Published: April 26, 2023
Author: .Store Domains
Last Updated: Frequently Updated
Starting an online store can be exciting. A new product, a new idea, a new business, a new you…the possibilities are endless. But so are the questions. When it comes to establishing an online business, whether how to set up a store, where to set it up, what products to consider, how to plan the marketing, and so much more.
This article is a comprehensive resource of all the questions related to setting up an online store.
Starting an online store can be broadly divided into these six steps:
Decide what you're going to sell and who will you sell it to.
Dropshipping Benefits:
Holding Your Own Products Benefits:
Choosing a brand name is crucial. Make sure you keep the following things in mind when choosing a name:
When registering the domain name, consider opting for .STORE as it's more contextual and relevant to an online store. A .STORE domain name will immediately tell your customers that you're an eCommerce business and will add that much value to your brand.
Look at Amazon's best-seller list to get some ideas. When selecting products, keep the following things in mind:
There are various eCommerce store builder platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Prestashop, and more that you can use to build your online store.
The only way people will buy from you is when they know about you. Once you've built your online store, create a marketing plan for it. This includes:
One of the best ways to open an online store is to use an eCommerce site builder. There are a lot of eCommerce website builders out there, and a lot of them are really good.
Here are seven of the most user-friendly eCommerce website builders available to open an online store:
Not interested in the hassle of setting up and maintaining your own eCommerce site? Then a marketplace with a built-in store might be right for you.
Anyone who has a product, a business idea, and lots of zeal can start selling online. You can start selling online with your own eCommerce website or build your store on an online selling platform such as Amazon, Etsy, eBay.
Success in eCommerce relies on a multitude of things. From having the right eCommerce Marketing Strategy to knowing what things to start selling online are crucial to staying ahead of the curve.
However, a significant portion of your eCommerce success is based on finding the right bunch of popular products to sell online.
Here are some products across several categories whose demand is slated to increase in 2021:
At its core, selling anything online is pretty straightforward. You start with finding the right product that you can sell.
Would this be dropshipping or would you be storing these products in a warehouse?
Once you have that figured out, you register a domain name, build an online store and start selling. The success of your online store will depend on a few things:
Building a successful online store takes time and effort. But the results are well worth it.
This section provides detailed guides for starting 19 different types of online stores.
Your amazing pieces of art have numerous takers in the market. All you need to do is set up an online store and follow the steps below to start selling art online.
You need to have something unique to offer to the consumer base such as art with hand, brushstroke art, spray painting, pencil art, sand art, etc.
Your website will be your online store where you'll display all your art. Build a website that shows your artistic side.
Try to cross-sell your product with other sellers or sell your products on different platforms. It's an effective way to increase your art sales. You can club the different products from different sellers to sell your products.
Another fresh way to engage your art customers is by inviting them to your newest art show exclusively before you open the doors to the general public.
Why am I going to start this art business? Who will be my customers? How much profit can I expect to make in 5 years? These are important things to know before starting an art business.
Follow these simple steps to start an online apparel store.
eCommerce is a huge world and there are multiple apparel stores out there. Answering this question will help you figure out a way to define who you are catering to and this will help you to stand out from the competition.
Once you have determined a target audience and niche for your online apparel store, the next step is to find out how to sell your clothes. For this, you have to set up an online store. There are multiple eCommerce platforms that will enable you to launch a store in just a matter of minutes.
After setting up your online store, you need to add products to it. There are lots of ways through which you can source your products for your online store.
Your research might have suggested that whatever product you have designed and created will be driving a huge amount of sales. However such results are sometimes impossible to achieve by just launching your store.
Your predictions might fail to match the actual needs of your target audience resulting in low sales. Don't let it put you back.
To sell apparel online is a process of trial and error. Giving the customers a voice is going to help you find the solution. If a design isn't working out, try something very different.
There's a lot that goes into setting up an online beauty store. Listed below are some broad steps that can help you plan your business and set up your online beauty store.
One of the best places to start is Amazon. Check the "Best Sellers in Beauty & Personal Care" category to see what products are doing great. You can also check the customer reviews of each to identify how you can create a better product for the market.
A good brand name doesn't just describe what you do–it highlights the big idea that you stand for. Great brand names have an emotional appeal to them.
Choose a name that stands out from a normal name, has a unique ring to it, and means something. The way you build your brand will also have an impact on how catchy the name is.
