How to Start Your Online Shop: A Step-by-Step Guide
It is the Information Age. No need to go to a physical shop: a couple of taps on your smartphone is all you need to place your order.
On average, online orders bring about 70% of the profit. If you do not go online, you lose.
Building an online shop with your resources is tricky: you need to buy a web domain, find web developers and designers, and pay them. It may take a month or more before the site goes online.
Good news: with 2can Shop, you can effortlessly create an online shop in just 10 minutes! Let’s learn how to do it.
What is 2can Shop?
2can Shop is a turnkey solution for starting your online business.
No need to hunt web developers and designers, buy a domain and manage website hosting. This app creates an online shop for you in a few minutes. Just a quick setup and your customers are placing orders online, paying by card, and choosing delivery options.
Sign in
Use your account to manage 2can Shop and other 2can products. First, sign in at 2can, if you have not already, or create an account here.
The first month of service is free. Make yourself familiar with the system, check out the features, and build your production-ready online shop.
Just click Create New Shop!
The preview pane on the right shows your online shop as you build it. Since everyone is obsessed with their smartphones, your shop is mobile compatible.
Name and description for your shop
Make sure the name is appealing to your customers.
What is a good name for your shop?
Easy to pronounce. The customers would not share a name they find hard to pronounce and understand, and the word of mouth, your key promotion channel, will not work.
Easy to memorize. It can be very simple or rhymed, or wordplay, or baiting.
Relevant. The name should be associated with your products. Make sure it reflects the basic concept of your business.
The demo shop’s name is Knitted Bird. It sells handmade clothing, accessories, and household items.
The shop’s name is displayed below your account icon. The name can also be used as your Level 3 domain (e. g., yourdomain.my2can.com).
Later you can buy a dedicated domain (e. g., yourdomain.com). Then you can use the online shop name even if the Level 3 domain is unavailable.
Now add your logo or any other image as your favicon, and a cover image to set the right mood. In this case, we want to add some coziness and warmth, emphasizing that the products are handmade.
Product Catalog
Navigate to the Catalog tab and click Create New to create your first product. It is advisable to assign a category to each product to avoid mixing up as the number of items grows. You can create product categories right in the catalog: just click Create a Category.
As you create a product, specify its name, add photos and description to build the product page.
Your customers visit product pages to learn more about the product and make a decision to buy. Note: every detail counts. Anything can be a game-changer: from the price or size to the availability of zoom-in photos or complete specifications (e. g., the food calories). If you are lost, visit the online shops of your competitors for inspiration.
Product card
Product name
It is the first what your customers will see. It should be clear and concise. With appropriate names, it is easier for your customers to find the right products.
Start with the question: “How to convince a customer to buy the product?” You should engage the prospect and encourage them to navigate to the product page.
Product description
Make it brief and clear. Adhere to your shop concept and mood. Identify and highlight the most relevant features and benefits of the product.
As to Knitted Bird Demo Shop, we emphasize handmade products and high-quality materials. The products are handmade from eco-friendly materials. We care about every eyelet! With proper care, these items will last for a long time. We highlight the quality our customer pays for.
Product type
There are three types: Including Stock, Without Stock, and Kit.
Including Stock means all the items in stock. If you make to order (e. g., sweaters to custom measurements or color), you have no stock.
Try to anticipate any questions your customers may have. Think about it: what doubts they may have? What information is likely to raise interest or concern? After answering these questions, emphasize the relevant features in the product description.
In addition to photos, a table of sizes or the manufacturing process info may encourage the customer to buy, but it all depends on the product.
Product photos
The online shop visuals are highly important. Make sure a product page has some photos.
Looking at the product, a customer considers: “What am I going to wear this sweater with? How does it feel? Where am I going to put this vase?”
It is important to show what the product looks like, e. g., in an interior or on a model (for clothes). With a good photo, a customer may imagine they have already bought the item.
Even a great, perfectly made product suffers from photos taken in a poor lighting environment. If the color or size is unclear, the customer would hesitate to buy it.
We will tell you how to take high-quality photos for the online shop. Here are a few tips on how to make your product looks good.
Your photos should be crisp and present the best features of the product. Avoid blurred, low-resolution photos. Today, most smartphones provide sufficient image quality; only minor brightness and color adjustments may be needed.
First, make sure the product looks good. For clothes, steam them to remove wrinkles. For dishes, lay them out nicely on plates in your coffee shop interior. Follow your business strategy and imagination.
Try to make all the photos in the same style for a professional, consistent look.
Add extra angles when your customer may need more visuals. For example, it is the case for attire or jewelry. Closeups will build confidence.
Include other specifications according to the product type: marking, units of measurement, country of origin, and manufacturer. If you are the manufacturer, just type in your online shop name.
Modifiers
Modifiers are your product properties: size, color, flavor, or cooking method.
When many configurations of the same product are available (e. g., colors, sizes, or flavors), it is better to add them as modifiers rather than create a separate product for each variety.
Price
Now it is time to set the price for your product. Specify the purchase price and the sales price.
If you have a chain shop, you can specify different prices for each outlet.
Pricing is highly customizable. Many factors affect the price: the purchasing and shipping costs, rent and payroll payments, the value of your time, and, surely, the product quality.
Tip💡. Low prices do not always boost sales. Quite often customers consider the price as a quality metric. Do not be afraid to set higher than the market average prices for premium products.
Over time, you will analyze the market and adjust the prices as required. Maybe the customers are willing to pay more for your products. Or maybe you find an unconventional way to cut costs and increase the profitability of each order. It all takes some practice.
On the Settings tab, you can select such product options as composition, color, or size.
Stock accounting
Balance tracking and inventory management are critical competencies that every business has to have. It’s hard to control a large number of merchandise titles manually, and it takes too long, especially since every title has to be updated individually.
Don’ forget to enable balance tracking on the Settings tab! With automated stock accounting, no shopper will ever add an item that’s not in stock to their cart. With this feature, you will never face the situation where a customer places a prepaid order only to discover that the item is not in stock.
Specify delivery options
The default option is free delivery. You can add other options and then select one with price differentiation for delivery zones, edit the zones, activate/deactivate them in one click.
If you also have a physical showroom, you may specify it as the pickup point. Please indicate the pickup period.
Set up payment methods
2can supports multiple payment options for your customers:
1. Cash on delivery.
3. Bank transfer.
Go to the Modules menu item to set up 2can payments.
Click Activate, and enter your email and secret key.
A secret key is available after signing and account verification.
You may grant your employees the right to use the account.
You can use the Stripe online payments service. Please make sure that your business is eligible for Stripe’s terms of use, and that your type of business is supported here. If you do not have an account, create a new one.
- Click the Modules tab.
2. Enable Stripe payments by clicking Activate.
3. After that just activate the payment options in Settings.
Your online shop is ready! Now your customers can pay for their orders in one click.
