Thanks to the rise of dropshipping and ecommerce it’s never been easier to run your own side
business online.
Yet it can still be a daunting process, and oftentimes knowing exactly how to start an
ecommerce business – one that actually makes money – can be remarkably difficult.
If you’re thinking of starting an ecommerce store, maybe you know the feeling too.
But don’t worry, because in my hands is a clipboard that changes everything.
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Hi everybody, it’s Jessica from Oberlo, and today I am going to share our How to Start
an Ecommerce Store Checklist.
We’ll go over everything you need to know to setup your online business.
We’ll cover ecommerce marketing, we’ll talk about where to source products, and we’ll
share a few other tips and tricks.
By the end of this video, you’ll see that creating an ecommerce business is much more
doable than you might have thought.
Ready?
Let’s get started.
Our nine-point ecommerce checklist begins with finding the right platform.
By platform, we mean a virtual space for your ecommerce business.
Just like a brick and mortar store, you’re going to need a virtual location to showcase
your products.
We use a basic ecommerce store template made by Shopify.
Their software is intuitive and used by millions of ecommerce entrepreneurs all around the
world.
If you want an in-depth tutorial guiding you through each and every step of building an
online store with Shopify, just click the link in the description below.
The next item on our checklist: finding products
If you’re a complete newbie to the world of ecommerce, you might be wondering what
exactly you should sell.
There are literally millions of products to choose from, so finding the right product
for you may seem a little daunting.
In fact, not knowing what to sell is one of the most common reasons why people don’t
follow through with their ecommerce ambitions.
Here are two things to think about when it comes to picking a product to sell:
First, is the product trending?
And second, is the product easy to find elsewhere or available on popular ecommerce sites like
Amazon?
You can check if a product is trending or forecasted to trend by using Google trends.
Google Trends tracks how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total
search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages.
This gives you a sense of how often people are looking for a particular product.
If more and more people are searching for a product every month, we can safely say that
product is trending.
At Oberlo we have lots of resources to help you find great products to sell online, from
Oberlo search tools to our product recommendation videos on YouTube.
There is a link to one of those videos in the description below – so head there to
discover some great products on Oberlo.
If a product is easy to find elsewhere, it might be a generic product.
Generic products like jewelry or books are already widely available.
New dropshippers trying to sell products like these will struggle to compete against bigger
ecommerce stores.
The better strategy is to find a niche product or set of products that appeal to a particular
audience.
How do you do that?
Start by making a list of product ideas you want to sell in your ecommerce store.
Ask yourself what your friends, family, and other like-minded people might be interested
in buying.
Then go online and see how easy it is to find the products on your list.
What can you find on sites like Instagram, Pinterest, or Etsy?
If there are limited options on those sites, you might be on to a great product idea.
Moving on now with our checklist to: product sourcing
Now that you’ve picked your product, it’s time for you to find a supplier.
This is where the dropshipping business model is worth mentioning.
Among entrepreneurs, dropshipping is growing more popular every year.
Why?
It requires less investment up front, because there’s no requirement that merchants stock
their own inventory.
Here’s how dropshipping works: You find products on an ecommerce marketplace like
Oberlo.
Then you import those products into your store.
When a customer purchases one of those items, you then place the order with a third party
supplier, and they ship the item directly to the customer.
With dropshipping, you never have to handle merchandise.
You can also swap out products in your store in minutes, giving you the flexibility to
stay on top of current trends .
In addition, apps like Oberlo automate a lot of this process for you.
This gives you more time to focus on things that will help you to scale your business
– like coming up with a great ecommerce marketing strategy.
We’ll get to that later.
If you’re looking for products to sell on Oberlo, make sure you also look for the blue
Oberlo Verified badge.
These are top dropshipping suppliers.
Suppliers with the Verified badge have successfully completed a minimum of 1,000 orders with Oberlo.
They deliver on time, meet expectations, and they provide fast support
Oberlo vets all of these suppliers to ensure they have their paperwork in order, maintain
excellent warehouse conditions, and consistently get positive merchant feedback.
Then and only then do they become Verified suppliers with Oberlo.
