Checklist to start an ecommerce business in 2023

How to start an ecommerce business from scratch in 5 steps

It’s a lot to consider, but don’t worry—to figure this out, let’s look at five basic areas to help set your ecommerce business up for success:

Dreaming about turning your million-dollar idea into an ecommerce store ? You may already be thinking about what type of products you want to sell, who your audience will be, and how you’ll attract shoppers.It’s a lot to consider, but don’t worry—to figure this out, let’s look at five basic areas to help set your ecommerce business up for success:

1. Researching and validating your business idea so you know what’s likely to sell
2. Procuring products or sourcing them from reliable suppliers
3. Choosing selling channels to connect products with shoppers
4. Setting up an online store and listing products
5. Marketing and promoting products to raise sales

Step 1: Research and validate your business idea

Some ideas—however innovative—can fail if they don’t have customers to support them. As you zero in on

What problem or challenge are you seeking to solve? Who is going to be most excited about the solution you come up with?Some ideas—however innovative—can fail if they don’t have customers to support them. As you zero in on product ideas , here are some prompts to help you make decisions:

• What are the common problems people face in your industry?
• Why are they facing these problems?
• What products can you offer that will solve these problems?
• What trends have you noticed in the world that you can capitalize on?
• What activities do you enjoy? What products would improve those activities?

Answering these questions can bring you closer to finding a product people want to buy. Here are a few other tactics to try:

Find a way to improve a product that already exists

Read customer reviews of similar products to find out where your competitors fall short. Tally the complaints and look for patterns. Next, research how much it might cost to solve the issue.

For example, glassware comes in many gorgeous designs, but families may avoid purchasing them out of fear their children will break them. So you could create a line of shatterproof glasses that are just as attractive, but more resilient.

Talk to potential customers about their frustrations

What comments or complaints do you hear from friends or family about products they use? Reach out to a small group of people to understand if they face the problem you’re trying to solve, and find out how they currently deal with this challenge.

Here’s one approach:

• Offer to buy 5-10 people a cup of coffee in exchange for 30 minutes of their time.
• Use your meeting to talk about the challenge and see if the pain point is something they would pay money to solve, or if it doesn’t bother them much.
• Avoid bringing up the product you have in mind, as this may influence the answers you get. Instead, focus on how they feel about the challenge, how they currently deal with it, and whether they would pay to solve the problem. If so, how much would they be willing to pay?

Asking these questions can help you figure out if there might be an audience for the product.

Spot opportunities with competitor research

Before you open your virtual doors, it’s a good idea to check out the competition. A simple approach to competitor research can involve browsing results in Amazon search for product categories that interest you. Pay attention to the following:

• Product features and benefits
• Price ranges
• Customer reviews

The more time you spend validating the product, the better your chances of succeeding in ecommerce.

Step 2: Source products

Once you’ve figured out what you will sell, and who the products will serve, the next step is to find the right source for the products.

Good products will help your new online business thrive. The key is not only choosing the right product, but also the right source for products. Here are a few options for sourcing ecommerce products.

Resell existing products

Reselling is a popular choice for Amazon selling partners, as it can be cost efficient and relatively easy to get started. Online directories and listings can help you find suppliers for products. You will need to contact the vendor, order products, and ship them to your business or storage location. Then, ship them out to customers once the products sell. Finding and building relationships with suppliers can not only lead to more affordable procurement, it can also secure a steady supply chain for your business in the future.

Create or build products

If this is the route for you, explore artisanal or custom ecommerce selling options like

Building products gives you control over quality and design. However, this method may be hard to scale up. Some sellers prefer to create small batches of handmade products. This helps keep operations manageable. Given the perceived higher quality of handmade products, this option also allows sellers to price products at a premium.If this is the route for you, explore artisanal or custom ecommerce selling options like Amazon Handmade

Use dropshipping or print-on-demand (POD)

Similar to dropshipping, print-on-demand is where you print products only after a customer places an order. If you offer custom designs or unique products that would be difficult or expensive to produce in bulk, POD might be a good model for your business.Dropshipping is a business model that might be appealing if you don’t want to keep any inventory in stock. Instead, when a customer places an order, you purchase the item from a third-party supplier who then ships it directly to the customer. This can allow you to offer a wide variety of products without investing in large amounts of inventory.Similar to dropshipping, print-on-demand is where you print products only after a customer places an order. If you offer custom designs or unique products that would be difficult or expensive to produce in bulk, POD might be a good model for your business.

