How To Create a Stunning Online Store (5 Simple Steps)

Want to sell products related to your passion or pastime? Want to learn how to create an online store the easy way?

Good news!

Creating an online store is much cheaper and easier than you might think. That’s especially true if you use SureCart!

Benefits of SureCart include:

• Minimal upfront costs: No need to pay high rent to be in a high traffic location.
• Easiest eCommerce plugin to use: SureCart is simple to set up and intuitive to use. You’ll be selling in no time!
• Broader audience: You’re no longer limited to selling to people walking by.
• Profitability skyrockets: Use marketing techniques in autopilot and serve as many customers as you want.
• Sell 24/7: Your website never closes and digital marketing never needs a day off.
• Great scalability: Grow without the expense of a better location, bigger store or more employees.
• Intelligent marketing: Gather information about customers from analytics for valuable insights that can help grow your business.

eCommerce is a great opportunity for current store owners, but also for new entrepreneurs looking for an easy way to sell products online.

Read on to see just how easy it is to create an online store!

How To Create an Online Store (Step-by-Step for Beginners)

In this guide, we’ll discuss how to create an online store from scratch.

The process might seem long but it’s very straightforward. We’ll walk you through every step until you have a fully operational online store.

The tasks include:

1. Choose an eCommerce platform – Requires a little research
2. Configure domain, hosting and WordPress – Takes minutes
3. Set up your online store with SureCart – Easy
4. Define your products and customer journey – Takes a little time
5. Grow your online store – Ongoing process

Use this guide and our eCommerce launch checklist and you’ll have an online store up and running in no time!

Step 1: Choose an eCommerce Platform

An eCommerce platform enables you to create an online store using any WordPress website.

The platform:

• Lets you add, manage and sell products.
• Makes it easy for customers to add products to a shopping cart.
• Handles payments, taxes and VAT (where applicable).
• Provides essential functions online stores rely on.

There are dozens of platforms to choose from with a range of capabilities and prices.

And that’s the problem.

Which eCommerce platform should you choose?

Choosing Your Platform

Choosing the right eCommerce platform is a big step in your online selling journey.

Here are some tips to help you decide which platform to try:

1. Ease of use: How easy is the platform to use? Will you need training or practice to get it up and running?
2. Design and customization: The more customization options the better. You’re unique so let’s celebrate that.
3. Integrations: Do you have a favorite app or business software you need to use? Would you like to automate tasks using SureTriggers?
4. Payment gateways: Does the platform support popular payment gateways? Do those gateways support local currencies or preferred payment methods?
5. SEO: Is the platform SEO-friendly? Does it support schema and satisfy search engine guidelines?
6. Customer support: Do you already know how to create an online store? Are you comfortable resolving issues on your own or will you need help?
7. Security: Do you want to be in charge of protecting sensitive customer information or would you prefer to leave that responsibility to the platform?
8. Product restrictions: Are you selling sensitive products like vapes or anything aimed at adults? Some eCommerce platforms don’t let you sell certain items.

Those are some of the main points you need to consider when planning your store.

Once you have a clear idea of what to look for, don’t forget:

• Scalability: Stores tend to start small but rarely want to stay that way.
• Mobile responsiveness: More customers are shopping using smartphones than ever before.
• Reliability: Your store needs to be open whenever customers are in a buying mood, day or night.

Finally, there’s the cost.

Cost can be divided into three main categories:

• Setup costs: Setup costs include a domain name, WordPress theme and hosting.
• Recurring costs: Some costs will be recurring such as platform or plugin subscriptions.
• Transaction fees: Some payment gateways charge a fee for every sale you make.

We recommend spending as much time as you need deciding what type of store you want to create.

That way, you can better decide which eCommerce platform delivers the features you need to create your online store.

3 Main Types of eCommerce

There are 3 main types of eCommerce to help you create an online store.

They are:

1. DIY or self-hosted– Using WordPress, SureCart and a web host
2. Marketplace – Sell within a platform such as Etsy or eBay
3. Cloud-based – SaaS platforms like Shopify

Let’s take a quick look at each of these:

1. DIY eCommerce Platform

The first, and in our opinion best option for eCommerce, is DIY or self-hosted. It requires more work but provides more freedom, control and flexibility.

Example of DIY eCommerce Platform: WordPress + SureCart (or WooCommerce).

Pros of DIY eCommerce platforms:

• Full control: You get more control over the design, functionality and features of your online store.
• Data ownership: You can easily export product and client data for backup or migration.
• Lower ongoing costs: While there are costs involved in the DIY route, they are typically lower than other options.
• Lots of tools to choose from: Select from hundreds of plugins for SEO, marketing, security, backups and more.

