eCommerce checklist: what to do before opening an online shop

Technology is making great strides; in recent years, online shopping has experienced exponential growth, with the pandemic accelerating even more the predisposition toward web shopping, resulting in a veritable explosion of eCommerce. We have witnessed, even in Italy, a total change in habits, with an increasing preference for online commerce.

More and more companies have sensed the incredible opportunity to move their business online, thus being able to reach millions of users around the world and considerably increase turnover.

How does an online shop work and what are the main steps for a successful eCommerce?

Table of Contents:
What is an online shop?
Why open an eCommerce?
Opening an online shop, advantages and disadvantages
Online shop, the bureaucratic aspects
How much does it cost to open an online store?
Opening an online shop: the checklist
Carefully evaluate the costs and draw up a business plan
Analyze the market
Define a marketing strategy
Choose the right domain name
Choose a hosting service
Define the structure of the site
What is an online shop?
An eCommerce, or online shop, for all intents and purposes denotes a website that hosts products or services, offering its customers a convenient and flexible way to shop from the comfort of their own home and in complete security, including payments.

Why open an eCommerce?
The reason is very simple, opening an eCommerce brings incredible advantages to meet the needs of consumers who, especially today, want smart tools to research and purchase products.

What’s more, most companies now complement their physical store with a virtual one. Indeed, some have even decided to completely abandon offline and devote themselves entirely to online.

Therefore, whether you want to open an online shop from scratch or give your existing business a boost, the choice to start an eCommerce is undoubtedly a sensible one. The key thing is to keep in mind what are the advantages, disadvantages and steps to take in order not to make mistakes.

Opening an online shop, advantages and disadvantages
Thus, we have seen that an online shop is a fantastic method of enriching corporate business. Buying and selling on the web is easy, fast and safe.

For an entrepreneur, opening an online store has many advantages, including:

• Cost reduction. Indeed, it is clear that an online store has a significantly lower cost than a physical location. Just think of rent, utility bills, condo expenses and so on.
• Reduction of distribution costs. By opening an ecommerce you will be able to skip the middlemen: in this way it will be possible to offer products at lower and more competitive prices.
• Maximum flexibility and creativity. If you open an online store you will be able to customize it as you see fit, creating, for example, marketing campaigns, promotions and much more.
  Monitoring customer activity. This is a key aspect, with an online shop you can realize the customer’s experience within your site. By doing this you can continue to improve the online store by introducing new features, new functionality and so on.

Of course, opening an online shop does not only have positive aspects, there are obviously disadvantages that must be carefully evaluated to avoid making mistakes. Among the main negative factors we can mention:

• Very high competition. The same product can be found on dozens of other sites, so you’ll have to be good at differentiating yourself from the competition.
  Waiting and shipping costs. Your online store will need to have a state-of-the-art shipping system, trying not to burden customers economically.
• Lack of face-to-face interaction with the customer. Of course, an online shop does not contemplate the possibility of having direct contact with the customer, who will have to find the information about a specific product he or she is interested in on his or her own.
• Any technical issues that may render the site inaccessible and must be promptly resolved by an expert in the field. Computer security risks should also not be underestimated.

Online shop, the bureaucratic aspects
Before we deal with the practical and business aspects of an online shop, it is good to know what the mandatory bureaucratic requirements are in order to start the business.

The process to be followed is the same for all commercial activities. First of all, if you do not yet have it, you must open the VAT number by identifying the Ateco code related to the activity you have to carry out, in this sense it is always preferable to contact a professional.

Secondly, you will have to proceed with registration with the business registry, thus notifying the start of the activity. Finally, you have to get in compliance with the Inps positions, according to the reference fund, and INAIL.

Opening an online store does not require any special licenses or obligations.

How much does it cost to open an online store?
Of course, it is difficult to quantify precisely how much it costs to open an eCommerce, in fact it depends on several variables. In fact, the costs are not only related to the creation of the platform and thus the development of the site.

Before opening an online shop you need to identify the market niche you want to enter, making a careful and thorough analysis of the project you have in your head. Once this is done, you can move on to the stage of building the eCommerce store, where you will decide on the site setup, the various technical features and much more.

Always start with a predetermined budget: later you can always increase it also according to the performance of your online business. You will have to allocate funds to marketing campaigns that will be used to advertise the site, and this is a crucial phase for the success of the project.

Opening an online shop: the checklist
Once you have made a final decision to open an online shop, it is good to keep in mind a number of points. We have so far seen what are the advantages related to such a business, why it is so trendy today to buy online and why there are less beneficial aspects that should definitely not be underestimated.

What is the ultimate checklist to consider before starting your new online shop?

Carefully evaluate costs and draw up a business plan
As with any business, opening an eCommerce requires analysis from a business perspective. You will therefore need to quantify, as accurately as possible, the various costs you will incur.

Of course, as we have seen, opening an online store does not require the same economic outlay as a physical store. Therefore, you will not have to deal with rent, utility bills and more.

In any case it is advisable to draw up a business plan, this will allow you to find the balance point between costs and revenues. In this way you will also be able to estimate a turnover to be achieved in order to have profits.

Analyze the market
Choosing the market niche you want to deal with is crucial, once you have done it you will have to do a deep analysis to understand the dynamics of that specific sector, including any risk factors.

There are numerous steps you can take to do this, for example, a good idea is to study your competitors carefully, see how they move, what they offer, how they work, and what products they handle. This will help you understand how the market moves and set trends. Of course, studying your competitors will also enable you to figure out what prices to charge for your products.

Another crucial aspect concerns keyword research. We know how important it is to have a well-done online shop, but no less important is to know what keywords are crucial for placing your website at the top in search engines. As mentioned earlier, the ecommerce industry is extremely competitive, so you need your online shop to be easy to find by potential customers, and to do this you need to delve into keywords.

Define a marketing strategy
Advertising is the soul of commerce. How many times have you heard this phrase, and nothing could be truer. A winning marketing strategy will undoubtedly allow you to have increase your business, but it is not just an exercise in style. In fact, you need to study each strategy thoroughly in order to compete in your target market.

The main goal of the marketing plan is to attract as many new visitors to your online shop and, most importantly, turn them into customers. There are many tools at your disposal, there are social campaigns, email marketing and much more.

Choosing the right domain name
It may seem like mere formality, but the choice of name is crucial. In this regard, a short, impactful domain name that can immediately communicate your area of expertise and the products you sell is always preferable.

To date, the choice of extension is also crucial: you have two options, to focus on the most popular domains (the .it or the .com, for example) or to choose a new TLD that makes your business recognizable right away. Among these, .shop might be the ideal solution.

Choosing a Hosting Service
The choice of Hosting is crucial since it represents the actual basic structure behind your eCommerce. Ideally, a web space must be able to guarantee certain performance, such as speed, security, scalability and offer customers timely support.

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Define the structure of the site
The site must have an attractive and functional design, which means that all aspects must be taken care of in order to ensure an optimal user experience.

It is also important that the website design be responsive, meaning it can be viewed properly on all mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.