6 steps to a successful e-commerce launch

How do I get started in e-commerce? Steps to follow

According to FEVAD, total e-commerce sales in France have increased by 15% in one year. It currently represents nearly 17 billion euros .

Getting started in e-commerce requires a number of steps:

1. Studying the market and understanding the issues

2. Finding the right product

3. Create your e-commerce site

4. Increase traffic and conversions

5. Analyze your results

6. Stand out from the crowd with an even more unique brand and offering

Studying your market

Before getting started in e-commerce To get started, you need to carry out a market study of your product niche. This step helps reduce the risk of failure and determine whether the business is profitable.

A niche is a sub-industry dedicated to an audience with :

• its own needs

• sa propre identité

• his preferences

A niche is defined according to the following criteria:

• Price (high, low, affordable)

• Demographic data (gender, age, level of education, etc.)

• Quality (premium, handmade, economical...)

• Geographical location

• Psychographic" data (values, attitudes, interests, etc.)

To carry out market research, it is also essential to identify direct and indirect competitors and analyze their business strategies. You'll be able to draw inspiration from their practices and come up with better ideas.

Finally, you also need to know your customers and their needs. To do this, simply analyze their behavior and consumption habits. This will enable you to understand their needs and propose the right service or product to meet them.

Let's take the computer market as an example. Let's face it: unless you have 100 million euros in your bank account, you won't be able to compete with these global players!

So you focus on a particular niche. By analyzing the market, you discover, for example, that players in the pharmaceutical industry are prepared to pay a lot of money for basic computer equipment.

Right now, they're either using products from a long-established market player offering an outdated, overpriced solution, or cheaper, low-quality tools. You've identified a precise niche to target, with a precise problem!

But if you ask manufacturers, you'll discover that it's possible to assemble a computer that meets their requirements at a reasonable price and a very satisfactory level of quality.

Always remember that the market won't adapt to your business. It's up to you to adapt to the market by finding the best solutions!

Finding the right product to meet customer needs

The next step in market research is to identify winning products . These are the products that meet customer needs.

The first option is to take care of the production of your products. You must therefore find a supplier . You'll need to compare different wholesalers in terms of quality and cost. This will enable you to offer quality products at competitive prices.

The second option for your products is le dropshipping or "direct delivery". In this case, you are only responsible for marketing and selling the product. The supplier is responsible for delivering their orders to customers.

How do you find a supplier for your online store?

Here are a few steps to follow find your online store supplier :

• Take stock of your research regarding the type of supplier: manufacturer, wholesaler or dropshipper

• Compare domestic and foreign suppliers

• Find professionals on Google

• Consult professional directories (Kompass, Europages, Francegrossiste, Ezilon...)

• Search with NACE (Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community)

• Don't hesitate to ask for several quotes

Some suppliers list their products with a NACE code to make them easier to find.

How do I dropship?

It is also essential to follow certain steps to getting started in dropshipping :

• Choose your business sector and products

• Import products into the online store (this step includes the creation of product data sheets)

• Creating a quality website

• Choose your payment and delivery method

• Implement a webmarketing strategy to promote your products and find customers (SEO, social networks, affiliation...)

Create your online store

In addition to the sales channel, it is also preferable to use the following strategy Minimum Viable Product to succeed in e-commerce with limited means. It's all about creating a "scaled-down" product that's sure to sell.

The MVP is a method for quickly and cost-effectively assessing the viability of a product under development. It helps validate the product's value proposition.

In e-commerce, it's also possible to sell on a single site or page. This saves you the trouble of developing an entire website for a product that has no chance of selling.

Selling on a marketplace or social networks

Marketplaces bring together numerous offers . It makes it easy to compare them. Prices are lower because of strong competition. But its reputation inspires greater confidence.

Etsy

Etsy is the marketplace for handmade and vintage creations. It includes over 33 million buyers worldwide. Buyers are looking for unique, hand-crafted pieces.

Amazon

You can also use Amazon to sell your products. In fact, this platform is the undisputed leader in Internet sales . It has over 20 million visitors. It would be a shame to miss out on its sales potential.

