The pandemic has only exacerbated the trend of eCommerce increasing its share of the retail market exponentially since the mid-2000s. Rapid technological advancements in the fulfillment and logistics industriousness mean that all retailers from grocery stores and auto dealerships can do at least a good deal of their business online.

According to Business Insider, 86% of Indians took up online shopping during the pandemic. From day-to-day groceries to attire, electronics, and more, consumers seek to make purchases digitally rather than having to walk into physical stores today.

While multifold businesses have already moved online during the pandemic, there are still others who are aiming for the move or are in process.

To make stuff simpler, we’ve created a practical and comprehensive guide to moving your offline business online.

Steps to take your offline business online

• Find and choose the right eCommerce platform
• Setting up the server
• Buy a domain name for your business
• Buy cloud hosting
• Create (Plan) your website
• Choose your payment methods
• Choose your shipping partner
• Announce your business is now online

Find and choose the right eCommerce platform

Pick a platform that will make the entire process of taking your products online, smoother by setting up the website.

Things to keep in mind while choosing the platform:

• Identify the needs of your business
• What functionalities you’d like to offer to the customer
• Explore and search eCommerce platforms that offer those features

Setting up the server

Based on the features and compatibility with your business model choose the right server for your eCommerce website. Choosing the right server will help supercharge your eCommerce business from the get-go.

Keep in mind these things how to choose the right server:

• Its’ features and compatibility
• It’s uptime (It determines the reliability of a web server)
• Support
• It’s pricing (Most important)

Buy a domain name for your business

Build your online identity by choosing a suitable domain name for your business.

You can buy domains from the following websites:

• GoDaddy
• Domain.com
• Flippa
• Sedo
• Shopify
• Namecheap
• Hover
• Google domains
• Dynadot

Buy cloud hosting

Choose a secure and different hosting based on the need of your business.

Consider these factors while choosing to host:

• Security
• Performance
• Strong database
• Support
• User interface

Create your website

The next and most important step to take your offline business online is building a website for your business. Build your website from scratch and shift all your products/services online.

Choose your payment methods

Next, determine how your target audience pays for products. Find out what payment methods your offline customers use, and whether you can offer them online as well. The more payment methods you offer, the more likely consumers are to make a purchase. Include multiple payment gateways based on your target audience.

Choose your shipping partner

Offline sales give your customers the option of making a purchase and taking the product home right away. If you’re selling online, you have to figure out how to deliver your purchases. You need to partner with a shipping company that can deliver your products efficiently to all the locations in which you sell. Include the shipping methods for the timely fulfillment and delivery of your orders.

Announce your business is now online

Improve your website visibility by planning marketing and SEO strategy to allow search engines to find your business. Also, expose your website to multiple channels by connecting your website to multiple sales channels like Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, and Walmart to attract customers.

Here are some other ways to promote your business:

• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• WhatsApp marketing

Summing up

As a business, taking the decision to set up an online store is a big step.

To ensure you cover all the bases before launching, do your research, explore the best available solutions for taking your offline business online, then work through the above checklist.

Finally, we are at the end, start taking your offline business online. We are helping you to build your business online from scratch and taking it to next level. Get in touch with us to know more.