Are you thinking about starting your own eCommerce store? Before you do, you might want to check out some of these resources. These are the best tools, plugins, articles and more to help you get the very most from your store and to sell even more products.
eCommerce Platforms
These are the top eCommerce platforms to use for building your site:
Shopify
(www.shopify.com)
A hosted solution. This means you get less customization but setup is incredibly easy. A simple, easy and affordable option with massive amounts of support, plugins, themes and more. Up to 5,000 products.
(www.shopify.com)
A hosted solution. This means you get less customization but setup is incredibly easy. A simple, easy and affordable option with massive amounts of support, plugins, themes and more. Up to 5,000 products.
Bigcommerce
(www.bigcommerce.com)
Very similar to Shopify, though unfortunately more expensive and not as well known or as well supported. The main advantage is that it’s convenient for selling internationally. Up to 5,000 products.
(www.bigcommerce.com)
Very similar to Shopify, though unfortunately more expensive and not as well known or as well supported. The main advantage is that it’s convenient for selling internationally. Up to 5,000 products.
Magento
(http://www.magento.com/)
The most powerful ecommerce platform on this list. Huge and capable of support 50,000 products. However, it’s also the most difficult to set up and the fiddliest to manage. A good self-hosted option for businesses that want to go all the way but not really suitable for beginners.
(http://www.magento.com/)
The most powerful ecommerce platform on this list. Huge and capable of support 50,000 products. However, it’s also the most difficult to set up and the fiddliest to manage. A good self-hosted option for businesses that want to go all the way but not really suitable for beginners.
WooCommerece
(http://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/)
A self-hosted option capable of supporting only 500 products. Despite this limitation, WooCommerce is one of the most versatile and popular choices owing to its simplicity (it’s a WordPress theme/plugin) and the fact that it has so much support and so many plugins.
(http://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/)
A self-hosted option capable of supporting only 500 products. Despite this limitation, WooCommerce is one of the most versatile and popular choices owing to its simplicity (it’s a WordPress theme/plugin) and the fact that it has so much support and so many plugins.
Volusion
(http://www.volusion.com)
For those of you who are internet marketers at heart, Volusion is a good choice. Volusion is not only an ecommerce store but also an autoresponder and contact management system. If you know what you’re doing, this can be very powerful for your marketing.
(http://www.volusion.com)
For those of you who are internet marketers at heart, Volusion is a good choice. Volusion is not only an ecommerce store but also an autoresponder and contact management system. If you know what you’re doing, this can be very powerful for your marketing.
Extras for Creating Your Store
For this, you’ll need:
WordPress (www.wordpress.com) – The biggest CMS that all the big companies use to build and manage their websites.
BlueHost (www.bluehost.com) – You can use any hosting/domain service but BlueHost is our recommendation for its power, features and price.
Other extras:
WooCommerce Tutorials (https://support.woothemes.com/hc/en-us/categories/200152983-Video-Tutorials) – Useful tutorials for setting up WooCommerce.
OptimizePress (www.optimizepress.com) – OptimizePress can be used to design a single ‘sales page’ rather than an online store. If you only have one product, this is a very viable option.
Optimizely (www.optimizely.com) - This can be used for split testing and is a very good tool for comparing two similar online stores and seeing which one performs best.
MailChimp (www.mailchimp.com), Aweber (www.aweber.com), GetResponse (www.getresponse.com) – These are the best autoresponders on the market. Build a big mailing list that you can then use to promote your products to!
Online Marketplaces to Sell
Making money from ecommerce doesn’t just mean creating your own store! You can also make a lot of money by selling your products through other distribution platforms and when you do this, you can also spread your brand. Here are some good places to get your products if you can…
Etsy
(www.etsy.com)
This is eBay for people who create their own products using arts and crafts. You can sell jewellery, ornaments and all sorts of other arty projects here.
