Table of Contents
You want to build your own personal online shop. What do you need to consider? What opportunities, risks, and hurdles do you need to be aware of? We’ll show you what you need to pay attention to to ensure your project is a complete success.
Online sales in Switzerland: These sales channels should be used as an online retailer in Switzerland
In 60 seconds, Swiss consumers purchase online and mobile goods worth CHF 18,264.84, with an average of 152 orders per minute during which 335 items are purchased. Online commerce is booming! How can you, as a Swiss SME, benefit from this trend and compete with the big market players?
Running an online shop without a goal or plan will certainly not lead to long-term success. Anyone who wants to sell products online needs to ask themselves how they want to offer their products to customers, in what way, and at what price. Operating an online shop also means that retailers must address sales strategies and sales channels. Unfortunately, many shop owners only deal with these two topics very superficially. However, for long-term success, it is essential to have a good overview of the existing sales channels and a suitable sales strategy.
- Search engines (paid and organic search)
- Social media
- Marketplaces
- Email marketing
Customer benefits include:
9 steps to a clear eCommerce strategy
E-commerce offers entrepreneurs countless opportunities. A well-thought-out e-commerce strategy remains essential for the long-term success of any business. A business plan is the key to success. Even if you create this plan just for yourself, it will continually encourage you to ask the right questions, limit your losses, and focus on your goals.
In this article, you will learn how to develop your own strategy: “9 Steps to Your Business Plan” shows you what you should pay attention to when planning and developing a strategy so that nothing stands in the way of the success of your online business.
eCommerce systems: These factors must be considered to be successful in online trading
The growing eCommerce market offers interesting opportunities for SMEs and entrepreneurs. But how does eCommerce actually work? Which shop system is the right one? What payment options do I need, and how do I find customers for my shop? We highlight the important factors in our article “eCommerce Systems: These Factors Must Be Considered for Online Success“.
eCommerce, electronic commerce, online and internet commerce: All of these terms refer to the purchase and sale of goods or services using electronic information technologies. The internet is the core technology. However, other forms of digital data transmission and processing, such as mobile communications, electronic customer databases, or accounting software, also fall under eCommerce.
Depending on your company’s strategy, your eCommerce system must meet different requirements. Anyone who has delved deeper into eCommerce will have encountered the terms multichannel and omnichannel several times. But what exactly does multichannel or omnichannel mean in the context of eCommerce? Omnichannel generally describes the simultaneous use of two or more channels, such as using a mobile device while shopping in a brick-and-mortar store. In contrast, multichannel describes a retailer offering its products on several different (sales) channels. The channels can be organised independently of one another, but do not have to be.
Creating an online shop in Switzerland: What should you consider?
Year after year, online retail sales figures only go in one direction: upward. This is logical, given that every generation grows up with the internet and finds it normal to shop online. Take advantage of this trend! Whether you already run a brick-and-mortar store or are starting from scratch, we want to show you how to plan, implement, and successfully launch your own online store.
Running an online shop professionally is a challenge for an SME. eCommerce is more than just downloading a shop system and uploading a few images. The processes and effort behind the scenes can be complex: logistics must function perfectly, marketing takes time, and employees need to be more flexible. How do you go about setting up your own online shop?
In our article “Creating an online shop in Switzerland” we give you an overview of the most important topics:
- Selecting an eCommerce System
- Domain
- Legal Regulations
- Data Security
- Payment Methods
- Customer Process
- Marketing
- Shipping and Returns
Webinar: The easy way to an online shop
In our on-demand webinar, you’ll get an overview of the MyCOMMERCE online shop solution. Completely free, straightforward, and understandable for everyone.
Create an online shop without deep IT knowledge, this is how it works
Not only large companies like Amazon or Zalando benefit from online retail. Small businesses that don’t sell exclusively via eCommerce can also gain new market share and profit.
But how time-consuming and complicated is it to create an online shop? Which strategy is worthwhile for whom? In our article “Creating an online shop without in-depth IT knowledge“, we explain why an online shop is worthwhile and what options are available on the market. Often, it’s a fundamental decision – do you want a simple shop that can be launched quickly, or a more complex structure that can be customised down to the last detail?
MyCOMMERCE offers a simple and user-friendly shop with a modular system. Not only is the online shop easy to set up, but also the interaction with your website. This is an area that causes headaches for many companies. Which came first – the chicken or the egg, website or online shop? Do you use a system to create a complete online shop, or do you first build a standalone website and then add a shop via a plugin?
Depending on where you are in your digital journey, this can be unpleasantly complicated. MyCOMMERCE kills two birds with one stone. In addition to the integrated homepage (one-page website) for every shop, MyCOMMERCE has interfaces to the most popular content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla; or other all-in-one site builders such as WIX or Jimdo. This means you either don’t need a website, or you can easily integrate your online shop into your website.
How much effort does it take to create and operate an online shop?