Cons of DIY eCommerce platforms:

• Learning curve: eCommerce plugins are easy to use but you’ll have to set up WordPress and configure a few settings.
• You’re in charge of everything: You’ll be responsible for updates and keeping your store secure.

2. eCommerce Marketplace

An eCommerce marketplace lets you create your store within an established platform. There’s less work for you but less freedom too.

eCommerce marketplace examples: Etsy, eBay or Amazon.

Pros of eCommerce marketplaces:

• Easy setup: The platforms are designed to be easy to use and to manage.
• Broad reach: Well-known marketplaces have their own search engines and thousands of people looking for products.

Cons of eCommerce marketplaces:

• Competitors: Your store will be listed alongside your competitors.
• Lack of customization: You’ll need to conform to brand styles and will have little opportunity to customize your store.
• Transaction fees: Most eCommerce marketplaces charge a transaction fee per sale.
• Lack of control: You’ll have to agree with all the requirements or changes in the terms and conditions the marketplace wants to apply.

3. Cloud-Based eCommerce Platform

Cloud-based eCommerce platforms provide the tools you need to run and manage your online store. Less work again, but also less freedom.

Cloud-based eCommerce platform examples: Shopify, Wix or Squarespace.

Pros of cloud-based eCommerce platforms:

• Ease of use: Their main value proposition is a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to set up and manage.
• Systems in place: Cloud platforms have all the systems in place so all you need to do is build a store using built-in tools.
• Great potential: Cloud-based platforms are ready to grow. You can scale up or down as your business requires.

Cons of cloud-based eCommerce platforms:

• Price: There are usually monthly fees to use the platform as well as transaction fees per sale.
• Lack of customization options: You’re using someone else’s system and it can be more difficult to customize, change theme and make your store stand out.
• Limited ownership: You’re at the platform’s mercy in terms of pricing, updates and data management.
• Lock-in: As you are working with specific tools, migrating to another platform may be difficult and costly.

Comparing Popular eCommerce Platforms

There are a plethora of eCommerce platforms available to help you create an online store.

Let’s look at some of the most popular so you can quickly compare features and price

	Etsy	Shopify	WooCommerce	SureCart
Type	Marketplace	Cloud-based	DIY	DIY
Ease of use	Straightforward	Straightforward	Small learning curve	Small learning curve
Customization	Very limited	Limited	Very flexible	Very flexible
Integrations	Very limited	Through apps	Through extensions	Native + extensions
Payment gateways	10+	100+	80+	13+
SEO	None	Limited. Many things you can’t control	Good using third-party plugins	Good using third-party plugins
Support	24/7	24/7	Documentation	24/7
Security	Platform’s responsibility	Platform’s responsibility	Your responsibility	Your responsibility
Upfront / recurring costs	$0.20 USD for each listed item	From $29/mo	– Free – Optional paid extensions – Hosting ($60/yr) – Domain ($12/yr)	– Free plan – Pro plans from $99/yr – Hosting ($60/yr) – Domain ($12/yr)
Fees	6.5% of the displayed price	Up to 2% if you don’t use Shopify Payments	Depends on your payment gateway	Depends on your payment gateway
Best for	Handmade or bespoke products	Physical products that include variations	Physical products that include variations	Physical products, digital products, subscriptions and online courses

Read this in-depth WooCommerce vs Shopify vs SureCart comparison to learn more about how they compare.

Step 2: Setting Up Your Online Store

Once you’ve decided on the type of eCommerce store you want to create, the next logical step is to set everything up.

As we think the DIY option is the way to go, we’ll show you how to create an online store using WordPress and SureCart.

SureCart is a DIY eCommerce platform that uses WordPress, and that’s precisely what we’ll build in this step.

You will need a:

1. Domain name
2. Web host
3. WordPress installation
4. Copy of SureCart

Let’s get building!.

Register a Domain Name

A domain name is the name you type into a web browser to find a site. For example, our domain name is ‘surecart.com’.

You can use a domain registrar company to register a name, such as:

• Domain.com
• GoDaddy
• Namecheap

Or you could buy the domain name at the same time as hosting, it’s entirely up to you.

All you have to do is search yourdomain.extension, and if it’s available, add it to the cart, fill in your information and pay.

The hard part is coming up with a good name!

Prices range from $10 to $150 per year depending on where you buy it and the extension you choose.

Choosing a Web Host

Next you need the hosting plan where you’ll store all the digital files that make up your store.