Work with a manufacturer

Locate a few manufacturers and ask for samples. Then narrow it down to two or three and order a small batch to test the manufacturer’s speed, quality, and communication.

It doesn’t hurt to have a backup supplier in case something goes wrong. For instance, having a supplier in another country or region can help you avoid going out of stock if there are delays in the supply chain.

Partnering with a manufacturer can take time and resources, but the investment might be worth it if you want to build your own brand . The right manufacturer can build prototypes to your specifications.Locate a few manufacturers and ask for samples. Then narrow it down to two or three and order a small batch to test the manufacturer’s speed, quality, and communication.It doesn’t hurt to have a backup supplier in case something goes wrong. For instance, having a supplier in another country or region can help you avoid going out of stock if there are delays in the supply chain.

Step 3: Choosing an online selling channel

Other options include starting out on an established ecommerce website, or selling through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Whichever route you choose, keep in mind you can start with one and add other channels as you scale. You can also drop a channel if it isn’t serving your needs.

If you’re new to ecommerce , you may want to start small and scale up. Selling on your own domain is one option if you have the time, resources, and skills to customize a website, create a seamless online experience, and compete on the internet to get customers to your store.Other options include starting out on an established ecommerce website, or selling through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Whichever route you choose, keep in mind you can start with one and add other channels as you scale. You can also drop a channel if it isn’t serving your needs.

Sell on an existing ecommerce website

Selling websites that already have traffic can help you connect with customers, expanding your visibility and reach. Plus, this strategy gives you a chance to learn about what works for other sellers, get reviews, and generate revenue before investing in your own website.

Try social selling

Social selling is a way for entrepreneurs to share about products and allow shoppers to buy during a live show. Customers can see the products, ask questions, and get personalized product recommendations in real-time. Social selling can take place on social media or on live-streaming destinations like Amazon Live , an interactive way to build relationships with customers.

Selling in Amazon stores

Benefits of selling on Amazon for new and existing ecommerce businesses include:

Amazon is a powerful channel in terms of reach, with over 300 million customers worldwide. Amazon’s suite of tools can help new and existing business owners reach those customers with its product-focused infrastructure.Benefits of selling on Amazon for new and existing ecommerce businesses include:

• Speed: Get a store up and running quickly thanks to the minimal work involved in setting up the store.
• Scalability and efficiency: Selling in Amazon stores frees you up to create and sell great products—you don’t have to solve every business problem. Use Amazon’s infrastructure, tools, and customer reach to grow your business.
• Reach: A listing in Amazon stores has the potential to reach more than 300 million active customer accounts.
• Ecommerce support: Use Amazon’s tools for processing payments, collecting reviews, running promotions, and even A/B testing of product pages at scale.
• Built-in SEO: Amazon product pages are built to serve search engines the right content and show up competitively in search results. When you launch products in Amazon stores with well-written product pages, you’ll be primed to rank competitively for the keywords and product searches relevant to your brand.
• Market awareness: Customers come to Amazon to shop for products. That’s why it’s the go-to for product search.

Step 4: Set up an online store and list products

Once you’ve figured out what to sell and who you’ll sell to, it’s time to get your business up and running.

Building your online storefront

If you have a brand, you can also enroll in

The Amazon Stores builder allows you to customize an ecommerce storefront for free. An Amazon store comes along with built-in technology to provide a seamless customer experience—from browsing to payment processing.If you have a brand, you can also enroll in Brand Registry to use tools like A+ Content that can help create a state-of-the-art shopping experience complete with lifestyle imagery, video content, and more.

Creating competitive product listings

You can manually list products with an Individual seller account, or use the Inventory Loader template with a Professional seller account to upload a spreadsheet of products. Bulk uploading will work once you have products with ASINs on Amazon. The template will grab data from those ASINs to pre-fill a product’s specifications so you don’t have to.

Product descriptions are what customers will read to decide if the product will fit their needs. Write a thorough description and include everything the potential buyer needs to know to make an informed decision.

Incomplete or inaccurate descriptions may lead to complaints, increase returns, and hurt your reputation, so be thorough, clear and upfront. However, descriptions don’t have to be dry. Put yourself in customers’ shoes and come up with fun and engaging descriptions of how they can use the products.