When creating an online store you need to consider many factors such as site features, performance, scalability, security, ease of use, SEO (search engine optimization), payment solutions, and more. Here are some online store builders that you can explore to start your online beauty store.
You have a few options here:
Dropshipping model – In this type of model, businesses sell products online without stocking inventory.
White label model – With the white label business model, products are manufactured by one company without labeling and then sold to numerous resellers.
Manufacturing model – With this model, your products are manufactured exclusively and you have the legal rights to sell products under your brand name.
Wholesaling and warehousing business model – With this model, you purchase a product, store it in a warehouse, and sell it through your online shop.
Once you have your online store ready, the next step is to market it so that your users know about it. There are a lot of tactics that you can use here such as:
If you're a creative person with a flair for fashion and can capitalize on your talent by sharing your style with others, starting an online boutique store could be just the right thing for you. Here are the steps you need to follow to start it:
Your business plan must include your business model, details on your financial plan, marketing campaign ideas, and various other mapped out strategies.
Even if you sell the trendiest clothes, your consumers will most likely forget about you if your brand sucks. Design your brand with an appealing logo, great brand values, attractive colors, and a personal commitment to keep your customers happy.
The legal formalities are as important as anything else for a business. Choose the structure of your business, register it with your state, sort out all your finances, and fulfill your tax responsibilities.
Decide on what kind of items are you going to deal in, and who you are going to source them from.
Since you are planning to start an online boutique, you'll need an eCommerce platform to set up your store. Choose from options like Wix, WooCommerce, etc.
Furthermore, to set up your online store, you will need to complete formalities like choosing a domain name, adding descriptions and product photos, setting up the payment processor, etc.
Even after successfully starting your boutique store, you will need customers to sell to. Market your online boutique to potential customers through social media, email marketing, and optimizing it for SEO.
If you loved comic books as a kid, they would have played a huge role in your hobbies. But you can let it play a significant role in your entrepreneurial life as well.
With careful planning, you can turn this exciting opportunity into a long-term profitable business.
Below are the steps to help you with it:
Before you put your money into it, ask yourself questions like:
Visibility, traffic, and a targeted audience base with the money and will to spend on comic books, be it for pleasure or a collection, are important considerations to make.
Contact your city's local licensing bureau to find out what type of license will you need and how you can apply for it.
Contact your insurance agent and get insurance coverage on your collection. You might also want to get coverage for employees and customers.
Go to the Internal Revenue website and apply for a free employee identification number or EIN.
The eBook reader and tablet have transformed bookselling. If you want to start an online eBook store, here are the steps you need:
Planning your business involves the following considerations:
Establishing a legal business entity like an LLC will protect you from being held personally liable for your business debts or if your ebook store is ever sued.
Apply for EIN and register for the state and federal taxes required.
A business bank account separates your personal assets from the company's assets, and also makes tax filing and accounting easier.
Recording your sources of income and various expenses helps in understanding the financial performance of your business and simplifies tax filing.
Obtain the necessary permits and licenses to avoid hefty fines or your business being shut down.
Business insurance will help your business function safely and lawfully, and maintain its financial wellbeing.
Your brand is what your business would stand for, how it would be perceived by the public, and will also help it stand out from competitors.
A business website allows your potential audience to learn more about your business and the services or products you offer. Press releases and Social Media are really helpful in establishing a web presence.
A consignment store profits by offering quality used goods at a discount from the new price. That strategy works well online, as a virtual store can help expand your customer base while keeping your costs low.
Here's how you can start an online consignment store:
Pick something you have a knowledge of and is a part of your passion as well like clothes, antiques, toys, electronics, etc.
Choose a domain name, pick a platform to provide hosting services, and create a site using a website builder or hire a professional.
Pick a name for your consignment store, and register it as a company, partnership, or sole proprietorship.
Most consignment stores require an occupational license. You might need to get one for yours as well.
Register with the state's department of revenue to pay sales tax.
Obtain space so that you can store, process, and track goods. For meetings, you can try meeting clients at their homes or yours to save cost.
Create a seller's agreement, with a description of the item and the consignee's personal information. Mention the price, discount policy, etc. in the contract.
Use all mediums to find sellers and buyers with the help of online ads, blogging, social media, email marketing, and so on.