As with domain registrars, you have plenty of options:

• Cloudways
• Dreamhost
• SiteGround

We’ll be using Cloudways. It’s fast, reliable and affordable.

Select a plan from Cloudways or buy web hosting from anywhere you like.

As you’re starting out, the $14/mo standard plan should be more than enough but choose whatever plan you think best.

Once you sign up for a Cloudways account you’ll need to configure the server, which sounds more complicated than it really is.

1. Select WordPress as the application.
2. Choose the location where most of your customers will be based.
3. Leave everything else as is (you can name your app, server and project as you like though).
4. Click Launch Now.

Cloudways will configure the server and set up WordPress for you. It only takes a few minutes, after which, you’ll be able to log into WordPress and begin building your store.

Now it’s time to connect the domain and the hosting.

Cloudways doesn’t sell domain names so you’ll need to purchase one separately. Then link them together so everything works.

If you don’t use Cloudways, you can skip this part as the domain name will automatically point to your hosting plan.

To set up Cloudways, select Applications > Domain management > Add domain > Three dots menu > Make primary.

This will tell your hosting server where your domain is.

You also need to tell your domain where your host is. For that you’ll need your host IP address.

You’ll find it in Cloudways > Applications > Access details > Public IP.

Copy the IP address and log into your domain name registrar to add it. As we used Namecheap in our example, let’s use it here:

Select your Namecheap account > Domain list > Manage > Advanced DNS > Add new record.

Add these 2 records:

1. A record:
   • Host/Name: @ or blank.
   • Value/Target: The IP address you’ve just copied.
   • TTL: Automatic/Default.
2. CNAME record:
   • Host: www
   • Value: Your domain name (e.g. nameofyourstore.com)
   • TTL: Leave default

Don’t forget to save the changes!

Domain names take around 24-48 hours to propagate across the internet so don’t worry if it doesn’t work right away.

The foundation of your online store is now ready. We said it was easy didn’t we?

SSL Certificates

An SSL certificate enables encryption for all connections to your website. It’s an essential security precaution and mandatory for credit card transactions in many regions.

Browsers warn users if they are visiting a page without SSL and therefore not secure, so installing an SSL certificate is an essential step.

Cloudways provides free SSL certificates with hosting plans.

From your Cloudways account > Applications > SSL Certificate.

• Select Let’s Encrypt (there are others, but this one is free).
• Provide your email and domain name.
• Select Install Certificate.
• Enable the HTTPS redirection so all the traffic is redirected to the secure version.

https://youtu.be/ElaQY57oAmw?si=Qwkqs4gViEXsO0uY

Quick WordPress Summary

At this point your WordPress website should be almost ready.

Access your website by typing yourdomain.com/wp-admin into the address bar of your browser.

You’ll see a sidebar with quick links to the different features of the platform: post and page creation, comments and media, appearance, plugins and more.

If you haven’t used WordPress before, we recommend taking a look around and familiarizing yourself with where everything is.

It’s very straightforward and shouldn’t take long!

The admin URL along with the login data is available in the access details tab inside your Cloudways account.

We don’t have the space to explain WordPress in detail here but blogs like WPCrafter and Astra have hundreds of in-depth tutorials that can help.

You might also find this video useful:

Step 3: Setting Up Your Online Store

The foundations of your store are now ready. All you need to do now is set up the store part.

We’ll use SureCart as our eCommerce tool as we think it’s the best option out there.

You can use it for free and create an online store in less than an hour.

Install and Configure SureCart

SureCart is a WooCommerce alternative that installs as a plugin on your WordPress website.

Rather than using your web hosts’s resources, SureCart is headless. The store elements are hosted on your WordPress website while the heavy lifting is performed by secure SureCart servers.

Headless is the new way to eCommerce and SureCart is at the forefront.

First create a free SureCart account.

We recommend the free plan to begin with. You can always upgrade later if you want to.

Follow the setup steps to create your first store on the SureCart website. We’ll then set it up on WordPress and link the two together.

View API tokens

SureCart uses a secure API to link your store with the SureCart servers.

An API token is like a password used to prove that you have permission to do something and to keep data secure.

When you create your SureCart account a default token is created automatically.

You’ll just need to copy it from the SureCart website and paste it into the SureCart plugin to connect the two.

Select the Developers tab from the main SureCart menu and copy the default API token.

Keep the token for now as we’ll need it in a minute.

Let’s install the SureCart plugin next.

Navigate to the WordPress admin panel and select Plugins > Add New.

Search for SureCart and Install and Activate it.

