eCommerce 101: How to Create, Manage and Market your Own Online Store
Selling online is an exciting venture and Prostores is here to help. To start an online store simply follow the basic steps below and learn ecommerce web design and setup, eCommerce marketing and ongoing management of your own online store. Launch and grow a thriving eCommerce website with ProStores in a couple of days.
Design your own online store
Create a professional look with a range of eCommerce web design tools. Our preset eCommerce web design themes and eCommerce templates are a great way to get started.
- Select your eCommerce web design theme and preset page layouts – choose from more than 150 professionally-designed eCommerce templates
- Upload your web store logo or create one with Prostores' built-in logo generator
- Customize your own online store with our eCommerce Web Store Design tools or with 3rd party HTML editing tools
Quick Tips
Get a customized look for your own online store for a great price with a ProStores Certified Designer »
Interested in full eCommerce web design? Hire one of our Certified eCommerce Designers »
Add Web Store Products and Categories to your online store
Set up your online store catalog in two easy ways.
- Add categories and online store products one at a time. Just follow the steps in our Add Category and Add Product wizards.
- Use our Import Data feature to upload a spreadsheet that contains all of your online store catalog information, including inventory counts.
Quick Tip
You can also upload images of your products to your online store one at a time or all at once in a Zip file.
Set up payments for your online store
Get set up and get paid. Our Payment Preferences wizard will help you setup PayPal, select which credit cards to accept, and set up an online credit card payment processor.
- Accept online payments right away with PayPal. Your eCommerce customers can pay using their PayPal account or with a credit card through the PayPal site.
- Securely process credit cards right on your online store with a merchant account and online payment processor
Quick Tips
To accept PayPal, you’ll need a PayPal Premier or Business account »
ProStores works with these online payment processors »
Set up shipping and sales tax for your online store
Show your online store customers accurate shipping and tax rates in your shopping cart and automatically add these charges to eCommerce orders on checkout.
- Set up custom shipping rates with the ProStores Shipping Setup wizard
- Turn on built-in rate calculators for USPS®, UPS®, or Canada Post
- Easily set up sales tax rates with our Sales Tax Setup wizard
Quick Tips
Set up simple default shipping rates for your online store and add at least one of the major carriers.
Check with your state tax board about charging sales tax.
Open your online store for business
Set up the basics and open your online store for business in a day or two:
- Use our preset eCommerce web design themes and page layouts
- Enter products and categories
- Accept PayPal as your main form of payment to get started
- Set up basic shipping rates and add one major carrier
- Open your online store for business!
Then, you can:
- Customize your eCommerce web design
- Set up an online payment processor to accept credit cards
- Add content to your online store over time
Quick Tip
Before you start eCommerce marketing for your online store, go through the store as a shopper would and place a few test orders.
Optimize your online store for search
ProStores eCommerce solutions include built-in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tools for eCommerce marketing that can help improve your online store's ranking on search engines like Google™ and Yahoo!®.
- Search-engine friendly page urls with search engine tuning
- Automatic site-map creation and submission to Google™ and Yahoo!®
- Customizable product keywords
Quick Tip
Content is king with SEO – add useful information to your online store like buying guides and product reviews, and update it often to aid in your eCommerce marketing tactics.
Advertise on eCommerce sites
ProStores automatically submits your online store product catalog to Google Base, which is free.
We also provide eCommerce marketing tools to do this with three major comparison shopping engines (CSEs): Shopping.com® and Shopzilla®.
- Set up accounts with the eCommerce sites you want to submit your product catalog to
- Follow the step-by-step instructions to have your online store catalog information automatically sent to each eCommerce site
Quick Tip
To submit your product to multiple CSEs, check out the ProStores-compatible tools from MerchantAdvantage or SmartFeed.
Sell on eBay
With more than 250 million potential customers, eBay is a great way to attract new customers to your online store and turn inventory into cash fast.
We have the best eBay integration of any eCommerce solution on the market.
- List your online store products to eBay directly from ProStores
- Streamline listing with eBay listing templates
- Automatically sync your inventory on eBay and ProStores
Quick Tips
Learn more about the benefits of selling on eBay »
Already an eBay seller? See why ProStores is the best online store for eBay sellers »
Drive repeat business with email marketing
One of your most valuable assets is your relationship with existing customers.
You can use email marketing to turn one-time buyers into loyal customers and drive repeat business to your online store.
Keep your customers coming back to your online store for more with:
- New product announcements
- Special offers
- Tips for using your products
Quick Tip
Once your online store is open, get started on email marketing, your next phase of eCommerce marketing, right away with ProStores-compatible tools from Constant Contact® or IMN Sales in a Click™.
Learn more about how email marketing works in this free email marketing guide from IMN Sales in a Click »
Get customers to buy more with merchandising and promotions
If you're a retailer, you know how important merchandising and promotions are to getting people to buy more once they’re in your store.
ProStores has built-in merchandising and promotions tools than can help boost your average order size and drive repeat business to your online store. Here are just a few:
- Highlight Featured Products on your home page
- Display cross-sell/upsell merchandising on the shopping cart
- Storewide Sales
- Product Sales
Quick Tip
Advanced eCommerce marketing promotions are now included with both ProStores packages.
Manage your online store inventory
Give shoppers a great buying experience and show items that are available for immediate sale.
ProStores eCommerce solutions include built-in inventory tracking that will deduct the right amount from your online store inventory when items are sold.
Keep your online store inventory up to date with the following options.
- Enter and edit quantities for each product one at a time
- Use the Import/Export Data feature and a spreadsheet to update inventory quantities for a group of products all at once
Quick Tips
eCommerce merchants can add product to their online store inventory using a ProStores-compatible tool like Doba.
Manage your online store orders
ProStores eCommerce solutions also include a built-in Order Manager that helps you stay on top of your online store orders and provide a great customer experience
- Receive notices of new orders by email or on your desktop with ProStores Store Monitor
- Track your online store orders from payment authorization through shipping and post-sale credits.
Quick Tip
If you need to coordinate inventory and orders for multiple sales channels for your online store, take a look at Stone Edge Order Manager, a ProStores-compatible tool.
Manage your online store shipping
Be more efficient and increase customer satisfaction with shipping through ProStores.
- View, sort and print a list of online store orders that are ready for shipping
- Print packing lists individually or in bulk
- Generate UPS® labels and provide tracking numbers to your customers
- Pay for postage and generate USPS® labels through your PayPal account
Quick Tip
Take a look at these ProStores-compatible tools for more advanced shipping management: Stone Edge Order Manager and Shipworks.
Manage your online store customers
Stay close to your online store customers. Review real-time activity about your newest and most loyal customers.
- Update customer information in Store Administration
- Allow customers to update their own information on your eCommerce storefront
- Export customer lists for email and other ecommerce marketing campaigns
Quick Tip
Give customers incentives to sign up for an account with your online store – like access to future promotions through your email newsletter
Track your online store's success
Get online store sales and site traffic information at your fingertips with our built-in reporting tools.
- Executive Summary reports show you best selling products, top customers, and the search keywords shoppers are using to find your online store
- View Sales Reports by individual product or grouped by category and manufacturer
- Track the number of visitors coming to your online store, see where they’re coming from, and identify keywords they’re using to find you on the web
Put the knowledge you gain from the reports to work. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Highlight best sellers
- Promote slow-moving items
- Target top customers with special offers
Quick Tip
Building a successful online business is an ongoing learning process, and ProStores eCommerce solutions are with you every step of the way.
Get the know-how to succeed in the Learning Center, our newsletter and online library of ecommerce and business tips.
