The short version: to sell online, choose products with proven demand and a margin that survives shipping, decide whether to sell on your own store, a marketplace or both, build a fast store with clear product pages, set up payments, delivery and returns before launch, then make the products findable — in Google and increasingly in AI shopping answers.
1. Select your product line
Start with demand, not inventory. Before committing stock, check three things for each product idea:
- Is anyone searching for it? Google Trends shows whether interest is rising, flat or seasonal. Keyword tools show how many people search for the product by name.
- Can you make money after every cost? Price it against similar products, then subtract the product cost, packaging, shipping, payment fees, marketplace commission and a realistic returns rate. Plenty of products look profitable until postage is counted.
- Can you say why yours is better? A specific reason — a material, a size range, a use case nobody serves well — is what product pages and AI shopping answers can repeat. "High quality" is not a reason.
If you already run a shop, your best-sellers and the products customers ask about most are the obvious place to begin.
2. Craft a business plan
It does not need to be long. One page that answers these is enough to make better decisions later:
- Who buys, and why now? Describe your first hundred customers precisely enough to know where they shop and what they read.
- Who are you up against? Look at the three stores and the marketplace listings that come up first for your product. Note their prices, delivery promises and returns policies — buyers will compare you to exactly those.
- What does success look like at six months? Orders a week, average order value, and the most you can afford to spend to win a customer.
3. Choose where to sell
There are two routes, and most businesses end up using both.
| Your own store | Marketplaces | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Shopify, WooCommerce, a custom build | Amazon, eBay, Etsy, category marketplaces |
| Customer relationship | Yours — email, repeat orders, brand | Largely the marketplace's |
| Fees | Platform and payment fees | Commission on each sale, often higher |
| Traffic on day one | You have to bring it | Built in, with heavy competition |
A common pattern is to use a marketplace to validate demand and a store of your own to keep the margin and the customer. For most small and mid-sized sellers, Shopify is the fastest way to a well-built store; businesses with unusual catalogues or integrations may need a custom build. We compare the options in our eCommerce development overview.
4. Build your online store
A store earns sales on the product page, so spend your effort there:
- Speed on a phone. Most shoppers arrive on mobile. Compress images and keep apps to the ones you use.
- Product pages that answer questions. Real photos, dimensions, materials, delivery time, returns policy and reviews — on the page, not behind a link.
- A short checkout. Guest checkout, the payment methods your customers expect, and no surprise costs at the last step.
- Structured product data. Price, availability, brand and reviews marked up so search engines and AI assistants read them correctly.
If you are building on Shopify, our Shopify SEO checklist covers the settings most stores miss, and our Shopify development team builds stores to this standard.
5. Set up payments, shipping and returns
Get the operations right before launch, because they decide your reviews:
- Payments: a reputable processor, the local methods your customers use, and fraud checks switched on.
- Shipping: clear rates and delivery times by region, a carrier that provides tracking, and packaging that survives the trip.
- Returns: a written policy that is easy to find and easy to follow. Generous, clear returns lift conversion more than they cost in most categories.
- Tax and compliance: sales tax or VAT registration where you are required to collect it, and a privacy policy that matches how you handle customer data. Your accountant should confirm the details for each country you ship to.
6. Get found — in Google and in AI shopping
A good store with no traffic sells nothing. Plan three sources of visitors from the start:
- Search. Product and category pages written for how people search, with technical basics in place. This compounds over months and costs nothing per click.
- Paid ads. Google Shopping and search ads bring buyers from day one while organic search builds. Start small and scale what converts.
- AI shopping answers. More buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews what to buy, and those assistants recommend products they can read clearly and see recommended elsewhere. Accurate product data, a clean product feed and genuine reviews are what put you in those answers — see getting your products recommended by AI shoppers and what agentic commerce means for merchants.
Then keep an eye on the numbers from your plan in step 2, and move budget towards whichever channel brings customers you can afford.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest way to start selling online?
Listing on an established marketplace is quickest, because the traffic already exists. Opening your own store on a hosted platform such as Shopify takes a little longer but gives you the customer relationship and a better margin over time.
How much does it cost to start selling online?
It depends mostly on stock. The store itself can start on a hosted platform's monthly plan plus payment fees; stock, photography, packaging and early advertising are usually the larger costs. Work out your cost per order before you set prices.
Do I need a website if I sell on marketplaces?
Not to begin, but it is worth having one. Your own site keeps customer data and repeat orders with you, protects you from marketplace fee or policy changes, and gives search engines and AI assistants a source to describe your brand accurately.
Want help putting this into practice? Our online sales team makes products discoverable in Google and AI shopping answers, and removes the friction between browsing and buying.