How to set up your own online store?

Entering the e-Commerce market and opening your own online store is not difficult and does not require a large budget in most cases. It will definitely require making some important decisions and gaining some knowledge about e-Commerce, which we will try to bring you closer.

If you have decided what you want to sell, you should get to know the surrounding market and analyze the competition. If you have your own unique product, it is worth analyzing the most important functionalities that are important to your recipients. Remember about success in e-Commerce more than the entrepreneur’s skills, it often depends on his passion, enthusiasm and interesting idea. And to create an online store, it really only takes a few simple steps.

Own online store how to start? The implementation of your own website with an online store is a process that you can either do yourself or outsource to our company.

How to set up your own online store step by step:

e-Commerce Platform

WooCommerce is currently the fastest growing e-commerce platform in the world, allowing you to run small, medium and even large online stores. The WordPress platform also seems to be perfect due to the enormity of the functionality it offers, but most of all thanks to its friendliness to the Google search engine. That is why WordPress and WooCommerce are the optimal combination for your business.

WooCommerce has many interesting templates, which allows you to launch your online store in a very short time. If you do not have a large budget to start, remember that choosing the WooCommerce platform gives you the opportunity to develop free and paid plugins extending the functionality of the store. In addition, if you do not have specialized IT knowledge, WooCommerce is also the best solution because the platform is based on the simplicity and intuitiveness of WordPress.

WooCommerce also offers an interesting tool to analyze your online store. With the help of reports, you can analyze and optimize your business in terms of: sales sources, sales of specific products, store traffic or store searches. An important element are also integrations within the online store itself, which support sales such as up-selling or cross-selling campaigns (cross-selling).

Also remember about the functionality of the blog built into the WordPress platform. Thanks to this, the appearance of the store will be consistent with the appearance of the blog, and the website will be ranked higher in Google. You can include products in your blog posts, which will increase the chance of generating more sales.

An important aspect is the ability to integrate WooCommerce and WordPress with other solutions and adding new functionalities that you will use in your daily work. WooCommerce offers a lot in this respect as an e-commerce platform. Thanks to the API, you can add dedicated integrations, plugins and applications to the online store.

Hosting for an online store

If the online store is to be your property, it is necessary to find a good server to which you will have access and the store will be installed on it. Hosting will ensure fast and stable operation of the store.

The cost of hosting for an online store is about PLN 100 per year for a small store. You do not have to pay a monthly subscription, but most importantly, you own the software, all files and have access to them, which cannot be said if you have a subscription store on a cloud platform (SaaS). As a store owner, you can make changes to the store platform, you have an impact on its development and you can transfer the store to another hosting with a better offer. With WooCommerce you have full control over the development of your online store now and in the future.

Graphic design and UX of the online store

The online store must be attractive in appearance and designed to sell. Therefore, when setting up your e-business, pay attention to attractive graphics tailored to your target group. A good online store looks and presents visually attractive also on mobile devices. The impression of an internet user visiting your website has a significant impact on the conversion (shopping) – attention to detail, professional product photos, high-quality graphics as part of the e-commerce strategy allows you to gain credibility in the eyes of customers and drive sales.

The appearance of the store is one of the most important factors influencing sales in the online store. If the website of your store does not look professional and reliable, no one will make a purchase in it. The customer will simply give up shopping quickly. Good design is especially important if you sell products that are distinguished by aesthetics – e.g. clothes, accessories, home furnishings, etc.

User Experience. An important element of the online store, which largely determines its sales level, is User Experience (UX), i.e. the impression that the consumer has when using the store’s website as a user. If you want to sell effectively, you need to simplify the navigation around the store, facilitate the search for products and simplify the purchasing process in your online store.

The customer must easily navigate thanks to intuitive navigation, find the desired product using various categories, filters, product search engine and have easy access to the basket and its editing. You should also take care of properly displaying the product and its basic data, such as price, product composition, high-quality photos, delivery costs. Also, remember to put the contact number in a prominent place so that the customer does not have to leave the product card or basket to contact you.