Next on our checklist: Ecommerce marketing
Alright, you’ve set up your store and are ready to take orders.
You have a great product and you’re working with a great supplier.
Now what?
It’s time to find some customers for your store with a sensible ecommerce marketing
strategy.
We can’t emphasise enough how vital it is to focus your energy and time on marketing.
Before you do anything else with your store, ensure that you can generate traffic and reach
potential customers.
The key to ecommerce marketing is to find the right channel for your products.
After that, fine tune your strategy so that the cost of finding a customer is less than
what you earn from the sale.
This is quite a meaty subject, with lots to get your teeth into.
In fact, we’ve written an eight-chapter ebook with all you need to know about marketing
channels – click the link in the description to download your copy for free.
The marketing to-dos on our ecommerce store checklist don’t stop there.
The next point on our checklist is Customer Service.
Research suggests that 45% of US customers will abandon an online transaction if their
questions or concerns are not addressed quickly.
Having customer service is critical to your online store’s long term success.
Luckily, there are several ways to offer great customer service:
First, you can create self-service content and a detailed FAQ page.
This helps your customers answer their own questions without emailing you, which saves
time and energy for both of you.
Second, you can offer live chat support if you have enough time.
This might be a good thing to do in the beginning, when traffic isn’t quite flooding in.
And you’ll learn a lot about your market by addressing customer questions directly.
Finally, you can ask your first customers to give product reviews.
These reviews go a long way towards answering other customers’
questions about how a product fits or functions.
Plus, reviews give your store valuable social proof and create repeat customers, which are
five times cheaper to acquire than new ones.
Yep, five times !
Our checklist continues with: Conversion Optimization
On average, 69% of your website visitors will leave your site without completing a purchase.
How much more profit would you make if that 69% completed a purchase?
It’s certainly worth investing some time to find a way of capturing your abandoned
carts at the checkout.
We’ve seen several tactics work well for dropshippers.
For example, you can create limited-time offers.
Or you can launch a cart abandonment emails campaign.
You can even set up a retargeting ads campaign.
Get creative.
This is an aspect of entrepreneurship that requires constant experimentation.
If something comes to mind that you think will make customers more likely to buy your
products, try it out.
Measure the results.
And try again.
We’re almost at the end of our checklist with: Store Optimization
Here’s something worth remembering: 44% of online shoppers will tell their friends
about a bad experience online.
This is why you should always keep the performance of your website in mind, and seek to optimize
it wherever possible.
Improve your website speed.
Create an intuitive navigation bar.
Focus on creating a great product page.
Display related items.
Optimize your store search.
Lastly, check how your store looks on mobile and tablet devices . This is when those little
store tweaks can add up to a big impact on your bottom line.
Let’s tick off the final two items on the checklist.
Starting with: Inventory
Best selling products come and go.
After all, remember the fidget spinner?
That’s why your inventory is vital.
As an entrepreneur, you should always be curious about new product ideas that could entice
visitors to your store.
At the same time, you should always be revisiting your stock of steady-selling product.
If something isn’t selling, replace it with an item that’s flying off the virtual shelf.
Get into the habit of testing products every day.
Research new products using Google trends, and add promising new products to your existing
ones to help drive sales.
And the last point on our ecommerce checklist: Learn by doing
It’s all part of the fun of being an entrepreneur.
It’s fine to make mistakes.
In fact, that’s often how we learn best.
And anyway, what are you going to do if you mess up?
Fire yourself? Probably not.
Be curious, be bold, and build your store sooner rather than later.
You can see how the creme de la creme of Shopify store owners set up their stores in our Best
Shopify stores YouTube videos.
Simply click the link in the description and get inspired by the most successful stores
on the Shopify platform.
What do you think of our ecommerce store checklist – did we miss anything?
Do you agree with how much emphasis we put on marketing?
Are there any apps that you would recommend to first time store owners?
Tell us in the comments!
I personally read the comments and will get back to you.
For more tips and guides on ecommerce and dropshipping, click subscribe and turn on
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Thanks for watching – until next time: learn often, market better, and sell more.