Selling on social networks

More than 38 million French people regularly use social networks. These platforms (Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok) are now part of French people's habits. You can use social networks to booster vos ventes .

Social networks allow you to:

• gain visibility

• improve communication

• generate traffic

• adding value to products

• target audience

Selling on Snapchat

Snapchat brings together Generation Z and millennials with $5,000 billion in purchasing power.

According to the platform, Snapchatters are 34% more likely to buy products on Snapchat than on other platforms.

Selling on TikTok

You can sell your products with TikTok Shop via videos, lives and even on their store windows. According to the platform, half of all tiktokers buy after seeing promotions, reviews or videos.

Selling on Instagram

Selling on Instagram offers great visibility thanks to its millions of daily active followers. Product photos are of higher quality and attract more customers. The age range of users is broader than on Tiktok, with users from all walks of life.

Selling on Facebook

Facebook users can browse and buy products without leaving Facebook. L Shopping experience is simpler for customers. Facebook stores are also free.

Note :

Selling on specialized pages, such as Manomano, Showroomprivée and Rakuten, can also help you generate sales. success for your e-commerce .

Create your website

You can create your own website, or hire a specialized agency.

Using the services of a web agency allows you to concentrate on your core business, saving time while benefiting from specialized support. However, web agency services can cost between €3000 and €2000.

What's more, you never delegate 100% of the work, as many exchanges are necessary.

Alternatively, you can create your own e-commerce site, starting from a template on a CMS.

What tools are needed to create an e-commerce site?

E-commerce store creation tools (CMS) make it easy to create an attractive store that can be accessed from any device. They also include tailored functionalities to all new and experienced entrepreneurs.

Our opinion

If you're just starting out, Shopify and Wix are the best choice. They're designed to make your day-to-day life easier, and their services are comprehensive and easy to use.

If you already have a website created on Wordpress, use the WooCommerce extension.

If you need a website with a superior design, use Squarespace.

Beyond ease of use, however, consider your needs carefully. Compare design tools before choosing your online store software .

Increase your e-commerce traffic

Now that the e-commerce site is ready with all the products, it's time to develop its traffic. To assess the product's profitability and durability, you'll need to test the market quickly.

There are several effective strategies for increasing the number of visits to your online site.

• Le SEO can improve your site's ranking in search engine results (depending on your content, technique and backlinks). However, it's too slow in the short term.

• Le SEA or paid search, generates clicks and sales through search engine advertising. It rapidly attracts Internet users.

• Le SMA or social media advertising, consists in placing ads on social networks. It's also very fast and very suitable for e-commerce (less expensive than SEA).

Astuce : Choose TikTok if your target is under 35. All you need is time to create impactful, high-quality videos.

Influencer marketing and affiliate marketing are also part of the best strategies for gaining visibility .

• Affiliate partnerships refer customers to your products via specific links. This affiliate link earns the affiliate a commission.

• Influencer partners rely entirely on the trust and authenticity of content creators on social networks.

Converting traffic into sales

The online experience must be clear and pleasant, otherwise you risk missing out on potential orders.

The most crucial stage in the conversion tunnel is payment.

Why?

Because the shopping cart abandonment rate continues to rise worldwide, topping 70% today!

To maximize your conversion rate at checkout, you need :

• A simple, clear and easy-to-use solution

• Zero payment error rate

• Offer easy payment options

This is exactly what Hero Checkout our payment solution that can be integrated into any website!

With a higher-than-market acceptance rate, a top-notch experience, fraud protection and access to the European market, you can reduce technical abandonment and impatience.

Stop paying prohibitive collection fees: Hero charges you 0€15 + 0,4% for each transaction, a several times lower price to other market players!

Above all, you can offer your customers (B2C as well as B2B) deferred and fractional payment options: by offering a BNPL (buy now pay later) option, you can wait for a increase in conversions up to +30 (Stripe study) .

Financing your e-commerce

If you're dropshipping, your only cash advances are advertising budgets (which can sometimes be substantial).

But if you have your own inventory, your working capital requirements can explode and exceed your financial capacities!

Hero beard advance payment of your supplier invoices in 3 clicks: just drag and drop your invoice, Hero pays your supplier immediately and debits you up to 3 months later.