Online store on your smartphone. Shopping using smartphones and tablets, the so-called m-commerce (mobile commerce) is the standard today. Therefore, adapting the store to mobile devices is a must – without it, we not only skip the important segment of people who buy only mobile, but also discourage customers who visited our website on a smartphone to review the offer (they could not do it due to poorly displayed content).

Creating a mobile version of the store is not complicated with the WordPress and WooCommerce platforms. A store based on WooCommerce use the Responsive Web Design technique, i.e. it adapts the website to mobile devices. You can then be sure that your online store will adapt to the size of each screen, which facilitates the purchasing process.

More and more people are starting the purchasing process on mobile devices to continue it on another device. the phenomenon of multichanneling (multichannel). The customer should be able to view the available offer without any problems, both on the computer and on the phone. Freely view large photos and read descriptions effortlessly. Do not require purchases with the need to register in your customer base. Enable the so-called check-out, i.e. going to the payment page, so that as few customers as possible start shopping on their smartphone and end up on the computer.

Shopping cart in the online store. A properly designed online store can effectively reduce the percentage of the so-called abandoned baskets. It is best if you go through the ordering and payment process in your store yourself and make sure that the forms and registration will not cause the customer to abandon the cart while shopping. An important element is also integration within the basket itself, which support sales, i.e. up-selling or cross-selling tools.

The key in the store is to build a simple ordering process. The less data the customer has to enter, the better. Long forms effectively discourage users and make them abandon the cart without making a purchase. You should also consider giving your customers the option to buy as a guest or through their Facebook account. In this case, placing an order will be as simple and convenient as possible. The purchasing process in WooCommerce is extremely simple and intuitive. Remember that more than half of the customers do not complete their transaction if they cannot purchase conveniently and quickly.

The store itself is just the beginning. Your daily tasks will include logistics, payments, customer service, marketing activities – all these activities are described in the next steps.

Payment and shipping in the online store
The store itself is just the beginning. An important issue when setting up an online store is to optimize your daily work. WooCommerce allowed you to easily integrate, which you will use in your daily work, such as shipping, payment gateways, customer service, marketing activities, running other sales channels, etc.

Payment and shipping is a step in setting up an online store that is troublesome for beginners. It seems difficult and complicated to add payment methods and delivery methods to your store. When you decide to use the WooCommerce platform, you can choose from ready-made online payment plugins and integrations for shipping orders. Their configuration is simple, but requires placing a test order to see if the whole process is successful.

Payments in the online store

When using WooCommerce, you decide which payment methods you want to make available in your store. You can choose from a wide range of payment gateways popular in Poland and payments used in Europe and around the world.

You can integrate your online store with all payment gateways available on the Polish market, such as PayU, Tpay, Przelewy24, Dotpay.

If you plan to sell products in Europe and around the world, you can use WooCommerce’s built-in international payments like PayPal or other payment alternatives like AmazonPay, Stripe, Sofort (DE), Klarna or Apple Pay.

Shipping and Delivery Methods

Similarly to payments on WooCommerce, you can manage the delivery methods in your store yourself. You can choose from a wide range of courier companies and other forms of shipping, operating both in Poland and around the world.

For domestic shipments, you can use the integration of courier companies (DHL, DPD, UPS), Poczta Polska, Paczki w Ruchu, Paczkomaty InPost or integration with platforms such as Furgonetka, Apaczka.

If you want to ship your products to different countries, you can easily configure these settings in your panel as well. From the WooCommerce panel, you can set shipping zones (local zone, Europe, world), shipping methods (flat rate, free shipping, personal pickup), shipping options, shipping classes for products, and numerous and integrations (FedEx, UPS, DHL).

Legal issues in the e-shop

When setting up an online store, pay special attention to the importance of legal issues in the store. WooCommerce is the engine of an online store, and the heart of your store from the formal, legal and business side are the store regulations.

