Are you thinking about starting your e-commerce store and wondering how to sell things online?
Starting an eShop can be done with a less hustle than ever before.
Nowadays anyone can do that – with or without software development & marketing knowledge.
This post covers the following:
Criteria for picking an eShop software;
Which are the best e-commerce platforms;
What it takes to start;
With all the customer-friendly solutions available these days, you can set up your e-commerce store up in a day, and have your first sales rolling in straight after.
This article is here to help you hit the floor running.
1.0. Checklist to choose your e-commerce platform
We prepared a list of things that are important for picking the platform that would suit your needs the best.
See if the e-commerce store meets the following requirements:
Can sell physical and digital goods;
Has product listing options and warehouse management;
Easy to browse shopping cart for customer convenience;
Using your own domain name is part of the deal;
Easy order management in the back-office;
Check if the free themes are good for you to take your first steps;
Make sure that the plugin prices ain’t high;
24/7 support is a huge advantage.
2.0. E-commerce platforms to sell things online
1. SELZ
Free for up to 5 products
$19.99/month + 1% transaction for Plus plan
Add-ons and extra pages
Not everything that’s great has to be difficult.
This basic store has all that you might need – it’s easy to list your products and has friendly UI/UX.
For only $4.99 you can setup the checkout page and your e-store will be ready.
What’s cool, adding your own domain is free.
Selz has customizable themes and built-in blog to tell the story of your brand.
Here is the simplest guide on how to sell things online in literally minutes.
2. Jimdo
Free for a branded store with core features
from $7.50/month for JimdoPro plan
Customize directly on page
Want to sell things online in a few clicks?
Select a template, add the products as well as the relevant info and you are good to go.
A simple 4 step guide can be found on Jimdo’s own support page.
3. Big Cartel
Free for up to 5 products
From $9.99/month for a full-feature Premium plan.
Simple interface
Customizable themes
Big Cartel is another great platform that can be completely free to use when listing only up to 5 products.
Moreover, it’s easy to add the product information (prices, description & shipping fees) that usually is a bit of a hustle. For the ones who are a bit more tech savvy the best part is that the website’s code is fully customizable.
A not so good news for the e-commerce stores that want to focus on product quantity is that the item amount is limited to maximum 300 items.
4. WIX
From $17/month for e-commerce plan
Photoshop style editor
Add-on market
If your priority is website’s design, this drag and drop website builder could be the one for you, especially if you don’t need to build a very complex online marketplace.
You can add content pretty much anywhere on the site.
However, if you compare WIX to Shopify and BigCommerce, you might find that the plugin offering a bit limited.
With this simple guide, it will take no time to set up your store.
5. Weebly
From $8/month + 3% transaction fee per sale with Starter plan
Drag and drop page editor
Automated functions
Weebly could be the easiest store builder that we have on this list. Definitely one of the best because of the competitive price.
Besides, it integrates with the most popular payment systems, making the launch very easy from the start.
With a variety of tools and themes, this is the platform for the people who are serious about selling products online.
The best part is that Weebly’s help center will guide you through building an e-commerce in no time.
6. Squarespace
From $26/month for basic plan
Easy page editor
Customizable site
We love the minimalistic and beautiful website templates on Squarespace. If that’s also on your priority list, you should definitely check out this platform.
Squarespace is super simple to use, with drag and drop features and additional widgets to choose from to take your online store to the next level.
Here is a list of video guides for those visual learners.
7. WooCommerce
Free with WordPress site
Easy to use
Customizable with WooCommerce extensions and WordPress plugins
iOS app to run your store
If you already know your way around WordPress, implementing WooCommerce store will be as simple as writing another great blog post.
All you have to do is to install the plugin and add the products.
The best part – it’s totally free.
WooCommerce offers a variety of extensions to add to your store. We suggest checking standard WordPress plugins page before you purchase any, as there could be one that fits your needs and is free.
These video guide series have all the info to start right away. And when the answer is not there, we turn to pros’ in the Facebook community.
8. Volusion
From $15/month
Customizable themes
Built-in SEO
If you want your online store to work for you even when you’re not there, Volusion will do exactly that.
The built-in flash sales tool is great for creating drip campaigns that will run automatically as soon as your mailings list starts to fatten. This platform also includes tools to help you with SEO.
What’s more, you can cross-list your products on eBay, Amazon, and Facebook Store.
To start, Volusion has created a tutorial section with videos or articles to choose from.
9. Shopify
From $29/month
Quick building features
70 built-in payment processes
Mobile support for iOS & Android
Shopify is the most popular kid in this playground.
Rocking one Shopify store already for a while, besides the price, I am loving it.
This market leader has over 100 templates to choose from and App Store that lets you integrate dozens of additional tools. You also get a 24/7 support and team of designers that can help you customize your website into something remarkable that will clearly stand out.
Here is a detailed video guide that will get you to sell things online in 25 minutes.
10. BigCommerce
From $29.95/month for a standard plan
60 built-in payment processes
Individual design option
This is one of Shopify’s top rivals. It has a lot to offer.
BigCommerce platform provides you with over hundred professional looking templates, add-ons, and 24/7 support.
Want’s cool, you can cross-list your products to Amazon, eBay, Etsy and other marketplaces by adding the items to BigCommerce.
Here are all your questions answered on how to start things up on this platform.
3.0. Start Marketing Early
Alright, we promised to have your store running in a day. While setting up the platform, you should remember that creating a customer acquisition plan is something you should keep in mind already from the start.
You won’t have all the questions answered right from the start, but take them as you go.
As soon as you are ready to hit the floor running, make sure to check this post with 128 marketing growth strategies.
Now you see that starting to sell things online isn’t mission impossible. It’s doable for everyone, no matter your skills or experience. Find your niche and make it happen.
Get in the right mindset, keep the checklist handy, pick the right platform to suit your needs and you will be on the right track.
To help each other let’s share the wisdom
Which is your favorite platform to sell stuff online?
We would also love to see how your e-commerce page turned out with one of these easy to use tools.
Share in the comments below.
Related posts:
11 Top eCommerce Tools to Boost Your eShops Profitability – list not to miss Here's a list of the most fantastic eCommerce tools that you can act as rocket fuel for your business.
8 Multi-Million Dollar CEOs Tell You How to Run a Digital Agency In this article, you will find out how to run a digital agency from 8 CEOs who have managed to build multi-million dollar digital agencies […]
Conversion Marketing Explained – How to Increase E-Commerce Conversion Rate Conversion Marketing is all about converting the traffic that your site generates into emails, $$$ or anything that you have set as a goal for […]
The post 10 Tools to Sell Things Online – Guide to Set-up an E-commerce Store In a Day appeared first on Linkody's blog.