Do you want to set up an e-commerce site? It is time! Online shopping has increased significantly this year as Covid-19 made everyone stay at home and restricted shopping in stores. How to set up e-commerce

There are many e-commerce statistics that will encourage you to start your business and predict the great potential for making money by selling online. It does not matter, whether you want to move your current business online or start an online business from the beginning.

If you wonder how to set up a successful e-commerce site even if you do not have any experience in this field, we will explain to you all the tools and information you need in this article.

How much does it cost to set up an e-commerce site?

The costs of setting up an e-commerce site also vary according to the e-commerce package prices. Package types that include the simplest characteristics are usually offered for sale around 1000TL – 2500 TL.

These prices vary between 80 – 150 TL per month.

E-commerce infrastructures with more advanced features are also between 500 – 750 TL per month.

How to set up a successful e-commerce site in 10 steps:

1. Choose an E-Commerce Platform
2. Identify Your Target Audience
3. Name Your Brand and Get a Domain
4. Choose What to Sell Online
5. Meet Order Fulfillment or Dropshipping
6. Connect a Payment Provider to Your Site
7. Design Your Site For Sales
8. Set a Strong Brand Strategy
9. Decide on the Structure of Your Business
10. Launch Your Marketing Campaigns

Choose an E-Commerce Platform

Your website is like your brand ambassador, so the platform you choose and the e-commerce features that this platform offers you are significant in managing your business smoothly.

Here are some factors to consider when choosing your platform:

Tools: Does the platform offer you everything you need to be successful in your business? Can you use this platform to create marketing campaigns, manage inventory, sell across multiple channels and get paid? Do you have calculation automation for taxes and other fees, can you customize your payment experience, or add online live chat to your site? In short, can the platform you choose also develop with your business?

Private businesses: Do you want to provide design services, plan to sell product subscriptions, or do you have a different niche business idea? Does the platform you choose offer you the opportunities you need to create the ideal e-commerce site?

Pricing: Does the platform have a pricing package that meets your e-commerce requirements and fits you financially? Will you be able to upgrade your package to use more professional tools as your business grows? Are necessary marketing tools and business management resources included?

Design features: Does the platform allow you to build an e-commerce site that looks perfect but also performs well? Does it offer a wide variety of and intuitive e-commerce site templates to get you started? How easy is it to customize the design of your store?

Mobile view: Does the website builder you choose to build an e-commerce site optimize for mobile devices? Will shoppers be able to navigate your store comfortably from their phones?

You can have everything you need to set up, run and grow the e-commerce site you want by choosing a platform. Not only does it offer a comprehensive range of professional tools to help you get started quickly along with competitive prices, it also allows you to grow your e-commerce business.

Identify Your Target Audience

One of the first things you need to decide before setting up an e-commerce site is who will be the audience you will be selling to. This topic is also important as it will help you determine the products to sell, e-commerce site design, marketing methods and shipping needs.

If you already have a product idea, consider who would be ideal customers for that product.

Ask yourself the following questions about your target audience:

• What is the age range and occupation?
• Where do they live?
• What interests do they have?

While directly identifying your target audience, you may also consider creating a customer persona to fully focus on their requirements.

When choosing a target audience, it may be a good idea to choose people you are familiar with. You need to truly know and understand your customer base to successfully create, sell and market products. Therefore, this process is easier if you target a specific community that you are already a part of.

For example, if you are a middle-aged housewife living in Istanbul, it would be appropriate to set up an e-commerce site that targets the demographic group you belong to. This way, you have an idea of what products your customers need, how to communicate in an engaging way, and how to encourage them to buy your products.

Name Your Brand and Get a Domain

Once you determine which product to sell to whom and how, it is time to find a memorable name for your business and brand.

Search domain: https://www.atakdomain.com/en

Choose a catchy name for your site. Find words related to your product, industry, values, or what makes your brand unique. For more ideas, you can use our brand name generator that works in English for now.

Who knows, maybe you will choose to follow the trend and choose a foreign name for your brand.

You can use SEO, or search engine optimization to guide you in choosing a brand name. Discover terms used by customers by browsing related internet searches and Google Trends. Explore deeper into SEO for more tips on keyword research.

Include your product category or a certain product in your name, so that the product you offer can be easily understood by customers. For example, if you sell hats, do not forget to use the words “accessory,” “fedora,” or “cap.”

Most importantly, make sure your brand name attracts attention.

Here are some ways to choose a unique brand name:

1. Research your direct competitors
2. Search for your name ideas on Google and social media
3. Investigate local business registry services

Once you decide on a name, get a professional domain name for your site. The way to choose the most correct domain name is to match your site name exactly. In this way, your customers can easily find you.

You can register domains directly from your site and connect your domain to your site thanks to platforms such as Atakdomain.com. In fact, when you sign up to be able to accept payment at your store, you have the option to get a free domain for the first year.

