How to Start an Online Store in 2020 (Step by Step)

Last Updated on January 4, 2022 by Road To Free Life

Are you looking to start your own online store? When you have no experience, building a store can be terrifying thought especially if you don’t know anything about it. I started my first online store in 2007, and back then the things were much more complicated than it is now. I decided to make the most comprehensive guide on how to build your online store step by step.

What Do You Need to Start an Online Store?

It never was a better time to start an online business than today. Anyone with a computer can get started in just a few minutes very easy.
You will need two things:
- To get a hosting and a domain name.
- Take a few minutes to read this post.
You can set up your own online store with Shopify in less than 20 minutes and I will show you exactly how to do it.

Step 1: Setting up Your Online Store Platform

The biggest mistake made by most of the people when starting an online store is not choosing the right platform. Thankfully you’re here, so you won’t be making that mistake.
The best eCommerce platform is Shopify, which is a fully hosted eCommerce solution that starts at $29/month. Which is not expensive at all, when you take into consideration that you will make much more money from your online store.

To get started click on this link and will get 14 days FREE Trial, more than enough time to get used with the platform and see if it fit your needs. Enter your email, a password, some basic info and the store name, which you can change it later if you’re not sure about it yet.

After you created an account, your store is already up and running! To take a look the link will be yourstorename.myshopify.com

Step 2: Add Products to Your Online Store

It’s very simple to add a product to your online store. From the left menu, click on Products and then, Add product. What you need to do next, is to add a Title, Description, one or more Images, the Price and Quantity.

After you did that, just click on Save and the product will appear on your store page. You can add more products and then go to step 3.

Step 3: Customize Your Theme

To customize your store theme click on Online Store (under the SALES CHANNELS) from the left menu and Themes. You can customize the Debut theme, which is installed by default on your store, or chose a new one.  I suggest you start with a Free Theme, and you can upgrade to a Premium Theme after you will make some sales.

After you chose a theme, click on Customize and with the Visual Editor, you can simply add images, change the colors or move the elements in any position you want.

Step 4: Add a Domain Name

To add a domain name to your store, click on Online Store and Domains. If you already have a domain click on Connect existing domain and if you don’t have a domain yet, click on Buy New Domain and type the name you would like to have for your store.

And that’s all you have to do, to create your own online store in just a few simple steps. Now you can share your store link on Facebook and Instagram to get some traffic and sales.

 

Some useful tips

• Your store came by default with a password. To remove the password, go to Online Store and Preferences. On Password protection, uncheck Enable password option. To do this you need to choose a plan first. Basic Shopify plan is the one you should go first because you can upgrade anytime if you’ll need more than 2 Staff accounts.
• To set a Payment provider, go to Settings and Payment Providers.
• To Add Legal Pages, go to Settings, and Legal. You can write the Refund policy, Privacy policy, Terms of service and Shipping policy by yourself, or just click on the Create From Template button, and Shopify will automatically create those pages for you.
• To create Product Categories, go to Products, Collections and click on Create Collection.

Click Here To Start Your Online Store