How to open an online store - step-by-step instructions for creating an IM from the very beginning + 8 effective ways to promote and promote it online absolutely free

Over time, ordinary (offline) stores become less popular and inconvenient for customers. Many products can be easily purchased through the Internet. How to open (create) your online store will be discussed in this article.

If you are looking for new sales channels for products, want to expand your business, make it more popular, then you should read this article on richpro.ru to the end. She will certainly answer all your questions and, possibly, will be the reference book of your new Internet business.

From this article you will learn:

• Why and why is an online store needed;
• What you need to know before opening your online store;
• How to open an online store and promote it online;
• Which designer (or engine) is better to choose in order to create an online store for free yourself from a complete zero.

Step-by-step instructions for opening an online store

1. Why do you need an online store - the main advantages of IM for the seller and buyer + a real example of a successful store online

Maybe this is a new trend in trade? Or is it fashionable? An online store is another tool for successful trading.

Everything is like in a regular store: purchasing goods at the wholesale price, selling at the retail price (wholesale + your margin), the goods are displayed, the client arrives, completes the purchase, you receive income. The online store is expanding sales channels.

The advantages of the online store are on the surface, although many are still not clear to them. All stages of trading are carried out with the least cost:

• An online showcase allows customers to see your product, evaluate the range of products offered, thereby encouraging the buyer to make a purchase.
• The base of existing and potential customers is easily formed.
• Your store is open at any time of the day (+ on weekends) regardless of the weather and other factors. Also, at any time, the client will be able to get advice on the configuration of the product, its price, other aspects. At the same time, there is no need to pay: rent of commercial premises, utilities, which may be the lion's share of your profit. You relax, and the store is open. Dream.
• There is no need to keep many employees and pay them wages. The online store itself demonstrates the product, provides information about it, takes orders.
• Such a store is more competitive, because it is more convenient and comfortable for customers in terms of service.

To introduce specifics, we give example of a successful online store.

Example:

A small equipment store is open and operates in city ​​A. Suppliers are located in city ​​In. Lead time for store customers up to 3 days. In this case, the delivery time of goods from suppliers is 1 day.

Thus, the need to maintain a warehouse for storing goods disappears, which means there are no costs for a warehouse.

The scheme of the online store

1. A potential buyer visits the site and selects the equipment he needs for a competitive price.

An acceptable price is ensured by the minimum cheat on the wholesale price of suppliers.

2. After the customer made an order on the website, the store employee (or the owner himself) orders the necessary goods from the supplier (in city ​​B).

3. The next day, the product is already in city ​​A, where it can be successfully delivered to the buyer even earlier than the agreed three-day period.

As a result, the buyer is satisfied, and the store made a profit.

2. Useful information for those who intend to open their online store

If you have chosen selling online, as a way to create or expand your business, then keep in mind that not so simple. It may seem that everything is extremely simple: you create a website for trading, you make a virtual storefront with goods, and then money just drops into your account.

In fact, as in any activity, it is necessary to invest certain funds and efforts to start.

Undoubtedly, online sales have their advantages and disadvantages. Let's look at them.

2.1. Positive (+) and negative (-) sides of opening an online store in comparison with a traditional offline store

Comparison Table Online Store VS Ordinary Store

Offline store

An ordinary store has these advantages (+):

• + the possibility of tactile and visual assessment of the goods, i.e. You can touch, smell, test products;
• + the presence of higher customer confidence (due to the fact that the buyer has the opportunity to check the quality of the product before it is purchased).

However, it has a traditional store and its disadvantages (- ):

• - the complexity of starting a business due to high investment (renting a room, buying the necessary equipment, running costs) is approximately 10 times more compared to the online store;
• - high monthly expenses (the same rent, utility bills, employee salaries, etc.) - 2-3 times above the store online.

Online store

Opening an online store has several advantages (+):

• + the need for relatively small initial investments in the business (due to the lack of a number of costs, for example, for the rental of retail and warehouse premises, electricity);
• + efficiency (mobility) of management;
• + minimum number of administrative inspections and control of state bodies;
• + more affordable price, which is due to the absence of a number of costs for the provision of activities.

Disadvantages (- ) online store:

• - low customer confidence in new stores (stores have to get it for months or even years);
• - a decrease in the share of customers due to the lack of the ability to check the quality of the goods before purchasing them.

