5 steps to launching your own e-commerce site

E-commerce (the practice of selling stuff online) continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. In 2021, retail e-commerce sales amounted to approximately $4.9 trillion (U.S.) worldwide. This figure is expected to grow by 50% over the next four years, reaching about $7.4 trillion by 2025.

What are the benefits of setting up an e-commerce store?

If you run a company (or are thinking of starting one) selling products, you really need to be thinking about selling online. E-commerce sites offer big benefits, especially for businesses that sell their products directly to their customers (sometimes known as 'direct to consumers' or DTC).

Setting up an online shop can work on its own as your sole income stream, but it can also complement offline sales. For example, if you currently sell your products in a brick-and-mortar store or at markets, you could increase the number of people you can reach by offering sales online as well.

Setting up your own e-commerce site also has advantages compared to selling your products on online marketplaces (such as Amazon, eBay or Etsy). You'll find you get to keep more of your profit without paying listing fees and commission (although you may still be charged a small amount for processing payments). You also have the opportunity to sell to customers without them being distracted by competing offers.

Some businesses still use online marketplaces as a way of being discovered (a bit like advertising), but direct potential customers to a dedicated online store at some point during the sales cycle.

What are the barriers to setting up an online shop?

In the past, setting up an online store required a good understanding of website development or the cash to pay someone to set it up for you. Nowadays though, it's easier than ever to set up an e-commerce site, even for technophobes.

There are a bunch of different options out there that let you build an online store in minutes without needing to know any code. 'Drag and drop' editors mean you can design your site by simply clicking to add or move elements around. Cost is no longer a barrier either, with most companies offering affordable monthly subscriptions (which often scale with the number of sales you're making, so you only pay more when you're making more money... win-win!).

We love working with the team at EKM, who have created an easy-to-use platform and offer support (you'll get a dedicated account manager) with everything from designing your shop to how to take payments.

How to start building an online store

We asked EKM the simplest way to get started with selling online. Here are the 5 steps to setting up your online store.

Step 1 – Sign up to EKM

Head over to EKM.com to register for a new site. You don't need a credit card to sign up and can try the platform out for 28 days for free - that's loads of time to build your site and work out what package is right for you.

Step 2 – Speak to your account manager.

With each EKM plan, you have access to your very own account manager. They can help you with the basics of setting up your site, demo the EKM platform or help you set up different integrations and features. The support team is based in the UK and are experts at getting people up and running.

Step 3 – Choose a name and design for your shop.

You'll be asked to name your store when you enter your admin area for the first time. You'll also be prompted to pick a design for your shop. There are over 70 ready-to-go themes, which can be personalised with brand colours and logos.

Step 4 – Add your products.

No one likes empty shelves, so you'll need to add your products to your online store. You can add product images, descriptions, delivery options, variants, and attributes. The EKM platform will also auto-fill lots of content for you within the themes, which saves you time (but they can be easily changed to represent your own business and products!).

Step 5 - Go Live!

Your online shop is now ready to go live. EKM provides all users with a free domain name (or you can use one you already own). Once you've registered your free domain name, you can start sharing your site and watch the sales roll in!

E-commerce is a logical next step for product businesses that currently sell their goods IRL. It's also a viable business model in its own right. If you want to find out more about EKM, you can check out their profile over on the Smarta site.

Image created for Transmit Startups using OpenAI's DALL.E.

We may receive a small commission if you sign up to a service through one of the links in this article.