Choose What to Sell Online

If you set an e-commerce site from beginning, choose your products according to your target audience. What age, gender and interests do you want to appeal to? That is your target audience. Keep your target audience in mind and research what they buy online.

What product or service can you offer this audience that is not yet on the market? What problems can you solve? Which of the services you will offer are already on the market, but do you think you can offer them better? What can you sell to your customers that can help or excite them?

Whatever product you are going to sell, make sure your product provides a solution to a need.

Here are some tips to help you choose products to sell online:

Find a market that it is unknown everyone.

Have an idea for a service or product that is not yet on the market? Have you designed an item that will solve an important problem for a particular audience? This could be a great opportunity for success.

Take a popular product one step further.

Take something you know works and make it better. Browse customer reviews from major brands to see what customers like and what they miss.

For example, if you want to sell women’s bags, read comments of Vakko, Marche’Istanbul and Michael Kors brands.

Follow the trends.

It is a known fact that in 2021, the tools needed to work from home are most requirements But what other trends are on the rise?

Here are some methods to accurately determine the increasing demands in the market:

• Get inspired by the best e-commerce sites that you can take as an example.
• Check for popular search terms with tools like Google Trends
• Get inspired by promising products on today’s top projects lists

When an idea comes to your mind, you need to be sure that your product will bring success to your business.

Here are some tips to consider when launching a new product:

Buy products that are easy to ship

It is a good idea to focus on products that are not fragile, are lightweight, and have few moving parts in e-commerce. It can be difficult to ship when batteries or magnets are involved, so try to avoid products that contain such parts.

Make sure you earn

Determine your ROI (return on investment), known as ‘Return on Investment’ in Turkish: first, take a look at your competitors to estimate your prices. Then calculate how many sales you need to make to cover all your operating costs.

Think about the manufacturing process

If you create a new product, you will need to find a manufacturer to build your inventory. There are many aspects to consider when choosing your manufacturer.

Make sure you research them thoroughly.

Meet Order Fulfillment or Dropshipping How to set up e-commerce

If you want to set up an e-commerce site and start selling quickly, you can think about starting a dropshipping business, also known as dropshipping. In addition to being quick to set up, dropshipping also gives you other key benefits such as allowing you to minimize upfront costs, inventory management, and order fulfillment.

What is Dropshipping and How Does It Work?

Dropshipping is an easy-to-setup and operates retail option that lets you sell products without managing any inventory, stocking up, and fulfilling orders.

Integrate your e-commerce site with a dropshipping supplier and choose the products you want to sell to your customers in their catalog. You can decide how you want to price, market, and present these products. When customers purchase the product on your site, you forward the order information to the dropshipping supplier, who fulfills and ships the order.

 How does drop-shipping work?

You choose the products you want to sell and set your own prices with dropshipping.

Customers buy your products by paying through your site

You forward the order to the supplier and make the payment

The supplier ships the product directly to the customer’s address.

When customers purchase products from you, you only need to manage your online store and marketing, as the supplier will manage the inventory and fulfillment of your orders.

Connect a Payment Provider to Your Site

One of the most important things is how you will get paid for setting up an online sales site. It is one of the most important points to ensure your business can accept online payments smoothly and securely

First, decide which payment methods you will accept. It may be a good idea to offer your customers more than one method so they can use the option they like and use the most. You can usually choose one or more payment methods, depending on your location:

• Credit/Debit Cards
• Digital wallets
• Bank transfers
• Face-to-face payment
• Buy now, pay later

Next, choose your payment provider. A provider handles all of your business transactions, such as payments you receive from customers. Remember, whichever you choose, the firm you choose will be the payment provider you will use to process all credit card payments. Your payment provider must confirm who you are to start accepting payments through an e-commerce site.

Design Your Site For Sales

It is the best time to truly design your online storefront and ensure that the design is optimized for sales conversion. While it is important for your e-commerce site to look good, it is also significant that your site seamlessly guides customers through the purchase and checkout process.

Here are some of the important points to consider when designing your e-commerce site:

Use an e-commerce site template.

Browse impressive e-commerce site templates in different categories.

Clarify what you sell.

Unless you are a big brand that does not need any explanation, your visitors will want to know what you sell as soon as they enter the site. Do not let your customers guess about this issue, let everyone who visits your e-commerce site immediately understand what you are selling.

Tip: Update your site metadata to include your store type. For example, if you are a t-shirt store called Kaft, your site meta title should be “KAFT | T-Shirt Shop”.

Write clear CTAs

Your customers should know what to do next at each stage of the purchasing process. Make sure the text of the Call-to-Action (CTA), also known as a call-to-action, is intuitive and clearly indicates what the customer will be prompted to when clicked.

Get started at the very beginning. Add a large and noticeable Start Shopping button on the homepage of your site that leads to the catalog. Have a prominent “Buy Now” and/or “Add to Cart” option on each product page.