I would like to draw attention to the fact that the disadvantages of the online store are ambiguous. If the store is well-established, will honestly and conscientiously work with its customers, then these shortcomings can be avoided.

The best examples are stores like "Ozon.ru" or "Zappos.com"who managed to win the trust of customers through hard work and minimizing the negative aspects of work.

2.2. 3 ways to open an online store

The choice of the method of opening a store depends on your knowledge of modern technology and the desire to receive this knowledge, as well as on the financial resources that you can allocate for the store.

So, there are three main ways to open an online store:

Method number 1. Independent work

As part of the implementation of this method, all technical aspects fall on your shoulders.

Thus, you yourself will have to choose hosting, domain, install CMS, make its settings, in addition, you will also keep the current settings.

Ready for such a load? Is your knowledge sufficient for a high-quality project implementation?

There is only one thing comfort - Costs are minimized.

Method number 2. Platforms and Constructors

Platforms are special automated services that facilitate the technical side of creating a store. With their help, it is easy to fill the store with images and information.

Working with platforms, in comparison with independent work, is much easier on the technical side, but it requires large financial costs.

Method number 3. Web studios

With good financing, it is much easier to ask for help with creating an online store for special companies (studios). All your requirements and wishes will be implemented in a finished store with individual design. True, the cost of services of such companies will be approximately from 500-1000 dollars (+ costs to support the site - from 100 $ / month)

3. Which online store is better to open a novice entrepreneur

For successful business, an entrepreneur must clearly know the desired goals, navigate the sphere of activity of his store, understand the subtleties of its specifics.

After analyzing the information on the Internet regarding the activities of future competitors, you can plan the amount of work. What matters is the product that will be sold, and the demand for it.

For a new person in this field, it is simply necessary to know the types of online stores, how they are classified, options and directions for the development of each of them. From the information received it is easier to draw professional conclusions and make managerial decisions.

3.1. Types of Online Stores - Specifics and Benefits

All stores on the Internet vary in classification types. Here are the main ones:

• In terms of sales.
• By product range.
• By the way of trading.

In terms of sales, all online stores can be divided into two groups:

1. Retailers. In such stores, products are sold in small quantities (up to 5 pieces) Depending on the product and its quantity in one order for the buyer, the price fluctuates from 100 to 10 thousand rubles.
2. Wholesale. Such stores sell products in batches. from 5 pieces or more. Unit price is cheaper than retail. The total purchase price may be from 500 rubles to half a million rubles. In wholesale stores, a lower price is offset by a larger sales volume. Buyers of wholesale stores can sell further goods at a higher price, setting their own conditions of sale.

Depending on the product range, there are two types of stores:

1. Mono-products (Landing). Shops whose site consists of only one landing page (Landing page). Read also the article: “Landing - what is it.” Such stores are aimed at selling an exceptional single product. For such sites, its content is important: high-quality photos of products, a detailed and correct description. Working with the site is simple, because there is no need to update catalogs and assortment. The profit from the sale of goods is individual and high enough, starting from 50% and reaching 1000% for certain products.
2. Directory sites (storefront sites). A lot of catalogs are created on such sites, new products are regularly added, collections are updated. Employees of such an online store regularly monitor the movement of goods, their availability, assortment, price changes and other site content. The margin, in the main, is minimal, the store receives profit from the volume of sales.

It is worth noting that for work a more acceptable second type of store. It gives the buyer the opportunity to choose, thereby delaying him on the site for a long time.

According to the method of trade, the following areas are distinguished:

1. The classic method. This form of trading is most common. The site is filled with information about the products, the products themselves at that time are already in the organization’s warehouse. When ordering, products from the warehouse are transported to the buyer. For convenience, delivery dates and product availability are announced.
2. Dropshipping In this case, the site is a showcase of goods. The principle of this form of trade is the absence of the actual location of the goods in the warehouse, or the absence of a warehouse at all. The goods at the time of placing the order are at suppliers who may be located in another city or even a state. The scheme is as follows: an order is placed on the site, then the necessary products are purchased from the supplier and then delivered to the buyer. The difference in prices is the profit of such a store. We have already written in more detail what dropshipping is in one of our articles.

Now knowing what types of online stores exist, you need to determine which types for each of the classification features your store will correspond to.

3.2. Existing options for opening an online store: yourself from scratch (almost no investment) and with investment

At the stage when the image of the future store is formed, it remains to solve the financial part of the issue, namely, how much money will be required to start such a business.