You’re planning your own online shop, but how much effort does it take to set it up and run it? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. It varies from shop to shop and depends on the complexity of the project. Good preparation is key! The better and more detailed your preparation, the more time you’ll save for the actual implementation. A clear picture of the online shop you want to create should be defined in advance. This will reduce time-wasters such as misunderstandings and annoying corrections during the preparation phase.
In our article “How much effort does it take to create and operate an online shop?” we give you an overview of the important points:
- Online shop design
- Selection of shop software
- Creation of the online shop
- Marketing
- Shipping and logistics
- Customer service
- Operating and developing the online shop
Increase online shop traffic: How to increase the number of visitors to your online shop
More and more people are shopping online, as it’s more convenient and often cheaper than brick-and-mortar stores. Because competition online is fierce, operators of smaller online shops have to fight for attention and visitors.
In the article “Increasing Online Shop Traffic” you will learn how even smaller shops can succeed in building a thriving online shop.
- What are the ways to increase traffic?
- Increase online shop traffic with SEO
- Writing product descriptions
- Paid search traffic
- Social media: How important is social media for my shop?
- Link building with backlinks
Marketing is the keyword! But don’t let the “M” word intimidate you. If this is new territory for you, we’ve written this marketing guide for you.
The legal obligations of a shop operator in Switzerland
Many companies want to benefit from online commerce and are planning to open an online shop. New software solutions make it easy to operate an online shop today, allowing even those without extensive IT knowledge to implement their projects. In addition to technical issues, several key legal considerations should be taken into account. Since the requirements for online shops in Switzerland do not fully comply with European eCommerce guidelines, the situation is often confusing for shop operators and consumers in Switzerland.
In the article “Legal obligations of a shop operator in Switzerland“, we provide a rough overview of the most important points.
The most important payment methods for Swiss online shops
Do you understand the Swiss payment landscape? Credit cards, PayPal, and Twint are no problem? Anyone who confidently answers “yes” to this question is a rare breed.
For anyone who wants to be successful with their online shop, smooth payment processing is crucial. However, the interests of shop operators and customers differ. While customers want to pay as conveniently as possible, shop operators are primarily concerned with minimizing costs and the risk of payment defaults. Offering suitable payment methods that satisfy both parties can be a real challenge.
That’s why we have created a simple overview for you in the article “Overview – Swiss Online Shop Payment Methods“.
- What payment methods do my customers expect?
- How do I avoid missed payments?
- What costs are incurred by the various payment methods?
Security and compliance with all guidelines are also a priority. PSD2 (Payment Services Directive) requires customers to provide additional identification when paying online with credit cards for security reasons – hence the name two-factor authentication. We’ve compiled this important information about PSD2 for you.
Online Shop Security: 5 Tips for the Security of Your Shop
IT security is an important issue in today’s society. Our workplaces are everywhere. We shop on multiple devices and use other people’s Wi-Fi networks. Who can keep track of what’s happening with all that sensitive data?
There are numerous risks you face when running an online store. It’s almost impossible to identify all vulnerabilities, but it’s still worth addressing the issue and finding out how to increase security. The biggest risks online retailers face include:
- Insecure passwords
- Use of outdated shop systems
- Web server settings
- Viruses and trojans on a work computer
- Lack of security standards (e.g., SSL)
If you want to understand the topic of security, hacking, and data theft, you should try to put yourself in the shoes of hackers. In our article “5 Tips for Securing Your Shop“, we’ve compiled the most important insights for you.
Connect your own online shop to digital marketplaces such as Amazon, Facebook or Google Shopping with MyCOMMERCE
Online retailers are constantly looking for new ways to offer their products to a wider audience. Selling on well-known marketplaces is therefore a natural choice. However, many shop operators shy away from the additional effort and technical peculiarities of these portals. MyCOMMERCE offers a simple way to connect marketplaces to your own online shop, sell products, and automate subsequent processes:
- Product upload: Upload items directly from your shop to marketplaces.
- Inventory synchronisation: Always keep up-to-date inventory levels between your online shop and marketplaces.
- Automatic order import: Import and manage marketplace orders.
This benefits eCommerce newcomers who want to quickly increase their product reach on a limited budget, as well as established online retailers who want to expand their sales activities. Currently (as of May 2020), MyCOMMERCE offers the following connections:
- Amazon
- eBay
- Google Shopping
- Facebook and Instagram
Amazon has become the clear number one for online shopping in the US and Europe and is continuing to drive the ongoing transformation in wholesale and retail. In Switzerland, Amazon’s market power is even less overwhelming than in its direct neighbours, Germany and Austria. Who benefits from Amazon? More information is available here.
Google Shopping isn’t a traditional marketplace, but rather a search and comparison portal. Present your products to your most important target audience—potential shoppers searching for products at home, on the go, or in-store! With Google Shopping, you only pay when users click on your ads.
With MyCOMMERCE, you can automatically add a shop section to your Facebook and Instagram business page. Depending on the size of your product catalog, your products will be added to your social media page and available for purchase in just a few minutes. Why is this worthwhile? Whether on Instagram or Facebook, more and more brands and shops are jumping on the social bandwagon and selling successfully. Take advantage of this trend.
