Virginia Web Design and IT Solutions company – Steps to Create an Online Store

E-Commerce is one of the most viable business opportunities today. With the rise in gas prices, more people are shopping online. Online sales are expected to hit $144 billion in the U.S. and £78bn in the UK. Starting an e.Commerce business site requires minimal start-up cost and is relatively low-risk as compared to opening a retail store. Thousands of entrepreneurs are cashing in on their ecommerce web sites. However, if you are unfamiliar with setting up an e.Commerce site it can be a bit intimidating.

NetQwik provides complete e.Commerce Solutions from setting up your domain name, hosting, merchant account, payment gateway, launching and advertising your online store and training you to manage your own online store.

Here are the steps for setting up your store:

Step 1: NetQwik will assist you with buying a domain name

Domain names range from $9.95 to 20.00 a year depending upon the number of items you choose.

Step 2: NetQwik will set up a hosting account for you

Hosting ranges from $6.99 to $14.99 a month.

Step 3: NetQwik will set up your shopping cart for you. Two options are available

Option 1: Free Shopping Cart
Option 2: Shopping Cart from $9.99 a month depending upon how many items you wish to sell.

Step 4: Set Up Merchant Account

In order to accept credit card payments you will need a merchant account or a Paypal account. If you don’t have a Merchant Account, NetQwik will refer you to a Merchant Account Service. If you do not wish you use a Merchant Account you can open a Paypal Account

Step 5: Set up Payment Gateway

If you are using Paypal, then this step does not apply to you. To accept payments online you will need a payment gateway. With a payment gateway when an online order is processed the credit card is validated and the funds are automatically transferred to your account. However, it is important to note that not all payment gateways will be compatible with your shopping cart software. NetQwik will help you set this up.

Step 6: NetQwik will set up an SSL Certificate for you

This protects the buyers credit card information. It encrypts the data when it is in transit.  Credit card transactions will fail if this is not set up.

Step 7: Provide Information to NetQwik

NetQwik will ask you to provide the following:

  1. Price of each item you wish to sell
  2. Description of each item
  3. If you would like to charge the item by weight or if you would like to charge a flat shipping fee
  4. If you would like to charge the item by weight we would want to know the weight of each item
  5. Pictures of the items you are selling

NetQwik will design your Online Store

Once we have the information we will start developing your store. Your store will be fully scaleable. You can add from 1 to an unlimited amount of items.

NetQwik will Train you to Update your Online Store

We will show you how to update and manage your own store.