Start a webshop

• What are you going to sell?
• Online revenue models for your webshop
• The selection of the right e-commerce software

• What does it cost to start an online store?
• Which payment system should I use?
• The laws and regulations you need to consider
• The importance of a proper administration

• Webshop returns: how do I deal with them?
• Automating webshop processes

• Online marketing webshop
• How do I increase my conversions?
• Increasing your webshop revenue

The strategy phase

The strategy phase is arguably the most crucial stage when starting an online store. During this phase, you contemplate what exactly you want to sell, how you want to earn your money, and which software you need for this.

What are you going to sell?

You can think of almost anything, and there's a webshop for it. If you don't have a specific idea of what to sell, it's good to consider which product can fulfill consumer needs. Ensure that the product is unique and not easily found on other websites to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Some ideas for a successful webshop to consider starting include:

• Fashion: People are always looking for the latest trends and searching for webshops to buy clothing and accessories.
• Beauty and Care: With a growing focus on appearance and health, selling products like skincare, makeup, and hair care is a good webshop idea.
• Household Products: Items for the home, such as kitchenware, furniture, and decorations, are increasingly purchased online due to our busy lifestyles.
• Electronic Products: This category includes both small gadgets and larger electronics like TVs and laptops.

Online revenue models for your webshop

If you know what you want to do and which products you're going to sell, the next important step is to determine which revenue model aligns best with your business. This model indicates how you plan to generate income. Below, we've listed some revenue models for a successful website.

• Online Membership: Customers pay a fixed fee for access to your product. Examples include streaming services, magazines, and contact lenses.
• Affiliate Marketing: Promote products from other companies on your website, often through affiliate links embedded in blogs.
• Dropshipping: Sell products through a webshop and forward orders to a supplier who directly ships to the customer. This model saves costs on logistics and inventory management.
• Online Information Products: Share your knowledge through e-books, planners, and online advice as a low-barrier way to earn money.
• Displaying Advertisements: Instead of selling products directly, earn money through advertising revenue. Display ads on your website and get paid for them.

The selection of the right e-commerce software

When you're ready to set up your webshop, you'll face the important decision of choosing the right webshop software. Nowadays, there are so many options that it can be overwhelming. When choosing the right webshop software, it's essential to consider your budget, the number of products you plan to offer, user-friendliness, available integrations, and whether you prefer open source or SaaS. To assist you in making a decision, we've compared the most popular webshop software options below.

We hope that with this overview, you can make an informed choice for the right webshop software for your website. Once you've made a decision, it's beneficial to integrate it with all your other business software. This ensures that data is automatically transferred from one system to another. Check out Combidesk's webshop software integrations for more information.

Your finances and legislation

Once you know what you want to sell, how you want to earn money, and which webshop software you need, it's essential to have a clear understanding of all the costs associated with starting an online store. Additionally, being informed about all e-commerce legislations is crucial to avoid potential issues.

What does it cost to start an online store?

When you know what you want to sell and have a webshop software in mind, you may be eager to set up your webshop quickly. However, it's essential to be aware of the costs involved, as they can vary depending on the size and complexity of the webshop, as well as the choices you make for technology, marketing, and design.

Costs of an online store to consider include:

• Development Costs: These depend on the size and complexity of the platform, as well as the experience and rates of any developers involved.
• Hosting Costs: Hosting can be done on your own server or with an external hosting provider. Costs vary depending on the size of the platform and the expected traffic to your webshop.
• Maintenance Costs: If you outsource the maintenance of your website, there will be ongoing costs. These cover software updates, security for your webshop, automation, and adding or changing products.
• Marketing Costs: Include expenses for search engine optimization (SEO), website optimization, content creation, social media marketing, email marketing, and paid advertising (SEA).

Which payment system should I use?

You naturally want consumers to be able to purchase your products so you can actually make money with your webshop. For this, they must have the option to pay for products using their preferred payment methods. Therefore, it's crucial to add these to your webshop through a payment system. It's essential to choose one that is comprehensive and supports multiple payment methods.

But how do you choose a payment system for your webshop? When making a decision, it's important to list different providers with their pros and cons, allowing you to compare them effectively. Some payment systems to consider include Mollie, MultiSafepay, Buckaroo, and Adyen. Afterward, it's essential to integrate the chosen payment system with your webshop and other business software, which can be done through Combidesk's payment integrations.

The laws and regulations you need to consider

When you're a novice webshop owner or in the process of setting one up, it's essential to be aware of the webshop legislations you need to comply with. Within the EU, webshops must adhere to European laws and regulations. Below, we've compiled the 10 key laws and regulations for webshop owners:

1. Provide clarity about your company.
2. Be clear about your offerings and prices.
3. Provide clarity about payment, delivery, and service.
4. Consider the legal right to a cooling-off period.
5. Ensure an easy and clear ordering process.
6. Treat foreign customers the same way.
7. Check consumer reviews.
8. Be transparent about consumer privacy and security.
9. Comply with rules for online platforms if others sell through your website.
10. Be aware of additional rules for B2B webshops.

