How To Sell Online In 2023

Before you open your online store, you’ll need to know what you plan to sell and who you hope will buy it. You’ll also want to decide on your unique selling proposition or USP. Essentially, your USP should answer this question: “Why should anyone buy from me?”

Your USP doesn’t have to be complicated. Samples include fast delivery, the best price, or the greatest selection.

Once you know what you want to sell, who you want to buy from you, and why they will say “yes” to you, you’re ready for the next step in your plan to sell online.

It sounds daunting, and while it’s true that a business plan can run to dozens of pages, it doesn’t have to.

In fact, we suggest you start with a one-page business plan, and we even have a downloadable template for you to use.

Your one-page business plan will help you organize your efforts, sharpen your decision-making, track your priorities, and give you an overview of your business plans.

This is a great time to think about what you want to name your business if you haven’t already chosen a name. In the next steps, listed below, you’ll need to apply for a business license and set up a website. You’ll definitely need a name in order to do those things.

Along with a name for your business, you’ll want to pick a domain name or URL. That’s the name your customers will type into their browser when they want to visit your online store, so it’s pretty important!

You can purchase your own domain, with prices starting at about $7/year. If you use a shopping cart platform to build your store, your subscription may include a free domain. Be aware that these free domains are often “branded,” meaning that instead of a URL like YourBusinessName.com, your URL will include your host site’s name, with an extension like myshopify.com for a Shopify store.

You know what you want to sell and who you expect to buy from you. The next step in selling online is deciding where you’re going to get your products from.

There are almost as many different sales models as there are products to sell. If you already have a business going, and are just adding an online presence, you likely already have stock on hand.

If you’ve had success turning a hobby or side hustle into a thriving business, you may be creating products yourself. Just make sure you’ll have enough on hand to meet demand once your store goes live.

Many online stores rely on a sales model called dropshipping. If you’re planning to dropship, you won’t ever have products in your physical possession. Instead, you’ll find a reliable dropship supplier that can help you keep up with demand by shipping directly to your customers as soon as they place an order with you.

Before you start selling online, you may need to make your business official. Whether you’re working from an office or from your home, you may need to get a federal, state, county, or city business license. In general, the only exceptions are if you’re working as a freelancer or if your business operates as a sole proprietorship.

You’ll also have to define your business. Are you operating as a sole proprietor or are you in a partnership with someone? You may decide to form a corporation or LLC, and in that case you probably need some legal assistance to file the paperwork.

Sooner or later, you’ll want to open a business bank account, too. It’s definitely important to keep your personal and business funds separate, and having a business bank account is a smart move. No matter how big or small your business, there’s a bank account tailored for your needs, including good options for business bank accounts for freelancers and side hustlers.

Even if you work from your home, consider buying small business insurance. Although you may see insurance just as an added expense, it’s actually invaluable protection.

If you have employees or business property like equipment or vehicles, you may be required to carry insurance. Even if you work from your home, you should consider adding basic liability coverage to protect your assets.

Building a website can sound intimidating. Don’t worry! Even if you don’t know a thing about HTML or coding, or computers for that matter, there’s a platform out there that will be perfect for your skill level.

And you don’t necessarily need a big budget, either. Sure, you can hire a designer and pay thousands of dollars but you also can do almost all the work yourself — really.

In fact, you’ll find some eCommerce platforms that are designed for beginners to use. We’ll share our tips for the best eCommerce platforms, including some for beginners, below.

Of course, if you’re concerned about the cost of opening and operating an online store (and who isn’t?), you might find the right platform among the year’s best free eCommerce platforms. After all, the more you save on monthly subscription fees, the more money you’ll have to grow your business.

You’ve got your product, you’ve got your website. Now, where are the customers?

Two of the easiest — and least expensive — ways to attract customers are email marketing and social media marketing. And while you don’t have to become a marketing expert, you should learn a little about search engine optimization, or SEO. It may sound technical, but you won’t need a lot of expertise to enact some SEO best practices that help customers find you online.

You should also explore the free marketing tools that may be included with the website builder you use. For example, you’ll find some great Shopify marketing tools. Square marketing tools are useful, too. And using these built-in marketing tools won’t cost you anything extra.

Be sure to claim your Google Business Profile, too! It’s fast, it’s free, and it’s a great way to connect with potential customers.

Once you’ve launched your business and opened up your online store, you may soon realize that you want to grow your business even more.