Important formal issues in the online store:

• Regulations of the online store
• Privacy policy (cookies policy)
• Regulations on the protection of personal data (GDPR)
• Information about the methods and type of payment in the online store
• Information about the type of delivery in the online store
• Return and complaint policy in the online store
• Model withdrawal form
• Regulations of the online store. The regulations of the online store define, among others rules for concluding sales contracts concluded between you as a seller and a customer. It describes the conditions for the provision of electronic services and the terms of sale. It is worth ensuring that it is easily accessible to users. It is a good practice to also include the content of the regulations in the form of an attachment, so that the customer can save it on the computer.

The regulations of your online store should contain full information about the seller, the store and consumer rights, describe the available delivery and payment methods. The provisions of the regulations should clearly define the moment when the sales contract is concluded and describe its terms. The rights and obligations of the seller and the customer should be specified in the regulations, informing about the date by which the customer may withdraw from the contract, exceptions to withdraw from the contract, procedures and the course of the complaint procedure.

Online stores are not only the sale of goods, but also a place to provide services by electronic means, e.g. maintaining a customer account, newsletters, the possibility of posting opinions about the purchased product, are services in the light of the law. The store regulations should contain a detailed description of services, the scope and conditions of their provision. It is also necessary to define the technical requirements that the customer should meet in order to be able to use the online store.

Withdrawal from the contract and returns. When shopping remotely in the online store, the consumer has the right to withdraw from the contract within 14 days and the obligation to return the goods within the next 14 days.

GDPR in the online store. WordPress and WooCommerce attach great importance to legal issues. The platform ensures compatibility with the requirements of the GDPR (Regulations on the Protection of Personal Data) thanks to the functionality of personal data protection: the ability to delete user data at the customer’s request (the right to be forgotten), export user data, a tool for deleting and anonymizing orders, personal data in a way that prevents the assignment of individual information to an identified or identifiable natural person, which no longer requires processing.

After going through the first 4 steps, your online store is fully ready for sale. In order for an online store to be successful nowadays, it must be immediately transferred to the next 3 steps: positioning, marketing and social media. These elements will help to promote the store, build a brand and acquire customers as soon as possible. When the order appears in the store, you will know that the first success is behind you and you just need to wait for the next one.

SEO of the online store

After implementing the store, you must conduct activities that will allow you to gain recognition of your brand and, above all, build a customer base. In the case of an online store, it will be a lengthy process that will take time.

The certainty that products from your online store can be easily found in Google search significantly increases the guarantee of success. Effective SEO will help products appear in the search results as the most relevant results for the keywords typed in the search engines. Use your own knowledge and tools such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner to plan keywords relevant to your business and create SEO-compliant content.

Are you wondering whether to position your own online store yourself or outsource it to an external company? Remember you know your product best and take care of the content best on the blog or on social media channels. Above all, take care of good content and product descriptions. All names of url links: subpages, products and categories – should be short, but at the same time contain the full names of the products and the name of the brand or manufacturer. This will allow search engines to identify your online store more easily.

Long-term SEO strategy. What is a long-term SEO strategy in an online store. This is maximum visibility in Google results (SERP) and e-commerce brand awareness. Long-term SEO strategy should go hand in hand with your marketing strategy. In today’s SEO, a natural symbiosis with other online marketing activities is essential to ensure maximum visibility and awareness for your brand.

Emphasis on the image of an online store in virtual reality, i.e. communication directed to users and presence on valuable websites, and the amount of social engagement of recipients (e.g. comments in social media) is currently the most important factor that Google takes into account when evaluating a given online store.

Effective SEO positioning. Some may treat effective SEO as achieving high search engine rankings, others as the best possible website optimization, and others as carrying out activities that generate a return on investment. Effective SEO positioning is one that your client and Google like.

The most important thing is:

• ensuring the best display of the website in search results (SXO),
• website optimization and improvement of the most important problems with the website,
• improving the operation of the website for buyers in terms of conversion optimization (UX)
• analytics of the website operation, its visibility and user behavior,
• conducting Content Marketing activities focused on acquiring traffic.

