Start Selling Today With a Professional Online Store

An online store – or eCommerce store – is a website to sell products and services on the internet. It is different from traditional stores, which sell goods in a physical location or brick-and-mortar store.

An online shop can be anything from a small business selling its own products on a basic storefront to a huge online marketplace selling thousands of products. Generally, customers can browse through the catalog and make purchases via a digital payment gateway, and products are delivered, but cash payments and in-store pickup are also possible.

Even if you’re already selling on online marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon, there are still many benefits to making online stores. Aspects like search engine optimization (appearing at the top of search results on search engines like Google) and seamless integration with social media platforms become a lot easier and more impactful when you have your own store online.

You’ll also be able to make your product pages stand out from the competition, something that’s a lot harder to do when you’re working within the framework of sites like Amazon and eBay. Having your own store with its own URL also helps you scale your brand and build credibility. Plus, many platforms take up to 15% of your online sales in the form of various fees, meaning you end up with smaller profit margins overall.

You can use your website not just to sell online but also to offer exclusive information about your products and services through a dedicated blog. With Hostinger Website Builder, you can also have a blog free of charge.

There are many different types of eCommerce solutions, including self-coded stores and content management system plugins (like those for WordPress). Hostinger offers an alternative that makes starting an online business accessible to anyone.

Hostinger's online store builder is an eCommerce platform that allows you to create a website for selling products online with access to dozens of payment gateways and marketing tools, all without the need to write any code.

All you need is an idea, and you can start selling the same day. You’ll save money on developers and designers since many inexperienced users have built online stores without any trouble.

Unlike some eCommerce platforms, Hostinger’s builder is completely independent as it’s an all-in-one solution. With one payment, you get both website hosting and an online store builder.

It all starts with an idea, whether you have a specific product or service in mind, a range of products you want to sell, a niche, or a business plan to start your eCommerce empire

Next, you need an online store website template. eCommerce website builders like Hostinger’s offer designer-made templates and all the tools you need to create, publish, promote, and run an online business successfully.

Once you’re happy with how your website looks, it’s time to list your products and services. Remember to provide detailed descriptions, including dimensions and customization options.

When you’re ready, publish and promote your website to the world. If you’re using Hostinger, you can utilize our SEO and marketing tools to make sure you’re found by the right people.

Short answer – yes, compared to running a traditional store. Since your eCommerce store exists online, you won’t have to worry about costly monthly expenses like electricity, water, and rent for your store property.

You also won’t be restricted by your geographical location or set opening hours, as an online shop is open 24/7 and can be accessed from all corners of the globe. Chances are that you also won’t need as much staff, meaning that general operating costs will be lower.

That depends on what you’re selling, and how you want to set up your store. With most builders, it can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to make a store online, depending on your level of expertise.

Thankfully, with Hostinger’s intuitive drag-and-drop website builder, even if you don’t know a single line of code, you can make a fully-functioning online store in an afternoon.

Zero. As for transaction commissions, Hostinger does not charge any fees for any online purchases. Unlike other online store builders, we ensure that the profit you make from your online shop is all yours.

This means that you can focus on keeping your pricing strategy competitive while still covering shipping costs and other expenses.

Yes. An online store could be an upgrade from running Instagram or Facebook shops, or you could simply view social media as a helpful sales funnel.

Either way, your eCommerce store goes hand in hand with selling on social media platforms. You can add social widgets to your store to make it easy for your visitors to share their favorite products with their followers. Or, connect your store with Facebook Marketplace and sell directly where your customers like to hang out.

Absolutely not. Everyone from solo entrepreneurs and small businesses to giant multinational companies has the same right and access to start selling online.

Perhaps your small business has an existing website, and you want to generate more sales by opening a store online. Or maybe you want to increase the reach of your service business by taking orders through an eCommerce website. You can open a store quickly and easily.

You don’t even need a business plan – if you have an idea and want to start selling, there’s nothing standing in your way.

Which methods you choose depends on where you’re selling, but the most common payment methods are: credit and debit cards, PayPal, and digital wallets. Find the best payment solution for your business and location. Connect Stripe to choose from 20+ leading payment options worldwide, like Apple Pay, EPS, Sofort, and more.

This depends on your target audience and overall niche. We recommend doing market research before selling a few products that you personally like.

Consider attracting people to shop online at your store by offering them something that they can’t get elsewhere or at a price they simply can’t ignore. If you’re stuck for ideas, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you and compiled a list of some of the trending products that are having a moment online right now.

That depends on the type of eCommerce site you want to create. With a WordPress site, you need to take into account the costs of WordPress hosting services, various security measures to keep your site secure, like SSL certificates, and premium plugins and themes.

On the other hand, online store builders include all the technical aspects of running an eCommerce website in their monthly fees, making the process of setting up small businesses faster and easier.

Hostinger offers an all-in-one online store builder solution at $2.99/month. It is by far the best online store builder for beginners. You will get a web hosting service, a website builder, a custom domain name, unlimited free SSL certificates, the best payment gateways, and 24/7 customer support. Also, all of Hostinger’s store templates are mobile-friendly so people can buy your products on the go.