There are two directions depending on the amount of investments:

1. Opening an online store from scratch, i.e. with minimal investment;
2. Opening IM with certain investments.

Option number 1. Opening an online store "from scratch" (with minimal cash investment)

The first option is suitable for those who sell a single product. As part of the minimum cost, a site for the company must be created independently, and you will also need to place an advertisement.

In practice, the approximate cost of opening a store will be from 100 to 200 dollars.

On the Internet, you will need to find a special service that helps in opening a trading platform. They are paid and free, of course, and the functionality is appropriate for the price. When working with a landing page (selling one product), creating a store website will take a couple of days.

Option number 2. Opening an online store with financial investments

In the second option, when cash financing is needed, it all depends on the amount of financing.

If you have several thousand dollars or more, you can already talk about the scale of the project. At the same time, you can count on placing a huge range of products, creating a team of specialists, working with a large volume of products.

If you do not have such an amount, then it is realistic to invest in one thousand dollars. However, you should pay special attention to planning, and then the effectiveness of the site, the availability of orders and the receipt of profits are guaranteed.

The main cost items are rationally distributed in this way:

• Creation of a site, its content, current work with the site - up to 1500-4000 dollars.
• Keeping records in the 1C system - up to 140-200 dollars.
• Purchase of products - up to 1,500 dollars.
• Advertising - from 40 dollars every month.

Note that each reduced cost can be reduced to zero, subject to the independent implementation of the relevant paragraph. And the cost of each position is determined individually, depending on the capabilities and knowledge of the owner of the online store.

3.3. What is now profitable to sell in the online store - the best-selling products on the Internet

Not every product has a demand on the Internet. When creating a new business, it is very important to choose the direction of trade most demanded in the network. When expanding the existing one, think about whether the sales via the Internet will bring the planned profit or will only increase the size of the costs.

The most popular goods sold in online stores are these are books. Why? Yes, because when buying books from buyers, there is no doubt about the quality of the products and their contents. Consequently, the level of trust in online bookstores is the highest.

A fairly high level of sales is observed in household appliances, computers and software for them, cosmetics, perfumes.

Slightly lower is the demand for the sale of household goods, clothes and shoes, children's goods, hotel and ticket reservation services, and for the sale of music and video.

4. How to open an online store from full zero - step by step instructions

When all thoughts and ideas about the future business are formed, it's time to move on to the implementation of all the accumulated ideas into reality. To do this, go through 7 the main steps of the technology to open an online store.

How to create (open) an online store yourself for free - 7 basic steps

Step number 1. Selection of products for sale

Having already considered what products are most profitable to sell in the online store, you need to make a choice for your store. This first step lays the foundation for all your future activities, therefore it is very important.

For its implementation, first of all, it’s worth evaluate potential market, to study the activities of competitors, determine the availability of free market niches.

Some are trying to go, as it might seem, the easiest way and enter the market with a new product. At first glance, this gives good prospects due to the lack of competition, but if you take into account all the factors, it turns out that there are no sales markets, and competitors will appear in the future.

Least risky option - the sale of already proven products, but which is difficult to find in an ordinary store. Trends in these markets are easy to track and predict.

An example of an online store selling children's products

When choosing suppliers, you should not focus on only one, you always need to work on finding new cooperation on more favorable terms.

Step number 2. Creating a sales site

As they say in the famous proverb "Meet by clothes." The site is the "clothes" of your store, and the profitability of your business depends on its quality.

An important aspect is site name, i.e. him domain. It should be easy to remember and reflect the essence of the store’s product. After choosing a site name, you should choose a site content management system (CMS).

CMS are paid and free. The most popular and functional among free "OpenCart" and "PrestaShop", it is also possible to create an online store on the most popular platform for creating WordPress sites.

To install them, you need to go to the official website of the system, download the boot file in the form of an archive.

You can download WordPress on the official website - //ru.wordpress.org/download/

Further, following the step-by-step instructions from any search engine, you need to install CMS on the hosting.

We recommend reading a detailed article - "How to create your own website step by step instructions"

When creating a site and forming its design, it is desirable to make it more informative and at the same time simple for users. This is a guarantee of site traffic.

You can install themes and plugins for the full functioning of the online store on the WordPress platform.

