What do I need to consider when I’m setting up a webshop?
- Bear in mind that maintaining a webshop requires planning as any other business. Familiarize yourself with all aspects, e.g. with all material that can be found online
- Compare the price-quality ratios of different suppliers and take all life-cycle costs into account
- Do you really have the time/interest/know-how to maintain a webshop?
- Most webshops go out of business because they have become unprofitable, read: neglected. Contrary to popular belief, a web shop does not work without active operations, even if the shop is open 24/7 online
- In terms of the product’s price, quality, and “form”, is it profitable to sell the product online considering postal expenses, product range, and competitive situation, etc.?
- Good online business does not often require a wide product range (actually, on the contrary. Usually, it is the most effective to specialize in something)
- Who implements the shop and before anything, who is supposed to maintain it?
- In most cases, it’s reasonable to let a professional implement the shop. Maintaining the shop (adding products, marketing, etc.), however, is usually practical to handle yourself in terms of flexibility and profitability
- What’s my market area? Would it be profitable to serve customers e.g. inside the EU or the whole world? 5 million vs. 100 million customers. In the end, it’s not that expensive to add different language versions to the program