If you're a professional archer or archery coach, or just have expertise in archery, you can start an online archery shop and earn money out of it. Here's how:
People who buy archery items are all at different levels of expertise. To help them make the perfect buying choice, you need to have knowledge and experience in this field.
Also, archery is a very offbeat business choice, and you should dive into it only if you are passionate about it.
Study the market and survey the popularity of the sport in your location. It could be part of a school program, there could be a club for archery enthusiasts, bow hunting could be part of the culture, etc.
Determine if there is a market that is yet to be served, or if you can specialize in any way to stand out from competitors.
For an archery shop, you will need to have bows and arrows, along with accessories like bags, cases, stabilizers, sights, clothing, plungers, clickers, arrow rests, and finger tabs.
Find wholesale vendors who can supply all of these to you.
You'll need to either buy or rent a space, pay for licenses and overhead, and purchase the required inventory. This business would be seasonal and would boom mainly during the hunting season.
If you have the passion and experience for it, and the capital required, you can definitely start an online archery shop.
An online book store is a lucrative and fun business as it allows you to avoid a lot of the expensive brick-and-mortar operations and make a profit sitting at home. Here's how you can start your own online book store:
A thorough research of the retail markets, pre-existing bookshops, etc. is required. Find out the niches that are untapped and design your model according to them.
Your business plan should include your goals, investment, vision, and future plans of the store. Define your target customers in it, how you are going to cater to their needs, and the types of books you will provide.
You will need a well-optimized site for your online book store. Add pictures of the books, their descriptions, names of the authors, publication dates, price, etc. on the site as well.
An efficient marketing plan that shows that you have properly analyzed the target market and understand the requirements of your target audience is extremely essential.
Most online buyers prefer an online mode of payment for convenience but offer the 'Cash on Delivery' option as well to those who wish to pay only after delivery.
Typically, users would go to a physical store to buy their electronics. However, it's not the case anymore, and people are quite comfortable with browsing through products online and ordering the want they want to be delivered right to their homes.
Pick your theme, customize it, customize your menu navigation, and add the important pages to your online store.
Since the users will make their buying decision by looking at the products virtually, make sure you add high-quality images. Provide the right descriptions for each product.
This is the most crucial stage, and you don't want your potential customers to abandon the cart. List all products along with their pricing on the cart, and keep it free from distractions.
Also, make sure you include various payment methods, including shipping fees, and provide the option of tracking the delivery to customers.
Increase its brand awareness by setting up ads, start a referral program to capture new customers. Make your Instagram feed attractive and shoppable, build relationships with email marketing.
Create a community for your customers, communicate with shoppers via Facebook messenger, send web push notifications, create and promote quality content, and lastly, use retargeting ads to bring back abandoning customers.
The steady and continuous demand for furniture is powered by various factors in the market like interior design, the real estate industry, basic consumer demands, etc.
Go through the steps mentioned below to start your own online furniture store:
Analyze and understand your marketplace well. A new buyer would buy basic furniture like beds, tables, and chairs. Someone who is upgrading would be interested in expensive good quality furniture.
Find out how much competition exists in the kind of furniture you will sell, and if there is enough demand. Try to provide something unique to create demand.
If you want to provide furniture for public spaces like hotels, restaurants, hospitals, etc., you need to sell beds, chairs, mirrors, lamps, glass, etc. For the domestic market, you'll also have to include wardrobes, cloth hangers, kitchen furniture, study furniture, and so on.
Usually, buying from a single supplier could get you a discount on a large scale and save money. You can also import furniture from other countries.
It's difficult to get recognition at the beginning, so setting up online platforms like Amazon and eBay could be a good idea to generate traffic.
Take high-quality pictures of your furniture, and advertise your products well along with your brand and logo.
After analyzing your total cost including the operating costs, the market demand, and competitor prices, come up with a price that could generate optimum revenue for you.
A huge perk of modern technology is that almost anything and everything can be sold online; including flowers. Here are the steps to help you start an online flower shop:
If you want to get into the flower business, learn about arranging flowers, and decorative ideas.
Pick a catchy name for your flower business and get a domain with the same name as well.
The next step is to get web hosting for your site. There are various options on the web that can help you with it.
Now that your name, domain, and web hosting platform are ready, you need to get your site up and running. You can design your own site using user-friendly website builders. However, if you want, you can take professional help as well.
Find a delivery service that is giving you a good deal and partner with it.