You can download a special theme on WordPress for the full functioning of the online store

Step number 3. Organization of the new store

The next step is to register your organization. Here you also need to decide: register as individual entrepreneur (IP), or register a full legal entity.

The process of registration of IP is easier due to the lack of formation of the authorized capital, statutory documents, orders and other necessary documentation. Accounting is maintained according to a simplified scheme.

One of the negative aspects of IP registration is the sole responsibility of the entrepreneur (including all of his property).

In the case of registration of any legal entity (LLC, OJSC, ZAO and others), liability for property is much less, but more red tape with documentation and accounting. Everything about registering an LLC is written in the article - "How to open an LLC yourself - step-by-step instruction." It also describes all the necessary documents and actions that will be needed for registration.

Any of the options is acceptable for opening an online store, the choice depends on your preferences.

Step number 4. Taxes

The simplest taxation scheme is offered for individual entrepreneurs, so the owners of online stores are mostly private entrepreneurs.

According to the simplified taxation scheme (STS) it is necessary to compile a minimum number of reports. She is pretty simple. Within its framework, the following tax rates are proposed:

• 6% - in the event that income is the basis of taxation;
• 15% - in the event that profit (i.e. income less expenses) is the basis of taxation.

Any person registered as an individual entrepreneur can pay taxes under the simplified tax system.

We also recommend reading about the patent tax system (POS) and what types of activities fall under the PPS

Step number 5. Staffing for an online store

It is not difficult to guess that the staff by the employee depends on the scale of the online store. At a minimum, a small store can be supported by one employee — you.

For stores with a wider sales volume, other employees will be needed. The main positions that should be in the staff of the online store: administrator, employee (or several employees) of the service of reception, processing and delivery of orders.

Step number 6. Choosing a method of payment for goods

The most convenient, proven and credible customer is the cash payment method. Money is paid in person to the courier who delivered the products.

When sending by mail, it is possible to pay cash on delivery, that is, cash upon receipt of the parcel at the post office.

You need to provide the maximum number of payment methods for products in the online store to reach potential buyers

Another payment option is Webmoney, Yandex.Money and others, as well as payment to a Mastercard or Visa card through an acquiring terminal. Details about acquiring - what it is and how it works we wrote in a separate publication.

Often online stores offer all of these payment options, the choice is made by the buyer based on their preferences.

Step number 7. Adjustment of delivery of goods

The solution to the issue of delivery is acute for all entrepreneurs engaged in trade through the Internet. There are unforeseen failures, even theft, which extremely negatively affects the organization’s reputation.

The first decision to make is whether to take your courier to staff or use a third-party delivery service. This decision may be affected by the availability of courier control (or lack thereof, if it is an outside organization) and trust in them.

5. How to create and run an online store yourself for free - 5 important steps

If you carefully and responsibly approach all points of creating an online store, then launching a trading platform is not so difficult. To do this, just follow the steps below.

Stage number 1. Market Analysis: Niche Analysis and Product Selection

As already noted earlier, the choice of a niche and product is extremely important for all further work. That is why so much attention is paid to him.

When determining a niche, it is worth paying attention to the selection criteria:

• Demand. Within the framework of this criterion, it is necessary to analyze the demand of each planned item. To do this, check the frequency of how much people are interested in them, analyze reviews on sites and forums.
• Competition. Analyze the prices and conditions of your future competitors, namely online stores selling the same products. Pay attention to their weaknesses. Take into account the number of direct and indirect competitors. Active sales can be considered a positive result under conditions of low competition.
• Seasonality (its absence). It is profitable to sell seasonal goods only in a specific period of time, the rest of the time there is a decline in sales, and hence in profitability. Try to occupy a niche with goods that are in demand all year round. It obviously should not be umbrellas, sledges, sunglasses, fur coats. Of course you can sell such products, but they certainly should not be the main one for your activity.

Also, when choosing products for sale, we recommend that you pay attention to cooperation with China and read the article - “Business with China - where to start your business”

There is one proven option for evaluating the correctness of the choice of a niche:

1. Hammer into any Yandex.Wordstat search engine.
2. Follow the link and type in a search phrase, for example, "! Running! Running shoes." Pay attention to the punctuation marks, they are not random here and affect the result.
3. Analyze the received figures.

This is the number of requests to buy a given product in the last month. For a more accurate result, you can choose sorting by region.

