Whether you spent the international lockdown due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic learning a new craft that now you feel confident enough to produce for monetary reward, or else you are interested in setting up an online shop that showcases new and innovative stock ranges from smaller and more ethical suppliers, launching an online shop can be as simple or complicated as you would like it to be.
With the internet supplying a vast amount of information pertaining to this subject, it can often be difficult to separate the wheat from the proverbial chaff. Continue reading for some top tips and advice for launching an online shop from the comfort of your own home.
Buy Wholesale
If your intended products are not created and produced by your own fair hands, once you have decided on the direction, ethos and the niche gap in your market you intend to fill with your new venture, sourcing quality and enticing products is naturally the most important element to consider.
For example, if you are intending on aiming your products to younger, progressive and altogether more environmentally conscious and ethical consumers, purchasing a small range of beautifully crafted and ethically sourced wholesale sterling silver jewelry would be the perfect way to start.
There is a plethora of benefits to buying wholesale, including lower costs, wider ranges and ultimate flexibility.
Your Website
It may be that you are content in selling your products through agreed links with the creator and rights holder of the products through an existing online store. Alternatively, if you are starting form ‘scratch’ and want to promote unique and different items, then your new website design is one of the most elements on which to spend considerable time and attention.
Using search engine optimization, you can build up a new and potential customer case by gearing your websites message towards your target audience. Ensure you use the various popular social media platforms, ensuring that all content and advertising materials you place and use are consistent and uniform across each and every platform.
Your Brand
Perhaps you already trade under or have at least already decided and copyrighted your store logo and tagline, or else maybe you are starting from scratch.
You may find this altogether surprising, but the company logo, name and tagline you choose is just as important, arguably even more so, than the actual products you sell. Take a well-known brand, such as Ferrari and Mulberry for example; when either of these brand names are associated with a product, the respective companies can virtually guarantee that they will experience high volumes of sales.
Your brand needs to embody your ethos, values and most importantly your reasons for launching your new online shop in the first place. For example, if you are interested in sourcing and distributing (while collaborating with the creators of course) children’s toys that ‘hark back’ to a simpler and altogether more wholesome time, you could name your company using your own children’s names.