The fee is simple and transparent: from 0.05% per day.

If you pay your suppliers by credit card (e.g. Google Ads or Meta Ads), Hero's free business card is for you.

It allows you to make deferred debit payments for up to 90 days!

Analyze your e-commerce's initial results

For sustainable, profitable e-commerce It's essential to analyze the first sales results.

There's a simple first calculation: if it costs you 3 times more to produce and market your product than it brings in, your e-commerce business will hardly be profitable. You'll have to change your business or products.

If you don't make a profit at first, this may be normal. In this case, you'll need to optimize your e-commerce:

• Strengthen your SEO and SEA or any other strategy used (influencers, affiliation, SMA...)

• Optimizing product pages with an attractive, easy-to-read description

• Increase confidence in requesting customer reviews

• Maximize your expertise with a product selection advice form (example: "define the sports equipment you need, according to your personal objectives")

Some solutions are specific to particular problems, to be identified in advance:

• If your conversion rates are low, you can add a chatbot so that customers get instant answers and maximize your conversion rates.

• If existing customers' repeat order share is low, you can email existing customers.

• If the average basket is too low, you can add up-sells on the payment page and add suggestions at the bottom of your product pages to generate relevant cross-sells.

• If the average duration of sales on your website is short, you need to improve and simplify the experience (UX design) and/or the relevance and content quality.

• If the cost of acquisition is too high while the CTR (click-through rate) on your ads is high, you can try out new advertising networks.

• If the CTR is low or falling, you can renew your ads and video ads.

If your e-commerce business is already profitable, congratulations! On the other hand, you must constantly improve your e-commerce offering .

Create a memorable brand and a unique universe for your e-commerce business

L' brand universe of your business reflects your company's identity. It conveys your brand DNA and corporate values.

A strong brand universe sets you apart from your competitors. It enhances the elements that make you unique.

For create your brand you must :

• Define what you want to convey through your brand image

• Adopt a visual universe that reflects your personality

• Develop your brand's history by sharing a story about your business, your values, your commitments, etc.

• Maintain consistency across all communications, from distribution media to packaging

Horace is an example of 100% e-commerce brand (DNVB) which is an excellent example of a successful brand universe: unashamedly promoting male well-being, with responsible, high-quality products (made in France, products of natural origin, etc.). This unique differentiation enables them to address a niche (men's skincare products) that few competitors have managed to reach.

Other questions we ask ourselves when launching an e-commerce business

How do you manage deliveries?

You can deliver your products yourself. In this case, remember to a quality shipping strategy . You can :

• choose a fixed price, real-time shipping costs or free delivery

• measure and update the weight of each product sold

• choose the ideal packaging

It is also possible to use the services of a logistics center such as Amazing FBA, BigBlue...

How do you finance your e-commerce business?

There are several ways to financing your e-commerce .

Hero is a fintech created in 2020 for VSEs, SMEs and startups that offers a factoring system. It immediately advances the turnover of your invoice. This gives you the option of paying in cash, deferred payment or in instalments.

Many other financing solutions are available from Hero.

How do you find a name for your e-commerce business?

For find the right name for your e-commerce, you can :

• make a list of keywords that describe your business

• analyze the names of competing stores

• chat with generative AIs like ChatGPT, explaining your constraints clearly

• ask your friends, customers or prospects

• hire a freelancer on a service platform like Malt

Register your brand name. In France, the body responsible for registering and protecting trademarks is the INPI.

How do you choose a domain name for an online store?

Domain names must be :

• courts

• clairs

• easy to type on a keyboard

There are platforms that generate domain names. They provide access to a wealth of ideas on keywords and phrases related to your business.

Here are some examples of sites for register your domain name :

• Shopify

• Ionos

• OVH

• Go Daddy

If you already own them, you can buy them from the owner.

What are the different forms of e-commerce?

E-commerce takes many forms, depending on the type of transaction and target market:

• B2B or Business to Business: an online sales company that caters to business customers.

• B2C or Business to Consumer: a sale between a company and an individual consumer.

• C2B or Consumer to Business: a product transaction between private individuals and professionals (for example, a used car bought by a professional).

