Niche products and drop shipping have helped a lot of students create side income and even full-time income streams.
But there are also a lot of students that have been afraid to get their stores up and running. These students think the time investment will be too much. The good news is that you can build an ecommerce site faster than ever before.
WordPress or SaaS Offers
You'll need a domain name, and that's fast and easy to setup. But once you have a domain name, you'll want to get your site up and running. WordPress is the go-to CMS for most people, and the platform itself is free.
What's nice is that you can begin on WordPress in seconds and then purchase or download a free theme.
You have a lot of plugins that will add ecommerce functionality to your WordPress, including:
- WooCommerce
- BigCommerce
- WP EasyCart
- Ecwid
BigCommerce is known for its SaaS offering, with additional tools and site themes that can further speed up your store's creation, but it's been making waves in the WordPress ecosystem as well.
Website Builders
There are ecommerce website builders that can further help you get started with your store. A few of these have been discussed already, but additional options include:
- Wix
- Shopify
- Squarespace
- Volusion
Website builders for ecommerce take all of the hard work out of creating your store. You don't need to be a graphics guru to get started.
You can simply register for one of these solutions and gain access to:
- Themes that work on desktop and mobile to meet the needs of all consumers
- Storefront builders that allow you to fully customize the way that your storefront looks and functions for users
- Security features that keep data safe and compliant
You'll find a lot of tools that will also include web hosting and customer support to help you get started with your store even faster.
There are a lot of site builders available, but you have to pick the right option for your business. If you're not well-versed in CSS or HTML, you'll want to choose a platform that includes:
- Templates / themes
- Design tools
- The ability to integrate tracking pixels
Features such as being able to bulk import products, can also help, depending on the stage of your business. A lot of store owners will migrate from one ecommerce builder to the next. If you're migrating your store, you'll want a store builder that makes it as simple and easy as possible to migrate your store.
You'll also need to consider:
- Ease of use and the level of support offered
- Price point and additional monthly costs
- Features that you may need to get your store up and running faster
- Payment gateway integration and SSL encryption to keep consumer data safe
It's Easier to Get Started Thank You Think
Once you have a builder that you know how to use and customize, you can begin adding in products and marketing your store. With a SaaS solution or WordPress ecommerce plugin, you can get your store up and running faster than ever before.
