When you are preparing to set up an online store, there are certain factors to consider before providing it to the masses. How will you handle shipping? How will you tax customers? These questions need to be answered before the store is live in order to be able to manage orders easily
Stock
It is important to keep track of stock you plan to sell online. Keeping a proper inventory will eliminate frustrations due to not having sufficient stock to fill orders.
One good way to keep track is to keep a seperate stock of products you wish to sell exclusively online. This will make it easier to fulfill any order that comes through without having to worry about shortages.
Payment
There are different options for accepting payment through your online store that are cost effective and easy to maintain.
If you are already set up to accept credit cards you may consider using your current system to accept online payment. This method does not always provide protection from fraudulent activity (check with your provider).
PayPal is a common method of accepting online payment which is very cost-effective. There are no setup or monthly fees, and the lowest transaction fees of all other solutions. You can accept secure online payments where customers are not required to sign up for the service in order to use it. They also provide fraud detection and protection services. We strongly recommend using PayPal as a payment option because it is secure, offers a broad range of users, and is inexpensive.
Shipping
Shipping is the final step in fulfilling an online order.
First decide what method of shipping best fits with your products and then talk to different shipping companies. Try to find a company that can find the service that is most effective for what you are shipping and where you are shipping it to.
You may want to offer your customers different means of getting product to them. Offering both overnight and 7 day shipping options allows customers to get their new product at their convenience. Also consider using more than one company for different purposes.
There are many ways to deal with shipping through your online store. You can charge shipping by weight, by price, by the area it is going to, or set flat rates. View the info below to help you create some questions for your shipping company.
| Flat Rate |
| Description |
Example |
| Charge the same amount of shipping for any weight or price on an order |
Whether an order is $10 or $100 (10lbs. or 100lbs.) the shipping rate is the same |
| Per Item |
| Description |
Example |
| Charge a set amount for each item ordered |
A Per Item rate of $2.50 on an order with 3 items would mean a $7.50 shipping charge |
| Table Rate |
| Description |
Example |
| Charge shipping based on a table of values, either by weight or order total |
< $99.99 : $5.00 shipping
$100.00 - $499.99 : $10.00 shipping
$500.00 - $1000.00 : $20.00 shipping
$1000.00 and up : $50.00 shipping |
| Zone Rate |
| Description |
Example |
| Charge shipping based on a weight table rate in certain 'zones' (areas, countries, provinces, etc.) |
< 10 lbs. : $5.00 shipping
11 lbs. - 20 lbs. : $10.00 shipping
21 lbs. - 30 lbs. : $20.00 shipping
31 lbs. and up : $50.00 shipping |
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