With the internet as big and far reaching as it is today everyone should start thinking about having some sort of online presence in order to keep up with the changing methods of buying and selling. In order to create an online store there are a few steps you need to keep in mind and you should be able to start bringing in sales from all around the country and possibly even the world if you’re interested in that.
1. Come up with a name. If you already want to create an online store chances are good that you already have a name for your store but is it a good name? A name needs to be memorable and instantly tell your customer what you are about and what you sell. With a brick and mortar store you can afford a little mystery as people are more likely to wander in out of sheer curiosity. With the internet being all about instant gratification though the user tends to get frustrated and just click away; why try to figure out your store when they can go to one that gives them exactly what they need? To create an online store is to create an online presence, and to be most effective the user needs to know what that presence stands for and is capable of doing.
2. Select your products. Now that you have a name picked out you have to figure out what it is you are going to sell once you create an online store. There are many different options in this step as you can sell things you made or things others made. You can personally own the product or go through a drop shipper that handles all the shipping and products. In my experience the most successful online stores are those that offer something unique to the user base; a product that is either unique or highly sought after. When you create an online store you need to place this at the top of your last and have a plan for how you are going to obtain your products and how much you plan on selling them for, this will make the process go along a lot smoother.
3. Figure out design, color, etc. Just as important as your name is your design and color palette. A store with a very muddy or too busy palette can bomb even if you have the worlds coolest name. Think of it in terms of a real life store again. If you go to a store and are instantly jack n jack fashion with bright colors and flashing lights, unless you’re in Las Vegas chances are you won’t stick around. You have to keep this in mind when you create an online store as you no longer have the physical act of entering a store it is a purely visual experience. You want to try to stick with all muted pastel colors or all vibrant saturated colors. With computer monitors across the nation showing information differently you need to make your color design as cohesive as possible so it looks as similar as possible from one monitor to the next so you have some sort of quality control on what the viewer is seeing.