Use all possible means of marketing for your store. One of the best ways to promote an online flower store is through social media. Post great pictures on Instagram, and build traffic.
Flowers die soon, and you need to entertain your orders asap. Keep a stock that you believe you can sell, and increase it when the demand for your furniture increases.
Due to the low barriers and low risk involved, it's a great idea to start an online game store. Let's look at how to start it:
You don't need a license to sell video games. Just register your business as an LLC preferably, and get going.
You can sell using an Amazon FBA Store, or create a site under your own domain name.
To generate enough profit on the game units you sell, you will need to buy them for a wholesale price. You can find a lot of wholesale video game suppliers to buy from.
Some of them would also offer video game console liquidations.
Here are a few wholesale distributors to buy from:
To keep track of your stock, you will need a well set-up inventory system so that no game keeps sitting there for a really long time.
Apart from other modes of promotion, a loyalty program is a great way to promote your online game store. Use programs like Points Program, Membership Rewards, Charity Donation, Incentive Levels Program.
If you think you have a knack for jewelry and want to make money out of it, start an online jewelry store using the following steps:
The Jewelry industry is quite vast in itself, and you need to define the niche you want to start your business in.
You can build an online store of your own and sell it on it. You can also sell it on online marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, Amazon, etc., and even on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
Since jewelry is all about the look, you need to go all-in when it comes to showcasing your products. Get the best possible pictures clicked, design your storefront to create an impression, write catchy descriptions, and showcase your products in a classy manner.
If you're selling jewelry that is made from precious stones, it should reflect in the price. The price of your handmade jewelry should also take time, skill, and labor into consideration.
Price them in a way that they get you the return you deserve, but don't make the customers feel that you are overcharging as well.
Tie up with a trusted shipping service for delivering your products like USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.
Optimize your site and blog (if any) for SEO, go for multichannel selling, use email marketing, social media, and other mediums to promote your online jewelry store and its products.
Liquor is something that will never stop selling. However, starting a liquor store will need you to abide by a few laws and regulations also.
Here's how you can start an online liquor store:
Firstly, you need to obtain the necessary licenses by following the below-mentioned steps:
You can define your niche depending on whether you want to sell whiskey, wine, beer, single malts, or all together.
Unless you're growing grapes for wine or brewing your own beer, you'll need a supplier for your liquor. Some suppliers can also take care of distribution if you want.
You'll need to work on your brand to make it stand out from the crowd and represent the values your business stands. Get a nice logo designed in this process as well.
Since you want to sell liquor online, you will need an online store for it. You can hire a professional web developer or create your store using an eCommerce website builder. Make sure you get an interesting domain name for your store.
In the United States, you can ship any kind of alcohol, via FedEx and UPS and both are great shipping carriers.
Liquor sells busy, but who will buy from you if they don't know you're selling? Market your brand and products well via digital marketing, social media, content marketing, and so on.
Since the whole world is transforming into a parallel online world gradually, selling medicines online has gotten popular along with it too. Use the below steps if you want to start an online medical store:
A medical store would require you to be in compliance with the necessary laws governing medical businesses.
Plan your business to map out all its specifics and fill any possible gaps. It should cover the costs, additional expenses, target market, revenue stream, pricing point, profit margin, short term, and long term goals, and so on.
Register it as a corporation or LLC to protect yourself from being personally liable for the business.
There are two types of eCommerce platforms, Open source, and Hosted (Closed source) platforms. Choose the one that suits you better.
Since you would be dealing in sensitive products like medicines, OTC drugs, health supplements, etc., you need to pick your suppliers and delivery partners responsibly.
Most online medical stores face the challenge of handling the prescription and verifying its authenticity. Establish a proper workflow and define a system where you figure out the complete process.
The home decor industry is undergoing a huge transition into the online platform wherein a lot of innovative startups are leading the way. Here are the steps in which you can start an online home decor store:
Create a professional-looking website, get a domain name, and showcase all your products there.
In the absence of a brick-and-mortar store, your online store is going to have to give your customers the complete experience of browsing through the products they like and making their purchase decision.
Tie up with local manufacturers in different cities or states, so that when you receive an order from a different city, you can get it delivered at the earliest.
You can also store your home decor products in the local warehouses of different cities.
Since local manufacturers and warehouses are involved, keeping a check on the quality of the products is of utmost importance. Have a customer care team that calls and checks with the customer if the product is as per their satisfaction.
