6 Steps to Opening an Online Clothing Store - How To
Are you thinking about opening an online clothing store but don't know what to do first? Come with me and I'll walk you through step-by-step.
1.
Wholesale Clothing Suppliers - Do you have the right suppliers who are going to wholesale you clothes? Are they reliable? Do they have a line you think your customers are going to like? Seriously consider these questions because you start.
It's no use having an online storefront if you don't have anything to sell.
2.
Register a Domain Name - Go online and find a company that sells domain names and register your .
COM .
Try to be creative and unique.
This is the name of your online store, make it something people will remember - Keep it short! 3.
Find a Reliable Web Host - A web host makes your content accessible via the World Wide Web.
Hosting packages have become very affordable.
When shopping for a web hosting service look for one that has 99%+ uptime, as much bandwidth as you can find, a good amount of disk space, a good customer service record, and maybe even one that lets you host multiple domains.
4.
Choose a Shopping Cart - A "Shopping Cart" refers to a script that allows you to take credit cards and process orders online.
The Shopping Cart is uploaded to your web host and you'll have the barebone structure of your online store.
You can buy Shopping Cart systems from various vendors or you can use open source for free.
Before you jump on the Free wagon, I would also consider: the level of tech-support you're going to need, how often the development team come out with updates, and which special features are included.
5.
Buy a Custom Template - All legitimate shopping carts have a template system.
I highly recommend investing your money on a custom template.
Hire a web designer, tell them which shopping cart system you're using, and commission a custom template.
You want to look unique.
Never-ever-ever use the default shopping cart template, it doesn't look professional and customers will probably be turned off.
If you want to be taken serious, don't skimp on appearances.
6.
Hype, Advertise, Promote, SEO - Now that your online store is open for business, it's time to advertise and promote.
Get your name out there, set up an SEO program and try to rank high for your target keywords.
Online promotion, advertising, and SEO is beyond the scope of this article, but again, very important.
Superficially, you can open an online clothing store without that much effort.
The hard part is lining up the right clothing suppliers and promoting your store efficiently.
Manage a way to solve both of those hurdles and you'll be talking online success!
1.
Wholesale Clothing Suppliers - Do you have the right suppliers who are going to wholesale you clothes? Are they reliable? Do they have a line you think your customers are going to like? Seriously consider these questions because you start.
It's no use having an online storefront if you don't have anything to sell.
2.
Register a Domain Name - Go online and find a company that sells domain names and register your .
COM .
Try to be creative and unique.
This is the name of your online store, make it something people will remember - Keep it short! 3.
Find a Reliable Web Host - A web host makes your content accessible via the World Wide Web.
Hosting packages have become very affordable.
When shopping for a web hosting service look for one that has 99%+ uptime, as much bandwidth as you can find, a good amount of disk space, a good customer service record, and maybe even one that lets you host multiple domains.
4.
Choose a Shopping Cart - A "Shopping Cart" refers to a script that allows you to take credit cards and process orders online.
The Shopping Cart is uploaded to your web host and you'll have the barebone structure of your online store.
You can buy Shopping Cart systems from various vendors or you can use open source for free.
Before you jump on the Free wagon, I would also consider: the level of tech-support you're going to need, how often the development team come out with updates, and which special features are included.
5.
Buy a Custom Template - All legitimate shopping carts have a template system.
I highly recommend investing your money on a custom template.
Hire a web designer, tell them which shopping cart system you're using, and commission a custom template.
You want to look unique.
Never-ever-ever use the default shopping cart template, it doesn't look professional and customers will probably be turned off.
If you want to be taken serious, don't skimp on appearances.
6.
Hype, Advertise, Promote, SEO - Now that your online store is open for business, it's time to advertise and promote.
Get your name out there, set up an SEO program and try to rank high for your target keywords.
Online promotion, advertising, and SEO is beyond the scope of this article, but again, very important.
Superficially, you can open an online clothing store without that much effort.
The hard part is lining up the right clothing suppliers and promoting your store efficiently.
Manage a way to solve both of those hurdles and you'll be talking online success!
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