Online store plan

Cosmetics will always be in demand and will never go out of fashion. Every year, sales of cosmetics are growing by 5-10%, so an online cosmetics store is a promising business idea.

Cosmetics are currently one of the most demanded products. The Russian market for cosmetic products is growing every year and is projected to reach 211 million units sold by 2021. At the same time, the online trade sector is actively developing. According to market research, in 2021, about 50% of online shoppers made online purchases of cosmetics. Every month Yandex search engine processes more than 2 million "cosmetics" queries.

The main trend in 2021 was the gradual transition of online buyers of cosmetics. At the same time, purchases in online stores were made less often: the frequency of online orders was 3.7, and purchases in chain stores - 6.9. On the other hand, more expensive purchases are made on the Internet (the average cost of online orders is almost twice as high as offline). Therefore, experts believe that it is necessary to develop online commerce by increasing the frequency of sales. And all the conditions for development are there: the cosmetics market is stable, online sales grew by 30% in monetary terms over the year. The positive trend is maintained thanks to active work with loyalty and beauty enthusiasts.

What conclusion can be drawn from these statistics? The cosmetics market is developing actively and has resources for further growth. The transition of cosmetics online will continue - and the task of entrepreneurs is to occupy a niche in this segment in time. In addition, the internet format is suitable for aspiring entrepreneurs. Online commerce reduces opening costs, allows you to work from home, and simplifies the process of creating a store.

Let's figure out how to implement the idea of ​​an online store in modern conditions.

Step Competitor Research

Today, the online cosmetics market is a large-scale direction in which its leaders have formed. Your task is to study offers and enter the market with a new, relevant idea. At first glance, it may seem that most online cosmetics stores repeat the same scheme, but each relies on something different. Someone makes beauty boxes, someone provides services for the selection of cosmetics and consultations ... some are distinguished by an exclusive assortment, while others sell proven, mass goods. After examining different proposals, you can determine which ideas to implement in your online store, and what to replace and improve.

Step Definition of the concept and target audience

The development of online cosmetics trade is due to the fact that online stores were able to offer what the buyer did not find in a regular store: a wide selection of products, reduced prices, convenient delivery service, profitable loyalty programs, etc. Therefore, immediately plan what your service will be - both the assortment and the pricing policy depend on it.

If you offer a convenient service: fast delivery, presentable packaging, additional options, then it makes sense to concentrate on more expensive cosmetics. Keep in mind that oftentimes a quality service comes with additional costs or risks. For example, fast delivery means that you have products in stock and send orders by courier service. These are the costs of assortment formation (and the risk of not selling some of the products), as well as delivery costs. Beautiful packaging also costs money: it's one thing when a product comes to a customer in a white bag, and quite another - in a branded box.

If you plan to focus on mass-market cosmetics, then the additional costs of the service will have to be optimized, otherwise you risk being left without profit. The choice of the target audience and the store concept are closely related. The main rule: they should not contradict each other. So think it over in advance. Focus on your target audience and its financial capabilities. Since we're talking about the target audience, be sure to compose a portrait of it. This will allow not only to determine in which price segment to work, but also how to form the store's assortment.

In our age of information technology, when everyone strives to optimize and save their time, trade through online stores is becoming increasingly popular. If you decide to open it, then you need a business plan to open it.

Online store business plan

So, consider a free ready-made example of an online store business plan, or rather a blank that will help you start this business.

We have already reviewed the article on the topic “How to open an online store”, now we will consider a business plan and find out how much it will cost.

First, let's highlight the main cost components:

• online costs;
• offline costs;
• monthly costs.

Let's say you decided to open an online store from scratch with a quantity of about 250-300 items. For a good start, in principle, you don't really need separate premises for an office, a warehouse and a dedicated Internet server. A room in an apartment, the use of shared hosting will be enough, the goods will be more profitable to pick up from the supplier's warehouse.

Online costs of opening an online store

In total, we get online costs: $ 2120-5120.

Offline costs of opening an online store

Total offline costs: up to $ 3,000.

Greetings, entrepreneur friends.

Today we are considering courses on creating an online store for those who want to open a business on the Internet or strengthen their market position, optimize work and increase sales. The list includes comprehensive training programs that will take you from niche selection to first earnings. And also highly specialized for those who already know how to open an online store and want to solve specific problems along the way.

