eRetail -Taking Your Retail Business To The Web

eRetail -Taking Your Retail Business To The Web

Many retailers already see the benefit in bringing their business to the web: exposure, a hands-off selling environment, and an overall different way to interact with your customers. Yet despite these facts, there are many store owners who haven't yet taken the leap. If you're a store owner that's just starting to look into what it might take to sell your products on the web, here's your roadmap.

1. Do the research - go to Google, and type in a query that relates to the kind of product you sell. What kind of results come up? Who is selling your product? If it's Walmart or Target, you're going to have to consider creative ways to bring your product to market . If you're seeing smaller boutiques and store owners coming up as results, there's a good chance you'll be able to compete. Browse some of the sites, and start to get a feel for how you'd be different and would offer a shopper a different experience.

2.Consider The Investment - This is the step that stops most people, but it shouldn't discourage you. Any step you take to improve your revenue is a good one, and in the information age it's critical to have exposure on the net. There are any number of ways to figure out the best way for you to get a site up and running. The most popular way nowadays is by putting the project out to bid. The best way to get some idea for how much your project will cost is to create an account on elance . After creating and activating your account, you can create a project. Be sure to include every detail of what you'd be looking for. Set your budget, and see the bids roll in. As they do, you'll be able to view each bidder's portfolio of work, browse past references, and get some idea of what you'll expect to spend for a good site.

If you'r e the do-it-yourself type, there are options for you. Yahoo Merchant Solutions offers an easy to use shopping cart. You pay a monthly fee, and they supply you with the site and a shopping cart. One thing to consider before committing to a solution like this is the fact that website builders don't build search engine friendly sites. If you're planning on climbing to the top of the search engines, it makes sense to invest in a professionally built site. .

3. Buy An Internet Property - Once you're settled on building a site, it's time to look for a domain name. This is the.com, .net, or .biz name you want your site to have. The internet is a saturated market, so there's a good possibility that the domain name you want is not available. Go to GoDaddy and type a possibility into the domain search field. If your domain isn't avaliable, GoDaddy will recommend other similar names that could work. Domain names that contain keywords related to the searches your customers will be performing have a tendency to perform better in the search engines. Consider this when looking for a domain. If you find one you like, buy it. They're only $8.99 for a year. Now you have that domain ready and waiting for when your store is ready to go. When it's time to renew it in a year, make sure you do so or it'll be placed back in the general population where anyone can purchase it.

That's about it for now. If you've put a project out to bid, wait for the results to come in. I'll discuss what you can do to help make yourself more visible to searchers in my next post.