Edit your store structure.

Create a navigation bar at the top of your site that takes customers where they need to go. If you sell clothing, create a separate tab for men’s or women’s clothing as well as discounted items.

Let customers easily see what is in their shopping cart by adding a shopping cart link in the top right corner of your site.

Include important links at the bottom of your site, including your e-commerce shipping and returns policy, links to your social media pages, and your contact information.

Use high-quality images.

Product photos are an extremely important feature for selling online. Customers want to see what your product looks like up close, and they need to make sure they know what they get before they buy. The look, feel, size, weight, etc. of the product. Use professional photos and videos to show off.

Set a Strong Brand Strategy

Make your e-commerce site memorable with powerful branding features. Branding includes everything from your business name to its logo from the corporate color palette you use to the tone of your voice. Your brand needs to be strongly connected to the type of business you have and your target audience.

Start by experimenting with different colors to create your brand’s color palette. Choose colors that are relevant to your products: for example, use shades of blue and green for eco-friendly water bottles. Choose about 3-4 colors and save them so you can use them whenever you want.

Design a logo with simple shapes and legible words. Whether it is a small social media icon or part of your packaging, you need to create an instantly recognizable image.

If you want to design the perfect logo for your business, we suggest you take a look at our logo design guide.

The other important aspect of your brand is the tone of voice you use when creating content. You should take this into account when writing your product descriptions, social media posts, and emails.

Ask yourself: Who are my customers and what type of language and message type will they choose?

Should it be fun?

Should it be serious?

Once you decide on your brand palette, logo, and content style, use them for whatever you need for your business. For example:

• Website
• Emails
• Bills
• Product packaging
• Shipping materials
• Marketing campaigns

An effective brand identity can help build customer loyalty right from the start. Your customers will be more likely to buy from you with a professional e-commerce site and a consistent brand.

Decide on the Structure of Your Business

Do not be discouraged by the legal requirements of starting a business. Getting your business compliant is actually easier than you might think.

Here are the four most common business types you can use:

Private company: You are both financially and legally responsible for your business in this type of business. If you just start out with an e-commerce site, this is probably the best option for you. This type of company is the easiest business to start with and makes it easy to register your business.

Limited Liability Partnership (LLC): This option allows you to keep your personal and business assets separate and makes starting a business less risky. Limited companies are formed relatively quickly and offer a variety of business tax benefits.

Partnership: If you start your business with a partner, you must sign a partnership agreement at the time of incorporation. You define the roles, responsibilities, investments, and rights of each partner with this agreement.

Company: A corporation generally refers to an established business that includes shareholders and employees. There are different types of companies you can set up. How to set up e-commerce

If you establish your business as a private company, you make it bureaucratically easier to set up your business. However, you will need to apply to the competent authorities for the relevant licenses and permits for your industry and country. Check out the Department of Customs and Trade website to determine what you will need.

Here are some pros and cons of starting as a sole proprietorship:

 

If you want to set up a limited liability company, partnership, or corporation, you should find a lawyer. We are not experts in legal or financial matters, so although we can offer some advice, it is a good idea to ask for professional help to complete this process to make sure everything is right.

 

Launch Your Marketing Campaigns How to set up e-commerce

Now you are ready to make your first sale. Direct customers to your e-commerce site with these free and paid marketing strategies.

Free Marketing Campaigns

Social media

Create a business page for your e-commerce site on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Update your business information on your profile page, including website link, location, and contact information. Enable the option to leave comments on Facebook and be sure to reply to anyone who comments.

Then write posts about promotions, discounts, and new products and link to your site. Allow your customers to shop directly on social media by integrating your e-commerce site with your Facebook store or linking your Instagram posts to your e-commerce site.

Email Marketing

First, create a work email address. Next, build an email list by putting a lightbox that encourages customers to sign up on your site or adding a signup form to your site’s bottom. For example, you can give them a discount they can use on their first purchase to encourage your customers to join their email list.

Then use an email marketing tool to send newsletters about short-term promotions, updates about your business, and highlights from certain times of the year.

SEO

Optimize your site to rank higher in Google search results. Make it easy for customers to find your store when they search for the types of products you sell. Do this by writing optimized meta titles and descriptions for each of your site pages. This includes your homepage, your product catalogs, and every single product page.

Paid Marketing Campaigns How to set up e-commerce

Facebook and Instagram Ads

Target your customers on the world’s most popular social media channel. First, identify the goal of the campaign, which could be, for example, driving traffic to your site, getting engagement, converting into sales, or something else. Then choose how much you can budget for it and how long you want the ads to run. You need to build an audience so you can target your location, interests, and demographics.

Google Ads

Create pay-per-click ads that target specific locations, demographics, keywords, and queries on Google. This will make your site visible to customers.

Take a look at this step-by-step guide to advertising on Google.

Are you ready to start setting up an e-commerce site and selling right away?