Do you want to start your own online store? We know that building an online store can be a terrifying thought especially when you are not a tech savvy. Well, you’re not alone. After helping hundreds of users start their online store, we have decided to create a do it yourself, easy to use and understand pre made online store.

Your online store is just a few clicks away.

Sell anywhere

Set up your SELF SHOP store once to easily sync and sell across a website, social media, marketplaces and live in-person. Get started with one, or try them all.

Buy a SelfShop Website and start your online business from only R99 pm! Each SelfShop store comes as a fully functioning e-commerce store. Complete with payment processing, hosting and more. Ready to get started? Simply get a SelfShop for R500

What Do You Need to Start an Online Store?

There had never been a better time to start an online business than today.

Anyone with a computer can get started within a matter of minutes and without acquiring any special skills.

The 2 things you need to start an online store are:

1. A domain name idea (this will be the name of your online store i.e www.myownshop.co.za)
2. A web hosting account (this is where your website lives on the internet)

Please contact us for any additional assistance

How to Create, Setup, and Launch a Profitable Online Store

1. Ensure your online store looks professional.

If you want to have a viable online business, you need to focus on quality from the outset.

You need to build a store that looks professional, attracts your target customer, and has the right calls to action to help them convert when they visit your site.

These next three steps are going to show you the basic blueprint to make sure you’ve got the right stuff to run a successful online store.

2. Pick a payment gateway.

In order to get paid, you’ll have to be ready to accept payments. Might be obvious, but it’s quite essential to running a successful business.

Payment gateways are how you collect money from your customers. Typically, your ecommerce platform will recommend which gateways work bet with their system. 

You also want to choose a payment gateways that can grow with your business. Before you lock yourself in, ask the following questions about each payment solution:

• Are there setup fees?
• Are there monthly and/or transaction fees?
• Are there penalty fees? If so, what triggers them?
• Is there a minimum balance requirement?
• What about transfer delays?
• When I need help or support who do I contact? How do I contact them? What hours are they available?

3. Set up shipping integrations.

There are a couple tips to keep in mind when you’re getting started with online shipping.

1. Start by researching your competition. You may uncover some really great insights on what works and what doesn’t in your category.
2. Make your shipping policies are very straightforward. This will prevent confusion or surprises, making it more likely your potential customer will follow through with their purchase.
3. Lastly, offer multiple shipping options based on different shipping speed or carriers. How quickly a shopper gets their product can be just as important as how much they pay for shipping.

4. Choose a great domain name.

Equally fun and challenging — picking a domain name for your website is critical. Your web address should speak to your brand and serve as an important marketing tool.

Your domain name will be a way for potential customers to find you and then come back to buy more. So keep it simple. Resist the urge to include difficult spellings or unknown acronyms.

www.???.co.za 

5. Set up analytics to measure your success.

You need data and benchmarks to grow your business.

To start, examine your platform’s in-store analytics.

At the minimum, your platform should be able to help you with basic metrics like:

• Unique visitors,
• Conversion rate,
• Most popular products, and
• Average revenue per customer.

Also take a peek at platform options like in-store site search that could provide you with valuable insights into what your customers are looking for.

It’s pretty safe to say that no matter what platform you’re on, you should use Google Analytics for your online business.