Stage number 2. Business plan

Now open "MS Word" and "MS Excel", or we take a pen, a piece of paper and a calculator in the old fashioned way, as part of this step, you have to make calculations, draw up a business plan. (Here you can download ready-made examples of business plans for free). The resulting calculations will give a concrete picture of the upcoming costs and projected profits, as well as the timing of the onset of profitability.

The business plan includes the following mandatory sections:

• Justification of the upcoming project.
• Legal information (includes definition of individual entrepreneur or legal entity, nuances of registration, preparation of necessary documentation).
• Description of goods and services (specifically, clearly, most fully)
• Market analysis (information about competitors, their products, sales, prices, marketing aspects, analysis of the methods of work of competitors and contractors)
• Production plan (calculation of the quantity and cost of the necessary equipment, premises, calculation of the cost of consumables, planning the delivery process, its cost, determining a clear sequence of production from the first stage to the last)
• Organizational plan (planning the organization of the process of activity taking into account time criteria)
• Financial plan (calculation of absolutely all planned costs, including one-time fees and regular payments; determination of profitability and break-even point)
• Risk assessment (risk assessment in positive, realistic and negative scenarios, assessment of expected results, analysis of project payback)
• Conclusion (summing up, conclusions)

The structure of the business plan, as well as the degree of detail of the sections, depends on the size of the future project and the chosen niche.

Stage number 3. Creation of the design of IM, development of its functionality and commodity filling

Development and creation of design, functionality - filling the online store with content

To solve all the tasks posed regarding the design, content, site tools, you can go in three ways:

1) Create an online store yourself and for free

We choose a simple and free online store engine for a quick start.

Top 10 most popular CMS-systems for content management:

1. OpenCart
2. PrestaShop;
3. Virtue Mart (Joomla);
4. WooCommerce
5. osCommerce;
6. Magento;
7. UberCart (Drupal);
8. Moguta.CMS;
9. Shop-Script Free;
10. Taberna CMS.

All these engines have proven themselves on the positive side.

2) Use a ready site

To implement this direction, it is worth doing the following:

1. Go to "umi-cms.ru";
2. Go to the section "Ready sites";
3. Go to the Online Stores tab

This section describes all the conditions and requirements for creating the necessary site yourself.

3) Use the services of professionals to develop an online store

This path does not require any effort at all, but it requires financial costs. Within its framework, it is necessary to find professionals who will perform all the work on the site to bring it into a ready state.

The result is a well-executed online store, layout, the presence of correctly and safely configured all types of payment systems, all kinds of payment methods.

In the future, the finished site can be filled independently or by contacting the same specialists.

To avoid administrative problems, it is important to correctly draw up registration documents (you should open an IP or LLC), as well as constantly have documents confirming this registration.

The process of registering an enterprise is also not necessary to go on its own, because there are many organizations that are ready to take on the registration process, not for free, of course.

Stage number 4. Online store advertising and promotion

In order to find out about you, to buy from you, you just need to conduct an advertising campaign, even if only a small one.

There are many variations of advertising on the Internet, the most popular among them are:

• Contextual - An ad regularly shown on selected pages and sites.
• Banner - This is an image that is displayed on the most frequently visited sites; it contains links to the advertised site.
• Teaser - an advertisement containing a piece of information about a product that is presented in the form of a riddle or intrigue. Such advertising causes additional interest, thereby forcing to follow the link.

We described in more detail about popular types of online advertising in the article “Advertising on the Internet - types and costs”, where we cited the TOP-10 of the most effective areas of online advertising with illustrative examples.

When creating advertising, it is important to evaluate your capabilities correctly. If skills allow, you can implement the advertisement yourself. If in doubt, it is best to seek the help of competent specialists who will help you choose the type of advertisement you want, its design, content, and also coordinate its placement in the necessary places.

Such advertising services can be designed for a minimum budget, of course, and advertising will be appropriate.

Stage number 5. Work with orders and received funds

So, all the important steps have already been taken, now it remains only to catch orders, realize them, receive the first income, and then analyze the activity, site traffic, the number of orders.

To attract customers, you can use the "cold calls", that is, make calls to potential customers with whom you have not previously contacted.

In the process, it is advisable to regularly analyze the relevance of the sale of a product, follow the comments and wishes of customers, and in the future refuse to sell unpopular goods, replacing it with more popular ones.

The resulting budget must be carefully planned, not forgetting to allocate funds for the purchase of a new product and always for advertising.