• C2C or Consumer to Consumer: this refers to transactions between private individuals (e.g. LeBonCoin).

What are the different types of e-commerce?

We can classify e-commerce in 2 types:

• Dropshipping: this involves selling a supplier's products. The e-merchant only handles the marketing. The supplier manages stock and shipping.

• Classic e-commerce: you take care of product production, inventory management and shipping.

What type of e-commerce is most profitable?

On paper, dropshipping seems the most profitable with :

• lower start-up costs

• limited risk of overstocking

• permanently positive cash flow

• lower overheads

But in reality, it's e-commerce with a strong competitive edge in its niche market that's the most profitable. It brings in more customers and therefore more sales. Above all, it's a much better asset.

In dropshipping, it's more difficult to build the value of your site and your brand, because your competitive advantage is weaker (lower-quality product, often offered by other players working with the same supplier, and longer delivery times).

How do you write your general terms and conditions of sale online?

When you sell goods or services via your online store, you must include general terms and conditions of sale. You must mention :

• your company's identity and contact details

• the characteristics of the goods or services

• the price of goods or services

• information relating to distance selling (delivery, withdrawal, etc.)

• information on cases of dispute

• the obligations of each party (deliver and produce for the seller, pay for the customer)

General terms and conditions of sale should be brief and to the point.

What's the right budget to open an online store?

The cost of a website varies from 0 € à 50 000 € according to :

• store size

• the products

• site complexity

Less than €1,000

A simple, small-scale online store can cost between €0 and €500, especially if you create your own website. There are also agencies offering e-commerce site creation services.

Between €1,000 and €10,000

A showcase site can cost between €1,000 and €10,000, depending on the number of pages, functionalities and design....

Ideally, you should call on a freelance ou an online store creation agency . You can also benefit from advertising on social networks and search engines.

More than €10,000

For more than €10,000, you can have a totally unique custom store. You'll need to hire a web agency. They can often also take care of marketing your page: SEO, SEA, advertising... You can also create your own stock.

Note : Hero offers simplified payment methods to finance your e-commerce business (cash, deferred payment and instalments).

How to set up an online store without stock?

Dropshipping remains the ideal option for create an online store without stock .

It is also possible to entrust stock management to an external company that keeps the products in its warehouses.

What legal status for e-commerce?

To run an e-commerce business, you need a company. As with physical stores, they need to determine their legal status according to the financial, tax and social implications for the business.

If you're on your own, you could set up a SASU or EURL. In any case, you need to opt for the tax system based on actual income and corporation tax, as you'll need to deduct many expenses in e-commerce (unlike in the case of services).

How can I find ideas for products to sell?

Visit best tips for finding products to sell are as follows:

• Understanding how to meet consumer needs

• Google the best products to sell online

• Spot tomorrow's trends

• Identify products that sell well despite an uncompetitive offer (it's possible to do better than them).

Here are some ideas for products to sell online:

• An anti-theft backpack to meet the needs of active city dwellers

• Food supplements

• Minimalist connected watches

• Wireless induction chargers

How do I find a brand ambassador?

Brand ambassadors promote a brand and its products. They are usually influencers.

To find an ambassador, search your customer base. Then approach influential accounts that already follow or recommend you. Suggest a partenariat .

There are also marketplaces to put you in touch, and marketing agencies specializing in this acquisition channel. This can save you time and energy, but it can also be quite expensive: don't hesitate to put them in competition.

The key to an effective influencer campaign is to target influencers specialized in your niche. Avoid generalist influencers and focus on those that speak to your target community.

How to source e-commerce suppliers?

Sourcing is the best way to find good suppliers. It consists of identifying suppliers who potentially meet your needs and comparing them (in terms of cost, quality and delivery). This evaluation will enable you to choose the best suppliers.

It's essential to anticipate and provide initial financing large enough to meet your e-commerce needs. So you'll need good financing to get started in e-commerce and succeed.

Hero offers payment solutions for small and medium-sized businesses to finance your online store. It enables you to cash in your sales immediately, while giving your customers the option of paying in cash, deferred payment or in instalments. An essential solution for launch your e-commerce .