Set up an online store: Where should you start?

1. Why do you decide to set up an online store?
2. Speak the language of your target group and address their individuality
3. Develop a stylish, responsive design
4. Focus correctly on the language: monolingual or multilingual store
5. Give correct prices
6. Clear, simple navigation
7. Diverse search options
8. Connect your online store to the merchandise management system!
9. Provide detailed product information!
10. Several beautiful product images of optimal sizes
11. Increase sales figures through cross-selling
12. Increase customer satisfaction with FAQs
13. Use helpdesk and live chat to improve customer support
14. Improve the ordering process
15. Integrate different payment methods
16. Provide correct contact information
17. Checklist for a legal webshop
18. Implement search engine optimization
19. How does the e-commerce agency help you build your online store?
20. Frequently asked questions

You are hesitant to open a webshop. It is difficult to make such a decision. It is an important step to realize this business idea. You need time, money and a good team that you can rely on. All risks should be taken into account before you start creating it. Everything should be done with a clear head. The following qualities are necessary for a good start:

• a lot of patience;
• good stamina;
• a promising business idea;
• "Learning by doing" principle.

We have summarized some recommendations on the topic of "online store setup" in our article so that you don't make a mistake. These 15 tips will help you to operate successfully and take your brand to the next level.

Why do you decide to set up an online store?

The reasons for creating an online store can vary. You want to expand your retail business or develop your own brand. Initially, your own products are offered via various sales channels. But then it's not enough. You want to grow and move into e-commerce. This step is quite complicated. But most online retailers have to get through it, and are you also facing such a decision? Then you should consider other things carefully. To set up an online store, you need enough money, time and help from a professional online store agency. Do you have a large budget? Do you have a well thought-out strategy? If you do, you will have a successful, competitive online store. However, please note the following recommendations:

Speak the language of your target group and address their individuality

Every customer is a personality. You should treat both potential and existing customers like royalty. Create the most pleasant conditions for them. It is worth offering them the option of simple registration. You can make an individual offer for corporate customers. You can offer them special prices only after registration.

Develop a stylish, responsive design

Your online store should have a modern, interesting design so that it attracts more customers and corresponds perfectly to the selected industry. Users visit webshops from different devices. In addition to PCs, they also use tablets and smartphones. It is therefore important that the design is adapted to the screen. Such a store is easy to use. You don't have to scroll for a long time to find the product you need. Discuss this point with the designer before setting up your online store.

Focus correctly on the language: monolingual or multilingual store

You should also decide whether there will be just one language or many languages in your store before creating it. Much depends on which market you are focusing on. If you only want to offer your products on the German market, you do not need a foreign-language version. When it comes to international market entry, an English-language version is at least necessary. Although multilingualism is an important part of most store systems, translation is required. You can of course use the Google translator. However, it is not worth relying on it completely. Misunderstandings often occur with machine translations. Before you start building a web store, define the desired target group.

Indicate correct prices

According to the Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV), every product should be labeled with the correct price. Anyone planning to set up an online store must comply with this regulation, and particular attention should be paid to § 1 and § 2 PAngV. The product price placement should be clearly indicated in the product description. The total price should include taxes and duties. Products subject to VAT should be indicated with the note "VAT included". It is important to state the freight, delivery and shipping costs. If there are violations, you will receive warnings or even fines.

Clear, simple navigation

To ensure that your customers can easily find their way around the store, create intuitive, easy-to-understand navigation when setting up your online store. The website must be well structured so that users can access the information quickly. They then navigate the website intuitively, which leads to an increase in the conversion rate and the store should have good usability. The search and order functions must be optimized for optimal usability. It is important to think about a clear navigation bar and the drop-down menu.

Wide range of search options

Your webshop must have various search options. If users can easily find the products they need, they will gradually become customers. It makes sense to introduce the search by article number. To speed up repeat orders, it is worth saving shopping baskets. It is advisable to upload some article numbers via Excel for corporate customers.when setting up an online store, you should think about its structure. You need to divide the products into categories and subcategories. Then you can see at a glance where the required product can be found. Filters can be introduced to limit the number of results. This makes the search much easier.

Connect your online store to the merchandise management system!

A merchandise management system is required to map the information flows of the business processes. With the help of this software, online retailers can manage customer and product data as well as orders, invoices and stock levels. You always have an overview of incoming and outgoing goods if there are also a few sales channels. Find out more to discover all the advantages of a merchandise management system. You can choose from various providers.

Provide detailed product information!

This is an important point for the success of your webshop. Make sure that the products on offer are described in detail. If the customer visits the store and finds a precise description of the required product, they can place an order immediately. If something is unclear to him or if any questions arise, he will most likely leave the online store. PIM systems are used so that you can offer your customers up-to-date information and manage it correctly. Kenner Soft offers a self-developed solution - KennerPIM, which helps to manage all company data correctly. Discuss the integration of the data management software with the online store agency before setting up your webshop.

Several beautiful product images of optimal sizes

It is important to provide not only detailed information about the products on offer, but also good images. When shopping online, the customer cannot touch the product and check it properly. That's why you should present it to customers from different perspectives. It is advantageous to enlarge the product using a zoom function. Additional drawings are required for technical products.

Increase sales figures through cross-selling

If the products in the online store are grouped according to practical use, customers can find additional, related goods such as spare parts and accessories much more quickly. There is no need to search the entire store. When setting up an online store, the relationships between products are set. The customer is then shown the matching accessories in addition to the product they are looking for. Thanks to cross-selling, you encourage customers to buy more products and increase your sales.

