Ask HN: Starting new ecommerce site for clothes, what should I know for success?

5 points by djangovm 2 years ago | 10 comments

Some background info:

1. Stack: Shopify. 2. Theme on shopify: undecided still. 3. Market Research: selling goods offline through exhibitions to understand logistics and sales. 4. Target audience: mid-range clothes. 5. Sourcing of inventory: through wholesale suppliers.

I am interested in learning: 1. What are some practical tips to make a successful online business? 2. Are there any books/podcasts/resources that can help me improve the business aspect of running a small business? 3. I do not think tech is going to be complicated at surface (shopify etc. etc.), and I am not averse to getting my hands dirty if needed, but time is of essence, and getting into a theme's code, for example, is going to consume a lot of it. So avoiding that for now, but any recommendations? 4. Any questions I may not be asking?

thanks.

startupdials 2 years ago |

Shopify is a good start. Similar to Woocommerce - Elementor, Shopify has a Pagefly pagebuilder, that allows you to create pages easily, using simple blocks design. So no problem there. Create an email lead magnet to nurture your audience, otherwise you would be always loosing incoming prospect customers off your website. Check out options are important, how will your customer pay? Its good to have multiple options. Instalment payments is a big thing, so always good to have. Someone asked how do you plan to bring traffic. If you plan on any paid activities, facebook, IG, google, tiktok are your go-to's. Dont forget to set up google analytics to track your traffic, user journey, conversions, etc. Hope this helps. Good luck!

djangovm 2 years ago | |

thanks.

FlopV 2 years ago |

This thread might be useful to you. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clemence-lepers_im-shutting-d...

djangovm 2 years ago | |

thanks

ezedv 2 years ago |

Focus on product quality, user-friendly website design, and effective marketing. Customer service and timely delivery are key for customer satisfaction. Invest in marketing and customer service to build trust with your customers!

gidorah 2 years ago |

From "running a business" point of view, get Shopify integrated with your accounting software. Xero is a good start. It will give an actual idea of what your business is doing.

throwaway154 2 years ago |

How do you source wholesale suppliers?

djangovm 2 years ago | |

We are exploring local wholesale suppliers... google maps, surprisingly, gives good results if you know the cities to source from.

FlopV 2 years ago |

How do you plan to get traffic ?

djangovm 2 years ago | |

So far, thinking about paid ads.