The unfortunate onset of the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in lockdowns and travel restrictions that are being enforced worldwide to curb the spread of the disease. Owing to this, many people all over the world have become less mobile and doing their physical shopping to meet their needs has become difficult. Hence, shopping online has become popular worldwide over the prevailing pandemic period and is expected to increase even after the pandemic is over.

1. 8 steps to creating an e-commerce site and
making money
The unfortunateonsetof the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted
in lockdownsand travelrestrictions thatare being enforced
worldwideto curb the spread ofthe disease.Owing to this,
many people all over the world have become lessmobile and
doing their physicalshopping to meettheir needs has
become difficult. Hence,shoppingonline has become popular
worldwideover the prevailing pandemic periodand is
expectedto increase even after the pandemic is over.
It follows that many e-commerce websites have beenset up to
capitalize on this growingtrend.As a result,the growth of e-
commerce business has outstripped thatof the traditional
'brick and mortar'businessesmany times over in recent
times. In fact, many of these traditionalbusinesses,even the
more established ones,have to take their businessesonline
in order to survive.However,many smaller ones face stiff
competition from e-commerce businesses and those that
were unsustainable had unfortunatelyclosed down.

2. The successof e-commercebusinesseshas been so
impactfulthat many individualshave started selling online
using socialmedia platforms such as Facebook,Snapchat,
Instagramor Tik Tok.But the more enterprising onesare
looking to dive into e-commerce in a bigger way instead of
just using the socialmedia platform.But first, to startan e-
commerce business,it's necessary to build an e-commerce
website for a start.
Fortunately,there is a structured process in building an e-
commerce website.Thougha website developer is normally
engaged in such a task, having some relevantknowledge
could also help you in building a website for your online
business.
Simply follow these 8 easy steps to build an e-commerce
website from scratch:
1. Decide on the product niche for your store :
When you search the Internet,you would have come across
many e-commercewebsitesselling a variety of products.
However,there are also many similar websites focusingon
selling a specific line of products or services such asapparel,
pet accessories,fashion wears,shoes ortravelpackages.
Besides,there are some other e-commercewebsitesthat sell
many differentproducts such as smartphones,cameras,
home appliances,household items,sports and health items,
lamps,laptops,books,and so forth. The latter is something
similar to a hypermarketwhereyou can find almost any stuff -
you name it, they have it.
For a start, it's significantto decide on the niche or type of
services you wish to sell or provide on your website.In your
decision,you need to find out the local demand for certain
products relating to the niche or certain high-demand
services you are interested in. Be mindful that buyers would
normally preferto buy productsor obtain servicesfrom a
local vendorwhetheronline or offline. The local vendorwould

3. usually provideeasy paymentmethods,faster deliveries,and
faster replacements in case of the wrong or defective items.
2. Decide on your business model :
As a prospective e-commerce business entrepreneur,you
should first decide on your business modelthat bestsuits
your need and budget.You can either sell your products
solely on your online store,or you can sell your products on
marketplaces like Amazon,eBay,Etsy,etc. If you decide on
the latter, there is no need for you to build your own website.
All you need to do is to sign-up for an accountand list your
products at its marketplace and startselling. You can also
choose to sell your productson both the platforms in parallel.
3. Decide on a domain name for your business :
If you have decided yourbusinessmodelto be an online e-
commerce storeas well as your choice of the right domain,
productrange to sell or the type of servicesyou wish to offer,
then you need to purchase a domain name from any web
hosting company.
I advise you a greathosting that provides you with great
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day,
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Make sure the domain's hyperlink is "https" which ensures
the security of data across the network.It is best to choosea
domain name that is closely related to the productor services
you've chosen.For example,if you choose to only sell pet
accessories,get a domain like "petaccessories.com" or
"petaccessories.net" as available.A domain name is also a
name for your business and it should be easy to remember
for your targetaudience.Domain provides a brand for your
companyand makes it easy for your audienceto relate it
together.

4. Domain hosting is done easily with the help of the web
hosting company support team.
4. Choose an e-commerce platform :
There is a multitude of e-commerce platforms on the Internet
nowadays,such as Square Online,Weebly,Big Cartel,
ConstantContact,BigCommerce,Wix, Shopify,Squarespace,
WooCommerce,and more.Some comes with a free plan while
some comes with a free trial but for a limited period.Choose
one that bestsuits your budgetand requirement.Also, you
need to make sure that the platform you chose is optimized
for mobile phone usability to take advantage ofthe
accelerated growthof smartphoneusageworldwide.The
online e-commerceplatform can easily help you build your
website in a couple of simple steps.
5. Set-up your e-commerce store :
Your e-commerce website is your online store,and it needs
an appropriate theme to representyour brand.You have to
set it up properly so as to ensure thatyour potential
customers willhave a good browsingexperience in terms of
fast loading speed,navigability,user-friendly,etc.Your
website should contain accurate details on your products or
services,quality images,good descriptionsand prices as well
as options for customersto leave reviews and star ratings.All
this should be included in your productpage for the viewing
of prospective customersso that they buy based on an
informed decision and not to mislead them into buying in any
way. You must make your website and its web pages eye-
catching as it's your brands' representation to your online
customers.
Besides,you need to include pages on your website with
respectto About Us, ContactUs, Return Policy, Privacy
Policy,Terms ofService,ShippingInformationand Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQs).These are veryimportantin order to
build trustwith your customerswherethey will feel confident
to parttheir money in exchangefor your products.

5. 6. Set-up payment gateway :
For your online store,you musthave a few paymentoptions
in place for your customers.Moste-commercestore builder
platforms already have functions to allow you to easily set up
the paymentgateway.The customer shouldhave options to
make paymentsvia PayPal,creditcard,debit card,online
wallets, Internetbanking,etc.
7. Secure your website by installing an SSL certificate
:
For all websites that transferdata online,especially relating to
payment,you mustensure thatthe network connection is
protectedby a Secured Security Layer (SSL).The SSL
certificate keeps yourwebsite securefrom website hackers
and will help to build trust among your customers.
8. Choose your shipping partner :
When you start selling products on youre-commercewebsite,
you need to ship the products to your customers using
shipping companies.You mustchoose those reliableones
that have good track records in fulfilling shipments within
agreeddurations and at the lowestavailable shippingcost,so
that you can give your customers the best dealas well as
maximize your profit.
There you have it, the 8 easy steps in building an e-commerce
website from scratch and startselling your products or
services online.