How do you sell online? All you need to know!

Now more than ever, selling online has many advantages, but it's an activity that requires knowledge of sales, administration, logistics and marketing.

Showcasing your products on the Internet, managing orders and stocks, customer relations, website referencing: there are a lot of things to do, and you need to be well prepared or have support to make your project a success.

Follow our comprehensive guide and our advice on developing your online business!

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Before selling on the internet

Take an interest in the regulations

What does the lawsay about selling online?

As far as the product is concerned, unsurprisingly it must be legal, and if its consumption or use is regulated, such as alcohol, you will of course need to acquire the necessary licences.

As far as the sale itself is concerned, refer to the service-public.frwebsite to find out about the regulations, which are the same as for distance or mail-order sales, including

• reporting obligations (consumer protection, VAT, CNIL),
• compulsory information at each stage of the sale,
• payment and delivery terms,
• canvassing rules, etc.

☝️ For peace of mind, enlist the help of a lawyer to draw up the general terms and conditions of sale (GTCS) and the legal notices to be displayed prominently on your website.

Choose your status

Setting up a company is compulsory from the very first sale, and is essential for developing a network of suppliers, issuing invoices, etc.

If you are not yet a sales professional and you have another salaried job, you can set up a microentrepreneur status, which is an interesting way of testing your online sales project.

You only pay tax if you sell above a certain threshold, and you are exempt from VAT when you launch your business, among other advantages.

But if, in your business plan, you are planning to :

• rapidly exceed the turnover limit for micro-enterprises (€176,200 excluding VAT for the purchase/sale of goods, see "See also" above);
• join forces with partners;

→ opt for EURL or SARL.

☝️ Once again, don't hesitate to ask for help: a chartered accountant is a valuable advisor, even when setting up a new business.

Do some market research

It's not enough just to want to launch an e-commerce business; you also need to know what to sell, which product(s) and/or services, and to which target audience.

These questions can help you get started:

• Do you have a passion that you know how to sell to others?
• Do you have an idea that responds to a trend or strong market demand ?
  ▷ Competition will be tough, but so will the clientele.
• A niche product just waiting to meet its buyers?
  ▷ The competition and the target market will be smaller.
  

Then move on to market research:

• Not only does it shed light on the market you want to penetrate, before validating the products or services you are going to market;
• It also helps you to define your online sales strategy.

Thanks to the information gathered, you'll be able to identify what we call a commercial opportunity and define a high-quality, coherent offer that will set you apart:

• What do your direct and indirect competitors offer?
• What are the expectations and buying habits of your target customers?
• What prices are charged and what additional services are commonly offered?
• What tax, legal and environmental constraints need to be anticipated?

Define your online sales strategy

Determine your sales objectives, in particular by defining the expected sales margin.

This will enable you to negotiate with your suppliers on the basis of clear figures.

You have already answered the questions :

• what to sell
• to whom to sell?
• against which competitors?

Now you're going to look at how? Which channels will you choose? E-commerce site, marketplace, Facebook?

Channels for selling online

The e-commerce site

Before creating it and choosing a platform or CMS, define the specifications for your e-commerce project.

Using this document, which sets out all your requirements, you can delegate the design of your e-commerce site to a web agency, which will take care of building your e-shop, creating the graphic charter and reserving the domain name.

But you can also manage this part yourself (if you're a talented developer), or choose a turnkey CMS.

There's no shortage of e-commerce platforms: Shopify, Woocommerce, Prestashop, etc.

☝️ Have you heard of the New-Oxatisplatform? 100% French, it offers more than 650 functions and applications for creating and customising your online shop, as well as support for referencing your site, so that your offer is highly visible on the web!

Whatever you choose, pay particular attention to :

• the design of the site, which must offer a pleasant customer experience and project a professional image ;
  
  
• a simplified purchasing process, with prominent "buy" buttons and a shopping basket preview, for example;
  
  
• the transparency of your information:
• prices are clear, including delivery costs, discounts deducted immediately or after validation of the basket, etc. ;
• the payment system is secure and protects bank details, so don't hesitate to install the SSL certificate on your merchant site;
• the legal notices are accessible, as are the GCU and GTC;
• customers can contact you easily;
• refund times and conditions are set out, to reassure customers and encourage them to buy;
  
  
• a variety of payment methods: PayPal, credit cards, bank transfer, etc., and multi-currency management, to satisfy as many customers as possible;
  
  
• delivery methods: by post, at a relay point, or click and collect, etc;
  
  
• adaptation to any medium: the site is responsive for comfortable use on mobile phones or tablets. Mobile commerce or m-commerce is now a must.

The marketplace

To sell online without setting up your own site, you can join marketplaces such as eBay or Amazon, or price comparison sites such as Cdiscount.

Your catalogue is sent to these sites using flow management software, which allows you to manage everything automatically.

In addition to an e-commerce site, having a presence on a marketplace can enable you to :

• reach a wider and more varied customer base,
• increase your visibility
• showcase your top products
• attract new customers to your own e-commerce site,
• sell off your old stock.

But be careful to stay true to your brand image. The giants of the marketplace are not always eco-responsible and sometimes project an unethical image.

They also tend to favour their own products and certain partners. Fortunately, there are alternatives to Amazon.

Social networks (social commerce)

Did you know that you can also sell on social networks? How do you sell online on Facebook?

