business<\/a> can still be generating income.<\/p>\nHere are some ideas for opening an online store that, even when we get back to more normal operations, you may find can contribute a valuable revenue stream.<\/h3>\n
With so many available, how do you choose one platform to sell online? The first thing to know is that with most of them, what you see is what you get. Be sure you understand what the specific platform can provide \u2014 because all the offerings differ. Customizing is either cost-prohibitive or not even available. Some have limited payment gateways or can\u2019t accept pre-orders. So be sure you know what you need and if that platform will perform the way you imagined. Lastly, is the platform easy to use? We\u2019ve seen that some can have set up that is intimidating to beginners, which can lead to frustration when the design doesn\u2019t match their vision.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where we step in. Just because you\u2019re choosing an out-of-the-box platform, doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be brought to life. ACS Creative can walk you through the finer points of these platforms. We can adjust themes that don\u2019t speak to you. You\u2019ll find that it\u2019s not as easy as clicking a few buttons. You\u2019ll still need a designer\u2019s eye and technical know-how to create a successful site.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at some of these online selling platforms.<\/h3>\n
We find that customers have the most success with WooCommerce. It\u2019s an extension of WordPress, which is used for a vast majority of websites. It gives you a lot of control and creativity. WooCommerce works really well when you have an existing WordPress site and want to add functionality, whether you have physical or digital products, like a digital download or virtual product. The upsides are that it\u2019s one of the most customizable platforms, it\u2019s affordable and it becomes part of your site, unlike most other online selling platforms.<\/p>\n
Shopify is another good option that is ideal for selling physical products for the side hustlers, solopreneurs and crafters. If selling a product, like quilts or t-shirts, is your core business and you don\u2019t need a full website, it\u2019s a solid choice \u2014 Shopify is optimized to sell products. For beginners, the set up is easy. You can get started in the morning and be fully operational that night. There are free themes and templates to get started. Just remember that you do give up customization: Tons of other stores could potentially use the same design. Platforms like this may have deals with shipping providers and provide discounts.<\/p>\n
Although this sounds relatively simple, remember that Shopify is still complex, as it is an e-commerce platform hosted by the provider. Areas to watch out for are figuring out the shipping, taxes and payment tiers.<\/p>\n
Both WooCommerce and Shopify have marketplaces to buy extensions and plug-ins to amplify the functionality. This is another area where you may need help. Even though the core can\u2019t be adjusted, there are always ways of improving it if you have the design sense and are tech-savvy.<\/p>\n
There are many other platforms out there, but most are not as user friendly or functionality friendly as WooCommerce and Shopify. Just remember the cheapest route most likely will not have everything you need. So, compare your options before investing your time, energy and money.<\/p>\n
The investment of including a platform to sell online will help you diversify your sales channels offline and online, now and when we get back to our more normal operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Businesses like restaurants, dry cleaners, consignment stores and even ice cream parlors can tailor their \u201cgoods\u201d to sell on an online platform. You just need to know which one to pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2,24,15],"class_list":["post-69121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-advertising","tag-e-commerce","tag-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acsredux.acscreativedev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}