The road to Geek Gear (or a step-by-step guide on how to build an online store)

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Tony Sarno20 February 2007, 8:31 PM

We went from e-commerce novices to launching an online store in just a few months. Now that Geek Gear's up and running, here is a summary of the steps we took in creating the store. If you're already doing e-commerce, share your experiences with us.


Geek Gear's APC-branded gadgets pageGeek Gear's APC-branded gadgets page

A few months ago we decided to build a fully-functioning online store to illustrate how e-commerce works. We partnered with e-commerce providers NetMerchant and Geek Gear was born.

Since the main goal of the project is to give readers an insight into how an online store works, our financial goal is modest: to cover our costs. But it would be nice if we make a profit.

The following are the key decisions and steps we took in launching Geek Gear. If you already run an online store or are an e-commerce professional, share your experiences with us through the comments feature on each of the chapters below.

 

The Business Model

What our online store would sell and how would it make a profit.

 

The Unique Selling Point

How the store would stand out in the brutally flat playing field of online commerce.

 

Naming the Business

The name of the business can play a major part in its success.

 

What kind of shopping cart?

We had to study the shopping cart market in some detail.

 

Lesson: How a cart works

The must-know basics for anyone contemplating an online store.

 

Designing the Store

Getting the right look-and-feel for your store is critical. This is how we designed Geek Gear.

 

Getting the security certificate

A must for any online store wanting to process online payments.

 

Selection of stock and categorisation

A big decision which also proved to be the toughest we had to make.

 

Finalising the Pricing

A critical part of the business plan - how much you will charge your customers.

 

Ordering and holding stock

Finally, the big day comes when you have to order the stock and start carrying the business risk.

 

Delivery of product

How the store gets its products to customers.

 

Launching the store

Finally, the big day arrived: we launched Geek Gear.


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Vlad N:

The one thing not taken into account, or seems to have been overlooked when APC mag discusses the merits of GeekGear as an ecommerce website, is promotion. Casting aside my suspicions that GeekGear was meant all along to be APC mag's foray into ecommerce, why has advertising not been factored into the equation? Advertising and promoting a new website would be one of the, if not the, biggest cost involved. To get sales you need traffic, to get traffic you need to promote it. An average ecommerce website launch couldn't buy the sort of promotion GeekGear has been privileged to, what with front cover and editorial exposure through APC's mag and website. The launch of GeekGear has benefited greatly from it's association with APC mag, the sort of benefit that any other website launch would not have received. What would it have cost someone launching a website, to promote it and receive the same exposure that GeekGear has?

APC should have tried launching and promoting/advertising a website as the average person would, with no connection or products relating to or branded as a well known brand or magazine etc, and advertised and promoted within a set budget. The results after say 3 months could then have been revealed and the whole series then run in hindsight in APC mag. The probability is that the outcome would have been very different.

The true reality is that most ecommerce website launches are fraught with very high chances of failure. The statistics are that over 90% will fail, the rest will have only very limited success, and the extremely rare one will actually be successful. The amount of investment required to have a functional professional ecommerce website fully backed by stock is high. The question that needs to be asked is, can that investment afford to be lost if the venture fails?

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