The holidays are arguably the best time to get an online shop up and running. Whether you’re trying to sell products you make as a hobby or are looking to expand your business from local to online selling, e-commerce platforms are by far the best way when considering how to create an online store.

How to Create an Online Store

Being online is the best way to grow your profits during the holiday season. Also, it’s never been easier to set up an online store, regardless of your business focus. So, below are just a few of the best e-commerce systems that you can use to set up an online store.

1. Create Your Product Line

If you’re going to have an online store, you need real, sellable products. If you already have your business up-and-running, you likely have some products that you sell. But if you’re still looking for some product inspiration, know that you’ll need to figure out what you want to sell.

When you’re ready, think about how you want to design your products, which you can do using platforms like PlaceIt by Envato. Create everything from company logos to T-shirts and more! Here are just a few of the branded items ideas:

• Print and Apparel: If you find yourself wanting to create clothing or maybe even produce a book, this option is perfect for you! Choose between different designs and simply customize them to fit your business’s needs, and you’ll have a product that’s ready to go!
• Logos: Those who build an e-commerce company know that this advice is repeated ad nauseum: choose an eye-catching logo that suits your brand. Yet, many offer this advice without a feasible means to accomplish it. After all, the difficulty of finding an image that communicates who you are and what you do with just one glance remains high. Fortunately, the Logos section on PlaceIt by Envato’s website allows you to select your type of business and build a custom logo that’s perfect for selling whatever you want your customers to buy.

2. Plan How You Want to Brand Yourself

Next, you need to know how you’re going to present yourself on your online shop. To do this, think about the message you want to send to your audience. Do you want to convey yourself as professional, fun, or something in-between?

Once you have an idea of how you want your brand to be presented, you’re ready to start experimenting with your online store’s layout!

3. Choose Your Platform

Next, select the platform you want to use for your online store. You have several amazing options, and we’ll go into a few of them below!

Square

Square is known for all of its tools related to sales and POS systems, but they also have a great eCommerce system as well. They have simple-to-use systems for specific businesses, including:

• Square Online for Restaurants – Create a free online ordering page for pickup delivery and contactless in-person dining.
• Square Online for Retail – eCommerce for a retail business, opening the door to new sales and expanding service.
• Square Online – Sell anything with a free online store.
• Square Online Checkout – Get paid online without setting up a storefront.

Square has options for every business and its needs. All these systems are free to set up and use, and shops are charged a processing rate of 2.9% +30 cents per transaction.

Squarespace

One of the most popular options when considering how to create an online store is Squarespace. Squarespace isn’t just an e-commerce platform. They allow you to easily build out a full website for your business. They do have specific tools and products to use if you do want to focus on the e-commerce platform only though. Squarespace offers some of these features:

• eCommerce Templates – Pick from templates to quickly and easily start setting up your eCommerce platform.
• Sell Products and Services – Within the eCommerce platform, you can easily sell both products and services to your customers.
• Schedule Appointments – If you need a way to generate traffic to your business via appointments, eCommerce offers a simple and easy system to do so.
• Checkout, Payment, and Taxes – Squarespace’s integrated systems manage all the logistics of your online transactions.

Advertise

Once you understand how to create an online store and your shop is live, you need to advertise its existence. In the online world, the old adage “Build it, and they will come” doesn’t ring true. In fact, you have a lot of competitors, so you need to know how to promote your pages.

Getting your pages in front of people involves 2 undertakings: Google Ads to help your content rank on Google and then creating your own ads on social media.

Google Ads allows you to promote your products to people who search for specific keywords related to your product. On the other hand, many social media platforms have their own ad-building tools, and you can use them to reach your audience!

Running a Successful Shop

Now that you know how to create an online store, you have the chance to really solidify your presence in your industry. Make sure you constantly update your website and content to stay relevant with technological develops and your audience’s needs.