In that case, you might want to extend your sales to one of the many online marketplaces available. Launching a store on Etsy or Amazon can help you reach even more customers.

Depending on the platform you choose, you may find some built-in integrations that make it easy to sell on these marketplaces and even some social media sites.

For example, Shopify makes it easy to sell on Amazon and eBay, and many platforms make it easy to sell on Walmart Marketplace, TikTok, and other sites.

When you’re ready to expand, be sure to check the app marketplace on your platform’s website to look for the integrations you need to meet your customers where they’re at.

You don’t need a website to sell online. But you do need customers! So as you plan your online business, you’ll need to stay focused on your potential buyers.

Start by thinking about where you’ll find your customers and why they might want to shop online. Why are you adding online sales to your business? Maybe you are an artist or maker who sells in person at events and wants to give fans a way to buy from you afterward. Or you might own a brick-and-mortar business and want to grab more sales by making it more convenient to shop at home.

It’s important to outline your reasons for selling online. That information will help you in the next step, below.

You may not want or need a full online store. You’ll probably still want to use an established online platform to meet your customers.

That could mean joining a popular marketplace, like Amazon, Etsy, Walmart Marketplace, or eBay.

Or maybe you plan to sell online using social media sites like TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook.

Don’t overlook the option of signing on with a shopping cart platform like Ecwid or Shopify that offers eCommerce subscriptions that don’t include a full online store.

You can use the tools these platforms offer, like buy buttons, to sell on your blog, your social media posts, or in email or text messages. Look into Shopify’s Starter plan, too. For $5/month, this plan lets you sell on social media, email, SMS, WhatsApp, and anywhere else you can share product links. With this plan, you’ll have the option of adding an online store if you want to down the road someday.

Shopify also offers tools to help you sell on Facebook, including with a Facebook store. And if you’re inclined toward Square, be sure to take a look at Square Online Checkout for a free payment link generator you can use to take payments online without a website.

When you set up an online store, payment processing is often built into the platform. If you’re going to sell online without a website, you probably will need to choose your own payment method.

Although you might want to set up your own merchant services account, you might not need to. You’ll find some great point of sale options (POS) that work very well for online selling. (We’ll discuss some of the best POS systems for online selling a little further on in this post.)

You can even use Venmo for business to take payments online and in person, using QR codes and the Venmo app.

And of course if you’re selling primarily on social media, you can use Facebook Pay as your payment option. This is a low-fee processor that may let you keep down the costs of making the sale and keep more of your profit!

Just as with any kind of store, online or in person, once you have customers, you’ll want to work to turn them into repeat buyers.

Fortunately, there are many tools available to help you make this happen!

The main thing to remember is to keep your products visible to buyers. That may mean posting regularly on your social media sites, planning email or text-message ad campaigns, or even partnering with influencers to extend your reach.

You can also make special offers to draw buyers back for more shopping. For example, gift cards can help you boost sales, convert lookers into buyers, and widen your reach as gift-card recipients browse your product line.

Some platforms support gift cards better than others. For example, Square gift cards are easy to use and can really bump up your sales, whether you’re selling in person, online, or a combination of both!

Anyone can sell online. You may decide you want a full online store, or you may find ways to sell on social media, via text or email messages, or as a supplement to your in-person sales. There are endless ways to sell online, and no matter how you choose to do it, you’ll find the tools you need with platforms like Square, Lightspeed, Helcim, Shopify, Shift4Shop, and BigCommerce.

You may need a business license to sell online unless your business is classified as a sole proprietorship or you’re working as a freelancer. Check with your city, county, or state to be sure.

Selling online successfully requires many of the same skills and techniques needed for in-person selling. You’ll need to create a solid business plan, find customers, source attractive products, and make it easy for customers to buy. You may find it easiest to set up a full store using a hosted platform like Shopify, Shift4Shop, or BigCommerce. Or you might do a better job of reaching customers with a combination of in-person and social selling, using tools available from Square, Lightspeed, and Helcim, among others.

You can sell online internationally if you choose a platform that supports international sales. Lightspeed is one of the best choices when you’re looking at global sales. Other good choices include Shopify, Shift4Shop, and BigCommerce.

You can set up a free online store using a platform like Square Online, Helcim, or Shift4Shop.

If you want to sell online courses, you may do best with a platform that specializes in online learning. Udemy is one example. You may also be able to use a platform that supports digital downloads, like Shopify or BigCommerce, or that supports subscription sales, like Square or Shift4Shop.