If you can't afford to hire someone to build a custom online store, don't worry. There are plenty of ecommerce vendors that can help you create one quickly. "They can take the hassle and headache of hard coding, hosting and doing maintenance on a server of your own out of the online store equation," says Julian Barkat, director of ecommerce and online marketing at a Philadelphia digital marketing agency.
Such companies as kartrocket let you design the overall look, feel and functionality of your online store. They also let you do things such as upload your product catalog, set up customer shopping carts, securely accept payments and handle order fulfillment. These services securely host your online store on their own servers. You can link to your online store from your company's main website.
Ecommerce services such as these usually require some basic initial set-up work on your part. For instance, with Shopify, you choose a storefront layout from a set of templates and customize your fonts, overall color scheme and product image sizes. Shopify users can also upload their own custom brand logos and backgrounds.
Prices for such services range from about $10 to $700 a month, depending largely on the number of products you sell and the amount and types of services provided.
2. How can I best customize the overall look of my online store? In most cases, if your company already has a website, your ecommerce site should reflect your existing online look, including your logos and color schemes. If you don't have a business website, choose background and accent colors for your ecommerce site that complement your logo.
Most design templates from ecommerce vendors come with preset theme settings that don't require HTML or CSS knowledge to customize. So, it should be relatively easy to upload your logo and product images and add banners, slideshows and more.
How do I create the best product images and descriptions? "Online shoppers don't get to see, touch, feel or smell your product," says Barkat, so the next best thing is a crisp, clear product image. While he says you shouldn't entirely cut corners on photography, you don't have to hire a professional to get high-quality images. But you should use "a 16-megapixel DSLR camera, decent lighting and a light box," he advises. A photo lightbox is a tent-like container with several light bulbs aimed at its interior that photography professionals often use to create well-illuminated images of objects.
Peterson says written product descriptions should be short, yet rich with enough interesting details to pique customer interest. "Try to use compelling adjectives and phrases that evoke an emotion when someone reads your description," she says, "without getting too carried away or taking up too much space." In addition to noting the price, you may want to include product uses, dimensions and other defining characteristics.
Should I allow customer reviews and social sharing? Giving customers the ability to comment on your products and leave ratings can help boost their confidence in your store, Peterson says. Positive reviews and social media shares could lead to more sales, but there's also the risk of negative comments. Several major ecommerce services offer customer review options that allow you to respond to -- or remove -- undesirable comments.
While Peterson hasn't yet enabled customer comments within her online store, she has made it possible for customers to "like" her products on Facebook, "pin" images of them to their Pinterest pages and email images and brief descriptions of them directly from the product listings.