What comes to your mind when you hear the term ‘virtual store’? It is simply a website where products or services are being sold or offered online, whereby both deliveries and payments are monitored and made on the internet. In our time, creating an online store is cheap and also brings good returns.
The major advantages of building an online or virtual store
There are so many advantages of building a virtual store, and below are some of them:
- It attends a very large region
- Just a little investment is required
- It can be quickly created
- It is not compulsory for it to be a particular company
- It is user-friendly
The Challenges Associated with Building a Virtual Store
While it may be true that creating an online store has many advantages, it still has some challenges. Below are the major challenges that you may face while creating an online store:
- The internet always has people on it, thereby making it so busy
- Many of the products sold have low differentiation
- Marketing Costs are included
The best selling products in online/virtual stores
Are you thinking of starting your own virtual store? Then you should know the top-selling products in order to make the most of your new business. Here are some of the best selling products that you can venture into:
- Aesthetics, Beauty, and Perfumery
- Shoes, Clothing, and Accessories
- Decoration, Furniture, and Toys
- Digital Courses and Books
- Technology, Cell Phones, and Computers
Estimated Capital to open a Virtual Store
The internet has no fixed costs, therefore, in most cases, you can possibly open your initial virtual store without paying a dime. But, as the business grows, you will need to increase its security and scope, and also develop it. Here is where you will make some payments.
How to Create a Virtual Store
We cannot say that there is only one way that an online store can be built because currently, there are a majority of online services that you can use to build your store. There are free services as well as paid. But generally, there are some decisions that everyone makes which you would also have to make. Here are the steps in creating/building a virtual store:
1) Buy a Domain
Your domain is your web address. It is the name that people will know your company for, so it should bear a name related to the products you sell, the services you offer, or your brand. For instance, if the name of your brand is Pluto, your domain name can be Pluto.com. You pay for a domain per year in order to still own it. One of the famous sites for buying a domain is Godaddy.
2) Define the Technological Platform
This is the next step in building a virtual store. You need to define the platform that you want to use. This step depends on many factors like the type of product/service, your investment capital, and your business’s maturity. Below are some of the best platforms that you can use to build your online store:
- WordPress
- Wix
- Shopify
- Integrated Store
- Magento
- VTEX
3) Define the Store’s Appearance
Another important thing is the kind of a template you want to use. The above sites we mentioned have ready-made templates that you can use as your business face.
4) Set your Method of Payment
Set how you want your customers to pay you. Some payment methods are PayPal, Pay me, etc.
5) Register your Products and Start Selling
You can see that it is simple to create/build an online store. You can begin to sell immediately after you launch the site. You also need to know that will invest in your virtual store to get more traffic.