Two types of clients. A well-run store cannot be completely devoid of content and be limited to product offer descriptions. You must remember that customers who know exactly why they are visiting the online store and what they want to buy are only part of the visitors. Often, it is even half of the visitors to your online store.

The other half of customers would like to buy something, but only look for inspiration and suggestions. And you, as an expert, should help them by describing them on the store’s website or in a special blog. Here are some examples of topics that can inspire writing: how-to topics, texts highlighting the brands and assortment offered, presenting new collections, seasonal proposals, texts related to trends, gift proposals for a specific amount, etc.

By writing on the blog of your online store, you influence the awareness of customers. A conscious and satisfied customer is also more loyal, which of course has an indirect influence on more sales.

Customer acquisition. Be where your potential customers are. Remember that your online store is not the only channel through which you reach customers. Start with Google and get found in the search engine. The Google search engine is a place where Internet users gain knowledge about products and start their purchases.

In addition to organic positioning, Google offers you the opportunity to appear on the first page of searches practically from the very beginning of the online store, without waiting for your website to naturally position itself. You can do this by using AdWords ads on Google or the Google Shopping service specially prepared for online stores.

Google Shopping. Thanks to the integration of your store with the service, you will be able to run product ads displayed on the first subpage of search results above the organic results or the right column, next to the organic results.

Price comparison websites. Price comparison websites are another way to increase the range of your store’s offer. You can integrate the online store with comparison engines, eg Ceneo. The operation of the comparison engine is based on the fact that it collects data from registered stores and presents them in an aggregated form to its users. To get the most out of the integration, include as much information, features and characteristics as possible in your descriptions.

Marketing in the online store

SEO positioning should go hand in hand with your marketing strategy. An online store needs a symbiosis of SEO positioning with online marketing activities to ensure maximum visibility and awareness of your store. Focusing on one element of reaching customers may not be enough.

Content in the online store. The way to better position your online store in search engines and create the desired envelope around your brand is the so-called Content marketing. It is a strategy of acquiring new customers by publishing interesting and useful content that influences future conversion in the store. Content marketing, unlike traditional marketing, based on an advertising message, is based on building long-term relationships with the recipient through interaction and commitment of both parties. Content marketing costs less than traditional marketing and generates 3 times more leads.

Content marketing is defined as all content published and disseminated via the Internet. These can be articles, webinars, videos, podcasts, infographics, guides, reports, etc., whose primary task is to provide Internet users with reliable and desired news and information related to your industry. Content marketing will help you increase traffic and, consequently, increase sales and profits. It has the advantage over advertising that it allows you to build a long-term relationship with the recipient and also works long time after publication.

With valuable content in the store, you have the chance to convince customers to buy, presenting the product in a unique and inviting way. A helpful tool to mobilize still undecided customers is running a company blog, which, thanks to the possibility of communing with the brand, also in a non-sales context, helps to obtain a higher conversion chance when visiting again.

Types of texts (content marketing) in the online store:

• blogs – they can be a subpage of an online store or function at an independent internet address
• guides – expert content related to the products and services offered, advice for buyers
• expert content – articles written by industry experts, interviews with experts and trendsetters
• Product Reviews – Most effective when made by people you trust, such as bloggers
• product descriptions – texts about products that complement the information listed on the product card

Email marketing. The internet is full of content. Millions of Facebook posts and Google searches appear every minute. In the maze of information, email is still a valuable and effective form of communication. E-commerce email marketing is responsible for higher conversion growth compared to other forms of promotion.

Remember that consumers who receive newsletters spend more than those who do not receive your information. Thanks to a well-prepared email marketing campaign, you can sell more and more effectively. Newsletters addressed to the store’s subscribers provide many opportunities for non-standard promotion of products and brands. Mailing may contain information about new products in the store, current promotions or special, personalized offers.

The best impulse for more frequent purchases are primarily related to the sphere of costs: lower delivery costs, lower prices of goods, special discounts. You can successfully implement all these impulses with email marketing. In your store’s newsletter communication, don’t be afraid to offer rebates, discounts and promotional coupons. Many people subscribe to the newsletter of their favorite brands and stores precisely to find out about the latest offers.

