Most probably you already know what an online shop is. I would imagine you wish to sell something like an online retailer. For your reference I would say, an Online Shop is referring to Online Shopping which means: it’s a kind of electronic commerce, popularly known as eCommerce, that allows consumers to buy ‘something’ online or using the Internet. This ‘something’ could be a digital product or physical goods. It is hard to say, what you can’t buy online? Air ticket? Fish? Potatoes? Shoes? What not? You can buy almost anything from Online Shops. Think about Amazon! What can’t you buy there? Almost 12 million products they are selling online. I will give you step by step guide on how you can make an online shop and become an online retailer.
As per Wikipedia: Online or eShopping is a form of electronic commerce that allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile application. And this type of shopping helps us every single day. So in this article, I will try to elaborate: Why is an Online Shop important for retail business?
The Internet made our life so much easier. Nowadays we can’t think of a day even sometimes a minute without it! When we got acquainted with COVID-19, then we realized that more than ever before. Almost everything went online. Office, School, Business— almost everything!
We realize how important the Internet is! The same thing happened with the small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (SME). Especially the small businesses that got stuck who had no Online Shop or Webshop or a Shopsystem at all.
We saw in Europe that millions of small businesses lost their business during the COVID-19 pandemic. But who had an online shop-setup, they just somehow survived with their business.
Why would we go for an Online Shop?
As I gave a live example of COVID-19, you could imagine why it is important. But this is only one example of the crisis. We can say a lot of positive things about an online business. You can have it with a really low-cost setup.
As a retailer, if you have a shop such as in Dortmund (Germany) how many customers can you have each day? Very hard to answer, right? But think if you have an online shop maybe in a small town in North Rhine-Westphalia… but the market is full of Germany even full of Europe or the world! You can have customers from all over the world!
You don’t need big spaces, big physical shops, lots of employees, or pressure to open the shop timely such as 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM or more. That means you are saving your money in several ways such as establishment costs, the monthly rent of the physical shop, employee’s salaries, gas-electricity bills for the shop, etc. So I believe you are already biased that an Online Shop has lots of positive things. But…
Why is Online Shop important for your retail business?
Online retailers or entrepreneurs can increase their sales and profits very quickly because selling something online offers the advantage of being open around the clock— twenty-four hours a day, seven days in a week! Selling online also allows retailers to sell their products in any part of the world without any extra headache, without additional expenses. It’s not conflicting at all with your existing business. It will bring positive marks for your business. If you already have a small business or physical shop then having an Online Shop is also something like adding one more feather to the crown! You will have both ways of income at the same time!
How to open an online shop?
I assumed that you’re already biased towards the positiveness of an online shop and you’re looking for something like how to open an online shop? An online shop nowadays is not hard at all. There are lots of offers that you can take. You can set up your online shop from 0$ to 100K$ even more! If you go for a monthly package then it could be 10$ to 300$ or more.
What type of Online Shop Software should you choose?
You might already know that there are lots of Online Shop Softwares in the market. But some of the most popular Webshops or Online Shop Softwares are Shopify, Shopware, Magento, WooCommerce by WP, PrestaShop, etc. So, you might be confused now… what one should you choose? From our experience, we can say, every software has pros and cons. That’s why you have to choose the eCommerce or Webshop (Shopsystem) very carefully. The major thing you have to keep in mind that, which software is giving you more freedom and options, which one is more optimized, which one has a vibrant community, which one has more addons or plugins, which one is growing fast. If we think about these aspects then I would say you should choose Shopware. And to develop that professionally you can choose a company like Alphanuaten which has a Shopware-expert team!
Video explained which eCommerce or Webshops software you should choose?
Best Online Shop Software List (Short)
As I said before, there are lots of software and company around the world. So I’m adding some of them alphabetically. I strongly believe that if you are looking for the best eCommerce platforms then this list will certainly help you. So please check the list below:
- Beeketing
- BigCommerce
- Brightpearl
- Commercetools
- CoreCommerce
- Cratejoy
- CrazyLister
- CS-Cart
- Dashboard OSM
- Easy Digital Downloads
- Ecwid
- eWoolution
- Handshake
- IBM eCommerce solutions
- INSYNC Commerce
- Jimdo
- Justuno
- Magento
- Miva
- Nexcess
- nopCommerce
- Omeco
- OpenCart
- Oracle
- Oscommerce
- PinnacleCart
- PrestaShop
- Quick eSelling
- Richpanel.com
- Salesforce
- SAP CRM
- Sellfy
- Selz
- Sharetribe
- Shift4Shop (formerly known 3dcart)
- ShippingEasy
- Shopaccino
- ShopBase
- ShopFactory
- Shopify
- Shopware
- SITE123
- Smartstore
- Spreecommerce
- Spryker
- Square Online
- Squarespace
- Sumo
- Virtuemart
- Volusion
- Weebly
- Wix
- WooCommerce
- X-Cart
- Xt-commerce
- Yo!Kart
- YoRent
- Zen Cart
- Zyro
Find a Shopware-expert in Germany
Where will you get a company that will help you to set up your Online Shop? It’s a very common question. And the short answer is: it’s really not hard. Because Shopware experts are certified by Shopware authority itself. If you are looking for a dynamic, friendly, innovative, and serious Shopware developer team then you should choose Alphanauten without any hesitation. Well, why am I saying that? Because of the profile of the company. Besides the projects Alphanauten has already successfully done or the team they have, and the competitive price they’re offering! If you wanna create your Online Shop or self Shopsystem then please contact them directly.
