Complete Checklist for Starting an Ecommerce Business in 2024

Thinking of entering into the ecommerce business? Then this is the right time!

According to experts’ forecasts, ecommerce sales can be massively increased from $907.9 billion in 2022 to $1.4 trillion in 2025.

Forbes has shown many more interesting stats on ecommerce business growth, which indicate the importance of owning an ecommerce website.

Here are a few of the stats:

• Retail purchases are expected to take place online: 20.8% in 2023 and 24% by 2026.
• The global ecommerce market is expected to total $6.3 trillion in 2023.
• Ecommerce sales are expected to grow by 10.4% in 2023.

Many seasoned business owners are switching their traditional businesses to the online world of ecommerce. The availability of the Internet has given opportunities to numerous entrepreneurs to create an ecommerce business, as it is cost-effective compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar store.

The secret of success in an ecommerce business is to research and take the right measurements before commencing, which John Davis, owner of a footwear brand, realized late in his career.

Before stepping into his ecommerce business, Mr. Davis had a passion for making custom footwear. He decided to turn his passion into his profession and owned a small footwear store in Dallas.

Mr. Davis was ambitious and wished to take his creativity to every corner of the country. However, without proper technical knowledge, Mr. Davis was not sure how to move forward with it.

With his friends’ guidance, he gained some knowledge through YouTube videos and was able to set up a website. Mr. Davis later used his store name as a brand and was fortunate to obtain the domain. Taking YouTube guidance he somehow managed to create the website and business pages on different social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram.

After a few weeks of the website launch, Mr. Davis started facing issues, like

• The customers were unable while viewing his website on mobile devices.
• Customers were facing issues while navigating through his website.
• His customers could not complete payment due to a lack of proper payment methods.
• Delayed restocking of the required pieces of footwear.
• Mr. Davis received complaints about damaged products or poor packaging.

When Mr. Davis had trouble with his ecommerce business, a friend suggested he seek help from ecommerce development professionals.

He researched and turned to a renowned ecommerce development company in Dallas and got great ideas to retrieve his business flaws.

You must be thinking if Mr. Davis had done his research earlier, he wouldn’t have faced the troubles.

Well, better late than never!

We understand that you need guidance on how to start an ecommerce business in 2024. Therefore, we have prepared this article to provide you with a complete checklist for thriving in the exciting world of ecommerce.

Let’s kickstart your journey.

The Absolute Ecommerce Business Checklist for 2024

Before starting with the checklist, let’s get an idea about ecommerce.

What is E-Commerce?

Ecommerce or electronic commerce refers to businesses that trade goods and services on the Internet. An online ecommerce business is the most profitable substitute for a brick-and-mortar store.

In more simple words, it’s like an online marketplace where many businesses sell their products and services and people interact and buy from them.

These products can be as simple as footwear like Mr. Davis sells, as complex as customized laptops, as cheap as a toothpick, or as expensive as a diamond ring. Also, it can be a hair spa service or a flight ticket.

However, like Mr. Davis, if you think creating a website is enough to grow your ecommerce business, we’re afraid that you’re mistaken!

There are many more important factors to consider when stepping into the ecommerce industry.

  1. The Product or Service You’re Selling

As Kotler said, “Product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas”.

Before stepping into an ecommerce business, one should decide whether they want to sell products or services.

For selling products, one needs to have a clear view of the product category.

In the case of Mr. Davis, he already had the product he wanted to sell. It was his customized footwear. So if you are an existing brand, you already have your product.

However, what if one does not have a brand?

In that case, one should perform market research on the trendy or most demandable products. There are a variety of options, like food products, jewelry, clothing, or baby products, that your ecommerce business can deal with.

Decide about the products or services you want to sell, identify your target audience, analyze your competitors, and observe their strategies. Based on the analysis, create a Unique Selling Point (USP) for your brand, which will help you stand out in the competition.

Note: A vast product variety can be challenging to manage at the initial stage of your ecommerce business. Therefore, it will be better to reach an expert WooCommerce development company in Dallas to know your target customers and limit your product variety as per demand.

