How to Start an Online Store in 9 Simple Steps

 The first time I considered how to start an online store, I remember staring at the blank canvas before me, not knowing where to begin.

Looking back, the mistakes I made are not uncommon for first-timers. That’s why I wanted to create the best guide for how to make a website to sell your products.

💡 TIP: If you get stuck while building your own Shopify store, you can skip ahead and revisit a section later, look for answers in our Help Center, ask the Shopify Community, follow our Getting Started with Shopify course, hire a Shopify store setup expert, or reach out to our award-winning 24/7 support team.

It’s OK to figure things out as you go, and Shopify offers many resources to help. You can also buy a Shopify store through Exchange if you don't want to start from scratch.

How to start an online store in 9 steps 

Choose an ecommerce platform

Decide on a target audience

Choose your products 

Design your site

Connect a payment gateway

Choose a business structure

Get your store ready for launch

Launch your store

Market your store

1. Choose an ecommerce platform 

An ecommerce platform lets you build and create an online experience, make sales, and fulfill orders. Most people think an ecommerce platform is like a website builder: you simply list new products and accept payments online. But they can do so much more than that. 

Your ecommerce platform acts as the control center for your entire business, controlling everything from inventory to marketing, giving you all the tools you need to sell online and provide customer support. 

Key features to look for in an ecommerce platform include:

Usability. Your ecommerce software should be easy to use, especially if you are DIYing it in the beginning. Look for a tool that is intuitive and uses a drag and drop online store builder to easily create your online store. Schedule a demo or free trial if you want to find out for yourself. 

Accessible customer support. Look for a platform that offers support the entire way. For example, with Shopify, you can get help launching your site or migrating it from another software, as well as ongoing support. Support teams are available 24/7 through live chat, email, or even phone, anytime you need, in 19 different languages.

Friction-free checkout. Streamlined checkout is critical to making sales. Find an ecommerce platform that makes it easy for shoppers to buy your products. If you use Shopify, Shop Pay streamlines online checkout, increasing checkout speed by four times. You can also use Shopify’s plug-ins, with more than 100 payment gateways to accommodate various payment methods and currencies.

Web hosting. A web host stores information and content on your ecommerce website in a server database. You need web hosting to let people access your online store. Some ecommerce software offers web hosting built-in, while others require you to use a third-party solution. 

When choosing your ecommerce software, consider your current and future needs. Some platforms may be the best solution for today, but a powerful platform like Shopify can get you started quickly and support your future growth. 

Start a free trial of Shopify and build your ecommerce store through one of our professionally designed templates. The 14-day trial should give you enough time to start an online store that’s ready to launch if you follow this guide and keep in mind that you can continue to add products and improve your store after it goes live.

2. Decide on a target audience

A target audience is the group of people your marketing efforts are focused on. When starting an ecommerce business, knowing your ideal audience is critical. It helps you find new customers easier and attract interested buyers to your website, resulting in higher conversion rates and more sales. 

You can make an audience of any size or attribute, depending on what products you plan to sell. However, there are three main categories to look at as a new ecommerce entrepreneur:

Demographics. Includes characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, education, and income. 

Location. Groups that divide the market based on geographic location, so you can serve a specific area better. 

Interests. Built around psychographics and includes attitudes, personality, opinions, and the lifestyle of your audience. 

If you have a product already, choosing a target audience is easier. Ask yourself: Who buys my product? What are they like? What’s their age? Compile that information into a buyer persona and include it in your business plan. You’ll want it when you create your website copy and marketing campaigns. 

If you don’t have a product just yet, think about the types of people you know best. For example, maybe you love pets and understand other pet owners in their 40s and 50s really well. Chances are, you have a good idea of what they like and dislike, their needs and fears. That could be your target audience. 

To sell online, you need to genuinely know and appreciate your audience. For more help on determining it, read Finding Your Ideal Customer: How to Define and Reach Your Target Audience.

3. Choose your products 

One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is finding profitable products to sell. Coming up with product ideas is a bit tricky, but if you have a target audience in mind, you’re one step ahead. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to find products to sell, whether you’re manufacturing, reselling, or dropshipping.

You can find profitable products to sell in a number of ways:

Appeal to enthusiastic hobbyists

Go with your personal passion

Capitalize on trends early

Look at what’s trending in online marketplaces

 

Resources: 

How to Source Products for Your Online Store: Top Apps and Tips

Product Ideas: 17 Places to Find Profitable Products

Find a Product to Sell: 12 Strategies for Finding Your First Profitable Product

17 Trending Products to Sell Online in 2022

4. Design your site

Before we begin, you’ll need to start a free trial of Shopify. If you follow this guide, the 14-day trial should give you more than enough time to create an online store that’s ready to launch. Keep in mind that you can continue to add products and improve your store after it goes live.

When you start your trial, you’ll be prompted to enter a store name, which will become your default URL (e.g., storename.myshopify.com). You won’t be able to change this, but you will be able to buy a custom domain (e.g., yourstore.com) later on, so don’t worry about picking the perfect name right now. 

After answering a few questions, you’ll find yourself inside your own Shopify account.

Here’s a quick checklist of what you should have before you begin and what I’ll be working with to start my store:

A business idea. Since so many hot sauce brands brag about being “the hottest hot sauce ever,” I thought it would be fun to create an example store called Kinda Hot Sauce that sells great-tasting mild hot sauces for the semi-adventurous. If you don’t have a business idea yet, you can browse our list of business ideas for inspiration. 

A business name. I used Namechk to check if my business name ideas were available on social and as a domain before settling on it. Since some .com URLs are hard to come by, I went with kindahotsauce.shop as the domain. Don’t know what to call your store? Learn how to choose a domain name or try Shopify's free domain name generator.

A logo. I worked with a designer to come up with this logo for a “challenger brand” that’s clever, mischievous, bold, and spicy (tongue in cheek for a mild hot sauce company). I prepared a .png file with a transparent background so it’s easier to resize it without losing quality. You can follow our guide to create your own logo for free or by hiring a designer. 

Photos. Clean product photography helps you put your best foot forward. I’ll be using mockups of my hot sauce bottles on a white background, along with some stock photos for lifestyle imagery. If you’re on a budget, you can shoot your own product photos, even with just a smartphone camera, or use free stock photos until you can shoot your own custom lifestyle photos.