Increase customer satisfaction with FAQs

This is a crucial point for higher sales. Customers receive short, concrete answers to the questions that are of particular interest to them. The clear, customer-friendly FAQ section provides them with practical answers. Users no longer have to ask additional questions.

Use helpdesk and live chat to improve customer support

The popularity of your online store depends on the quality of the customer support provided. Ticket systems are mainly offered for the optimized handling of customer inquiries. The service requests are summarized in tickets. If required, you can check each request to see who has accepted it, how it is being processed and what priority it has. FAQ databases can also be improved with the help of helpdesk programs. Additional programs are needed to synchronize the online store with the helpdesk.

Live chat is a perfect option for better communication with customers. They can get answers to questions about products and accessories immediately. It is much faster than by e-mail or telephone. If you want to offer your customers an extra service, you must decide this before setting up your webshop.

Improve the ordering process

Make it easy for customers to place orders after registering in your store. Do not test their patience and reduce the possible steps until the order process is not aborted. If there are a large number of inquiries, the processes need to be handled efficiently. Then the integration of the online store with the ERP system is necessary. This allows customer-specific prices, the available order quantity and order history to be displayed.

Integrate different payment methods

You need to learn more about payment methods for online stores and consider which payment method is best suited to your target group. It does not mean that a variety of payment methods is necessary. It is much more important that online retailers do not take risks and that customers have the confidence to place an order and eventually pay for it.Payments by invoice are good for existing customers. Payments in advance can be offered to new customers. The online retailer is not at risk, the customer is. They pay in advance and do not know whether they will receive the goods. That's why it makes sense to offer some payment methods.

Provide correct contact information

Customers, especially in the corporate customer sector (B2B), want to have the contact information in front of their eyes. Then they clearly understand who runs the online store and trust them. If there are any problems, they know who they can turn to. The contact information must be provided in the legal notice and on the data protection page in accordance with legal requirements.

Checklist for a legal webshop

If you want to set up an online store, you need to consider the legal regulations in addition to the strategic and operational tasks. To be on the safe side, you need professional legal support. Look for a qualified partner until your project is implemented. In order to avoid warning traps, other errors must be recognized at an early stage.

Impressum

Company websites absolutely need an imprint. It should be easy to find and accessible. This website should contain the most important information, including the company name, address, authorized representative and professional supervisory authority.

Privacy policy

Every online store has to deal with customer data, which is why a privacy policy should be available on the website. This explains what data is stored and for what purpose. It is advisable to contact a data protection officer for a thorough consultation. You can summarize the data protection information under the link. This information should be easy to find.

General Terms and Conditions

Every online store should contain terms and conditions. Due to copyright infringement, you may not copy these from another online store. Furthermore, they may not be up to date. It is worth checking and updating the T&Cs regularly. Legal support would be desirable in this case.

Revocation

Online retailers must pay attention to the right of withdrawal. Buyers can send a declaration of withdrawal within 14 days of signing the contract. It should be clearly formulated in writing. It must be emphasized that the right of withdrawal is only valid for contracts concluded on the Internet or by telephone. If you buy on site, there is no statutory right of withdrawal and you should take note of all the points described in our guide to setting up an online store. Then you can compare the most important advantages and disadvantages of online shopping and will benefit from your own business.

Implement search engine optimization

Pay attention to this point when setting up an online store, as improved visibility in search engines such as Google will attract new customers and generate more organic traffic. It is therefore important to optimize the online store for the most important terms. The website with the term that is better optimized from a search engine perspective is displayed at the top of the first page of results. This increases the chances that customers will visit your webshop from the search engine, and it is definitely advantageous if each individual product or service page is optimized separately for search engines. You should create entry pages, better known as landing pages, which cause higher webshop costs. However, it is not worth thinking about. If the customer searches for a specific product and comes to the necessary web page directly from the search engine, he will most likely buy it, and if the customer comes to the webshop's home page and has to search further, he is more likely to leave the store and jump back to the search engine. It is advantageous if the online store offers direct access from the search engine. This attracts new customers and gets a better rating. The better the search engine optimization, the higher the ranking. If you want to expand your customer base with new customers, invest in search engine advertising.

How does the e-commerce agency help you set up your online store?

For your online store to be truly successful, you need to turn to experienced developers. Only with professional online store support will it be unique, powerful and competitive. Thanks to professional expertise and technical know-how, your online store will look and function perfectly, from the homepage, product and category pages to the legal notice and privacy policy.  As a professional e-commerce agency, we offer customized solutions of the highest quality by improving the user experience, increasing brand value and conversion rate. Kenner Soft develops required modules and interfaces, performs data migrations, integrates third-party tools, ensures the optimal functioning of online stores through regular testing and optimization, and if you have your online store built by Kenner Soft, you will only benefit. The qualified team with extensive experience will ensure the high usability and security of your store, its scalability and flexibility. We can set up your online store in the best possible way so that it offers a pleasant and smooth shopping experience. After reading through this guide to setting up online stores, you will know which aspects need to be taken into account. You can immediately ask the agency about the online store creation costs and ask whether their experts have sufficient skills to fully realize this task. Then you will definitely choose the right service provider and end up with an excellent, successful online store.

FAQ

What must a good online store have?

It must offer a high-quality product range, be search engine friendly, easily accessible and well equipped technically. The store should inspire customers with its simple operation and detailed product descriptions as well as the payment and shipping methods on offer.

What do you need for an online store?

First you have to procure products for sale and define your target group. Then you select the store system, register the company name and a domain. When setting up an online store, you need to clarify all technical and legal aspects.