Email mailing platforms. A good offer is an offer tailored to your needs. Not every email will be of equal interest to all recipients on your list. Therefore, try not to send the same message to the entire database. By using a professional email marketing system such as Mailchimp or FreshMail, you can take advantage of such functionalities as segmentation and personalization. In this way, you will generate an individual personalized mailing with dynamic content for each client. This is nothing more than sales mailing using the information that the online store has about the customer. Thanks to this, it is possible to create a campaign that will exactly meet the needs of buyers.

Use the potential of your online store and gather a loyal community around it by building your own mailing database and the ability to communicate with recipients through the newsletter.

Transaction emails. Information about the status of the purchase can also be used as email marketing. These include e-mails confirming the creation of an account, placing an order in the online store, its implementation, shipping, etc.

Up to 20% of the content in the transactional e-mail can be used for marketing communication such as a banner with an offer or cross-selling. When creating such transactional messages, you must remember to be personalized, customer-facing and not very official. The effectiveness of transactional e-mails must be delivered to the customer immediately after the purchase is made, when his commitment is greatest and should contain other elements such as social media buttons.

Multi-channel sales. Another key aspect in e-commerce is multi-channel sales. Displaying your products in many channels gives you the chance to gain a much wider group of customers than when selling only through the website. Numerous WooCommerce integrations that allow you to sell in many places at the same time, managing everything in one panel. The statistics show that the most popular sales channels outside the store on the website are: Allegro, Google Shopping, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram store and blogs.

Social media and customer relations

Integrating your online store with social media in your marketing efforts is essential to stay competitive and your store to be successful. Social platforms, while not selling by themselves, are a source of traffic for your online store, so you shouldn’t ignore them in your activities.

Well-run social profiles result in higher sales conversion in the long run. Thanks to the presence in channels such as Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, you will gain knowledge about your customers, gather a committed and loyal community, conduct promotional activities by giving discounts, rebates for fans, conduct viral campaigns and, above all, build brand awareness and develop your business.

Facebook remains the most effective in terms of traffic generation and sales among social media platforms. Currently, the social potential of Instagram and Pinterest is also growing, and more and more online stores are using these platforms.

Audit of social media, monitoring a few words related to business, product category, preview of the competition will allow you to get to know potential customers and avoid mistakes made by the competition. Setting the monitoring to words related to our product category will give a full picture of our target group. Where he stays, discusses and exchanges experiences.

We will research the most active topics and identify people who, having an impact on the community, may be interested in potential cooperation with your store, or who you can ask for help – product beta testing or opinion. Such a person can show errors or product problems that we have not paid attention to by focusing on other aspects of the store.

Many people share their purchasing experience after purchasing the goods, and that is why a large part of the products available on the Internet have received consumer feedback. Moreover, customers can now purchase the same or similar goods from multiple vendors, making the store’s own opinion a strong determinant of the purchase.

The ability to post reviews in an online store is not enough, the most important thing is the ability to encourage customers to post them. The easiest way to collect customer opinions is through simple surveys. Prepare questionnaires assessing general consumer experience with your store and post-purchase questionnaires. Send the customer a review request via email approximately 3 days after purchase.

Social media coverage and opinions are one of the most important factors in building a stable brand. A conscious and modern online store should collect and analyze the opinions of its customers in order to even better develop its offer and build a credible image on the web.

Monitor the results.

When running an online store, you need to keep track of which product sells best, where customers come from, what activities they take on the website and what they are looking for on your website. Analyze the statistics and learn to understand them.

By regularly tracking customer behavior, you will learn about their needs and be able to respond to them effectively. The simplest example of collecting knowledge about your customers based on the history of their purchases, as well as the items viewed are recommendation systems.

An indispensable tool for web analytics for e-commerce is Google Analytics with an extensive module for e-commerce. Thanks to it, you will have access to sales data, both at the level of the entire website and for individual products. You can go a step further and integrate your Analytics account with your email marketing system and track the behavior of your mailing recipients, increasing efficiency from this channel.