Zephyrnet Logo

How to Create an E-commerce Website in 15 Minutes

Date:

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

How would a worldwide audience change your life and business?

For RanD Pitts, the founder of Evolve, it changed everything. Even amidst the craziness that 2020 has delivered so far.

He lives in a town of 12,000 people, which is pretty small by anyone’s standards. However, the introduction of his online e-commerce store brings the business worldwide customers, sold-out shelves, and massive revenue growth week after week.

The e-commerce business is booming and you know you want a piece of it. However, the technical side of things has you feeling uneasy and unsure of where to start.

There are a million and one routes you can take to create an e-commerce store, so it’s no surprise you’re overwhelmed.

However, we’ve nailed the process down to a science after years of doing it ourselves. And in this guide, we share everything we know about how to create an e-commerce website in as little as 15 minutes.

Your worldwide audience is waiting, so let’s dive in!

1. Sign Up with Wix (1 Minute)

First, you need to create a Wix account. Head over to Wix and click the “Start Selling Now” button at the top of the page.

Start selling online now with Wix!

From there, you can sign in with a Facebook or Google account, or you can sign up directly with your email address instead.

Next, Wix asks you a series of questions to get to know you and your new website. The third question asks what type of website you need. Make sure you search for “Ecommerce Store” and select that option.

Wix

The #1 E-Commerce Website Builder

Get your free domain

2. Choose How You Want to Setup Your New Site (1 Minute)

After you answer the series of questions, you have the choice to use artificial intelligence or create your website from scratch with the Wix editor.

I highly recommend choosing the ADI option because it’s much quicker.

Plus, you can make changes and updates later. We’ve done both, and trust us. It’s much easier to swap out demo content than starting a brand new website design from scratch.

Choose the Wix ADI option

The Wix ADI tool works by tailoring designs to specific types of stores. For example, if you’re creating a store to sell glasses, the ADI tool is smart enough to know what kinds of designs work best for glasses.

Or if you want to run an online bakery, the ADI tool creates designs made specifically for your industry. 

Most importantly, the ADI tool is fast. In fact, it takes just a few minutes to build your entire website. So if your goal is to start selling as quickly as possible, it’s an excellent place to start.

Click the “Start Now” button on the left side of the screen to launch the Wix ADI wizard.

3. Answer ADI Wizard Questions (2 Minutes)

Once you’ve decided to let the ADI tool take over creating your E-commerce website, the system needs to learn more about you and what you need.

This set of questions also allows the tool to find the most effective designs for the type of store you’re setting up.

The first question is “What do you need on your new website?” You can choose from several recommended choices and additional options based on the functionality you want for your store.

Wix ADI Wizard Question 1

So go through and check the options you’re interested in. Then click “Next”.

After that, you need to give your store a name. Then you have the option to import images and text if you have an existing website. You can decide if you want to use this but it may be easier to start fresh.

Lastly, review your business information. Here you can add your logo, physical address, phone number, and social media accounts. When you’re ready, click “Next”.

4. Pick a Theme (1 Minute)

Next, you can choose from several different themes. This helps the ADI tool understand more about the specific style you’re looking for.

It may help to think about the types of products you sell and what a store for your type of merchandise might look like. But don’t spend too much time overthinking this because you can come back and change it later.

Choose a theme that matches the type of products you want to sell.

Remember you can always change design elements, fonts, and colors. So don’t spend too much time, here. Pick something your customers will enjoy and click “Continue”.

5. Select a Homepage Design (1 Minute) 

Next, choose a homepage design. If you were building a house, this would be the curbside view. It’s the first page customers see when they visit your site. So you want to make sure it’s attractive and easy to navigate.

Pick your favorite homepage design

When choosing a design, focus on layout and functionality rather than details like colors, photos, or fonts (you can always change these later).

6. Add Pages to Your Site (1 Minute)

Now you have the option to add additional pages to your E-commerce website. I highly recommend adding (at least):

  • An about page
  • Store policies
  • A FAQs page
  • And a contact page
Add pages to your E-commerce site

Click on each page you want to add. Then when you’re ready, click “Edit Site” in the top right corner and move on to step seven.

7. Customize Your Store (2 Minutes)

Good news! You’re ready to customize your new E-commerce store.

At this stage, you don’t need to spend a lot of time on customization. One of the advantages of building an E-commerce store with Wix is the ability to make quick and easy changes as your store grows and evolves.  

Plus, over time you’ll get to know more about your audience and their preferences. Then you can easily update your E-commerce store to match what they’re looking for.

Preview of the Wix Page Editor

This is your opportunity to customize your store. In this phase, just about everything you see is easy to change. So play around and spend a few minutes updating anything you immediately notice.

To make edits, all you have to do is click on the area you want to update. For example, if you click the header, this will open a menu on the left side of your screen.

Editing the header in Wix

Within that menu, there are several options for customizing your site’s header. You can add a store logo, a phone number, links to social media, and more. 

Repeat this process in various sections around the main page. Each time you click on an area, new customization menu opens on the left side of your screen.

Work your way through the homepage and additional pages, exploring the various sections and features.

Depending on the theme, homepage, and additional pages you chose, your design elements may look slightly different from the screenshots above.

For now, focus on big picture details. This includes things like your store’s name and basic info. Your ADI-generated site will include placeholder copy so you can see how it appears to visitors.

Be sure to replace this copy with text that applies to your store before publishing your E-commerce website.  

8. Add Products (2 Minutes)

For this step, you’ll stay in the customization view. Your E-commerce site should include an area with “dummy” or placeholder products.

These placeholder products are there so you can easily click and change them to actual products you want to sell in your store. 