SureCart will appear as a menu item in the WordPress sidebar.

There aren’t many options available just now since you haven’t connected your account yet.

That’s something you’ll do from Settings > Connection.

Paste the API token into the box and hit Save.

You should now see the SureCart menus begin to populate as the full potential of the plugin is unleashed.

The installation wizard walks you through creating an online store. It will ask you for some details like:

• The name of your store.
• The domain name.
• Default currency.
• Language.
• Timezone.

The wizard will also help you connect your Stripe and PayPal accounts should you wish to.

The process is very simple since you only have to log in to these services and give SureCart permission to use them.

You can also connect them later if you want.

After verifying your email address, you’ll see the full platform dashboard.

Explore as much as you like and come back here once you’re ready to continue.

Set Up Payment and Taxes

No store would be much use without adding payment and tax options.

That’s what we’ll do next.

One key benefit of SureCart is that it helps manage tax.

If you skipped payment gateway configuration, you can connect Stripe and PayPal from your SureCart account > Payment processors.

Click Connect by each option you want to use and allow SureCart to use them.

Please ensure that you’re connecting the live version of the gateways. Test mode just works for testing purposes where no real money is involved.

Here’s more information on testing your SureCart store:

• Sandbox Accounts in PayPal.
• Test Mode in Stripe.

You can check if everything is properly connected from the WordPress admin panel.

Select SureCart > Settings > Processors to see which are configured and active.

Further down there is a button to add manual payments.

This is useful if you want to accept wire transfers or cash on delivery.

Taxes are managed from the Taxes tab within SureCart settings.

There are three main sections:

• Store tax settings.
• EU VAT settings.
• Tax regions.

If you need to collect tax, enable the first option and fill in your company data within the Store Tax Settings section:

Scroll down to the Tax Region settings.

Here you control how your store calculates sales tax for each specific region you operate in.

The settings here will vary depending on where your business is located and/or the type of product you’re selling.

SureCart helps you apply taxes but you are responsible for setting them up correctly.

We recommend consulting a tax expert to make sure your store is fully compliant with the relevant regulations in your region..

This is also advisable to configure EU VAT Settings if they are relevant to where you operate.

You’ll probably also need to comply with legislation regarding invoices and receipts, something you can set up from the orders and receipts section.

Branding Your Store

Aside from being able to use an eCommerce theme for WordPress (WooCommerce themes should work fine with SureCart), you can easily make adjustments to branding.

From the Settings > Design and Branding section you can define:

• Main color for buttons, links and other UI elements.
• Your logo.
• The contact information that will appear on your emails.

You can edit these emails from the SureCart website, since sending them is another task that the server manages for you.

If you want to modify the appearance of your store, then what you should do is change or adapt your WordPress theme.

You can choose a template from Starter Templates and import it with a couple of clicks.

• Go to the WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Add New and download and activate Starter Templates.
• Select Appearance > Starter Templates.
• Pick a design and follow the wizard to complete the import.

Use the Astra theme and you could attract new customers with amazing designs like these:

Simply Natural

Cycle Shop

Cosmetics Store

Brandstore

Those are just 4 of the many eCommerce templates you get with Astra. Some of them are even free!

Step 4: Define Your Products and Customer Journey

Your store is almost ready. You have set up your domain name, arranged hosting, installed WordPress and configured SureCart.

We told you creating an online store was easy!

All that’s left to do is add products and define how customers will find and purchase them.

Add Products

To add products to SureCart, go to the WordPress admin panel > SureCart > Products > Add New.

If you have added a blog post in WordPress before, this process is very similar.

After giving your product a name you’ll arrive at the product sheet from where you can add:

1. Product availability.
2. Tax and shipping information.
3. A product image.
4. Product description.

From the pricing section you can add:

• One time payments: Including an original price if you are running a sale.

• Installment plans: So you can easily sell more expensive products.

SureCart also offers a couple of extra options.

• Integrations: Trigger different actions such as enrolling the buyer into a course made with SureMembers or something else entirely.

• Downloads: Add any digital downloads you want to sell, or add extras such as user guides, warranty information or other downloadable resources.
• Licensing creation: Useful for selling software.
• Limit per-customer purchases: To avoid extra purchases by mistake.

As you can see, adding product data in SureCart is pretty straightforward!

Define the Customer Journey

SureCart automatically structures your store so a customer can use navigation or search to find a product.

Once they select to buy, they will have the option to buy more or go straight to checkout.

But that’s not all it can do.

SureCart automatically generates a link you can share on social media, in emails or in marketing efforts.

