How to Set Up an Online Store for Your UK Small Business

Opening an Online Store

Preparing to run an online store as a UK small business can be difficult, especially if this is your first time doing it. 

Setting up an online store is essential for small businesses to reach a wider audience, increase sales, and remain competitive in today's digital landscape.

The best way to make sure your online shop will be successful is to take the time to plan it properly, which includes researching the different services available, choosing a platform, establishing payment methods, configuring shipping options, and setting up a product catalogue. 

This guide will walk you through the process of developing an online store tailored to UK businesses, from choosing an e-commerce platform to launching your store. 

Which Platform?

First and foremost, you need to decide which eCommerce platform is right for you. If your business model is solely B2C, look for a platform that's easy to use and cost-effective, such as Shopify or BigCommerce. If you'd like to add wholesale functionality – allowing businesses to purchase from your store – then you may want to consider a platform such as Volusion or LemonStand.

The type of platform best suited to you will depend on the way in which your business operates.

Do plenty of research before making a decision. Consider factors like ease of use, scalability, cost, and available features. Keep in mind that some platforms may include built-in tools to handle UK taxes and currency conversions. 

Register a Domain

Choose a domain name that represents your brand and is easy to remember. Register your domain with a reputable UK domain registrar like 123-reg, Fasthosts, or Names.co.uk. Make sure to choose a domain ending that suits your business, such as .co.uk, .com, or .uk. 

Customise Store Design

Once you've chosen an e-commerce platform, select a theme or template that aligns with your brand identity. Most platforms offer customizable templates, so you can easily modify colours, fonts, and layout to create a unique look.

Ensure your design is mobile-friendly, as a significant portion of online shopping in the UK occurs on mobile devices. 

Payment

Once you've settled on a platform, you'll need to configure payment methods for your store. Relying on customers to pay via credit or debit card is the best option for UK small businesses, as it's widely accepted and easy to implement. PayPal is also a popular choice and can be easily added to most platforms.

Consider offering alternative payment methods such as Klarna or Apple Pay, as they can make it easier for customers to buy from you. 

Shipping

Shipping can be a tricky aspect of any online store, but luckily there are a range of services available for UK small businesses, such as Royal Mail, Parcelforce, DPD, and Evri. You'll need to decide how you'd like to manage the delivery of your products. Will you offer standard or next-day delivery? Will you charge a fee for delivery? 

Research your choices thoroughly and compare costs and services to find the right option for your business. 

Products

Once you've sorted out your payment and shipping options, it's time to create your product catalogue. Start by uploading high-quality product images and descriptions to ensure customers get a clear idea of exactly what they'll be buying. Next, you'll need to set up categories and sub-categories to help customers find the items they're looking for quickly and easily. It's also helpful to invest in some online marketing tactics to help bring traffic to your store, such as search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and social media management. 

Think about the web pages you need and how the customer will navigate them.

In addition to your product pages, create essential pages like an About Us page, Contact Us page, Privacy Policy, and Terms and Conditions. For UK businesses, it's crucial to comply with GDPR regulations, so ensure your Privacy Policy addresses data collection, usage, and storage.

Test

Before launching your online store, you'll need to test your website to ensure everything works properly and you don't run into any issues when customers are shopping on your store. Check for functionality and usability issues, run a spell check, confirm links take customers to the right place, and make sure your images look great. 

Once you're confident that your store is ready to go live, launch it and start promoting it to your target audience. 

Summary

Setting up an online store for your UK small business may seem daunting, but by following these steps, you'll create a robust and appealing online presence. Continuously monitor your store's performance, optimise your marketing efforts, and regularly update your products and content to keep customers engaged. 

Depending on the type of online store you want to curate, this can cost anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of pounds, along with future maintenance and promotion costs. You may find it helpful to get extra funding in order to open a fully functioning site without impacting your working capital. 

If this is something you are interested in, enquire with Love Finance and we will do our best to get you the funding you need.