What do you need to create an online store?

Before thinking about designs, platforms, or functionalities, there is a more important question:

What do you need for your store to work well day-to-day?

Not all businesses sell the same. Therefore, an online store shouldn’t have to function the same for everyone.

1. A well-organized product catalog

The catalog is the foundation of any online store.

Products must be easy to find, and the information must allow the customer to quickly understand what they are buying.

This involves working well on:

• Categories

• Product sheets

• Photographs

• Prices

• Descriptions

• Variants

• Availability and stock

If you sell products in different sizes, colors, formats, or features, it’s also important that managing these variants is simple.

A store should not only be easy to use for the customer.

It should also be easy to manage for you.

2. A simple purchasing process

Every unnecessary step during a purchase is an opportunity for the customer to abandon their cart.

Therefore, the process must be clear:

Product → Cart → Data → Payment → Confirmation

The customer must always know what they are purchasing, how much they will pay, and what they need to do next. The less friction there is, the better.

3. Suitable payment systems

Card, Bizum, bank transfer, or other systems.

It’s not about adding every possible option but rather the ones your customers will actually use.

It’s also wise to understand the costs associated with each system and to distinguish between the commissions of the payment gateway and the possible commissions that the e-commerce platform might apply.

At Somplataforma, we do not apply our own commission on your sales.

What you bill with your store remains yours.

4. Well-configured shipping

Shipping may seem like a secondary part until you start selling.

Free shipping from a certain amount, local pickup, rates depending on the product, or international shipping can significantly change how a store operates.

5. A mobile-ready store

An online store cannot just “look good” on a small screen. Shopping from a mobile must be comfortable. Products should be easy to browse, buttons easy to press, the cart simple to use, and the payment process quick.

6. A store ready to appear on Google

The SEO of an online store does not start when the store is already published. It begins with its structure. Categories, products, URLs, titles, descriptions, contents, and technical performance are part of the base upon which you will work on positioning later. Keeping this in mind from the beginning helps avoid reorganizing the entire store down the line.

7. A tool that doesn’t force you to work in a certain way

This is a point often overlooked when creating a store.

Many platforms work very well as long as your business fits exactly how they were designed.

The problem arises when you need something different.

A special way to manage products.

A specific registration process.

A specific fee.

A connection with another tool.

A different way to manage orders.

At this moment, you discover whether your store is flexible or if you have to adapt your business to the tool's limitations.

We prefer to do it the other way around.

Technology must adapt to the business.

8. A base that allows you to keep moving forward

When you start, you may only need a store. But a business evolves. Over time, you might need newsletters, SEO, automation, new functionalities, or tools to better manage day-to-day operations. That’s why it’s important that the store is not an isolated piece. A good technological foundation allows incorporating new tools without having to start from scratch each time.

At Somplataforma, we design and develop online stores tailored to the needs of each business. You can see how we approach online stores and what the service includes.