How to create a website to sell products

Having an e-commerce store for your business in this day and age is crucial, not only does it allow you to sell to a national and global audience and make more money doing so. Research has found that over 2.1 Billion people shop online every year and it continues to grow year-on-year.

Building an eCommerce store can be tricky, with so many solutions out there, its hard to decide what you need vs what you don’t, in this article we will guide you to setting up your own eCommerce store to start accepting online sales.

Decide on an eCommerce platform.

There are plenty of eCommerce platforms out there, from simple and easy to use, to complex and requiring specialist attention. Your choice should depend on your specific needs, technical expertise, budget, and scalability requirements.

WordPress + WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that transforms your WordPress website into a fully functional eCommerce-capable website. It powers over 28% of all online stores worldwide.

Pros:

• Free to start with low ongoing costs
• Highly customisable with thousands of themes and plugins
• Complete control over your store and data
• Extensive community support
• Great for SEO optimisation

Cons:

• Requires more technical knowledge
• You’re responsible for security and updates
• Hosting needs to be arranged separately

Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses who want flexibility and control over their store.

Shopify

Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce platform known for its ease of use and robust features. It currently powers over 1 million businesses worldwide.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Built-in hosting and security
• 24/7 customer support
• Extensive app marketplace
• Integrated payment processing
• Mobile-first approach

Cons:

• Monthly fees can add up with apps
• Transaction fees unless using Shopify Payments
• Limited customisation compared to open-source solutions

Best for Businesses wanting a hassle-free setup with minimal technical involvement.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an enterprise-level platform that offers sophisticated features for larger operations.

Pros:

• No transaction fees
• Built-in features that are often paid add-ons elsewhere
• Strong SEO capabilities
• Multi-channel selling
• B2B features available

Cons:

• Steeper learning curve
• Higher starting prices
• Annual sales thresholds for plans

Best for: Medium to large businesses with complex needs and higher sales volumes.

Magento (Adobe Commerce)

A powerful open-source platform known for its flexibility and scalability.

Pros:

• Extremely customizable
• Robust B2B features
• Advanced marketing tools
• Multi-store management
• Strong community support

Cons:

• Requires significant technical expertise
• Higher development and maintenance costs
• Resource-intensive hosting requirements

Best for: Large enterprises with dedicated development teams and complex requirements.

eCommerce Selection Factors to Consider:

1. Budget
   • Initial setup costs
   • Monthly/annual fees
   • Transaction fees
   • Development costs
2. Technical Requirements
   • Your technical expertise
   • Available IT support
   • Integration needs
   • Customization requirements
3. Business Needs
   • Number of products
   • Expected traffic
   • Growth projections
   • International selling requirements
4. Features Required
   • Payment gateways
   • Shipping options
   • Inventory management
   • Marketing tools
   • Analytics capabilities
5. Scalability
   • Future growth potential
   • Multi-channel selling options
   • API accessibility
   • Performance under load

Setting up your eCommerce Store

Once you’ve selected your ecommerce platform, it’s time to bring your online store to life. Let’s walk through the essential steps to get your store up and running.

Domain Name and Hosting

You’ll first need a domain name, this is how people will find your website, your domain name should be the name of your store, for instance if its ‘Land of Cakes’, the domain would look something like ‘landofcakes.com’ or ‘land-of-cakes.com’. To register a domain name, head on over to a domain name provider, we here at PunterDigital use Cloudflare Registrar.

When it comes to hosting, some eCommerce stores will host your site as part of their eCommerce package, Shopify, BigCommerce are options that host the website for you as part of the package.

Whereas most others won’t, which means you’ll need to find appropriate hosting. The key things to look for with a hosting provider are:

1. Their support reputation: If you have a problem with the service, you’ll want to speak with someone easily and quickly.
2. Pricing: We don’t want to overpay, but we also don’t want to be too cheap, as you will have a noticeable performance impact on your eCommerce store
3. Reviews: We want a trustworthy company who cares about its customers and has lots of positive reviews.

I would personally recommend staying away from GoDaddy, as they lock you into poor deals and offer poor support. Here are some great UK based alternative hosts (that we have personally used)

1. Krystal.uk
2. IONOS
3. WPEngine

Design Your Store

The next step in setting up your eCommerce is to design your store. The best place to start is with your brand identity such as logo, colour scheme and general design aesthetics.

You’ll then want to apply these designs to your store, most eCommerce stores are very flexible when it comes to theming and offer a lot of customisation to do this.

One key area to focus on is your home page, look at existing eCommerce stores in your niche to identify what they put on their home pages and simply replicate.

Adding the products

Now your eCommerce store is designed beautifully and all setup with a domain and hosting, its time to add the products.

Adding the products is very simple with a lot of eCommerce stores and is typically a couple of button clicks.

When adding your products, you’ll want to make sure you factor in these key things:

1. A strong name for your product
2. A well written description that describes the product in detail (include sizes, nutritional information (if selling food), details about the product etc)
3. High quality images, are an absolute must for an ecommerce store as users cannot interact with the product, videos are also a great way to showcase a product.
4. Commonly asked questions are a must for product pages, they’ll answer common questions about the product, store, shipping and other common questions you would expect people to ask.