Choose what you need at the moment.

Launching and promoting an online store from scratch - Skillbox

Hands-on Course Starting and promoting an online store from scratch tops our top of the best training programs. Here you will start by selecting a product and analyzing your potential customers, and end up with your first sales.

• demand analysis and niche selection;
• work with contractors and suppliers;
• useful contacts and personal brand;
• creating a web resource on the Advantshop platform;
• targeted, contextual advertising and other ways to attract customers;
• metrics analysis;
• points of growth and scaling.

• 6 practitioners, each of whom has achieved some success in e-commerce.
• Working on your own project, not hypothetical stores.
• You can learn from scratch.
• Access to materials is not limited in time, you can always return and revise, re-listen to lectures.
• Chatting with the curator and receiving feedback from teachers on homework.

Duration - 2 months, cost - 35,000 rubles.

Other interesting courses in Skillbox:

Head of the online store - Netology

Head of an online store - a course for owners and managers with an existing or upcoming project. You will figure out how to choose a niche, formalize your business legally, set prices and receive payments, work with customer loyalty.

• analyze the market, study competitors;
• form the store structure;
• work with marketplaces;
• attract customers , promote the store;
• analyze activities, work with metrics;
• hire specialists;
• draw up mandatory documents, work in the legal field.

The idea of ​​an online store as a profitable business is both tempting and realistic. The main thing is to choose the right direction even before the start of the project. An objective preliminary analysis of your own capabilities will help to avoid unnecessary waste of time and money: which product direction is closer to you personally, which one do you understand at the expert level, how familiar you are with the principles of trade and marketing, and, finally, your level of a computer user.

If, as a result of introspection, you clearly see the goal, ways and opportunities to achieve it - you can start implementing it. An online store in the modern world is, of course, a promising idea that can be embodied both in a source of additional income and in your life's work for many years, even in the absence of initial investment. All you need to do at the start is to select a product and create your own resource. So, we will organize an online store from scratch.

Assessing costs and risks

Starting capital - from 5,000 rubles. The competition is high.

When assessing risks, it is important to understand how high competition is in the field of online commerce. But if you correctly choose a niche, develop a strategy for product promotion and business development in general, the chances of success are high.

Let's start by minimizing costs for project implementation.

Registering a business

Entrepreneurs do not always pay due attention to this issue, and it is completely in vain. Even if we are talking about a small online store, its official design will help to avoid a number of unpleasant surprises - in particular, the claims of the tax office, which is important, you see, for a business of any format. The business must be registered as an LLC or IE.

Potential buyers, no less than entrepreneurs, strive to avoid unjustified risks, therefore they prefer sites with open data on details, legal and actual addresses and bank accounts. Thus, an officially registered e-commerce site will create more trust, which will ensure the growth of the number of customers even for a small store. If we are talking about the site of a wholesale trade organizer, then this will be a prerequisite for development, because large clients, and these are mainly legal entities, need guarantees of transactions and reporting documents to them.

Choosing the format of the future site

It is worth thinking about choosing an online store format even before starting a project. There are many directions, in which of them to move - depends not only on the volume of the initial investment, but also largely on the personal preferences of the business organizer. It is also worth considering the competition in your chosen niche.

There are two main formats:

The following is a beginner's guide with steps From dollars to paychecks

Don't worry, we're here to answer these questions for you and help you learn how to run your online store effectively - in other words, convince people to buy!

Here's everything you need to know about how to sell online. What follows is a 20-step beginner's guide to starting an online store.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on November 9, 2021 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and completeness

How to Start a Successful Online Store - Steps for Your Newbie

Step Choose the Right Ecommerce Platform

If you want to start an online store, the first thing on your to-do list is to choose an e-commerce platform.

An e-commerce platform is simply a special type of website that allows people to buy your products or services from your small business. With this tool, people can and do their purchases without leaving your site. E-commerce platform. It also lets you know that a new order has arrived.

In short, this is your all-in-one online selling solution.

If you want to learn how to sell online, you really can't do it without a quality e-commerce solution at your service. Tools like this one will help bring your business ideas to life and provide an opportunity to make money online.