Depending on the design you chose, the placeholders are in a variety of areas. Regardless of the overall design, however, you should see a section for products on the homepage. 

When you find it, hover over it until a menu overlay appears. This overlay includes a button that says “manage.”

This opens up your user dashboard, which is where you can add individual products. At first glance, the dashboard might appear overwhelming. And there’s a lot of information here.

But this is where you can make changes to multiple parts of your E-commerce store and it’s a lot simpler than it may seem at first.

For right now, just focus on adding products to your store. The other elements will fall into place later when you have more time and a greater understanding of your audience.

To add a product, click on “Store Products”. Then look for the “+ New Product” button at the top right of your screen.

Adding your own products in Wix

Furthermore, your Wix store design already has placeholder product listings in the dashboard. You can easily click one and change the information to reflect a real product you want to sell.

You can replace the photo, change the type (physical or digital), swap out the dummy SKU for a real one, and manage the inventory. This is also where you’ll add a product description, including the size and color, if applicable.

When it comes to product listings, t’s best to be as descriptive as possible. So take advantage of the various boxes and add as many details as you can. Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes.

What does a shopper want to know before they make a purchase? Try to anticipate your customers’ questions. This increases your likelihood of making sales.

When you’re done adding a product, make sure you click “save.” This adds the product to your store so shoppers can see it. 

Note: if you prefer to add new products rather than replacing the dummy products, don’t forget to delete the dummy products from your dashboard.

After you load all your products, click the X in the top right corner of you dashboard to close it. Then you’re ready for the next step.

9. Customize Your Cart (1 Minute)

Every E-commerce store needs a virtual shopping cart. Just like a cart in a physical store, this is where customers can see all of their selected items at a glance. 

And because you used the ADI tool, your Wix site automatically generates a shopping cart. This gives you a starting point for your cart design, which makes it easier to launch your store as quickly as possible.

However, you still need to make sure your cart functions properly and is set up the way you want it. 

To edit your shopping cart features, click on the “Page Home” drop down at the top left of the page editor.

This brings up a menu called “Manage Pages.”

Scroll down until you find “cart” and then click on it. From here, you can manage how your cart page appear to shoppers. 

Editing the cart page in Wix

10. Set Up Shipping and Payment Methods (2 Minutes)

Finally, you need to review the settings for both shipping and payment.

When it comes to shipping, you’ll need to decide if you want to accept payments from overseas — which means you’ll also need to ship products to other countries. 

Some E-commerce store owners get around this by only selling to customers in the United States. 

To change your shipping settings, go to the dashboard.

How to get to your site dashboard

From there, you’ll see “set up shipping regions.”  

After that, you see a screen that lets you to modify the settings for both U.S. and international destinations.

For example, you can offer free shipping, or you can choose to calculate shipping by weight, flat rate, or using real-time calculations from the Postal Service.  

Once you’re happy with your shipping settings, it’s time to update your payment settings.

To modify your payment options, go to the dashboard and find “Accept Online Payments”. 

How to modify your payment settings in Wix

Wix makes getting paid easy. You can choose from a range of options, including credit card payments, PayPal, Wix point of sale payments, and more. 

If you choose to accept credit card payments, Wix does the behind the scenes work for you. 

When you allow credit card payments in your E-commerce store, Wix provides protection to both buyers and sellers. Plus, they also accept all major credit cards.

Note: As a seller, you pay $0.30 plus 2.9% in transaction fees. 

11. Upgrade to a Paid Plan and Launch Your E-commerce Store (1 Minute)

Now it’s time to upgrade to a paid plan. From your site dashboard, click “Upgrade Now” in the top right of your screen.

How to upgrade to a premium plan in Wix

Next, you need to choose a premium plan. Head to the premium subscriptions page. And make sure you switch to the Business and E-commerce plans before making your decision (see the screenshot below).

Overview of Wix's premium plans

Wix offers four “business and E-commerce” tiers to choose from depending on what you need. And the cheapest one starts at $23 per month.

This is one of the main reasons I like Wix — it’s an affordable option for businesses of all sizes. And on the cheapest plan, you get:

  • A free domain for one year
  • 20GB of storage
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Acceptance of online payments
  • An add-free user experience

The good news is you can start with the cheapest plan and upgrade for more storage space and special features in the future (if you need to).

So I highly recommend starting with the Business Basic plan, for now.

However, make your decision based on the size of your business and your specific E-commerce needs. Bigger businesses may want to go with the Business VIP or Enterprise plans.

After you upgrade, head back to the site editor and click the “publish” button. This should be located in the upper right hand corner. 

Where to find the publish button

After you click “publish” Wix will ask whether you want to publish on a free Wix domain or a custom domain. Keep in mind that you can’t accept online payments through a free Wix domain.

This means you’ll need to purchase a custom domain and pay for hosting before you can launch your E-commerce website. Which is why we went through the process of upgrading to a paid plan first.

The good news is Wix offers a free domain when you sign up for a premium plan. Enter your new domain name here, click “Publish and Continue”, and follow the steps to claim your free domain.

After that, you’re ready to go. Congratulations on creating and launching your E-commerce website!

Wix

Wix

Get a free domain for your business

Affordable web hosting

Ready to Start Selling Online?

While there are other E-commere builders out there, Wix is our #1 choice because of how easy it is to create and publish an E-commerce website.

And remember: as your store starts to see visitors, you can fine tune your website to suit your needs and help increase your sales over time.

Continuous improvement is key to E-commerce success.

Latest posts by Today’s Eggspert (see all)

Source: https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/how-to-create-an-ecommerce-website/

spot_img

Latest Intelligence

spot_img