Setting up your own e-shop has never been easier - but it's never been more complicated either. How? On the one hand, you have powerful tools like Shopify that pretty much anyone who's ever used email can handle. On the other: competition is huge, customers are demanding, and you have to earn their trust.
This guide will take you from the very basics to your first order. Whether you want to sell custom embroidered bags, author books, vintage jewelry or online courses, today's article has everything you need to get off to a successful start.
Before you even open your e-shop admin, ask yourself the key question 👉 Does my product have real value and a market?
Next, ask:
Does my offer solve a specific problem?
Is there a demand for similar products?
What can I offer in addition to my competitors?
The lean method can help: choose a narrow selection of products to offer quickly in the market and monitor the response. Don't worry about perfection, start small, but focus on quality and meaning.
Extra tip: For your first product selection, it pays to follow current trends - e.g. with Google Trends, TikTok Shopping, Pinterest or Amazon bestsellers. What's popular on TikTok often works very well in e-commerce too. It's a quick way to check the real market interest before you invest time and money in inventory.
‼️ Beginner's mistake: Trying to have 100 products right away, but without a clear target audience. Better to start with 5 and test what works.
That's why it's good to think about the customer from the beginning. So imagine the ideal person who would buy your product.
What age group do they belong to?
What are they interested in?
What brands do they follow?
Where and how do they usually shop?
Creating a customer persona will not only make it easier for you to create content and design later on, but more importantly, marketing. Because you'll know who to talk to and how to talk to them.
And don't forget to look at the competition:
What are they doing well?
What's their approach to the customer?
What could they do better?
Don't copy the competition, quite the opposite. Try to find what you can do to differentiate yourself and bring more value.
Want to see if your product makes sense to sell? Try our quick checklist before you invest time and money in an e-commerce store. In just a few minutes, you'll get a clearer idea of whether it makes sense to go out with your idea - or to tweak it further.
Shopify is a platform designed to make e-commerce accessible to everyone, from the complete layman to the seasoned entrepreneur.
For most e-commerce startups, Shopify is a great stepping stone. It doesn't force you to deal with unnecessary technicalities and lets you focus on what's important: sales and customers.
If you're not sure how to set up Shopify properly, get in touch - we'd love to help you with everything!
Your domain is like your store address - so it should be simple, memorable and ideally match your brand name. You can buy a domain on Wedos or Forpsi, for example.
For example, Shopify will automatically activate your SSL certificate so your e-shop address will start with https:// and display a lock next to it. This ensures perfect security.
We also recommend creating a company email (e.g. info@vasedomena.cz), it's more trustworthy than Gmail.
Imagine you are a customer. You know what you want to buy, but unless you see good quality photos, a good description and a clear price, you walk away.
So every product should have:
Don't forget to include sales arguments that increase the credibility of the e-shop. For example, secure payments, customer reviews, free shipping, return policy or satisfaction guarantee.
In Shopify, you can upload all of this in just a few steps. You can also use bulk import if you have multiple products at once.
🟢 Extra tip: Add a “Frequently Asked Questions” section to the product. This will relieve customer support and increase trust.
It only takes a few seconds for a customer to decide whether to stay (or leave). So don't underestimate the first impression.
What ensures good usability (UX):
Shopify offers over 100 professional templates. Some are free, others are paid, but you can customize both categories yourself, without a coder.
If you still need help setting up your templates, contact our experts.
Payment methods:
Shipping:
Connection:
Worried about setting up payment methods and connecting other systems? With Shopify, it all works surprisingly easy! Set up payments, shipping and invoicing with a few clicks right in the admin. You don't need a programmer, just add your credentials or link your account.
Your e-shop is online. What's next? Without targeted marketing, no one knows about you.
What works:
Most of these services can be easily connected in Shopify. You just create accounts and link them.
‼️Important: Track ROAS, don't run campaigns without measuring results.
There is no growth without measurement. Set up analytics from the beginning:
By tracking your data, you'll discover what people are searching for, where they're getting lost or when they're leaving. Adjust your content, product offerings and ads accordingly.
Once your e-commerce store is up and running and orders start coming in, this is the perfect time to automate. What does such automation bring? First of all, improvements and relief from manual work!
For example:
Shopify makes all this possible with its built-in tools, but also with a wide range of plugins from external developers. These will help you expand and scale your e-store according to your current needs. For example:
And if you're tempted to sell beyond your borders, Shopify will make it much easier. That's because the platform supports multilingual versions of your e-commerce store, allows you to set up local currencies and taxes, and offers integrations with global payment gateways and carriers.
Thanks to these features, entering foreign markets isn't as far away as it might seem - whether you're planning to expand to Slovakia, Germany or anywhere else, Shopify is ready for it!
Setting up an e-shop is one thing. Making it a functional and growing business is another. And that's exactly what we're here to do.
At FORECOM, we help entrepreneurs from the first ideas to the moment when the e-shop actually makes money and grows. Together, we'll choose the ideal platform, build a bespoke e-commerce store, and help you fine-tune your brand, look and feel, and customer experience. We'll take care of the integration with payment and shipping services, set up analytics, advertising and SEO.
Most importantly, we'll work with you throughout the process to fine-tune what works best. In short: you don't have to do it alone.
📩 Want a no-obligation consultation? Get in touch and let's find out how we can help you launch an e-shop that makes money.