The Complete Guide to How to Start an Online Store in 2024

Last updated - November 22, 2024

The ease of managing an online store and the ability to reach a larger customer base are two major reasons for the shift from traditional to online shopping.

“How to start an online store” remains a common query as the e-commerce industry grows and is projected to become an $8 trillion industry by 2027.

In the past, online shopping primarily occurred through websites. However, there has been a paradigm shift toward mobile applications, social media-integrated shopping carts, and similar innovations.

These trends were initially embraced by industry giants, but increasing affordability has enabled smaller stores to adapt and thrive.

In this blog, we will be discussing on all the possible groundwork one has to understand before starting an online store.

Steps on How to Start an Online Store in 2024

Here are steps that you need to get hold of to know how to start an online store in 2024:

Define your Niche and Targeted Audience

The first and most reliable way to find a niche for your online store is to choose an area where you have expertise and passion. Pick out a few that you can rely on.

The best way to identify these niches is through refined Google searches. Filters like quality, demographics, and price range can help narrow down options.

Once you decide on an area, it is necessary to understand whether that particular idea has got market value. One useful metric for research is TAM or Total Addressable Market.

TAM focuses on specific demographics, such as age, to calculate potential revenue within that group.

Google Trends can also be a tool to figure out fall and rise of search queries in a particular product or service.

Identifying the right buyer persona helps streamline your marketing efforts over the long term. It also aids in formulating a plan before the launch of your online store.

Tips to Finding the Right Buyer Persona

Research your targeted customers
Identify patterns and commonalities
Build the Persona

Choosing the Right E-commerce Platform

Many e-commerce platforms can help host your online store. Let’s pick the popular ones and look at a comparison of different features:

Features	WooCommerce	Shopify	BigCommerce	WIX
Ease of Use	Moderate; Requires some technical knowledge	Easy to use; Beginner friendly	Built-in scalability for high-volume stores	User-friendly with drag and drop editor
Customizability	Customizable with coding	Customizable with codes	Limited customizability	Limited customization
Scalability	Depends on hosting quality	Highly scalable	Built-in scalability for high volume stores	Best suited for small to medium businesses.
Best For	Tech-savvy users	Beginners and advanced users	High-volume businesses	Beginners and small business owners
Themes and Designs	Free and paid themes	Lots of free and paid themes	Limited responsive themes	Modern and customizable templates
SEO	Excellent; SEO plugins like RankMath and Yoast	Strong; with different apps to choose from	Requires manual customization	Good for basic SEO
Pricing	WooCommerce Pricing	Shopify Pricing	BigCommerce Pricing	WIX Pricing

WooCommerce

Pros:

Full control over the store
No recurring platform fees; the Core plugin is free of cost
Powerful SEO capabilities

Cons:

Quite technical hence a steeper learning curve
Hosting-dependent
Self-Maintenance

Shopify

Pros:

Faster
Beginner-friendly
Good integrations

Cons:

Very Expensive for larger stores
Additional 2% transaction fee
Limited customization

BigCommerce

Pros:

Built-in features
No extra-transaction fees
Scalability

Cons:

Limited Customization
Pricing tied to sales volume
Learning curve for advanced features

WIX

Pros:

User-Friendly
Affordable Plans
Complete Package

Cons

Fewer payment gateways
Limited scalability
Selective customization

These insights will help you choose the right e-commerce platform for your business in 2024.

Designing your online store

Your website’s layout and design should align with your business objectives and resonate with your target audience. The visual identity of your website needs to match with what your business is providing.

For example, if you’re an artist selling paintings, a colorful and vibrant website is ideal. A dull, minimalistic design may not appeal to your audience. An immediate visual connection is necessary for the customers to trust you.

Choosing an existing template or customizing one for your eCommerce store depends entirely on your brand’s needs. Some points should not be overlooked like responsive design, detailed product categories, faster loading times, compatibility with e-commerce plugins, etc.

Next, it is essential to provide proper navigation throughout the website.

Clear navigation is essential for a positive user experience. Strategically placed CTAs guide customers and prevent them from abandoning your site prematurely. Confusion can lead to early abandoning of websites which is not beneficial for growth.