When buying home decor products online, it's possible that the actual size differs or the product is not up to its mark. You need to have a proper policy in place where you provide a return or replacement to your genuine customers.
Providing delivery is not always enough in home decor. For complicated products like a chimney, moving shelf, foldable beds, you need to send in a team that can help with the installation.
Besides selling on your own site, you can also put up your products on marketplaces like Amazon, and sell via their site as well.
If sports is an area of interest, starting an online sports equipment store could be a good idea for you. Here are the steps for it:
Whether you are interested in indoor, outdoor, or any other specific kind of sports, or want to cover all kinds of sports equipment, it's necessary you make that decision at the beginning itself.
Look into your market deeply, study the demand and supply, find the gaps you can fill, and look for problems that you can solve with your store.
Find a supplier who can provide you with quality sports equipment.
The business of sports equipment is majorly impacted by sports events in your country or even in the world.
Look out for a football or cricket world cup that's coming up, or the NFL Super Bowl that's around the corner, a tennis championship that's about to happen next month, and use it to your advantage.
Focus your products and the marketing around what's trending and you'll see a spike in your sales.
Starting an online hardware store could be a great idea for people who have expertise in the field. It might seem tough initially, but here are the steps to help ease it for you:
The audience for hardware products could be quite varied. Improvement specialists, construction workers, contractors, or DIY homeowners, anyone could need it.
Put in a little research and find the audience that you want to target.
Every online store needs a supplier to source its products from. In the case of hardware products, you'll need to find a distributor that provides you with those brands that are popular amongst your target audience.
With an online store you can't sell the products in person, and words are all you've got.
Hence, you'll need to create a compelling copy that gets your audience interested in your products and gets them to buy from you.
Your hardware expertise is enough to give you the idea for your online hardware store. But to execute it as a business, you'll need proper eCommerce software.
The software will let you create your business website, get a domain name, shopping cart, process real-time shipping, and accept payments.
Apple Pay is a popular mobile wallet that allows customers to store debit and credit card information on their Apple devices for making payments in just a few seconds. Apple Pay can be used on iPhone, iPad, Macbook, or even Apple watch.
It's high time your online store starts accepting Apple Pay, and here's why:
The sensitive data is encrypted and managed by Secure Element chips. Besides, the payments require authentication by fingerprint, PIN, or facial recognition.
Customers don't have to look for their wallets and cards to complete the payment. They can easily complete it in a few clicks from the very device they're using to buy.
Punching in card details or paying through internet banking usually takes a lot of time. Apple Pay is much quicker.
You can offer contactless reward cards that can be linked to Apple Pay wallets. It would allow the customers to earn rewards, and even boost their loyalty towards your business.
With super fast shipping from giants like Amazon, you need to ensure that your online store has fast shipping too. Here are a few tips that can help you speed up your shipping:
Automating your fulfillment process will help you in dealing with creating an order, gathering shipping documents, inventory management, and fulfilling orders better. It will increase the over-efficiency of your shipping, and hence the speed.
More the shipping options, more the complexity. Fewer options will help you cater to your customers faster.
If order fulfillment is not your forte, a fulfillment center could help you with it, and even provide packing and tracking options.
Combine shipments that are going to the same destination into one unit to make it cheaper and faster.
Things take longer when you try to do everything yourself. Hire staff to take care of order fulfillment specifically.
Use online custom clearance for international shipping to save additional time during custom clearance.
Afterpay is a platform that allows customers to pay for their purchases later. It's like a modern-day credit card but without an interest-free period.
Immediate use – Customers can quickly set it up and use it right away.
Seamless integration – It is fully integrated within the online store's payment gateway.
Interest-free terms – Apart from the price, and late-payment fee (if applicable), customers don't need to pay any interest or extra fee.
Automatic payment framework – Users don't need to create a payment plan as Afterpay does it for them automatically, dividing it into 4 equal fortnightly installments.
Easy refund – It does not impact the refund procedure.
Alternative to credit cards – Users can substitute their interest charging credit cards with Afterpay.
Impulse spending – The non-interest fee nature might lead to poor spending habits.
Non-payment fees – In the event of not making the payments timely, customers will have to pay the late fee.
The cons are more like basic cons that exist with a credit card as well. If the user is responsible, they wouldn't fall into the credit trap.
Since many people are opting to Afterpay now, you should also make it a part of the payment gateway of your online store.
