Starting an eCommerce business is a great way for you to earn money and stay in control of your destiny.
You can do it part-time while staying at home with the kids, or go all-in and work on it full time. Either way, there are some important things you need to know before starting so that your business is successful from day one!
What Is an Ecommerce Business?
An eCommerce Business, also known as a “Digital Store” or “Online Store”, is a company that operates exclusively online with no need for physical store locations.
Getting started with this type of business is simpler than opening a traditional brick-and-mortar-based store since you can set up your website and market your products from anywhere with internet access.
How Long Does It Take to Start an eCommerce Business?
It will generally take between six months and a year before you are ready to launch your store. This includes time spent researching markets, coming up with product ideas, branding, designing your website, and setting up your payment systems, you can try this payment gateway to easily collect payments.
However, if you decide to do a dropshipping business the time you spend will be significantly less. Dropshipping is a business model in which eCommerce retailers do not keep goods in stock.
Instead, when a customer makes a purchase, you will in turn buy the item from a supplier. The supplier will then have it shipped straight to the customer’s door. This allows businesses to offer an infinite selection without needing inventory space. Another option is waiting until their credit card statement comes through and refunding it if they have not paid. You can learn more about dropshipping laws and guidelines here.
Promote On Social Media
There are a lot of different ways to promote your website on social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. One way is to post pictures or videos of products from your site or blogs that you’ve created.
You could also create a Facebook group for your products, which would allow people to share their feedback.
Creating a Refund Policy for Your Online Store
As hard as you try there to keep customers happy there will be times when customers will want a refund. As an online retailer, it is important to have a refund policy in place for your customers that are not happy with their purchase.
One way to remedy this is by offering a trial period for the customer to see if they would like to keep the product before having to ship it back.
You will need to decide on how long you want to give them before they have the opportunity of asking for a return. Another option is waiting until their credit card statement comes through and refunding if they have not paid.
Get Started
You now know the basics you need to get started with your online store. There are many things that you will have to learn along the way, so it is important to just take what you know now and push ahead and get started.
You can make adjustments and deal with any problems that may arise as they come up.