If we talk about selling services, your ecommerce business may include services, like online educational courses, ticket booking, and more.

  2. The Foundation of Your Business

The foundation of a business includes its vision, mission and core objectives, and Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

These fundamentals help a business set up its USP and establish a brand identity that stands out among the competition.

Let’s understand it with Mr. Davis’s business.

If you had a footwear business like Mr. Davis, your mission could be: ‘To empower people to express their personality through our customized footwear.’

His vision statement could be: ‘To become one of the most renowned customized footwear brands in the United States.’

And the core objectives could be:

• Aim to provide high-quality trendy footwear
• Innovate and inspire
• Offer unique footwear nation-wide
• Increase brand awareness
• Create customer loyalty

For Mr. Davis, setting these fundamentals could help in creating proper marketing strategies and reaching the ultimate goal.

Overall, building a strong foundation is vital for any type of ecommerce business.

  3. The Foundational Assets of Your Business

The foundation assets of your business are the resources that give your business its identity and help in creating brand recognition.

These include brand name and logo. These foundational assets help to create the recognition of your brand.

One must be very careful as well as creative while deciding and registering their brand name. It should be easy to pronounce and memorize.

So, make sure to find a unique name and maintain the originality of your brand. The name of your brand and products will impact your marketing.

Below are some noteworthy factors to consider while deciding your brand name.

• Your brand name must carry the essence of the product or services you are planning to sell.
• Keep the name simple and easy to memorize.
• Ensure that the brand name that you choose is not trademarked by someone else.
• Make sure that your brand name stays relevant when you expand your product line.
• Before deciding on a brand name, you can do a quick check on domain name availability. To do so, you can check domain availability in hosting providers like Godaddy, site ground, Bluehost, etc.
• Also, your brand shouldn’t miss the opportunity to be on different social media platforms since most of the population is addicted to those.

Besides choosing a distinctive brand name, prioritize creating a logo for your ecommerce store.

Just like a name, a logo is the identification of a brand. Even if the brand name is not written, your consumers can identify your product or service by looking at your business logo.

In Dallas, most ecommerce business owners rely on experienced ecommerce web design companies to design their brand logos.

  4. Legal Requirements

To kick start any business, including an ecommerce one, you need to accomplish some legal requirements.

Each state in the United States has its own rule. However, one needs to acknowledge the below legal requirements before starting an ecommerce career:

• A state business license
• A secretary of state business registration
• Federal Tax Identification (used to identify a business entity) is also known as Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Insurance, depending on the product and service type
• Legal disclaimers
• Legal contracts for client-based or membership businesses
• Rental agreements for rental businesses

These are some common legitimate business requirements that you need to follow in every state in the U.S.

Since Mr. Davis had an existing store in Dallas, his business already accomplished the legal requirements.

  5. A Reliable E-Commerce Website

Establishing a user-friendly website is one of the most important factors for running an ecommerce business.

Consider the following steps to set up a reliable ecommerce website.

• Create a plan

First, take your time and come up with a detailed plan for selling products or services. Include the amount of resources you will need to invest in technical support and other human personnel.

This is one of the most important parts that Mr. Davis overlooked, which led to major problems.

• Choose your ecommerce platform

There are many ecommerce platforms available in the market, such as WordPress Woocommerce, Shopify, Opencart, etc.

Out of these platforms, WordPress WooCommerce is one of the most popular platforms and it is the leading CMS platform that can be easily customized.

You can always turn to a WordPress WooCommerce development company in Dallas for developing and customizing your ecommerce website.

• Choose a domain name

Your website domain name must be relevant to your brand name as mentioned earlier. It will create brand awareness by expanding your brand identity.

If you already have an existing brand like Mr. Davis, consider finding a domain related to your brand name or something closer to it.

For example, suppose you have a footwear brand, named ‘Davis Shoes,’ think about domain names, like “customizedfootwearbyDavis.com” or “Customyourfootwear.org” which are relevant to your brand name and easy to memorize.

• Website design

Every ecommerce website includes a home page, product page, cart, about, contact, and checkout page. It is up to you how you want to showcase these pages on your website. However, make sure to design your pages in a user-friendly manner.