6. 8 effective ways to promote (promote) an online store online

To attract as many customers as possible to the new online store, its promotion on the Internet is necessary.

Promotion provides a constant update of the customer base, an all new and new stream of customers for the store. This ensures uninterrupted operation of the store and regular receipt of orders, which means profit.

The main ways to promote an online store are as follows:

• Promotion in the most popular search engines
• Promotion through product search and selection systems
• Advertising in thematic and regional Internet resources
• Social networks
• Promotion through sites offering discount coupons
• Application affiliate programs
• Email Newsletter
• Custom Advertising

Consider each of the methods in more detail.

Method 1. Search Engines

For effective advertising through search engines, the product must have a certain fame, or fame among similar products. Also, such advertising can be an addition to advertising placed in print media, on billboards around the city, on social networks.

The effectiveness of such advertising reaches almost 100%. Why? The buyer simply speaks out about the need to buy a specific product when he enters its name in a search engine.

It is wise to offer your products to those who need it!

Search engine advertising can be of three types:

1. Contextual
2. SEO
3. ICD.

We will analyze them in more detail.

1) Contextual advertising

This type of advertising is a text ad in the most popular search engines (Yandex, Google, Mail.ru), as well as on partner sites.

Advantages (+):

• performance - potential buyers will see ads in a couple of days after payment by the customer;
• the use of filters - you can limit the display of advertising by time, region, by key phrase (only for those who are looking for a specific product in a search engine);
• Paid only transitions to the site.

Disadvantages (- ):

• the price of a click with high competition is high, so it’s not always profitable

You can read in more detail in the article - “Contextual advertising - what it is and how it works”

2) SEO - online store promotion in search engines

The bottom line is that the site for the given key phrases and words occupies paramount positions in the most popular search engines.

Advantages (+):

• cheaper cost with the right promotion (for the long term);
• greater customer confidence in search results than, for example, contextual advertising;
• there is no pay per click, payment is only charged for optimization.

Disadvantages (- ):

• long term for obtaining results (from three months);
• risk of failure - it is impossible to guarantee the site is in the top of the search engine;
• too much time spent on changing key phrases (for example, in the case of the introduction of a new product).

3) ICD - display contextual banner

An advertisement containing advertising text and an image (animation). In fact, this is the same contextual advertising, but not text, but media.

Advantages (+):

• attractiveness - the banner is more dynamic, creative, bright;
• singularity - there is always only one ICD on the page with search results;
• filter settings: display by region, specific user;
• contains contact information, which is prohibited in contextual advertising.

Disadvantages (- ):

• payment is charged for impressions, ICD does not guarantee go to the store website;
• it’s impossible to plan the costs of ICD eg, a purchase of 5,000 impressions can be expended both in a week and in several months.

Method 2. Promotion using search and selection systems

This method is implemented due to the presence of such trading platforms for the selection and comparison of goods as:

• market.yandex.ru;
• price.ru;
• torg.mail.ru;
• yourmart.ru and other similar services.

Often, payment is charged for going to the advertiser's website, although there is also a set fee for one product.

The advantage of this promotion is the confidence of customers in such sites.

Method 3. Advertising in thematic and regional Internet resources

This promotion option is ideal for new products on the market with unformed demand. Thanks to posting on thematic resources, information about the product is received by those who are interested in it.

for exampleWhen selling sports nutrition products, it is advisable to advertise on sites about fitness clubs and sports resources.

If the sale of your product is limited geographically, then it is worth advertising it on territorial sites that are regularly visited by residents of this region.

Among these resources can be identified:

• forums
• blogs
• city ​​portals
• sites of city attractions,
• regional news sites.

Method 4. Social networks

Social networks - A very vast space for advertising information, on which many people spend almost all their free time. For them, this is not only an entertainment portal, but also a source of almost all information. This is a separate world in which there are blogs, forums, news pages and more.

There are several variations of promoting an online store on social networks:

• Group. A separate group is created, which is filled with the offered goods with their photos and descriptions, and potential buyers are invited.
• Aggressive. Search for buyers through the search and placement of product information on their wall or sending a personal message with product offers.
• Advertising. Advertising on social networks is much easier, because they know almost everything about their users. As a result, the selected target audience sees the advertising messages.

The disadvantage of this promotion is that its effectiveness is significantly lower than in search engines. This is because users focus on the main content of social networks, rather than on ad units.