EBT or Electronic Benefit Transfer is a payment system designed to allow its users access to assistance under TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), or other aid programs that are sponsored by the State and Federal governments to buy food and goods.
If you're in a business that is capable of accepting EBT payments under the TANF or SNAP programs, there's no reason not to sign up for an account.
Processing costs are low, and most businesses can use their existing equipment to accept payment through EBT.
Registering as a SNAP merchant might require some paperwork but once you're registered, you will see an increased sales from customers who didn't have any other payment option besides cash.
Bitcoin is one of the best-known virtual payment currencies and has already made inroads into mainstream commerce, as well as, brick-and-mortar retailers.
If you're confused about whether your store should accept Bitcoin or not, here are a few points to help you make your decision:
Brings new customers – Many customers who prefer shopping with Bitcoin will start shopping from you.
Innovation – Just like accepting Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, etc. makes you new-age, Bitcoin takes it a notch higher.
Long-term investment – You can hold your bitcoins as a long-term investment.
Low transaction fees – Credit card expenses range about 2-3% of your earnings. However, Bitcoin will cost you lower than 1% that too if they're to be converted into local currency.
Faster – Bitcoin transactions are verified by Bitcoin miners, and are processed much faster than other modes.
International payments – If you were avoiding international payments due to high cross-border fees, you won't have to, with Bitcoin's low transaction fees.
Black market money – During its inception, Bitcoin was linked to the dark web, and many might still be reluctant to use it because of that.
Bitcoin-specific fraud – There have been frauds, scams, and Ponzi schemes regarding Bitcoin, and many people are scared to use Bitcoin because of that.
No valuation guarantee – Since the currency is decentralized, there is no valuation guarantee per se.
Even though there are a few cons, the pros outweigh the risks. Besides, every mode of payment has some con or the other. If you are a risk-taker and want to hold a few Bitcoins of your own, go ahead and accept it for your store.
When shopping online, customers expect different modes of payment as per their convenience. To have an edge in this competitive market, you need to provide them with as many options as possible.
Here are the different online payment methods that you should have for your online store:
With more than 254 million users, PayPal is one of the most popular online payment processing companies. It claims that it's being used by over 17 million businesses globally and that it helps in converting at 82% higher rates in comparison to other options.
Amazon Pay is a digital payment processing service like PayPal that allows customers to pay online on third-party sites with their Amazon payment methods. It uses the details that are already stored on the customer's Amazon account to complete the payment.
A huge competitor to PayPal and Amazon Pay currently is Google Pay that's free for both merchants and customers. Its added benefit is that it lets retailers set up loyalty programs, deals, and digital gift cards for customers.
Apple Pay allows customers to make quick payments with just the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on their Apple devices and is free for merchants and customers.
Customers can make the payment by transferring the amount directly from their bank accounts.
When customers use debit cards to make the payment, the amount directly gets deducted from their bank account.
The only difference with a credit card is that customers shop on credit, and pay the due amount at the end of a given period like a month.
These cards are issued by banks or credit card companies for customers who don't have a bank account. These are cards with preloaded money that they can use to make the payment.
Similar to prepaid cards, these are preloaded cards issued by retailers and credit card companies like Mastercard, Visa, and American Express.
These are basically cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, that are getting popular every day.
Customers can instruct their banks to pull out funds from their accounts to make recurring online payments. These are usually used for subscription services.
Yes! A payment reversal is when the funds used in a transaction are returned to the cardholder's bank. It can be initiated by the cardholder, the issuing or acquiring bank, the merchant, or the card association.
Common reasons that can lead to a payment reversal are:
Here's how online payment processing works:
An online payment gateway connects your bank account and the platform to where you want to transfer your money.
It is basically a software application that authorizes the customer to conduct an online transaction through different kinds of payment modes.
The payment modes can be credit card, debit card, net banking, UPI, or many other online wallets that are available nowadays.
A payment gateway plays the role of a third party that makes a secure transfer from your bank account to the merchant's payment portal.
To explain this in simpler terms, let's take the example of buying a book from a popular digital platform like Amazon.
When you make the payment for the book you bought, a payment gateway does the job of transferring your money to Amazon.
To run an online store, you'll need to accept online payments for your sales. Here's how you can do that:
You can use your website development team, hire an outside developer or use third-party software to create a payment gateway.
