It’s obvious that Covid-19 has had a monumental impact on just about every industry and business in the world. Countless businesses have had to shut their doors or switch to delivery only, causing a substantial spike in online shopping. We live in unprecedented times, and almost every small business cannot thrive without a website or purely digital method of sales.
With around 900,000 domains being registered online every week, trends are reflecting that more and more e-commerce platforms are taking the place of brick and mortar stores. Though this was a trend before the virus, quarantine has only jump-started this migration to online shopping. So, where do you start when moving your products into an online store? In this blog post, we will cover 5 crucial steps to take when establishing your first e-commerce site.
1. Compile Your List of Products
While it may seem quite obvious that you should have a list of products to sell, the hard part comes with deciding which products you will feature the most. Take into account important details like shipping weight, fragility, popularity, and aesthetic appeal. Once you have a comprehensive list of your store’s products, you can get to creating a page for all of them.
2. Invest in High-Quality Photography
A digital product is only as good as its marketing. People are not going to be able to test or pick up your product, so take several high-quality photos of each product from different angles. Try different lighting, but work to create a simple backdrop that can be shared amongst all of your product photos. This will help your shop gallery feel unified and cohesive.
3. Tell a Story With Your Descriptions
Pictures are crucial to each product listing, but so is the bio. Explain where your product came from, along with some attributes that make your product special. If you are selling soap, makeup, or perishables, include the ingredients and methods that you used to make your product. People love to learn more about a product before buying it, so make your descriptions personal and helpful.
4. Develop an Aesthetic Shop Page
Your e-commerce CMS of choice is most likely already enabled with shop-building features that you can explore and play around with. Look to find a gallery interface that helps your product photos pop, while still allowing for a legible navigation bar. A great rule of thumb is to start out with your product pages and develop your site’s aesthetic around emphasizing your products’ colors and shapes.
5. Promote, Promote, Promote!
Once you are happy with your site and are ready to launch, publish it out into the world. Share it to your personal social media, or create dedicated social media accounts just for your company. This way, buyers can tag you in their posts, further promoting your products. If you are out and about frequently, it’s a great idea to print business cards to leave places and give to others. There are countless ways to promote your shop site, so get creative!
Without a doubt, an online shop with high-quality photos and an aesthetically pleasing interface is bound to garner a lot of attention. Don’t be afraid to make changes to your site as you go along, and get out there are promote your products!
