Stay Stylish: How to Set Up an eCommerce Fashion Shop

Nearly forty percent of all apparel sales in the United States were made online in 2019. That number is expected to climb dramatically for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Thanks to the proliferation of the internet and the ease of online shopping, people no longer feel constrained to visit the major retailers anymore. Many people are buying clothes from small, independent businesses. And now there are a variety of online store builders that make it even easier for people to set up their own businesses online.

While setting up your own eCommerce fashion site is easier said than done, it’s still certainly doable. And luckily for you, we’re here to help. So continue reading and we’ll walk you through everything you need to know!

1. Select Your Domain Name

By having a unique domain name, you’ll be able to give your fashion site its own online identity. Think of your domain name as the zip code of a physical store – it’s going to identify where your store is and help people easily locate it.

In order to buy your domain name, you can either buy it through a domain name registrar or through your online store builder. While it might be easier in the short-term to buy the domain name through your site builder, things can get pretty tricky if you ever decide to leave that builder.

It might take longer to buy the domain through a third-party site, but it’s going to be the more versatile option when looking at the long-term.

You should first come up with a company name before the domain name. Often, people will just use their company name as the domain.

2. Choose the Template

This is one of the most fun parts of setting up your fashion site. You can really get creative here and create the storefront that you always dreamed about.

Your website builder is going to come with a variety of eCommerce templates that you can use as the foundation for your site. The template is going to create the look and feel of your online store, so your decisions in this stage are going to be very important.

After you choose a template, you can then customize it. This means you won’t be stuck with exactly what the suggested template looks like.

If you’re not sure which template is best, then you can try out a few different ones to get a sense of how they’ll appear. When you’re looking for the right template, try to keep the customer in mind.

You should know how old the target customer is and the kind of lifestyle that they live. This is going to help you better figure out which kind of template will best appeal to them.

You also want the template to match your company’s style and tone. The template should have some of your personal touches so that it feels more individualized.

3. Add Products to Your Online Store

The most important part of your eCommerce fashion site is going to the product pages. This is where you’re going to convert casual window shoppers into paying clients. While the homepage acts as the storefront, the product pages will be your shop floor.

It’s thankfully very easy to add products to your online store. There is usually an editor feature where you can add items with the click of a button.

It’s important to remember that you should be keeping the customer in your mind when you’re designing your product pages. If you make the pages too busy, you might overwhelm the customer. If there isn’t enough information, the opposite might happen.

You want your customers to be able to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for. If they get too confused, they’ll most certainly leave the site and go somewhere else.

Consider who your competition is and visit their online stores. What do you like about their product pages? What do you think can be improved upon?

You should also use product information management. This kind of software will allow you to centralize product information, collaboratively enrich product data, and efficiently disseminate product data.

4. Set Up a Payment Processor

Setting up your payment processor is as easy as setting up the rest of your online store. There’s no need to stress out over it.

In order to start making some money by selling your apparel online, you’re going to need to connect your store to a payment processor. These processors are services that let you take credit card payments from your shoppers.

Some site builders come with their own integrated payment processors. This can make it very easy for you to track money. You can also use many kinds of third-party processors on most site builders.

If you’re nervous about setting up a payment processor, then it might be best for you to go with the one that comes with your site builder.

The Importance of Knowing How to Set Up an eCommerce Fashion Site

Setting up your own eCommerce fashion site can be a very exciting endeavor. And hopefully, after reading the above article, you can also see that it’s a pretty easy endeavor too. And after following the listed steps, you can then focus on what’s most important, selling your clothes and earning money.

Are you looking for other helpful eCommerce articles like this one? If you are, then make sure to check out the rest of our blog today for more!