The importance of a proper administration

Thanks to a reliable payment system, customers can now make purchases on your webshop, and orders are slowly coming in. However, simply buying and selling products is not enough. It's crucial to keep your webshop administration in order, as the Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) imposes legal requirements on this. This is because you need to pay webshop taxes, such as turnover tax (omzetbelasting). In this process, you report how much you've sold and spent. Additionally, you must fill out the annual income tax return to avoid fines and problems.

For the bookkeeping of your webshop, you can choose to do it yourself or outsource it. If you opt to handle it yourself, it's advisable to choose a good accounting program. The advantages include automatic VAT returns, real-time insight into your administration, the ability to send invoices, and reminders for outstanding invoices. When you then integrate the accounting software with your webshop software, data is transferred seamlessly between the two systems, saving you time and reducing the risk of errors.

Setting up your processes

The setup of your processes is a crucial step that ensures everything around your webshop runs smoothly. For example, make sure the returns process is well-organized and automate as much as possible. This helps prevent errors and issues.

Webshop returns: how do I deal with them?

When your webshop is thriving, you'll eventually encounter a common aspect: webshop returns. Despite being a normal part of the business, managing returns can still be a challenge. Therefore, it's crucial to establish a streamlined returns system. This allows you to track return shipments and take appropriate follow-up actions. Additionally, providing clear instructions to customers on how to send a return and what information to provide can shorten processing times, enhance customer satisfaction, and collect valuable data to improve product quality.

Moreover, it's essential to try and minimize returns by:

1. Providing clear product descriptions and photos.
2. Utilizing customer reviews.
3. Maintaining stable prices.
4. Communicating the return policy.
5. Clearly communicating delivery times.

Automating webshop processes

Chances are you'll be using various software to streamline your operations. It's advisable to automate this software and daily processes as much as possible. Doing so helps prevent human errors and frees up more of your time.

To make it even easier, consider integrating your business software. This way, you no longer have to manually transfer data from one system to another; it happens automatically. With Combidesk, you can integrate your software for a fixed monthly fee. We offer a vast library of ready-made integrations between the most commonly used SaaS applications in the Netherlands.

The importance of marketing

Ultimately, once your webshop is live, you aim to generate as many sales as possible and attract visitors. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen automatically. You need to employ marketing strategies to achieve this. When you do, you'll likely see an increase in your revenue.

Online marketing webshop

When you've created your webshop and are ready to sell your products, you naturally want people to find your webshop. This is where online marketing comes into play. In online marketing, you promote your webshop in various ways to attract visitors and achieve success with your webshop.

Some of the most effective online marketing strategies include:

• Email marketing for your webshop: regularly send newsletters with useful tips, discounts, or other offers.
• Social selling: a sales approach that uses social media to reach potential customers. It involves not only promoting products but also building interactions by sharing valuable content.
• Content Marketing: create content that provides value to your target audience and distribute it through multiple channels.

How do I increase my conversions?

Achieving conversions is one of the most crucial goals. A higher conversion rate means more customers and ultimately more revenue. To increase the conversions of your webshop, you can apply the following 10 tips:

1. Optimize the website experience.
2. Use compelling call-to-action buttons.
3. Improve your product descriptions.
4. Simplify the checkout process.
5. Implement reviews and customer testimonials.
6. Offer exclusive deals and discounts.
7. Invest in online marketing.
8. Improve the speed of your webshop.
9. Analyze and optimize your conversion data.
10. Increase conversions by integrating software.

Increasing your webshop revenue

However, increasing your conversions and utilizing marketing strategies alone is not enough. There are more ways to generate more revenue from your webshop. For example, implement the abandoned cart email. This involves sending an email when (potential) buyers have items left in their shopping cart. This can be achieved by integrating Abandoned Cart software with your webshop software. This way, the software knows exactly when a shopping cart is abandoned, and customer data can be linked to it. Of course, it's essential to prevent visitors from abandoning their shopping carts before the need for this email arises.

Additionally, you can use live chat for increased revenue. This is an easy, fast, and personal way for customers to contact you. It's also the only way to have real-time contact with the customer at the moment of purchase and address their questions.

Ready for your own webshop?

You now hopefully know how to start your own webshop. It's essential to continually improve and innovate your webshop since the world is constantly changing. Staying informed about developments allows you to remain unique and retain your customers. Keep an eye on industry trends.

Additionally, it's beneficial to integrate as much business software as possible. Combidesk offers reliable software integrations between the most widely used SaaS applications in the Netherlands. This way, you no longer have to manually transfer data from one system to another, freeing up time for further development of your webshop.