Guest Checkouts are one thing that usually people miss out on. It is upto the users whether they want to sign up or make the purchase as a guest. So, give them the option of making the purchase without the need of opening an account.

Adding Products and Creating Engaging Description

Clarity in product images and descriptions is another way to engage customers in your online store, and it can also help customers make a purchasing decision.

Professional product photography can be investment-intensive. Initially, you can make use of many DIY ideas which are available across different channels to ace your skills.

With short attention spans, it’s crucial to capture customer curiosity quickly.

While photographs grab attention, crafting specific, engaging product descriptions is equally crucial.

Product descriptions are another means to amp up the SEO of your website.

An example of a product description:

“The Elegant Everyday Tote is perfect for women juggling work, family, and social life, all while staying stylish. Crafted from premium vegan leather, this water-resistant bag offers multiple compartments, including a padded laptop pocket and a secure zipper section for valuables. With comfortable handles and an adjustable strap, it’s versatile for both office and casual outings. Available in classic shades like black, tan, and blush pink, it’s an eco-friendly option that combines style and function. Order today and enjoy free shipping on orders over $50!”

Setting Up Payment and Shipping Options

An online store’s success does not just depend on product quality but also payment and delivery.

If the payment and delivery experience are below par, then the chances of customer retention are pretty low.

First, ensure there are enough payment options available to cater to your customers’ preferences. Let’s look into some of the popular payment gateways:

PayPal

Pros

Wide acceptance
Ease of integration
Buyer protection

Cons

High transaction charges
Time-consuming withdrawals
Target of scammers

Stripe

Pros

Highly customizable
Global support
Advanced features

Cons

High processing fee
Requires technical expertise
Account suspensions

BlueSnap

Pros

Built-in Fraud Protection
Intelligent Payment Routing
All-in-one interface

Cons

Poor Customer Support
Complicated Interface
Chargeback Fees

Shopify Payments

Pros

Automatically set with Shopify
Competitive transaction rates
Easily track payments

Cons

High payment for advanced plan
Only available in select countries
Limited customization

When it comes to shipping rates for online stores, you can decide among free shipping, flat rate shipping and calculated shipping rates.

Free shipping usually has a good impact on the customers. The chances of sale conversion are much better when free shipping is in place. Strategize the product prices in such a way that you can afford to provide free shipping to your customers.

Flat rate shipping offers predictable costs to the customers. You can either set a flat rate for the entire store or you can set it based on weights of products.

Calculated shipping rates are displayed at checkout and depend on factors such as destination, weight, size, and delivery time.

To make your online store more customer-friendly, make sure to mention the return policies as well.

Legal and Security Compliance of the Online Store

Legal compliance protects your online store from potential legal complications. Drafting legal policies for returns, user data protection i.e., GDPR policy for European Union, cookies policy, etc.

Security compliances are essential for online stores as they deal with a lot of data with respect to payments.

An SSL certificate is fundamental for e-commerce sites, as it ensures secure transactions. Providing users with two-factor authentication. PCI compliance need to be followed to make sure that cardholder’s information protected.

Launching your Online Store

When you finish off the above steps, you are towards the last step of “How to start an online store?”

The final step will require to formulation of a detailed marketing plan for the launch. You’ll also need to focus on implementing effective e-commerce SEO strategies.

The marketing plan can start only when you have a good database of your customers.

You can use this database to create a pre-launch email list to build excitement. It can create a good buzz over the launch of your store.

As social media holds quite a place, you can use influencers from there to soft launch your e-commerce website.

E-commerce SEO strategies include targeting the right keywords, title tags and meta description, SEO-focused product descriptions, links and CTAs etc.

Conclusion

Starting an online store in 2024 is simpler than ever with the right tools and strategies. Choose the right platform, design a user-friendly store, and implement effective marketing to attract customers. Stay adaptable and customer-focused to grow your business and succeed in the thriving eCommerce world. Ready to begin? Start today and bring your vision to life!

FAQs

What is the best platform to start an online store in 2024?

It depends on your needs. If you have good technical knowledge or are planning to hire an expert, then you can use WordPress and the likes. If you need a user-friendly website builder, then you can go for Shopify or Wix.