Setting up your online shop

An online shop is an ecommerce website where customers can view and buy your products or services. Having online shop allows your customers to access your business digitally.  

One of the first things you need to consider is how your web shop will be presented and how you showcase all of the products and services you have to offer.  

Selling online is incredibly competitive, so it’s essential that your store has a good user experience and is offering something that your competitors can’t match. 

There are a number of considerations when it comes to the technology behind your online store. It doesn’t need to be all singing and dancing at the outset, it just needs to get the basics right.  

The technology will grow and evolve with your business so start simple and build up slowly.  

You need to think about:  

• Your chosen platform – most website builders will allow you to host your online store on their platform. Some of the most popular ones are Shopify, Wix and SquareSpace. If you have goods that you want to sell quickly and efficiently, then marketplaces like Amazon and eBay are viable options but come with listing and transaction fees that you will have to weigh up.  
• Logistics – if you haven’t already, you will need to think about how your products will be delivered to your customers. Consider factors such as price, reliability and selling internationally. You can compare the different couriers via parcelcompare. 
• Payments and payment security – a prerequisite of using an online store is having the ability to take payments. There are lots of payment services providers out there and you will have to consider cost, ease of use and security. You can usually set up online payment options through your website hosting platform. PayPal is another popular option or you can set up your own merchant account and add a payment gateway for your transactions. Other popular payment service providers include World Pay and Elavon.  

Trading Standards Business Companion website gives online sellers advice and the Get Safe Online campaign also offers free support about security when taking online payments. 

So, you’ve set up your own ecommerce store. Now is the time to get it in front of your customer.  

This is where search engine optimisation (SEO) comes into play – the art of optimising your online store to show up at the top of the Google search results.   

There’s an entire industry dedicated to helping sites get as high up the Google search results as possible, and if you want to achieve the best results with this channel, it might be worth hiring an agency or consultant to handle it for you.   

Take a look at UMi’s understanding SEO guide to help you get started and top tips for choosing an SEO consultant.  

Social media is another great way to build a brand online and drive visitors to your online store. For the best results you might want to outsource your organic social media content to a specialist.  

You can also learn more about social media marketing

Digital advertising involves the use of electronic data, devices, technology and channels to help businesses reach and convert new customers.  

You can run a digital advertising campaign on the likes of Google, Facebook, and YouTube for just a few hundred pounds.   

You can also tactically target or segment customers, meaning your ads will be seen by people who fit your exact customer personas or specifically search for something you sell.  

 That means none of your advertising budget will be wasted on getting your message in front of people who aren’t likely to become customers.   

 You can manage digital advertising yourself, but you’ll see the best results by outsourcing it to a specialist.   

 The other piece of the puzzle is to make sure you convert as many visitors to your online store into paying customers as possible.   

A key part of this is your product descriptions. It’s crucial to make this as detailed as possible to enable customers to make informed purchase decisions. 

Be sure to take your time to spell out all the key features and benefits of your products across your online store. 

Setting up an online shop will open up your goods or services to a wider customer base but you may be faced with different regulations if you're looking to sell overseas.

Brexit, for example, has created a lot of new regulations for UK companies selling to the EU. Here are some of the most important considerations...

Check if you are in scope of E-commerce Directive if selling in EEA.

Check if you can own or retain any EU domain names.

If you sell services, check any trade reservations for the EU countries you sell to.

If you're distance-selling goods to consumers between Northern Ireland and the EU, being aware of the changes in how VAT is handled for online marketplaces and e-commerce. 

Check if you need an authorised representative based in the customer's country (EU, EEA or Northern Ireland) if you sell goods online and ship directly to them without using an importer or fulfilment service provider.