Make as many payment methods available within your payment gateway to allow your customers to conveniently make payments.
Since people mostly have mobile phones on them, they prefer paying via mobile wallets like Amazon Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc. Make sure your online store accepts mobile payments.
Even though mobile payments have gotten popular, debit and credit cards are still being used. So make sure your gateway accepts payments through them as well.
If you offer ongoing monthly services or subscription plans, the most reliable and efficient way to receive payments is via recurring billing.
Sites like Stripe and Paysimple help you set up automated recurring billing for your payment processor.
Since cryptocurrencies are really popular these days, especially with GenZ, you can consider accepting those as well.
It is a proactive way for online merchants to request payments. You can send a payment form to your customers via email or add a link that redirects them to a payment portal.
eChecks are a way to pay by check online, much quicker and reliable than paying via physical check.
To accept echecks, you'll need a form where the customer can input their information, and you'll be able to access it through your payment processing software.
With online payment, there is always a small element of risk that hackers might secretly steal your payment or bank information.
If they are able to do so, they will be able to make fraudulent payments from your account for purchasing items or transfer your money into their account.
It's important to consider the level of safety with every online payment method you use. Here are the five most secure online payment methods:
Since the money is not deducted immediately when you pay via credit card, you can notify the card issuer if you come across any suspicious activity.
Besides, they usually come with encryption and fraud monitoring services, which make it so safe.
Debit cards are safe as they usually come with 24-hour monitoring services too. Besides, the use of a unique OTP for every purchase, makes it even more secure.
These third-party payment services like PayPal are considered safe and reliable because they don't share any private information. Besides, their 'buyer protection' makes it even more secure.
You're supposed to transfer funds to the merchant's account number which generates a unique transaction ID. You can share this ID for confirmation and completing the transactions.
These are so secure because you don't need to share your credit or debit card details while making the payment. Besides, the money can't be transferred without authenticity.
With the advancement in the business world, online payment has become the need of the hour. Here are a few reasons why it's so important:
Online payment systems allow businesses to offer various payment options to customers like credit cards, debit cards, internet banking, mobile payments, and so on.
Online payment helps in bringing down the overall cost by reducing the use of paper and postage, and other operational expenses involved with offline payments.
The non-requirement of transmitting cash and invoices or drafting checks makes it a reliable option.
Traditional payments required clients to send confidential information or money via post or physically, which wasn't considered very safe. Since every online transaction has valid proof and requires proper authentication, the level of security is quite high.
Cash on delivery or COD is when customers pay for their products in cash after receiving them. Here are a few pros and cons for both online payment and cash on delivery:
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
The advantages of online payments are numerous for your business, irrespective of its size and industry. Let's have a look:
The integration process is usually the same for all online payment providers and requires you just to register for an account that doesn't even demand much paperwork.
Since most providers don't demand any setup fees it's quite affordable for businesses. Even online payment gateways charge negligible transaction fees for a whole year.
Online payment is quite convenient and quick, which leads to a quality shopping experience for the customers.
Online payment gateways are required to apply multiple security layers that make the overall process very secure.
Since you receive the money instantly or at the most in a day or two, it gives you a lot of liquidity.
For subscription services, online payment gateways offer recurring billing options that automate the whole process of collecting subscriptions timely.
Since online payments can be made on the go with mobile devices as well, it increases your possibility of a sale as well. Buyers won't have to wait to go home or office and find their card or cash to pay for the product.
If you own a small business, these online payment methods should be great for you:
An eCommerce payment platform that allows small businesses to accept online payments directly from their own website.
An online payment service that enables small businesses to process debit and credit purchases, for a small fee.
Provides small businesses with a card reader that works with mobile devices and apps to accept credit card payments from anywhere in the world.
Offers online payment solutions that can be integrated directly into the websites of small businesses.
Allows small businesses to use their Apple devices (tablets, phones, computers, and laptops) as a POS or Point Of Sale system.
An online payment service provider that can be fully integrated into your business website.
A few terms and conditions that must be included:
Your personal details shall be utilized only for the purpose of receiving the payments and all data shall be kept secure, and not shared with anyone for any purpose whatsoever.
Disclaimer: By submitting an online payment you are agreeing to the above terms and conditions including any updated edits or changes.
Categories: eCommerce, Selling, store
Publisher: .Store Domains (A Radix initiative)
Original URL: https://get.store/blog/how-to-sell-online/
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