How to open an online store and how much it costs

There are a few ways to open an online store. The two most common ways are to use a shopping cart platform or to build an ecommerce website from scratch using CMS. Both have their pros and cons, and it really depends on your business goals and needs which one is the best fit.

Shopping cart platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Volusion offer free plans that allow you to set up a basic store with limited features. These platforms allow you to add products, customize your layout, and track your sales. Once your store is live, you can use their built-in marketing tools to promote it to potential customers.

Ecommerce websites can be custom built using WordPress and hostied on server like BlueHost, HostGator, or SiteGround. WordPress eCommerce websites are not expensive up front, but they offer greater flexibility in terms of design and features. They also tend to be more scalable than shopping cart platforms, meaning that they can handle larger volumes of traffic and transactions.

There is no one answer that is right for everyone; it really depends on your business goals and needs. If you're just starting out, a shopping cart platform may be the best option because it's easy to set up and start selling products. If you're looking to grow your business, then an ecommerce website might be a better choice because it offers greater flexibility and scalability.

Opening an online store can be a great way to start a business or expand your existing one. Here are some basic steps to follow and an estimate of the costs involved:

Choose a platform: You'll need to choose an e-commerce platform to host your online store. Popular options include Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento. The costs for these platforms vary, but you can expect to pay a monthly fee starting at around $29/month for basic plans, and up to $299/month for advanced plans.

Register a domain name: You'll need to register a domain name for your online store. The cost for a domain name can range from $10 to $50 per year, depending on the registrar you choose.

Design your store: You'll need to design your store and create a visually appealing layout that showcases your products. Many e-commerce platforms offer customizable themes and templates, or you can hire a designer to create a custom design for your store.

Set up payment processing: You'll need to set up payment processing so you can accept payments from customers. Popular payment processing options include PayPal, Stripe, and Square. These platforms charge a fee per transaction, typically ranging from 2.9% to 3.5% plus a fixed fee per transaction.

Add your products: You'll need to add your products to your online store, including images, descriptions, and prices. Make sure your product pages are optimized for search engines to help customers find your products.

Launch your store: Once your store is set up, you can launch it and start promoting your products through various marketing channels.

The total cost for opening an online store can vary depending on the e-commerce platform you choose, the cost of any design or development work, and ongoing expenses like payment processing fees and marketing costs. However, you can expect to pay at least several hundred dollars to get started.

An online store takes more than just a platform and a product to be successful. Taking a few steps back - the best starting point would be to identify and engage an audience for your online store first. The only way to do that in the e-commerce space is through digital marketing. Build out a plan for targeting your market - find what stores they already are shopping at and see how you can present your product in a way that will attract them.
1) Market research - define an age, gender identity if applicable, income, lifestyle traits, and what value you are bringing to the table for the individual consumer. What problem are you solving?
2) Develop a proper branding approach - logo, colors, fonts, photography style, verbiage style. A consumer who isn't just looking for the cheapest price, is looking for a brand that feels like something they identify with. There are people who love Louis Vuitton and there are people who love Hot Topic. Who is your target? How can you make your marketing plan attract them?
3) Share your vision through IG/Tiktok/Youtube - as an e-commerce store, you need to have an online presence. This gives consumers the chance to get to know the brand, to become a part of your community, and to know about the latest launches you have along the way. Build your community in advanced and they'll be excited to purchase from you in the future.
4) Website - While working on all of the above, you can build your website - there are ups and downs to all websites so it will depend on you as to how much money and time you'd like to spend building the site in the background before your first big launch. Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix are the most common entry-level website platforms for e-commerce. Squarespace being the most user friendly of the three. All are a great starting point, but you're looking at 30-50/month so building the site and paying monthly fees before you have a single sale or audience member is a waste. You'll also pay fees per transaction so be sure to understand proper pricing structure for wholesale, retail, and shipping locations. Once you have enthusiastic audience members for your launch, go for it!
5) Don't forget SEO! Search engine optimization is the way places like Google show your site to potential clients. You have to have proper metadata, image alt text, content, and indexing in order to tell search engines what your site is all about. This will help people organically find your store even if they have not found your social media pages.
6) Remember there is no get-rich-quick...you will have to continue to monitor your social pages, stay fresh with your content, and see what does/does not work for your business. If you are in the US, the Small Business Administration has tools at sba.gov that can help you as you learn to build a proper business from this idea. They also have SCORE offices in various regions to help with business and legal advice. Good luck to you!