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How to Open an Ecommerce Store

Are you considering opening an online store and looking for advice? You’ve found services that allow you to set up an online store quickly, but are they reliable or suitable for the type of store you want to open? It’s good to ask these questions. Starting a business online is an important step and should not be taken lightly.

There are fundamentally three ways to sell items online: the first is to use one of the ready-to-use services that allow you to open an online store with just a few clicks at minimal costs (or even for free); the second is to buy a domain and web space to install a CMS (Content Management System), which is a type of software that allows you to manage all aspects of your online store; lastly, you can turn to existing large stores, like Amazon.

There’s no absolute best solution; it all depends on your needs and budget. Generally speaking — and you don’t have to be a genius to figure this out — ready-to-use services are more suited for those managing small stores without a significant budget; CMS options are better suited for those looking to open a medium to large ecommerce and have some funds to invest (plus some level of technical knowledge), while Amazon and similar platforms are more suitable for physical store owners wanting to expand online. If you understand everything so far, let’s take a deeper look into the topic!

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How to Open an Ecommerce for Free

If you are not planning to invest money in opening an ecommerce and are okay with basic solutions, check out the platforms mentioned below: they allow you to open an ecommerce for free quite easily.

Shopify

If you want to set up a professional ecommerce but lack advanced programming and web design skills, you can rely on Shopify: this service is used by over 1,000,000 stores worldwide, allowing you to create ecommerce sites with unlimited products in just a few clicks, from computers, smartphones, and tablets (via its dedicated apps).

It offers unlimited secure hosting, free unlimited bandwidth, a free Shopify.com domain (which can be replaced by a custom domain), and everything needed to manage products, customers, orders, payments, shipping, inventory, and marketing campaigns.

You can use Shopify for free for a limited time; after that, if you wish to continue, you can choose from various plans starting at 21 euros/month with annual billing or 28 euros/month with monthly billing (currently offering a 3-day free trial and then 3 months for 1€).

If you want to open an ecommerce on Shopify, visit the official website, click the Start your free trial button, and sign up using your email address or a Google, Apple ID, or Facebook account.

Enter a password and a name for your store, then click Create your store and choose where you’d like to sell, whether you’ve started selling yet or not, and what products you’d like to sell on the platform. Once done, click Start and select Skip: the free trial will start.

Now you need to configure your ecommerce with basic information based on your business. On the page that opens, you’ll find all the sections needed to set up your ecommerce. In this, you’ll find Orders for managing customer orders, Products for managing listings, Customers with details of registered customers, and Analytics for monitoring statistics.

There’s also the Marketing section for ad campaigns and the Discount section for creating discount codes. The App section allows you to add new functionalities to your ecommerce, while the Online Store section lets you customize the design. Although it’s all very intuitive, if you want more information on building an ecommerce with this platform, you can check my guide on how to create an ecommerce with Shopify.

FreeWebStore

FreeWebStore is another platform I recommend trying if you want to create an online store. It’s specifically designed for building ecommerce, very easy to use, and completely free. Its only downside is that its interface is not translated into Italian.

To use it, visit the main page of FreeWebStore, click the Get your Free Store button, and register an account by filling out the form that opens or by clicking Sign up with Facebook or Sign up with Google and then Create Account. Verify your account by clicking the link sent to you via email.

You will now need to answer a few questions posed in a mock chat. Once answered, you’ll see the dashboard of the platform.

If you don’t know where to start, on the right side of the dashboard, you’ll find a series of operations needed to complete your ecommerce setup. By clicking the Create a brand button, you can set a theme by choosing from the options available. After clicking on the desired theme, click Apply Theme twice to set it.

On the page that opens, there is an editor that allows you to modify the homepage of your ecommerce and customize the color palette. Make any necessary customizations using the left sidebar and the page preview, clicking Edit in the various sections you wish to modify, then click Save at the bottom left.

How to Open an Ecommerce Site

Do you wish to open an ecommerce site and are willing to invest time and money in your online selling business? In that case, you can achieve this by creating a site based on a CMS or using dedicated services.

Wix

Wix is an excellent platform for creating professional ecommerce without any programming knowledge quickly. Wix offers ready-made themes and has an editor that allows you to customize the web interface intuitively.

With Wix, selling your products on external platforms using special integration features is easy. Creating an ecommerce on Wix occurs through subscription plans starting at 22 euros per month, which include storage space starting from 50 GB, a marketing suite, a free secondary domain for one year, and payment management.

Managed WooCommerce Hosting by Aruba

If you want to build a professional ecommerce easily, one of the first solutions I recommend is the Managed WooCommerce Hosting by Aruba.

With Managed WooCommerce Hosting by Aruba, you can create an online store based on WordPress (the most popular CMS for websites and blogs) using WooCommerce, an open-source plugin that turns the renowned CMS into an ecommerce platform.

The service also includes the registration and annual maintenance of a domain name, unlimited SSD storage, a 2GB SSD database supporting 200 connections, an SSL DV certificate for secure HTTPS connections, support for up to 500,000 monthly visitors, monitoring and automatic backups, an staging environment, unlimited 1GB email inboxes, 10 PEC mailboxes on domain, and much more.

CMS-Based Site

If you intend to open a large online store, you will need to buy a web domain and a suitable web space to host a CMS, that is, software that allows full management of your website.

