How to open an online store from scratch
From the product catalogue to payments and shipping: the steps we follow with every client selling online for the first time.
Opening an online store looks complicated until you break it into steps. The hardest part is rarely the technology, it is preparing the products and making the shipping decisions.
Start with the catalogue
Before we talk about the platform, we need the product list with prices, descriptions and clean photos on a white background. This is the step that takes the longest and the one people underestimate most.
Payments and shipping
In our market, cash on delivery is still the main method, so we always keep it as an option. Alongside it we add card payments for customers who want to pay immediately. We break shipping fees down by city right from the start, because surprises at the end of the order are the main reason carts get abandoned.
After launch
A store is not finished on day one. In the first month we track which products get viewed most, where visitors drop off and which questions keep coming back. Then we fix the descriptions and the pages that are losing customers.
Erisa leads design at Vala Studio and has ten years of experience building visual identities for businesses across Albania and Kosovo.