You can see this by clicking on Links and Shortcodes on each product page.

The Buy Link is the one that you’ll probably want to share:

As you can see, it shows a clean checkout page focused on conversion.

You can use that link anywhere you like which is a neat feature!

Notice the Add to Cart Button Shortcode?

This button won’t take buyers to checkout, instead, it will add the product to a nice looking side cart.

This way buyers can add products to a cart while they continue browsing your store until they are ready to buy.

The cart button will follow them while staying out the way. Another neat trick!

You can customize the look and feel of your cart from SureCart > Cart, using the WordPress editor.

For instance you could remove the coupon block, change the text labels or the colors.

You can do something similar with the general checkout from SureCart > Forms, editing the Store Checkout.

Better yet, you can also add new checkouts.

SureCart provides a few templates to speed up the design process.

After picking a template you can control:

• What product or products will be included in this checkout.
  • You can even select the pricing plan for each article.
• The options the buyer can select.
  • If you’re selling a bundle, customers must purchase all options.
  • If you’re selling a single product with 2 different pricing plans, customers must select one of the options.
  • If you’re letting the buyers buy what they want, they can select multiple options.
• A custom thank you page: Otherwise the buyer will be redirected to the default order confirmation page (SureCart has already created this for you)

NOTE:

You can modify the default thank you page, or create a new one for each checkout form.

In the last step you’ll be able to modify the template you chose:

1. The plus button allows you to add new content blocks. You can use SureCart blocks or any type of block.
   • For instance, you could use the Spectra testimonial block to show social proof to improve conversion.
2. You can switch between live checkout and test to make a dummy purchase.
3. Once you’re ready, just go back to live again so your store works as it should.

All you have to do now is just copy and paste the shortcode of the form wherever you need inside your WordPress site.

You could add it to:

• A sidebar widget.
• Inside an informational article.
• At the end of a sales page.
• Or anywhere you like!

Adding purchase options like this reduces the steps a customer has to take to convert. The fewer the better!

This is how the purchase option looks from a customer perspective.

SureCart gives you the freedom to display your products wherever and however you want.

You have total control of your store, which is why we like the DIY method so much!

Step 5: Growing Your Store

Your store is ready, but your journey to world eCommerce domination has only just begun!

Here are a few quick tips for getting the word out and starting on the road to success.

Marketing

Marketing is crucial to your store’s survival. After all, how are customers going to buy if they don’t know you’re there?

That’s where marketing comes in.

You will have to constantly share where you are, what you sell and how you’re better than the competition.

Options include:

• Social media: Engage on the social networks your target customers are likely to be.
• Advertise: Try Google, YouTube, Twitter or Facebook Ads. Use the networks where your customers hang out and experiment carefully with paid ads.
• Influencers: Using social media influencers can be more cost-effective than traditional advertising due to higher engagement rates.
• Email: Use a good email marketing service and popups to grow your email list. Get a head start with Convert Pro.

• Take advantage of seasonal marketing campaigns like Halloween or Christmas.
• Plan a content strategy.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the art of being found on search engines. There’s a lot to it but you can use a free SEO plugin to get you started, along with some simple tricks.

• Build internal links.
• Improve the speed of your store using caching.
• Write SEO-friendly content.
• Implement schema markup using Schema Pro.

• Optimize your images.
• Use an SEO-friendly theme like Astra.

SureCart offers great performance out of the box, as does the Astra theme. Use SEO best practices to get the most out of it.

Use Effective Sales Techniques

Don’t limit yourself to just showcasing your products:

• Use coupons to help customers convert. Create and manage them from SureCart > Coupons.

• Show countdowns to create a sense of urgency. They are available in Ultimate Addons for Elementor.

• Use advanced sales techniques such as abandoned cart recovery, auto payment recovery, order bumps, upsells, or purchasing power parity.
  • All of these features are available in SureCart paid plans.

• Add social proof so customers trust you.
• Use video sales letters to improve conversions.

Creating an Online Store With SureCart

So that’s how to create an online store. 5 simple steps on your journey towards eCommerce success.

We set up a domain, hosting and WordPress. We then installed a powerful eCommerce plugin, configured it and prepared it for use.

We also showed you how to add products, set up a payment gateway and manage taxes.

All the elements you need for a successful eCommerce store!

If that wasn’t enough, we even shared some effective techniques to attract customers and make more sales and gave you a link to our awesome eCommerce launch checklist.

We can’t wait to see your new shiny store, so feel free to share it with us in the comments below!

Try SureCart for free today! It could be the best business move you make all year!