From Instagram to the "open sea": advantages of owning an online store

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Introduction

Start-up businessmen have to weigh every step: they have to spend a lot, and their budget is limited. For many, sales start with a social media page. Most often, Instagram is chosen for this purpose - due to the priority of photo and video content, it is the best and most convenient for presenting any product.

Why Instagram?

The specifics of this social network have made it the most popular platform for sales. The advantages of Instagram for those starting from scratch are obvious: it does not require any financial investments, except for the services of a content designer to make the page look more attractive and presentable. You can test ideas and introduce new products on the page - feedback in comments and reposts will be instant.

In addition, Instagram and other social networks have the strongest connection with the audience, which gives you a certain advantage for an individual approach to each client. But only for a while. And this is about the shortcomings and challenges faced by sellers on social media.

Why Instagram?

Limited capacity. When the number of customers reaches a certain limit, it will become increasingly difficult to provide timely service to each of them through personal messages. A missed comment or complaint from a dissatisfied customer can trigger a wave of negativity towards your store, especially if they post a negative review on their page or story. This can cause significant damage to the store.
Dependence on social media policies and algorithms. They are constantly changing, and their unpredictability can cost a startup business a lot if their account is restricted, blocked, or deleted for "incorrect" content.
Despite the fact that the page itself is free, you will have to pay for advertising and promotion. And if you do not have the knowledge and skills of targeting and SMM, you will also have to order these services, otherwise very few people will see your store.
The functionality of the social network does not include such important tools for commerce as a shopping cart, payment system integration, etc.
Since almost everyone starts with Instagram, the competition is very high. In order to stand out from other similar pages, you need to regularly create a creative and interesting content plan. And this still does not guarantee that your store will be successful.

Thus, an Instagram page can be useful for the first steps in business. However, it is impossible to scale sales by staying only on it.

Advantages of a separate online store for sales

If you want your business to grow and sales to increase, the advantages of an online store are obvious:

Autonomy. Complete freedom and self-directed management without any reference to policies and rules of use.
Extensive functionality that allows you to integrate all systems and implement all the tools for a full-fledged business. Only in your own online store you can implement any payment methods, customize the shopping cart, create a system of promotions and discounts, offer related products for purchase, etc.
Wide opportunities for filling with content. In your own online store, you can create a catalog and group products in a way that is convenient for both the seller and the buyer. In addition, you can add any content (text, photos, videos) to the product card without any restrictions - the main thing is that it should be meaningful, understandable, and useful for the buyer.
Flexibility and uniqueness of design. This applies not only to stores created from scratch, but also to those based on a template, especially on the basis of modern SaaS platforms. For example, the Ukrainian SaaS platform Shop-Express offers a wide range of themes and designs that can be used to create a unique visual product that is unlike anything else. Thus, creating an online store does not have to be expensive - a standard design theme on a SaaS platform is available even at the start of your business. In addition, Shop-Express offers not only a standard online store, but also a custom design with an arbitrary site structure.

Advantages of a separate online store for sales

Not every entrepreneur has the opportunity to create his or her own online store from scratch "from scratch": it requires considerable financial investments, efforts, and long expectations. An alternative is a mini-store based on the SaaS platform Shop-Express, which has all the advantages of a full-fledged online store:

a shopping cart for making purchases;
integrated Internet acquiring from monobank;
integration of delivery services;
feeds for Google Shopping / Facebook Shop / Instagram;
the ability to connect an advertising account;
unlimited number of orders;
built-in CRM;
unlimited traffic;
multilingualism and multicurrency;
own high-speed hosting and SSL certificate

The possibilities of a mini-store are enough to scale your business and increase the number of sales, and it takes three simple steps to create one:

Click the "Create a store" button;
Fill the newly created store with goods and content;
Connect Internet acquiring from monobank and inform the Shop-Express manager about it.

Another advantage of a Shop-Express mini-store is that you can use it for free for a year. This is a great start for a start-up entrepreneur who does not yet have the opportunity to invest a lot of resources.

From Instagram to the "open sea": advantages of owning an online store

Introduction

Why Instagram?

In addition, Instagram and other social networks have the strongest connection with the audience, which gives you a certain advantage for an individual approach to each client. But only for a while. And this is about the shortcomings and challenges faced by sellers on social media.

Why Instagram?

Dependence on social media policies and algorithms. They are constantly changing, and their unpredictability can cost a startup business a lot if their account is restricted, blocked, or deleted for "incorrect" content.

Despite the fact that the page itself is free, you will have to pay for advertising and promotion. And if you do not have the knowledge and skills of targeting and SMM, you will also have to order these services, otherwise very few people will see your store.

The functionality of the social network does not include such important tools for commerce as a shopping cart, payment system integration, etc.

Since almost everyone starts with Instagram, the competition is very high. In order to stand out from other similar pages, you need to regularly create a creative and interesting content plan. And this still does not guarantee that your store will be successful.

Thus, an Instagram page can be useful for the first steps in business. However, it is impossible to scale sales by staying only on it.

Advantages of a separate online store for sales

If you want your business to grow and sales to increase, the advantages of an online store are obvious:

Autonomy. Complete freedom and self-directed management without any reference to policies and rules of use.

Advantages of a separate online store for sales

​

a shopping cart for making purchases;

integrated Internet acquiring from monobank;

integration of delivery services;

feeds for Google Shopping / Facebook Shop / Instagram;

the ability to connect an advertising account;

unlimited number of orders;

built-in CRM;

unlimited traffic;

multilingualism and multicurrency;

own high-speed hosting and SSL certificate

​

The possibilities of a mini-store are enough to scale your business and increase the number of sales, and it takes three simple steps to create one:

Click the "Create a store" button;

Fill the newly created store with goods and content;

Connect Internet acquiring from monobank and inform the Shop-Express manager about it.

​​

Another advantage of a Shop-Express mini-store is that you can use it for free for a year. This is a great start for a start-up entrepreneur who does not yet have the opportunity to invest a lot of resources.