If we manage a physical store in the city and want to increase our earnings and also reach the new generations, we must necessarily open an online store, so that we can always sell goods and products without waiting for someone to enter our store, thus being able to organize shipments by express courier. It is also possible for anyone to create an online store without having anything at home, simply by managing orders and shipments that will take place from the production sites.
We don't know where to start? No problem: the Internet is full of solutions within the reach of even users who are impractical with technology or who have never created a website before, so that they can sell within minutes of creating our "digital showcase".
Let's see below how to open an online shop at the simplest and most complete services dedicated to the purpose, so as to immediately start earning online.
How to create an online store
Before proceeding to show you the services with which we can open an online shop, we recommend that you have a VAT number already active for the same business we are about to open, so as not to have problems with the taxman (especially for very large business volumes ).
In case of doubts from a tax point of view, we advise you to contact your trusted accountant, taking care to save all the electronic invoices issued by the service chosen to create the online store.
Services to create online store
Among the best services to open an online store we certainly find Shopify .
With this site we will be able to immediately start our site for free sales, without even having to enter a valid payment method: with the free 14-day trial we will have all the time necessary to create the new site from a graphic point of view, by entering in turn all the products that we already have in the store and that we want to sell online.
As a complete solution, Shopify is really a step forward, as it provides all the necessary infrastructure (hosting, Shopify domain or transfer of an existing custom domain), security certificates, targeted sales campaigns on the most famous social networks and payment systems safe, so you can start in a few minutes.
If we fear that creating a site is complex, we will have to change our mind: through a simple questionnaire (even on current sales volumes) Shopify also allows you to quickly choose the appearance of the page and of the individual products.
After the 14-day trial we can continue to use the service by paying an acceptable monthly subscription (starting from $ 29 per month, with no deductions on registered sales volumes).
If we are looking for a viable alternative to Shopify, we recommend that you try selling on Amazon , which provides everything you need to sell your products online.
Amazon is the largest site in the world for selling anything online: having access to its space and selling our products on its pages (as Marketplace sellers ) will allow us to quickly earn even considerable amounts, despite the fact that there are commissions that Amazon withholds on every single successful sale.
If we really don't know anything about online shipping, Amazon is probably the best choice , since it provides all sellers with its dedicated logistics (Amazon couriers who come to collect the goods and ship them for us), as well as being able to enter their own personal courier .
The payment systems are safe , as is the system for generating electronic invoices: at the end of the month it will be enough to collect them and transmit them all to the accountant (even if in some cases the transfer is automatic).
Currently it is possible to sell on Amazon starting from 39 € per month for very small sales volumes (less than 40 sales per month); As soon as business grows and large sums of money begin to come in, we will be enabled for the Pro account which offers even more benefits and dedicated seller support.
If we are already familiar with websites and want to organize one for online sales, we need to make sure we have a good hosting site and focus on an optimized CMS for sales ; to combine the two needs we can also focus on Aruba Managed WooCoomerce Hosting .
It is a WordPress plugin (one of the most famous CMS) that profoundly modifies the management of the site, so you can start adding products to sell, centralized and secure payment systems, plus pre and post-sales assistance systems.
If we don't really know where to start, the Aruba solution could certainly be for us, as we can always ask for assistance to configure the new online sales site.
Currently the Aruba integrated solution is on sale at € 124.50 + VAT for the first year: given the amount at stake, we advise you to consider it if we already have a good turnover and want to expand online immediately to increase earnings.
Alternatively, we can focus on a service designed to optimize online sales such as Wix .
With this site we can start selling anything (even fashion items or technology) online without writing a single line of code: to create the site, just answer the questions posed by artificial intelligence, choose a theme suitable for what we want to sell and start the online business.
How to manage shipments and payments
After choosing the service to rely on to open the online store, we will have to pay particular attention to the logistics and the payment system offered to our customers.
If we focus on Amazon we will already have everything (logistics and payment system), we just have to fill our sales page with the products!
If, on the other hand, we have focused on a customized solution (hosting + CMS), we recommend that you integrate PayPal as a payment system , synonymous with guarantee and security for all our future buyers.
PayPal
With it, it will be really easy to add a Pay with PayPal button and thus offer the customer a secure payment tool. If we choose one of the services listed, we can also combine PayPal with other secure payment systems such as credit card / prepaid card transactions .
To manage shipments correctly, we will need to subscribe to an express courier service , which can process orders as quickly as possible.
Create an app for free and make money
Create an app for free and make money
Shipping
Each courier offers its rates, so it is advisable to contact everyone and check which one best meets our needs. We try not to save too much: shipping is certainly the most delicate part of the transaction, since it decrees the success or failure of any online activity; to avoid any kind of problem we always choose at least 2 express couriers and provide the user with the possibility to choose (maybe one works better than the other in the area where he lives).
I don't have a VAT number: can I sell anyway?
As a general rule it is advisable to sell online if we already have a physical business , so as not to have any problems with the tax authorities and to facilitate the calculation of taxes and earnings (also thanks to the arrival of electronic invoices).
If we want to sell something small or that we have found in the basement or in the attic, it is better to turn to sales and auction sites like eBay .
Conclusions
Selling your products online (or products and objects made by others and being a reseller) will bring a lot of satisfaction to the point that (if we are really very good at selling) the earnings of the online could even exceed the earnings of the physical store! In addition to the site, we also try to create a page on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so that we can reach a large number of people and launch targeted advertising campaigns (and certainly a substantial initial investment in advertising will be required). Keep in mind that once the site is created, the online part will become practically autonomous and the prevalent work will only be of a managerial type.
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