Quick answer: To start selling online quickly while your doors are closed, keep the first version small. Pick one platform you can launch in days (Shopify, WooCommerce on your existing WordPress site, or Square Online if you already use Square), list your 20 to 50 best-selling products, take card payments through a standard gateway, and offer local pickup and delivery before you worry about national shipping. Then tell your existing customers by email, social media and your Google My Business listing. You can expand the catalog once orders are flowing.
Start with the goal, not the platform
Many shop owners have spent the last couple of months thinking about online selling for the first time. The temptation is to build a perfect store. That takes months you may not have.
Set a short goal instead: “Take paid orders for our core products within one to two weeks, with pickup and local delivery.” Everything else is a later phase.
Answer these questions first:
- Which products sell steadily and are easy to describe and photograph?
- Can you fulfil from the shop, a stockroom or home?
- Will you offer pickup, local delivery, shipping or all three?
- Who will pack orders and answer customer questions each day?
- Do you have a POS system that already tracks your stock?
Choosing a platform you can launch fast
Shopify
Hosted, quick to set up and handles payments, taxes and many shipping options out of the box. Good if you do not have a website or your current site is hard to change. Monthly fees and app costs add up, but speed is the point right now.
WooCommerce
A strong option if you already have a WordPress site you control. You add a store to the site you already rank with, keep your content and avoid a separate domain. It needs a bit more setup: hosting that can handle a store, a payment gateway and a few extensions.
Our comparison of WooCommerce vs Shopify goes through the trade-offs in more detail.
Square Online or your POS vendor’s store
If your shop already runs on Square, Lightspeed, Clover or a similar POS, check whether it includes an online store that syncs with your stock. This can be the fastest route because products, prices and inventory are already in the system.
Marketplaces and social
Selling on Amazon, Etsy or eBay can add reach, but fees and rules are significant and you do not own the customer relationship. Treat marketplaces as an add-on, not a replacement for your own store.
Week one: the minimum viable store
1. Pick your launch products
Choose your best sellers, products customers have been asking about and items that are simple to ship or hand over. Twenty to fifty products is plenty to start. You can add the rest in batches.
2. Photos and descriptions
Phone photos are fine if they are well lit and consistent. Shoot on a plain background near a window. Write short descriptions that answer the questions customers ask in person: size, materials, what is included, how to use it, care instructions.
If you have a spreadsheet of products from your POS, you can usually import it. See WooCommerce product import for how to bring in products in bulk rather than typing them one by one.
3. Payments
Set up a standard gateway: Shopify Payments, Stripe, PayPal or Square. Test a real order with your own card and refund it. Make sure payouts reach your bank account and you understand the timing. Our overview of WooCommerce payment gateways helps if you go the WordPress route.
4. Pickup and local delivery
For a store that is closed to browsing but still able to hand over orders, pickup and local delivery are usually the quickest wins:
- Curbside or doorstep pickup: customers choose a time slot, you bring the order out.
- Local delivery: set a radius or list of postcodes, a minimum order and a delivery fee.
- Shipping: start with simple flat rates by weight band or order value.
We wrote a full guide to curbside pickup ordering if that is your main channel.
5. Checkout
Keep checkout short:
- Allow guest checkout
- Ask only for what you need
- Show delivery and pickup options and costs before payment
- Make the order confirmation email clear about what happens next
Forcing account creation is a common reason first-time buyers give up. See guest checkout for why.
6. Policies
Write short, plain policies for delivery areas, pickup times, returns, exchanges and contact details. Customers buying from you online for the first time want reassurance.
Week two: tell people you are open
Your store does not sell anything if nobody knows about it.
- Email your customer list. This is usually the best performing channel by far for a local business. Keep the message simple: what you sell online, how pickup and delivery work, and a link.
- Update Google My Business. Add the website link to the store, turn on attributes like curbside pickup and delivery, and write a post about ordering online.
- Post on social media. Show real products, the packing table and the pickup spot. People want to support local businesses they know.
- Put a sign in the window. Passers-by are still customers.
- Tell regulars directly. A text or call to your best customers is personal and effective.
Running it day to day
Inventory
The biggest early problem is selling something you do not have. If your online store and POS do not sync, set aside dedicated stock for online orders, update counts daily and mark items out of stock quickly.
Fulfilment routine
Set fixed times for picking and packing, for example orders placed by noon go out the same day. Print a packing list for each order. Check each order against it before handing over.
Customer service
Answer emails and messages within a working day. Many first-time online customers will have questions. A short FAQ page reduces repeat questions.
Track what sells
Look at orders weekly: which products sell, which do not, which pages get visits but no sales. Use that to choose the next batch of products to add.
Mistakes to avoid
- Trying to list every product before launch. Launch with the best sellers.
- Complicated shipping rules. Start simple and refine.
- No clear pickup instructions. Tell people exactly where to go and what to do.
- Ignoring mobile. Most of your customers will order on their phones. Test the full order on a phone.
- Treating it as temporary and neglecting it. Many customers who buy online now will keep doing so after reopening.
FAQ
How long does it take to start selling online?
A basic store with a small catalog, payments and pickup can be live in a few days to two weeks, depending on how ready your product information and photos are.
Do I need a new website?
Not necessarily. If you have a WordPress site, WooCommerce can add a store to it. If your current site is hard to update, a hosted platform may be faster.
What about taxes?
Platforms can calculate sales tax or VAT, but you need to configure the rules for where you sell. Check with your accountant.
Should I keep the online store after reopening?
Most businesses should. It gives customers more ways to buy and gives you a channel that keeps working on quiet days.
Keep sales moving
A small, working online store beats a perfect one that launches too late. Start with your best products, keep fulfilment local and simple, and tell your customers. If you want help getting a store live quickly and making it convert, see how we help you turn visitors into customers.