Make sure, before purchasing online space, that you comply with cookie and data management regulations. For this, you can refer to iubenda, which helps adapt websites and apps to regulations from multiple countries with ease.

Now let’s get to the most important point: which ecommerce CMS to choose? Luckily, the choice is wide, and in this case, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer; it all depends on your needs, budget, and level of technical knowledge. Let’s take a look at some of the best CMS options for creating online stores.

  • WordPress — a well-known free and open-source CMS originally designed for blogs, which can be easily transformed into an ecommerce platform thanks to numerous plugins and themes. Among the most comprehensive free plugins for creating online stores with WordPress is WooCommerce.
  • Prestashop — this is a French open-source ecommerce platform that is fairly easy to manage, with an administration panel that clearly separates content management from other settings.
  • Joomla — another CMS that allows for the creation of websites and online stores. It’s easy to use, with low management costs.

Services to Open an Ecommerce Website

If, conversely, you want to rely on services that allow you to open an ecommerce website and are willing to invest some financial resources to do so, I suggest evaluating the following options.

  • One Minute Site — this service allows you to open an online store and sell products professionally, with the possibility to customize your store’s graphics. It guarantees zero commissions on sales, support five days a week, step-by-step training, and SEO consulting to enhance your site’s visibility. The service starts at 19.50 euros/month with annual subscription.
  • Etsy — this platform allows you to open an online store where you can sell handmade items or vintage goods. Starting a store on this platform is free, but you must pay a listing fee of 0.19€ and, in the event of a sale, a commission of up to 6.5% of the product’s value (excluding shipping costs).

How to Open an Ecommerce on Facebook

If you wish to sell on Facebook and you’re an adult, you can use the Marketplace feature of the social network, which allows you to publish sales ads for various types of items and products: it’s a sort of virtual space where anyone can buy and sell.

It’s also worth considering the option of opening a Facebook page to create a product showcase. To create a product showcase on your Facebook page, go to this link and click on Get Started.

In the wizard that opens, click on Next to begin the process, then choose the Country you’re selling from and select I don’t use these platforms. Now select Facebook or Instagram Checkout, uncheck the box for Enable Shop Pay as a payment method and click Next.

Select the page in which to create the showcase and click on Next, then select a business portfolio (you can create one with Create a new business portfolio if you don’t have one) and hit Next. Now you can create your product catalog using the + button, then click Next.

Set up your shipping and return information by filling out the displayed form, click Next again, and review the preview of the info for your shop that opens. To finish, submit your shop for review by checking the box at the bottom of the page and clicking Complete Setup.

How to Open an Ecommerce on Amazon

Do you want to open an ecommerce on Amazon? To do this, you must already have an account on the service (if you don’t have one, read my guide on how to create it). Once you have the account, you’ll need to choose the type of account to use to sell your products online from those available.

After registering on Amazon (if you haven’t done so already), head to this page, click on the Register button, then on Start and, after indicating the information regarding the country your business operates in and the type of business, click on the I Accept and Continue button.

Fill in all requested information in the sections Business Information, Seller Information, Payment Information, More Information, and Store Name, clicking the Save and Continue button as necessary.

How to Open an Ecommerce in Dropshipping

Do you want to open an ecommerce but don’t have any products to sell and can’t afford to produce or buy wholesale? There’s a solution for you that can help you sell products for free: dropshipping.

With dropshipping, a seller can sell a product to an end user without owning it in their warehouse by asking a supplier to ship it directly to the end user. However, the profit is lower since the seller only earns a percentage of the product price while most goes to the supplier. If you want to successfully do dropshipping, it might be crucial to create a strong brand and focus on marketing; otherwise, users might prefer to buy your product elsewhere since you’re not the only one selling it.

This is especially true since you will have to set a higher price for the product compared to your supplier’s, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to profit. For more information, check my guide on how dropshipping works. Here are some of the leading platforms that allow dropshipping of their products.

  • Alibaba — The largest Chinese eCommerce giant in the world. Dropshipping with Alibaba is particularly convenient because Chinese products often cost very little. It’s also not always easy for the end user to find and buy them on Alibaba’s vast platform.
  • Amazon — Amazon’s logistics is well-equipped with all the tools needed for product storage and shipping. However, when discussing dropshipping on Amazon, I mean selling your product (or one sourced externally), entrusting Amazon with storage and shipping.
  • eBay — On eBay, you can create your own marketplace and contact companies to source products to sell on the platform.

Creating a Successful Ecommerce

Let’s conclude this guide with some tips on how to create a successful ecommerce. I’m sure that by following the “tips” below, you will be able to improve your online selling business.

  • Encourage users to purchase products — try using some techniques to invite users to buy your products by placing buttons like Buy Now! or banners such as Expires in x.x hours or [N] products remaining, or even FREE Shipping for orders over [N] euros. Ensure these call-to-action buttons are always well visible.
  • Utilize email marketing — by using services like MailChimp, you can start email advertising campaigns. A great way to test your product’s appeal while also advertising your shop.
  • Advertise your shop on social networks — since platforms like Facebook and Instagram are used by billions of people every day, why not leverage them to promote your products and business? If you currently lack success on these platforms, consult my guide on how to become popular on social media to try and improve the situation.

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