Best IT companies for Online Shop in Germany (Shopware)
Well, it is hard to decide which one is the ‘best’! We can’t say which is the best, which one is a perfect match for you. Such as their service, price, and contract terms fits with you. Before selecting a software company for your business please check their business profile, ratings on Google, etc. Think about the things that their old customers say…
What do you need to be aware of?
Of course, there are lots of positive things about an Online Shop but you have to be careful too. Before selecting a Webshop software you have to keep in mind the ease of your customers. You have to think about payment processing options, plugins you might need, merchant tools such as cart reminders, social sharing options, loyalty programs, special discounts, third-party integration possibilities, mobile commerce options such as mobile-friendly and responsive versions of your online store so that the customers can shop on the go… And another big thing is: ‘security’. You have to make sure that your software is good enough to protect your business and your customers.
Why Shopware?
There are lots of Webshops software around the globe, some of them are open source too. As you already saw from our list, Shopware is popular amongst them. Not only an open-source but also lots of options make it popular day by day. If you are an entrepreneur from Germany or in the EU countries, I would recommend you choose Shopware. Because Shopware is totally optimized for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Not only that, as you know the EU has different types of TAX-VAT systems. So Shopware is aware of that and has plenty of plugins in their store such as “Profit im Admin (Gewinn, Ertrag, Handelsspanne)”, with this plugin you can see your profit on the dashboard and select VAT system for the EU countries.
When you compare Shopware with other eCommerce platforms, you would say it has super-rich eCommerce capabilities when it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) which is really very important for your business growth. Shopware also has the REST API, which means you can connect your enterprise-level ERP solutions with it. Shopware is based in Germany and it’s rocking the European market already!
What are the Best Ecommerce Platforms for SEO?
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is not a single thing you can explain in a single line! And as always there is no ‘Best’! When it comes to Online Stores or eCommerce’s SEO, there are a lot of important factors that we have to mention. Nowadays SEO depends on so many ranking factors such as website speed, URL and content structures, post and page titles, product description, optimized codes, SSL, optimized images, etc.
If you are a serious entrepreneur and have a big goal in front of your head then you can think about Shopware. Other than that you can choose one of the software from our list mentioned above. If you search on Google: 7 Best Online Store Software then you find plenty of content. I would suggest you check them out and check their pros and cons before buying or booking a monthly package.
Disadvantages of an Online Business (Shop)
In this full article, I have mentioned lots of positive things about an Online Shop but everything has a negative side too. What are they actually? Although Online Store comes with long-term cost savings it has some start-up costs. Besides that sometimes the security issues, competition with other entrepreneurs, trust from your customers for your initiatives, maintaining customer satisfaction, giving the customer support, and solving the technical problems instantly are also a challenge. But if you can minimize these things there is no problem at all with your Online Store. If you still feel that it’s a problem for you then please talk to us. We are here to help!
FAQs
What are the benefits of online shopping for retailers?
There are lots of benefits of online shopping for retailers such as they can offer better prices, and can give more variety. Besides that, there are options to compare the price, no sales pressures, time-saving, etc.
Is doing online shopping a good idea?
Since Online Store owners can save lots of money and time, they can often give more exclusive sales offers and discounts compared to their physical stores. That means as a consumer you will have more chances to save by doing Online Shopping. That’s why buying something online is a good idea if the seller is trustworthy like Amazon, Zalando, eBay, etc.
Why is online shopping good for the economy?
Internet shopping is really very popular nowadays, eCommerce is boosting the economy by increasing productivity and encouraging innovations. Online businesses are helping to enhance the better shopping experiences. Moreover, eBusinesses are creating opportunities to protect the planet by enabling eco-friendly shop-systems.
Why is marketing important for Online Store owners?
Since Internet Marketing is enabling you to be open for your business around the clock without worrying about the physical store opening hours or overtime payments for the staff… that means you are saving lots of money and time for your business and to get more trust and customers you should invest for the marketing on the Internet. In this way, your prospective customers can browse your Online Shops at any time and place the orders when it is convenient for them.
Which is the best Online Store in the world?
There are lots of professional online stores around the world. I would mention some of them here such as… Amazon.com, eBay.com, Etsy.com, Wish.com, Alibaba.com, Aliexpress.com, Walmart.com, Wayfair.com, Target.com, Zappos.com, Everlane.com, etc.
Endnote
I hope you enjoy this article and already got a huge amount of information about the Online Shop-Systems, best eCommerce Software, why would you establish the Online Shop for your retails business, what are the benefits of having an online shop, etc. If you really enjoy this post then please comment below in the comment section and share your thoughts on this topic. I appreciate your patience and of course you can show your love by sharing this post on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and so on. If you have any other questions or suggestions then feel free to contact us. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook and subscribe to our Youtube channel.
