5 Tips for Opening an Online Store
Opening an online store is not difficult, but launching a successful brand that becomes a household name can be.
You will need a good brain for business and an excellent marketing strategy to get the highest chance of success.
Online store owners need to think of new and exciting ways to attract customers and reduce abandoned cart rates, all while staying competitive in the market.
If you are thinking of opening an online store soon, follow these five tips below to do it properly:
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Brand Identity
Your brand identity is essential for launching an online store.
Set brand colors, typography, logos, and other design elements to give your brand a visual identity.
You can design something on your own or work with a graphic design team on this, but it will be an asset for growing your brand and increasing your online presence.
Your brand will define your business, product, or market concept. It differentiates your business from others within the same industry.
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Product Photography
Your store will operate in the digital realm.
That means that your customers will not be able to come in to see and touch a product or digital accessory before they buy it. You need to deliver that experience to them as much as possible.
While technology has not quite given us a way to transfer touch across the internet, you can have outstanding product shots to display your items in the best light possible.
Take plenty of photos from multiple angles so customers can decide if they want to buy. You can use 360-degree photography to give your customers an in-person experience.
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E-commerce Platform
Once you have nailed brand identity and product photography, it is time to decide what e-commerce platform to use.
Most modern online stores use web-based eCommerce platforms rather than building a new website from scratch. Businesses on the pulse use cloud-hosted platforms instead of hosting their solutions in-house.
Take your time to make this decision, but do not be afraid – if you do not like your first choice, you can always migrate to another platform.
Click here to learn more about migration processes for online stores.
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Website
Before you start designing the website for your new online store, buy your preferred domain name.
Your website should be responsive, intuitive, and visually appealing.
Have an easy-to-use menu that shows different categories in a grouping that makes sense. The next thing that needs to be equally as effortless to navigate is the checkout process.
Do not give your customers an excuse to abandon their carts.
Lastly, remember to optimize your website for mobile – most people shop online from their phones or tablets and not on their PCs.
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Business Launch
Use content marketing to help you get your store found online.
Create social media profiles for your business on multiple platforms and be active on them. Post intriguing and eye-catching content for a few weeks before your shop launches – not too soon before the launch, or people will get bored waiting for the opening.
With an aggressive marketing campaign, one week of advertising will do.
To End
Every customer is unique – and they want to be treated as such.
Keep your customer service team working shifts around the clock to answer questions and help your customers place orders. The expectations for availability in online shops are much higher than in physical stores.
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