Method 5. Promotion through sites offering discount coupons

If you have goods that you can really make a big discount, you can use this method to promote your online store.

Such sites, groups, charge a fee of from 25 to 50% from turnover. You get the fame of the trading site, as well as expanding the customer base.

Gruponov is a very large number, here are the most popular:

• groupon.ru,
• vigoda.ru,
• biglion.ru.

Method 6. Using affiliate programs

Affiliate programs are beneficial only if there are mutual recommendations, as well as maintaining a common customer base. Then such cooperation is free and motivated.

Method 7. Emailing

This does not mean sending standard spam to everyone, but sending emails to interested users only, possibly from your client base. Then such letters will not cause user irritation, but interest.

An additional incentive may be the provision of a small discount (around 5%), if customers follow the link from the letter and make a purchase.

Method 8. Custom advertising

This refers to all other types of advertising containing elements of creativity, novelty, any intrigue or riddle, sometimes even shock, bright PR.

The best effect of advertising will be when combining various types of promotion, adding individual elements of the creative.

7. The most popular questions for beginners to open a new online store

For a more complete disclosure of this topic, we note the most frequently asked questions from the creators of their online store. So let's go!

Question No. 1: When opening a store on the network, what should be done first things first? Which products are best sold?

First of all, it is necessary to determine the product being sold and evaluate its market niche, competitiveness, and think out a business plan.

Next, you should proceed directly to the creation of an online store site (independently or with the help of third-party organizations).

Question No. 2: How much does it cost to open an online store and what expenses do you have to incur?

The cost depends on the scale of the project, the number of goods sold, sales volumes.

In principle, you can count on a minimum budget, while having the necessary knowledge and skills.

In general, the average start-up budget for an online store varies from 500 to 1000 dollars.

Question No. 3: Please list the main engines (designers) that will help you create an online store for free yourself from scratch.

The most common engines (CMS-systems for content management):

• "PrestaShop";
• "OpenCart";
• Joomla + Virtuemart

Their popularity is due to the best combination of functionality, simplicity, accessibility, and they are absolutely free.

Constructors with a Russian-language management interface (the options that are necessary for online stores were taken into account):

• "Insales.ru";
• "Ucoz.ru";
• "Shop-script";
• "Umi.ru";
• Storeland.ru
• "Malle.ru" and others.

Question No. 4: What needs to be done if there is no money to open a store at all? What are the ways to solve this problem?

It is better to postpone the opening of the store until such time as accumulate the necessary funds.

There is absolutely no way to spend absolutely nothing on starting, and using borrowed funds is quite risky.

Question No. 5: What would you advise to start if there is funding, but there are time limits?

Simple as that - contact specialized firms. They will do all the work for you, as they say, "turnkey".

Also take advantage of popular and effective services to increase sales and / or advance on the Internet. For example, the connection of the Internet Acquiring service.

Question No. 6: Where can I buy and sell an online store?

Refer to one of the main sites for the purchase (sale) of stores:

• "BusinessesForSale" - section "Internet shops";
• "Forum Turnover"- section" Attraction of investments ";
• "Avito.ru"- type of business in the drop-down list" online stores ";
• "Bizzona.ru";
• "Biztorg.ru"- category" Online Stores ";
• "Telderi.ru"- exchange of sites and domains (online stores are also sold)

You can also use the services of brokers:

• "Altera Invest";
• "Capital Invest";
• "Re: saleExpert";
• "BaysWater";
• "Scania Invest";
• "Firstrealty".

P.S. You can also leave your feedback on the companies listed above in the comments at the end of the article.

8. Conclusion + video on the topic

Opening any business, including an online store, is a very laborious, but entertaining process. It requires special skills and knowledge, without which you will need to spend quite a lot of time to get them.

However, opening a store online has advantages. Significant advantages:

• relatively small financial costs;
• trading platform - virtual;
• it is possible to work bypassing intermediaries, i.e. with the manufacturer’s warehouse.

In any case, in order to achieve the set goal, it is enough to purposefully move according to the described scheme, correctly evaluate the amount of expenses, plan the budget. To open an online store is real even without experience, practically from scratch.

And finally, we recommend watching the video of Evgeny Popov - “3 ways to create an online store”

Watch the video: How to create a Facebook business page - step by step instructions (April 2024).