Has anyone set up a retail website, got stock & promoted it - is it easy?

[daisie4]

Hi, I've thinking of setting up a website selling nice stuff for interiors - how do you go about it?

Has anyone done this - was it successful?

Is it easy to set up a website yourself or will I need to pay someone & how much will it cost.

Where do I get the stock? And how much will I need?

How do I promote it?

I'm looking for soething to do while DC are at school and would really like to do something creative - I wish I'd invented The White Company!

Hi daisie4,

I know a couple of people who have set up retail sites but they either have real shops and set up their website to compliment it, or they have a site for things that are mostly bought over the internet.

I would have thought that it is not the cost of the website that should worry you, but the cost of the stock you would need to buy.

As a way to start have you thought about being an affiliate? This is where you do not own any of the products but are linked into other retailers, and you get a percentage of every sale they make.

Promoting yourself over the net is a whole subject in itself. Are you known in this field? Do you contribute on specialist online forums? Do you have a blog on the subject of interior design? Are you an author of ezine articles? Do you know anything about search engine optimization? have you any existing experience of selling online eg through ebay?

I have put all these questions because if you do not know anything about any of these areas then you have a lot of reading and research ahead of you. Just google any of the terms.

Setting up a website is not particularly difficult although there are tricky bits about accepting credit cards (or other payment forms) and getting payment linked safely to your business bank account. I suspect from your questions that you are not at this stage yet.

Well unless you are au fait with HTML then you will need to get someone to design it for you,and host it.
Shoping cart to take online payments is free from PayPal but of course youhve to pay a % of each transaction.

Stock-well the biggest problem with this is where to store it and how you will send it to customers.There are some great courier deals out there but you will need proper packaging (another storage nightmare).
Depending on what you want,there are plenty of wholesalers out there.Shame you missed the Spring Fair in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago-would have been perfect for you.

How much stock-well how long is a piece of string? Depends how much cash you are happy to have wrapped up in stock,where you will be advertising and what sort of stuff you will be selling-sorry for the lack of real answer on that one

Promoting it-you need to decide who your target market is and the best means of reaching them....

It is hard work but a great job to do with kids.Good luck