Activate a shop on your page by going to Settings ▷ Edit Page ▷ Add a tab ▷ Shop, then :

• create product sheets and collections;
• organise your stocks;
• highlight certain products in a presentation area.

You can also:

• communicate with your customers from your page ;
• collect statistics (views, clicks, messages received about a particular product), etc.

👍 If you have an online site and want to sell on Facebook as well, most e-commerce platforms allow you to connect with social networks using plug-ins: your catalogue is sent to Facebook, automatically creating a shop page attached to your account.

See all software eCommerce

[Bonus] Our advice, from product sheets to communication

How do you create your product sheets?

Your product sheets must be complete, attractive and optimised (with keywords) so that they are well indexed on Google.

The aim of this content marketing is to appeal to your prospects, to offer them a pleasant browsing experience and also to ensure that your various pages are well referenced.

But above all, your product sheets should make consumers want to click on them, read them and then buy!

👍 Personalise the description and selling points. A product sheet should sell benefits rather than features.

Why not try storytelling? Tell your customers a story, play the emotion card.

👎 Don't use a presentation that's too technical or identical to the competition.

How do you manage a product catalogue?

If you have a large product catalogue and a multi-channel distribution channel, a PIM ( Product Information Management) solution may be useful.

It allows you to create a single product repository for all distribution channels, but also to easily personalise and differentiate your content on each of them, always with a view to optimising referencing (Google doesn't like copying and pasting).

💡 PIM software also allows you to cross-reference products to help with cross-selling, the additional sale of products, of the "if you liked this, you'll also like that" type.

How do you promote your online shop?

There are several ways of promoting your site and your business.

Define a digital marketing strategy that is consistent with your target and your offer in order to :

• generate maximum traffic from the outset,
• convey a high-quality, professional image.

Advertising

First of all, there's traditional advertising. This is an essential part of web promotion: paid search campaigns (SEA) with Adwords.

You buy strategic keywords related to your business to appear in ads at the top of Google search pages.

This tool is ideal for launching your online business, taking full advantage of the seasonal nature of your sector of activity, or bringing in additional traffic during a period of reduced activity.

☝ In addition to Google Adwords, consider Facebook Ads. While the former is based on keywords, as well as selected demographic and geographical data, the latter takes a closer look at the interests and behaviour of your potential buyers.

The visuals of the ads are more attractive and, although they work on a cost-per-click basis like Adwords, they are more affordable.

On the other hand, if your target audience includes millennials, advertising on Instagram is another option: the visuals are just as polished and the audience is highly engaged. Viral effect guaranteed.

Natural referencing

It's free (unless you go through an agency, of course) and inevitably more technical, but you can also optimise your natural referencing (SEO for search engine optimisation):

• not only by carefully structuring your site (no orphan pages, a simple tree structure) ;
• by indexing your product sheets correctly, using relevant keywords in your presentations;
• but also by exchanging links (backlinking) with partners to increase your popularity,
  • registering in professional directories,
  • and by creating your Google My Business or Google Shopping page, allowing your customers to give their opinion and Google Maps to geolocate you.

The effects are less rapid than with paid search, but much more lasting.

Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing consists of subtly drawing your potential buyers to you through relevant and attractive content.

That's why it's so important to look after your landing pages, the pages your prospects land on when they click on a "contact request" button or an advert.

You can also :

• take part in specialist discussion forums to establish your legitimacy and demonstrate your expertise;
• post videos on YouTube (among others), presenting your products or services in the style of tutorials;
• publish articles on your blog or social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest);
  These will allow you to communicate more closely with your customers and provide them with useful content (advice, new products, promotions);
• send targeted email campaigns featuring quality content such as white papers, testimonials, success stories, etc.

Email marketing and marketing automation software can support you in these tasks. These functions are also available on some e-commerce platforms.

☝️ Have you thought about asking influencers to talk about your products on their blogs or Instagram? This is called influencer marketing.

How can I sell without stock?

You can sell without having to manage stock thanks to the dropshippingtechnique : the order for a product offered on your site is sent directly to your supplier, who takes care of delivery and stock management.

The disadvantages include the fact that you cannot control the quality of the product upstream and have no control over delivery times.

Finally, how do you manage sales?

Make your life easier by connecting your e-commerce site to an ERP software package, which will enable you to manage not only your stocks, but also your customer relations. After all, it's not enough just to communicate with them; you also need to ensure that they are satisfied, delivered on time, and can access their orders and invoices via a customer portal.

Archipelia is a good example of an ERP dedicated to e-commerce, which also integrates PIM functionalities (product management, price catalogue, etc.).

Whatever your ERP, you will need to connect it to your sales platform via a gateway, like the Atoo-Sync Gescomsolution .

It enables your two tools to synchronise all your activity in real time. Whether you're managing stocks, the product catalogue or tracking orders, deliveries and payments, you'll save precious time!

Your customers can also access their PDF invoices and delivery status via their portal.

Finally, an appropriate sales management solution allows you to analyse the performance of your online shop. It's important to monitor them regularly to measure the effectiveness of your site, taking into account changes in :

• your conversion rate,
• your traffic on each page
• your average shopping basket
• and customer loyalty.

Identify your weak points and draw up an action plan to correct them and increase your sales!