Launching Your First Online Store

Eric Pong
commerce your first store- Floship

Take Your Store Online Today the Fast and Easy Way

Many business owners put off taking their business online. This is a missed opportunity that can make a huge difference in both your business and personal life. The reason most people choose not to go online is because they think it will be a difficult process.
The process of setting up your online store is much easier than you may think and has some amazing benefits that you can’t afford to miss out on.

Why Go Online?

How to create an Online Store
You may be thinking that your store is doing okay as and that there’s no reason to invest money in a website that you don’t know how to create or use. You are not alone. Many business owners cite expense and technical knowledge as reasons why they aren’t online.
The truth is that setting up, operating, and managing an online store isn’t that difficult. You already have an advantage since you have products or services to sell online and a physical location where you can fill orders and prepare products for shipping.

Online Shops are Easy to Create and Maintain

Taking Your Retail Online
Setting up your first ecommerce site is a fast and easy solution to many problems that plague businesses today.

If you have been through the process of opening a brick-and-mortar store, rest assured that it is much easier to set up an online store than a physical location.

With today’s options, you don’t have to know how to start a website or pay someone to do it for you.

You have much easier options available, like using an online shop service to do this for you. In fact, once you set up your products through a third-party shop, they can optimize your listings for search engines for you and your products are immediately available for sale on major websites.
Online shop services take all of the work out of creating an online store. You don’t have to worry about accepting payments, site security, or creating a shop that is user friendly and effective. You can set up an entire website, including your own domain and blog using their templates and designs.
You also have the option to also sell on giant third-party websites, like Amazon, which exposes your brand to more traffic and sales.

What Are the Benefits of An Online Store?

If you don’t have an online store, you are missing out on one of the greatest opportunities in business.
The internet has the flexibility to do more than you ever could have imagined with your store.
Here are some great reasons why you should go online.

Lower Overhead Costs

One of the most substantial benefits of an online store is much lower overhead costs.
With a physical store, you have to lease or finance a location, pay utilities, employee wages, insurance premiums, and more. These costs add up and greatly reduce your business’s gross income.
Online stores are much less expensive, more efficient, and easier to maintain in comparison.

More Options for Your Customers

Payment gateways
Online stores are much less expensive, more efficient, and easier to maintain in comparison.

If your brick-and-mortar store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 6 days per week, that means your store is open 48 hours per week. If potential customers work the same hours or have other obligations during this time frame, you are missing out on sales.

With 168 hours in a week, you are missing 120 hours of sales opportunities. An online store is always open.

It allows you the opportunity to take orders when you aren’t present and fill online orders when you are.
All you have to do is pack your orders during regular business hours, print a label, and schedule the courier of your choice to pick them up.

Utilize Social Media and Email Marketing More Effectively

It is more difficult to implement social media and email marketing if you don’t have an online store or website.
Social media marketing connects you with millions of potential new customers.
When you promote your products and services using social media or email, you need a place for potential customers to go to learn more about your products and make a purchase right then.
The longer it takes for a customer review an item, the less likely it is for a customer to make a purchase. Social media and email are incredible, low cost marketing tools. The trick is that they have to have a product landing page to be successful.
Once you have an online store, you can easily link directly to promotional products and services. That means that sales are only a click away for your customers and a purchase is more likely.

A More Flexible Schedule

work when you want
With 168 hours in a week, you are missing 120 hours of sales opportunities. An online store is always open.

You don’t have to work extra hours in order to open an online store. Most businesses are able to operate their online business during normal business hours and from the same location.
If you choose to keep your store closed during a vacation, special event, or illness, that doesn’t mean you have to lose sales. An online store operates 24/7, meaning that you can sell products without having to be there in-person.
This makes it much easier for a business owner and operator to take time off work when he or she needs to. Once you return to work, it will be quick and easy to fulfill orders that were placed online while the store’s physical location was closed.

More Stability

Having another line of income will provide you with more financial stability.
Weather, medical emergencies, power shortages, and other unexpected problems can disable your physical store. This can make it difficult, if not impossible, to get to your business and for customers to make it to you.
Since your online store is available when you aren’t, it can continue to operate without your presence. This provides you with additional income you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Conclusion: Opportunity

The opportunity to earn a better income, have more flexible hours, and financial stability is at your fingertips.
An online store is a fast and easy solution to many problems that plague businesses today. By taking your store online today, you can enjoy a better tomorrow.


Floship Guest Post – About the Author

Helen Cartwright is a passionate blogger, who excels in the Digital Marketing and Technology niche. When not wired in marketing strategies she ghost-write for a variety of authors who have their work published on leading online media channels such as The Huffington Post and Entrepreneur.com.


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