Someone asked:
Do you have any advice on a good service to use for setting up an online store for selling specialty food products ?
That question is the tip of the iceberg! My follow-up questions to choose an ecommerce system:
- Is it a main part of your business or one that you just want to have in case someone wants to order online?
- How many SKUs?
She said she was “just setting it up in case customers prefer to order online. Mostly selling in retail stores. Probably 5-10 items, no more than 25.” Her main distribution is in retail stores.
My suggestion: Look at Weebly or Squarespace, both which offer beautiful design templates and a variety of catalog management features at a fairly low monthly price.
Square bought Weebly so if you’re using Square to accept payments at shows or markets in addition to selling online, it might have a better integration.
For very small specialty food businesses, like candy makers or seasonal jam makers, Etsy has been a great way to reach new buyers with almost no set up and maintenance effort. If you’re wanting to calculate production and inventory involving other distribution channels, Etsy is probably not the way to go…however it could be worth posting a few SKUs there simply for visibility in their marketplace!
For mainly online food product businesses, Shopify is the way to go.
Shopify has perhaps the most sophisticated online selling and reporting features, including unlimited product listings. Shopify powers many of the world’s most popular online retailers. They also have a “lite” version for selling on Facebook and via Messenger (very cool!)
For those who are techie and don’t want monthly fees:
You can set up a WordPress blog and use plugins like WooCommerce to get many of the features offered by systems like Shopify. However, you’ll be on the hook for making software updates and designing it (for which you can also buy themes).
In short, you might have more upfront costs and long-term maintenance with WordPress but lower recurring costs.
Want help getting started selling food online?
I’m happy to consult with you on an online selling strategy, based on your overall sales and distribution goals, then pick a system as well as help you write the content and hire developers if need be.
I’m a long-time online marketing expert. Please get in touch to tell me about your goals and where you need help.
