me when I first started my store which is why I am a firm believer in knowing your numbers through spreadsheets.

Some things to pay attention to are:

• Gross revenue how much money is coming into your store
• Advertising cost how much you are spending on advertising.
• Cost of goods how much you are paying for the products
• Payment gateway fees depending on your preferred payment gateway, you are likely to have transaction fees with each incoming sale.
• Ecommerce platform fee depending on your preferred eCommerce platform you will have a monthly fee to pay
• Net revenue (profit) your gross revenue minus all expenses.

Wrapping Up

Well that’s all folks. I hope this comprehensive guide helps you start your ecommerce store and understand what things you need to consider. Whilst my list is comprehensive it is not exhaustive and sometimes you learn things as you go along.

This is why it is always best to just start and take action.

If you want a detailed guide in running an eCommerce store be sure to check out my article on the 8 Best Ecommerce Courses Compiled And Reviewed to help you get started. Anyone of these courses will help you start on the right track and get optimal results if you put in the work.

Also feel free to sign up to my newsletter here for more awesome eCommerce tips and tutorials.

Recommended Resources

• Shopify grab a free 14 day trial when starting your very own eCommerce store with Shopify. Click here to get started with Shopify.
• Bluehost grab webhosting for any Woocommerce store for only $3.95 per month.

Related Articles: 

• Best Ecommerce Solution For Small Businesses
• How To Increase Ecommerce Sales (18 Actionable Steps You Can Take)
• 8 Best Ecommerce Training Courses Compiled And Reviewed
• How To Start An Online Store