How to add eCommerce to your website if you have one already

If you have an existing website, adding eCommerce capabilities to it is possible, how you add it will be dependant on the platform.

WordPress Websites

If you have a WordPress website, you can install the WooCommerce plugin, which will transform your existing WordPress website into a fully functional eCommerce store.

A couple of things to note before installing the plugin:

1. Make sure your theme is compatible with WooCommerce
2. Make sure your plugins are compatible with WooCommerce

If they’re not compatible then it can cause conflicts.

HTML/Static Websites

If you have a static website, you can integrate eCommerce simply, using platforms such as Stan Store, LemonSqueezy or Stripe payment links, shipping and product handling will be more challenging though.

Custom-Built Websites

For custom-built websites, you’ve got a few routes to consider:

API Integration You could integrate with a headless eCommerce platform. This means you keep your existing frontend (what visitors see) but connect it to a powerful eCommerce backend through APIs. Platforms like Shopify’s Storefront API or BigCommerce’s APIs are popular choices for this.

Custom Development If you’ve got development resources, you might want to build custom eCommerce functionality. This gives you complete control but requires more time and technical expertise.

Which Option Should You Choose?

Picking the right solution depends on a few key factors:

Consider Your Current Setup What platform is your website built on? This will often determine the easiest path forward. WordPress sites naturally pair with WooCommerce, while custom sites might benefit from API integrations.

Think About Your Products How many products are you planning to sell? If you’re only selling a handful of items, a simple buy button solution might be enough. For larger catalogues, you’ll want a more robust solution.

Look at Your Resources Do you have technical expertise in-house? Some solutions require more technical knowledge than others. Be realistic about what you can manage.

Remember, adding eCommerce to your existing site doesn’t have to be complicated. Start small if you need to – you can always scale up as your online sales grow. The key is choosing a solution that fits your current needs while giving you room to grow.

Should I make a Custom eCommerce Website?

How to manage your eCommerce website

Running an eCommerce website isn’t just about setting it up and letting it run – it requires constant attention and management to ensure everything runs smoothly and your customers are happy. In this guide, we’ll go through the key areas you need to focus on to manage your eCommerce store effectively.

Keep Your Store Updated

Keeping your store updated is crucial for security and performance. This includes:

• Your eCommerce platform
• Any plugins or apps you’re using
• Your theme
• Product information and prices

Updates might seem annoying, but they often include important security patches and new features that can help your store run better. It’s best to schedule regular maintenance windows (when your store is quietest) to apply these updates.

Managing Your Products

Product management is one of the most important aspects of running an eCommerce store. Here’s what you need to stay on top of:

Stock Levels Running out of stock after someone’s paid is embarrassing and could lose you customers. Make sure you:

• Regularly check stock levels
• Set up low stock alerts
• Update stock counts after receiving new inventory
• Remove or clearly mark out-of-stock items

Product Information Keep your product information fresh and accurate:

• Update prices when needed
• Check product descriptions are accurate
• Add new product photos when available
• Update size guides or specification sheets
• Remove discontinued products

Order Processing

Having a smooth order processing system is vital for customer satisfaction. This involves:

Order Management

• Check for new orders regularly
• Process orders promptly
• Send order confirmation emails
• Generate shipping labels
• Update order status
• Handle any special instructions

Shipping

• Package items securely
• Ship within your stated timeframes
• Provide tracking information
• Monitor delivery progress
• Handle any shipping issues quickly

Customer Service

Good customer service can make or break an eCommerce business. Focus on:

Communication

• Respond to customer queries promptly
• Keep customers updated about their orders
• Be clear about shipping times and delays
• Handle complaints professionally

Returns and Refunds

• Have a clear returns policy
• Process returns promptly
• Issue refunds quickly
• Learn from return reasons to improve your business

Website Performance

Your website needs to perform well to keep customers happy:

Speed and Reliability

• Monitor your website’s loading speed
• Check for broken links
• Ensure all features work properly
• Test your checkout process regularly
• Make sure your site works well on mobile devices

Content Updates

• Keep your homepage fresh
• Update seasonal content
• Add new products regularly
• Remove old promotions
• Update your blog if you have one

Marketing Your Store

Marketing isn’t a one-time thing – it needs constant attention:

Email Marketing

• Send regular newsletters
• Create abandoned cart emails
• Share new products and promotions
• Segment your email list for better targeting

Social Media

• Post regularly about your products
• Engage with customers
• Share behind-the-scenes content
• Run social media promotions

Analytics and Improvement

Keep track of how your store is performing:

Monitor Key Metrics

• Sales figures
• Conversion rates
• Traffic sources
• Popular products
• Customer feedback
• Cart abandonment rates

Use this information to make improvements to your store. Maybe certain products aren’t selling well and need better descriptions, or perhaps customers are dropping off at a particular point in your checkout process.

Remember, managing an eCommerce store is an ongoing process. You’ll learn what works best for your business over time, but staying on top of these key areas will help ensure your store runs smoothly and your customers keep coming back.