This is a step by step guide for beginners who want to sell physical products on their website.

Let’s assume you’ve got a product to sell. You might have a physical shop – or not. You don’t need a shopfront to sell a psychical product through your website. You will need a good dose of customer service attitude.

Here’s what you’ll need

1. A domain name
2. Website hosting and an email address
3. A website with eCommerce functionality

1. A domain name

Your domain name is your unique website address. For example, if you want to visit Google you go to www.google.com.au. The google.com.au part is their domain name.

You will need to register a domain name with an accredited domain registrar. You can search through Google to find one (stick to the first couple of pages of results). Melbourne IT and Net Registry are a few of the big ones. It can cost from around $40 for 2 years to register, it does pay to shop around for specials though.

When you register your domain make sure you file the details (including username and passwords) for easy access later. You may have to give these details to your website designer/developer later.

Tips

• Register a .com.au domain name if you’re selling to an Australian audience
• Register a .com if you’re selling to an international audience
• Ensure your domain name is easy to spell and communicates the message of what your eCommerce website is about

2. Website hosting and an email address

Just like you need a domain so that people can find your website, you need hosting so that your website is viewable on the Internet.

Likewise, if you want to create email addresses using your domain name – i.e. hello@clarelancaster.com.au you will need hosting.

Most domain registrars will offer hosting plans, unless you have a specific host in mind I recommend also purchasing hosting through the same company that you register your domain with.

If you decide to purchase hosting separately search Google for “website hosting package” or ask around to find reputable website host. Most website hosting companies will offer different levels of service or packages.

Generally, if you’re a small business I recommend starting off with the smallest/cheapest package unless you’re looking to use lots of rich media on your website (i.e. video) or attract lots of visitors very quickly then you may need a more robust package.

Otherwise, you can usually start small and upgrade later if you need it (always check with your host though).

Hosting pricing can start from as little as $12.95 per month.

When you purchase hosting, make sure you file the details with your domain name files. You will need them later.

3. A website with eCommerce functionality

There are a couple of ways that you can setup your website to sell products online.

You can choose a solution where all transactions occur within your website – from browsing through to purchasing.

Or you can choose a solution where the purchase transaction is handled by a third party.

Before we get into that let’s break down exactly what your eCommerce website will need to work.

• A catalogue of products
• Individual product details
• Shopping cart
• Payment processing

A catalogue of products

A catalogue of products will group your products into logical groups for your customers to browse through. For example, if you sell dive equipment you would group your products into wetsuits, fins, snorkels, masks etc.

Individual product details

It’s incredibly important to provide as much detail about your products as possible.

High quality photography showing the product from as many angles as possible, close up images showing any important details, thorough descriptions, dimensions, weight, price are all vital.

Consider giving customers the chance to review products or add comments about products. Doing this can help you increase your social proof and encourage trust from new customers.

What’s the point of all this detail? If a customer has never purchased from you before you have a number of barriers to making a sale. Providing all the information they need and anticipating any questions or concerns they may have will help remove these barriers.

Shopping cart

Your shopping cart provides the functionality for customers to add products to an order, checkout and complete the transaction.

Payment processing

As I mentioned earlier there are a couple of way to handle the payment processing.

The first example I’ll take you through is when the customer completes the transaction without leaving your website. This is known as a seamless payment solution.

When your customer initiates checkout – the process of completing their order – they need to purchase the products. To do this you need to have a payment gateway enabled.

There are two steps involved with setting up your payment gateway.

1. You need a merchant account from a major bank
2. You need a payment gateway to securely handle the transaction and connect with your shopping cart

Some popular payment gateway providers are eWay or Securepay.

Alternative payment processing solution

If you don’t want the costs involved with seamless processing (e.g. higher Merchant account fees) you can choose to go with a third party provider like PayPal.

PayPal offer shopping carts and payment processing for a fee on each transaction. This option is worth considering if you are just starting out, testing the waters and don’t want to commit to a full development just yet.

Read more info about their business services.

eCommerce Best Practices

• Keep your website design as uncomplicated as possible – the purpose of your website is to showcase your products and encourage your customers to purchase
• Make your “Add to cart” button unmissable and use a contrasting colour to the rest of your design to help it stand out
• Always use “breadcrumbs” to help the customer identify where they are on the site
• Keep your checkout process as brief as possible
• Write a list of frequently asked questions and answers and have them accessible to your shoppers on every page throughout the website
• Be upfront about delivery costs, product inventory, shipping expectations

What are your experiences setting up an eCommerce website? Thinking of setting up shop but still not sure? Leave your questions and comments below.

Related posts:

1. 10 Common Shopping Cart Mistakes
2. Website Basics – What You Need to Get Your Business Online
3. How to Boost Your Online Sales in a Downturn
4. 66% of Australian businesses are sans website
5. How to get Google visitors to your website

Filed under: Do good business online, Tips, eCommerce