(www.etsy.com)
This is eBay for people who create their own products using arts and crafts. You can sell jewellery, ornaments and all sorts of other arty projects here.
eBay
www.ebay.com
The big and undisputed auctioning powerhouse of the web. You can easily create your own eBay store, giving people more ways to buy from you.
www.ebay.com
The big and undisputed auctioning powerhouse of the web. You can easily create your own eBay store, giving people more ways to buy from you.
Pinterest
www.pinterest.com
Pinterest has often been considered the perfect social media site for window shopping. Now you can turn that into actual shopping thanks to the ability to take sales through the social site itself.
www.pinterest.com
Pinterest has often been considered the perfect social media site for window shopping. Now you can turn that into actual shopping thanks to the ability to take sales through the social site itself.
Finding Products
Shapeways
www.shapeways.com
This is a 3D printing site that you can use to make plastic, metal or other material products based on 3D CAD files.
www.shapeways.com
This is a 3D printing site that you can use to make plastic, metal or other material products based on 3D CAD files.
Lulu
www.lulu.com
Lulu is a print on demand publishers. That means you can sell your ebooks as real hardcopy books but you don’t have to order them all up front and risk a big initial breakeven point. These print as and when you put in the orders!
www.lulu.com
Lulu is a print on demand publishers. That means you can sell your ebooks as real hardcopy books but you don’t have to order them all up front and risk a big initial breakeven point. These print as and when you put in the orders!
UpWork www.upwork.com or Elance www.elance.com
These are outsourcing sites that you can use to create products like ebooks or even software. Other options
These are outsourcing sites that you can use to create products like ebooks or even software. Other options
Spreadshirt
www.spreadshirt.com
This is a site/service that allows you to print custom t-shirts and then sell them.
www.spreadshirt.com
This is a site/service that allows you to print custom t-shirts and then sell them.
JVZoo
www.jvzoo.com
This is an affiliate network that you can use to find affiliate products. These mainly include ebooks and other digital products but you can find all sorts here – and often the commission is very high, up to 75% even in some cases! Other options include Commission Junction www.cj.com, ClickBank www.clickbank.com and WSOPro www.warriorforum.com/warrior-special-offers/
www.jvzoo.com
This is an affiliate network that you can use to find affiliate products. These mainly include ebooks and other digital products but you can find all sorts here – and often the commission is very high, up to 75% even in some cases! Other options include Commission Junction www.cj.com, ClickBank www.clickbank.com and WSOPro www.warriorforum.com/warrior-special-offers/
Dropshipping
Want to live the dream of dropshipping? You can find products to dropship from: www.alibaba.com and www.worldwidebrands.com. Both of these will let you browse through products that you can sell as your own without even needing to worry about shipping costs. Choose Alibaba for preference though as it is free.
Want to live the dream of dropshipping? You can find products to dropship from: www.alibaba.com and www.worldwidebrands.com. Both of these will let you browse through products that you can sell as your own without even needing to worry about shipping costs. Choose Alibaba for preference though as it is free.
Some Shopify Plugins
You can find all of these in the app store and there are similar equivalents for most other ecommerce platforms…
Chimpified – If you have a MailChimp account then this will show you how your subscribers are interacting with your store and which items they’re showing an interest in. Perfect for targeting marketing!
Shopify Widgets – Add a widget to your website, so that your visitors can see your products while they’re reading your blog posts.
LeadDyno – Let affiliates help you promote your products and your store itself with LeadDyno!
ShopPad - Turn your Shopify store into an Android/iOS app! Let people browse your products and buy from their mobile devices at their leisure.
Facebook Store – The unimaginatively named plugin lets you integrate your store right into your Facebook page. This turns your Facebook page into a shop so that you can directly monetize your social media efforts.
Digital Downloads – This app lets people download digital products from your site once they’re sold, automating your business for the perfect passive business model.
Preorder Manager – Take preorders and build a buzz around things you’ll be selling in the near future.
Recuring Orders – Charge a recurring fee for a service for a subscription product. A great way to earn a more secure and predictable income!