Ask the right questions before you start
An online shop is not just another shop window. It is a second point of sale, with its own orders, payments, parcels and customer questions. Before choosing a tool, take the time to answer a few simple questions.
- Who will buy online: your regular customers, customers from the region, or customers further afield?
- Which products lend themselves to remote selling: easy to describe, photograph and ship?
- How will customers get their order: collection in store, local delivery, parcel post?
- Who in your team will process orders, and at what time of day?
Start small, but start well
The most common mistake is wanting to put the whole shop online from day one. Hundreds of product pages to create, stock to synchronise, photos to retake: the project gets bogged down before you have sold anything.
It is better to start with a selection: your best sellers, your flagship products, or the ones customers most often ask for over the phone. You will learn what works, then expand the catalogue.
Click and collect, a good starting point
The customer orders and pays online, then comes to pick up their order. You avoid the logistics of parcels, you keep in touch with the customer, and they often take the chance to discover something else in the shop. For a local shop in Mulhouse, Saint-Louis or a nearby Swiss town, it is often the most natural option.
Delivery, when you are ready
Delivering means packing, labelling, choosing a carrier and handling returns. It is not complicated, but it takes time. Add it once the first click and collect orders are running smoothly.
What to prepare
The content of your shop matters more than its design. An online customer can neither touch the product nor ask for advice: your product pages have to answer their questions for them.
- Sharp photos on a plain background, taken with care, even on a smartphone.
- Useful descriptions: dimensions, material, use, care, what sets the product apart.
- Clear prices, with delivery costs included or clearly shown.
- Reliable stock levels, so you do not sell an item that has already gone in the shop.
- The required pages: terms and conditions of sale, legal notice, privacy policy, returns policy.
- A secure online payment method, linked to your business account.
Selling on both sides of the border
If you are in Alsace and also want to reach Swiss customers, or the other way round, bear in mind that shipments between France and Switzerland go through customs and that VAT does not work the same way. Before opening delivery abroad, talk it through with your accountant or fiduciary. In-store collection often remains a simple solution for cross-border customers.
Getting your shop known
An online shop does not fill up on its own. Your first buyers will almost always be your existing customers. So start with them.
- Announce the online shop in store: a poster, a note on the receipt, a word at the counter.
- Update your business listing on search engines and maps, with a link to the shop.
- Share a few products on the social networks you already use, without spreading yourself too thin.
- Take care over your product pages: they are what search engines display.
Organising order processing
An online order sets off a series of small tasks: checking the payment, preparing the items, letting the customer know their order is ready or on its way, answering their questions. Set a fixed time in the day for this work, for example before the shop opens, rather than squeezing it in between two customers at the counter.
Also plan the messages sent to customers: order confirmation, ready-for-collection notice, tracking number. Written once, they then go out automatically and prevent most “where is my order?” calls. Keep one single place where all orders in progress can be seen, so anyone in the team can answer.
What we offer
We build online shops for independent retailers from €1,900 excl. VAT, then €30 excl. VAT per month for hosting, maintenance and small changes (further development quoted separately). We help you choose your starting products, organise collection or delivery, and set up payment. You keep ownership of your shop, your data and your access.
If you are not yet sure an online shop is the right answer, a well-maintained showcase website is sometimes enough to start with. The free 30-minute first call is a chance to talk it through simply.