While designing your ecommerce website, sticking to a particular theme will help you design your website layout.

If you’re facing difficulties in finding the right theme for your website, professionals in an ecommerce web design company can suggest one according to your business requirement.

Choosing a website color scheme that matches your brand logo will be great to create a cohesive website design.

Mr. Davis didn’t have much knowledge about the design, therefore his website design was not user-friendly and he received complaints from the customer about it.

• Product Listing

The product listing page is an essential part of any ecommerce website. It shows a list of products based on a category and search query.

Consider listing your products through a WordPress WooCommerce website since it makes product listing easier. If you find difficulties in doing so, you can reach an ecommerce development company at any time.

• Shipping and fulfillment partners

In case your ecommerce website is dealing with product selling, you need to choose genuine shipping and fulfilling partners.

WordPress WooCommerce allows easy integration with most of the popular shipping and fulfilling partners.

Mr. Davis didn’t make a proper plan regarding his shipping partner, hence he faced an issue with the delivery. However, after consultation with the Woocommerce development company, he understood the importance and chose a reliable shipping partner US Post.

• Payment options

Focusing on the payment options is another important factor in establishing a reliable ecommerce website.

A WordPress WooCommerce website is a friendly platform and offers integration with various payment gateways, like Paypal, Stripe, etc.

It would be a smart choice to reach an ecommerce development company to set up the technical parts.

This is one of the problems Mr. Davis faced earlier, this time he got help from the WordPress development company to resolve this issue. On his recommendation, he chooses Paypal for his website.

• Testing and launching your online store

Since your website is ready now, consider cross-checking if the whole website is functioning properly. If there’s no issue to be highlighted, launch your online store and hit the ecommerce road!

  6. System Setup and Inventory Management

Focusing on the setup and management process of your business is a vital part of running an ecommerce business.

• Product Packaging: Does your business include shipping products? If yes, think about how your products will be delivered to the customers. Pay attention to the quality of packaging materials so that your customers receive the products without any damage.

• Shipping Process: Focusing on how your products are shipping and delivering is also important. A delay in delivery can lead to customer dissatisfaction, whereas an on-time delivery can delight a customer. Consider choosing genuine shipping partners who will deliver your products safely and on time to various locations across the United States.

• Inventory Management: Inventory management is a vital part of any kind of business, especially ecommerce. It is essential to keep track of your product and properly update the stock as per your inventory to avoid a sale.

Note: eco-friendly packaging materials are always praiseworthy to consumers. Consider wrapping and delivering your products with materials, like cardboard or cornstarch packaging, that are robust and friendly to the environment.

Mr. Davis faced a similar issue in his product packaging, which he was able to rectify after implementing the suggestion of the WooCommerce development company he hired for his website.

  7. Marketing

The truth is if you do not put an effort into marketing, there will be less chance of getting enough profit from your ecommerce business.

Marketing is the most effective way to grow an ecommerce business, and the role of a digital marketing company is highly significant in this field.

Digital marketing employees in an ecommerce development company in Dallas understand and apply proven trending marketing tactics and strategies.

Some of the top digital marketing companies in Dallas run marketing campaigns to promote business across different online platforms. They can help your business with content marketing, email marketing, PPC marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Tackling all these digital marketing factors can be difficult for an ordinary individual who wants to start a business.

As a shoe salesman of a brick-and-mortar store, it was very difficult for Mr.. Davis to focus on promoting his ecommerce website. Fortunately, living in Dallas, he was helped by experienced marketers.

Wrap Up

From young to adults, millions of people consider starting a business at some point in their lives. However, only a few of them can succeed. A lack of proper planning and guidance can prevent one from establishing an affluent business, which Mr. Davis faced in the initial stage of his ecommerce business.

Percipient entrepreneurs often seek advice from experienced companies, like a WooCommerce development company in Dallas. It helps them obtain information about their product management, branding, customer engagement, and more at the very beginning of their ecommerce businesses.

In this article, we’ve discussed the complete checklist to consider before commencing your ecommerce business. Hope you have learned something valuable that will be reflected in your successful ecommerce career.