Online Shops setup guide for Ireland. This guide provides the prospective online shop owner with tips and advice that will save you days of research and heartache.
1. Source your Produce.
It is presumed you have identified what you are going to sell and you have sourced your suppliers. Its vital the supplier knows you are selling online and that their other customers are aware of this. This prevents later conflict between your supplier and its existing customers. There are still some trades and goods where selling online is not yet accepted.
2. Permission to sell and ship.
Check you have permission to sell your produce in Ireland and in other countries. Some branded goods have very strict requirements on the territories where you can sell their product. These territory agreements are usually very tightly controlled by the Brand owners.
You might have permission to sell in Ireland but you may not have permission to ship abroad. One is well advised to seek professional advice and make full disclosures to all concerned. Breaches of these agreements are seen as worldwide breaches because of the nature of the web.
3. Decide how you are going to Ship.
Shipping costs are the single biggest item that put online sellers and customers off. Because shipping rates change so frequently it is difficult to keep up to date and to make sure your costs are covered. Locate a reliable and efficent shipping service. Remember the goods have to arrive on time and in good condition. If shipping was a little extra its better than late, broken and having to issue a refund. Selling large bulky items is a difficult thing to do unless the value of the items is large. Shipping large cheap perishable goods is not feasible unless you can locate local suppliers that you can drop ship to.
4. What is drop shipment.
This is where you have an agreement with a local supplier to supply and ship goods on your behalf. The agreement usually is that you simply forward on the shipping notes to the drop shipper and they look after the rest, billing you for the product and the shipping and packaging. For example this process is used Florists, China, Crystal and Food online shops.
5. Provide a realistic run in time.
An online store takes a little time to build its clientelle. Like all businesses return customers are “Gold Dust” and looking after and exceeding customer expectations will always make for a long term sucess.