You can launch an online store in a hurry or after long preparation, and both can make sense. The difference is how many things you think through in advance and how many you’ll have to fix as you go. In this article, you’ll find the process from idea to first order, plus the questions to ask yourself before you pay for the first line of code.
Step 1: Get clear on what you’re selling and to whom
Before you build an online store, you need a business model. A good-looking store won’t save products you can’t make money on. Answer honestly:
- Who is your customer, and why would they buy from you instead of from a big online store or a marketplace?
- How much will you have left from a sale after subtracting the purchase price, packaging, shipping, payment fees, returns and advertising?
- Will you keep products in stock, or order them from a supplier only after a customer places an order?
- How many products will you start with? A smaller, well-presented range is a better start than a large catalog without descriptions.
If you don’t have a reasonable margin left after subtracting all your costs, an online store won’t change that – it’ll only speed things up. Factor in advertising when you run the numbers, not after launch. To learn how to think about your budget, see our article Advertising budget: how much to invest in online campaigns.
Step 2: Take care of the formalities
To sell online, you need to be registered to do business and to have several documents on your website. The list below follows Slovak rules, and it isn’t legal advice – go through it with your accountant or lawyer:
- a trade license or a company whose registered business activities match what you sell,
- terms and conditions, a warranty claims policy and information about the right to withdraw from the purchase,
- information about how you process personal data and a cookie consent banner,
- VAT, invoicing and the question of which payment methods require an eKasa cash register (Slovakia’s online cash register system),
- special rules for certain types of goods, such as food, cosmetics or electronics.
Document templates from the internet are better than nothing, but they aren’t tailored to your store. Your terms and conditions should match how you actually deliver orders, issue refunds and handle warranty claims.
Step 3: Choose a platform
For a small or medium-sized online store in Slovakia, there are two main options:
- A hosted platform, such as Shoptet. You pay a regular fee, the provider takes care of hosting, security and updates, and a lot of things work right out of the box. The price of that convenience is less freedom to customize.
- WooCommerce on WordPress. The software itself is free; you pay for hosting, plugins and work. It can be adapted to almost anything, but someone has to take care of updates, backups and security.
You’ll find a detailed comparison in our article Shoptet or WooCommerce. At Tronos, we build online stores on both platforms, so we have no reason to push you toward either one. What decides it is your product range, your budget and who’ll be running the store.
When choosing, also think about where you want to be in a few years. If you plan to connect your store to inventory or accounting, sell abroad or import products from a supplier, check in advance how the platform handles it. Switching platforms later means moving your products and customers and redirecting your URLs.
Step 4: Prepare your products and content
Products are the biggest job, and they’re often underestimated during planning. For each one, you need:
- a name that matches how people search for the product,
- a description that answers customers’ questions – dimensions, material, use, what’s in the box – and isn’t just text copied from the supplier,
- good-quality photos from several angles in a consistent style,
- variants, such as size and color, filterable attributes and an EAN code if the product has one,
- categories that make sense to the customer, not to the warehouse.
This also includes pages about shipping, payment, returns and about you. Customers who don’t know you really do read them before their first purchase.
Step 5: Set up shipping and payments
At checkout, customers also decide based on where and when their order will arrive and how they can pay. Prepare:
- home delivery as well as delivery to a pickup point or parcel locker,
- card payments through a payment gateway, bank transfers and, depending on your products, cash on delivery,
- clear information about shipping costs and delivery times right on the product page, not only at checkout,
- a returns process that’s easy to find.
Sort out your contracts with carriers and a payment gateway in good time. Getting a payment gateway approved can take a while, and the provider usually checks whether your website has terms and conditions and contact details.
Step 6: Build a store that’s easy to shop in
Your store’s design doesn’t have to be original at all costs. It has to be clear: customers should quickly find a product, understand the offer and pay without hesitation. Don’t forget:
- search and filters if you have more products,
- a product page with the price, availability, delivery time and a prominent add-to-cart button,
- a cart and checkout without unnecessary steps and without mandatory registration,
- contact details, company information and reviews that build trust,
- everything tested on mobile, not just on a big screen.
For your first online store, it pays to stick with the platform’s proven solutions rather than invent a non-standard checkout. Customers are used to a certain process, and any surprise during payment can put them off.
Step 7: Set up tracking before launch
Without tracking, you don’t know where your orders come from and which ads pay off. Data from the first weeks can’t be measured after the fact, so don’t leave it for later:
- Google Analytics 4 with ecommerce tracking, meaning product views, add-to-carts and purchases,
- conversion tracking for Google Ads and the Meta pixel if you’ll be advertising,
- Google Search Console and a product feed in Google Merchant Center,
- a cookie consent banner that actually works together with your tracking.
To learn how to set this up in Analytics, see our article How to set up tracking in Google Analytics 4.
Step 8: Test everything as a customer
Before launch, place a few test orders and go through this list:
- an order with every shipping method and every payment method,
- a card payment that goes through, as well as one that fails or that the customer cancels,
- confirmation emails, the invoice and order status changes,
- an order from a phone on mobile data, not on the office Wi-Fi,
- cancellations and refunds – how you’ll handle them in the admin,
- a check that the order showed up in Analytics and in your ad platforms.
Then cancel the test orders so they don’t skew your stats or your accounting.
Step 9: Bring in your first customers
A launched online store without traffic is like a shop in a basement with no display window. Your first orders will usually come from:
- people you know, existing customers and your social media – ask them for your first reviews right away,
- Google Ads, especially campaigns that use a product feed and show the product with a photo and price,
- price comparison sites, if you sell products people compare before buying,
- email: collect contacts with consent from day one and set up at least a welcome email and an abandoned cart reminder.
Don’t expect orders to arrive on their own right after launch. Treat the first weeks as a time to collect data, fix problems in the process and find out which products and channels work.
We cover which automated emails are worth having from the start in our article Email marketing for online stores: automation scenarios.
After the first order
The first order is a test of the whole process, not the finish line. Pack it, ship it, ask the customer how satisfied they were and look at where they got stuck while buying. An online store improves the most through real orders.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to build an online store?
It depends on the platform, the number of products and how much work the content requires. A simple store on a hosted platform can be launched quickly; a store with an inventory integration and a large product range takes longer. What usually takes the most time isn’t the technology but preparing the products and copy.
Do I need a business license to sell online?
If you want to sell on an ongoing basis and make a profit, you need to be registered to do business – in Slovakia, that means a trade license or a company. Check with the Slovak trade licensing office or your accountant which type of trade license and which other obligations apply to you.
Is it better to have your own online store or sell on a marketplace?
A marketplace brings in customers faster, but it sets the rules, takes a commission and mostly owns the relationship with the customer. Your own store means more work getting traffic, but you build your own brand and customer database. You can also combine the two.
How many products should I start with?
As many as you can present well. Fewer products with good photos and descriptions are better than a large catalog customers get lost in. Expand your range based on what actually sells.
If you want an online store that’s ready to sell and to track results from day one, see our website and online store development. We build online stores on both WooCommerce and Shoptet, and the first consultation (30 minutes online or by phone) is free.
