E-commerce

W W W. R O Y D I G I TA L . I N
 E-commerce Idea Generation,
Set up and Marketing.
a).What is E-commerce?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the ecommerce realm, let’s first answer one
fundamental question:

What is ecommerce?

Ÿ Ecommerce refers to commercial transactions conducted online. This means that

whenever you buy and sell something using the Internet, you’re involved in
ecommerce.

It was August 11, and the year was 1994. Around noon that day, Phil Brandenberger of
Philadelphia logged into his computer and used his credit card to buy Sting “Ten
Summoner's’ Tales” for $12.48 plus shipping.

That story may not sound too exciting today, but at that time, this particular transaction
made history. Why? Because it was the first time that encryption technology was used to
enable an internet purchase. Many consider that moment as the first “true” ecommerce
transaction.

Needless to say, e-commerce has grown by leaps and bounds since then. BigCommerce
sites that e-commerce is growing 23% year-over-year, and according to eMarketer, global
ecommerce sales are expected to top $27 trillion in 2020 — and that’s just statistics for the
That’s a lot of growth (and money!), which is why if you’re interested in doing business
online, you need to know the ins and outs of the ecommerce industry.

And that’s exactly what this guide is for. In this resource, we take a deep look at the
ecommerce industry — how it came about, what types of merchants are out there, and
what platforms enable online selling. We’ll also shed light on notable ecommerce success
stories and flops to give you a better idea of what it takes to succeed in this industry.

Whether you’re someone who wants to start an ecommerce site or you’re already running
an online store and just want to learn more about the industry, you’ll find plenty of nuggets
in their guide.

Dive in below or jump to a specific section:

– What is ecommerce?

– Types of ecommerce merchants

– Classifying ecommerce merchants according to what they’re selling

– Classifying ecommerce according to the parties involved

– Ecommerce platforms: a look at where and how e-commerce takes place

– Ecommerce examples: success stories and flops

Types of ecommerce merchants

There are many ways to classify ecommerce websites. You can categorize them
according to the products or services that they sell, the parties that they transact with, or
even the platforms on which they operate.

In this guide, we’ll look at all three aspects to give you a clear picture of what types of
ecommerce sites are out there.

Classifying ecommerce merchants according to what they’re selling

Let’s start with the products and services typically sold online. Below is a list of
ecommerce merchants according to what they sell.

1. Stores that sell physical goods

These are your typical online retailers. They can include apparel stores, homeware
businesses, and gift shops, just to name a few. Stores that sell physical goods showcase
the items online and enable shoppers to add the things they like in their virtual shopping
carts. Once the transaction is complete, the store typically ships the orders to the shopper,
though a growing number of retailers are implementing initiatives such as in-store pickup.
Some examples of these ecommerce stores include eyewear retailer Warby Parker,
menswear store Bonobos, and shoe retailer Zappos.

2. Service-based e-tailers

Services can also be bought and sold online. Online consultants, educators, and
freelancers are usually the ones engaging in ecommerce.

The buying process for services depends on the merchant. Some may allow you to
purchase their services straightaway from their website or platform. An example of this
comes from Fiverr.com, a freelance marketplace. People who want to buy services from
Fiverr must place an order on the website before the seller delivers their services.
Some service providers, on the other hand, require you to get in touch with them first (i.e.
book a consultation) to determine your needs. Web design company Blue Fountain Media
is one example of a business that does this.

3. Digital products
Ecommerce is, by nature, highly digital, so it’s no surprise that many merchants sell “e-
goods” online. Common types of digital products include ebooks, online courses,
software, graphics, and virtual goods.

Examples of merchants that sell digital products are Shutterstock (a site that sells stock
photos), Udemy (a platform for online courses), and Slack (a company that provides real-
time messaging, archiving and search for teams).

Classifying ecommerce according to the parties involved

Another effective way to classify ecommerce sites? Look at the parties participating in the
transaction. These typically include:

1. Business to consumer (B2C) – Transactions happen between businesses and

consumers. In B2C ecommerce, businesses are the ones selling products or services to
end-users (i.e. consumers).

Online retail typically works on a B2C model. Retailers with online stores such as Walmart,
Macy’s, and IKEA are all examples of businesses that engage in B2C ecommerce.

2. Business to business (B2B) – As its name states, B2B ecommerce pertains to

transactions conducted between two businesses. Any company whose customers are
other businesses operate on a B2B model.

Examples include Xero, an online accounting software for small businesses, ADP, a
payroll processing company, and Square, a payments solution for SMBs.

3. Consumer to business (C2B) – Consumer to business ecommerce happens when a

consumer sells or contributes monetary value to a business. Many crowdsourcing
campaigns fall under C2B ecommerce.

Soma, a business that sells eco-friendly water filters is one example of a company that
engaged in B2C ecommerce. Back in 2012, Soma launched a Kickstarter campaign to
fund the manufacturing of their product. The project was successful, and Soma went on to
raise $147,444.

4. Consumer to consumer (C2C) – As you might have guessed, C2C e-commerce

happens when something is bought and sold between two consumers. C2C commonly
takes place on online marketplaces such as eBay, in which one individual sells a product
or service to another.
5. Government to business (G2B) – G2C transactions take place when a company pays
for government goods, services, or fees online. Examples could be a business paying for
taxes using the Internet.

6. Business to government (B2G) – When a government entity uses the Internet to

purchases goods or services from a business, the transaction may fall under B2G e-
commerce. Let’s say a city or town hires a web design firm to update its website. This type
of deal may be considered a form of B2G.

7. Consumer to government (G2C) – Consumers can also engage in B2C ecommerce.

People paying for traffic tickets or paying for their car registration renewals online may fall
under this category.

Ecommerce platforms: a look at where and how e-commerce takes place

We’ve talked about the types of ecommerce transactions on the web as well as the
products and services sold online. But where and how do these transactions take place?

Answer: it varies.

In this section, we’ll shed light on some of the most common platforms on which e-
commerce takes place.
1. Online storefronts

Having an online storefront is one of the most straightforward ways to conduct

ecommerce. The merchant creates a website and uses it to sell products and services
using shopping carts and ecommerce solutions. The “right” solution will depend on the
merchant and their products. Below is a list of some of the top ecommerce platforms.
Check them out and see which one is right for you.

Magento – Considered by many as one of the most flexible ecommerce solutions in the
market, Magento offers powerful features right out of the box. It gives merchants the ability
to customize just about aspect of their ecommerce store, and you have complete freedom
over the look, feel, and functionalities of your site.

Magento also has an active community of experts, developers, and agencies allowing
merchants to easily connect with others if they need support. And if you need to further
extend the functionality of Magento, you can always use add-ons to enhance your site.

Demandware – This fully-hosted solution allows you to run a powerful ecommerce store
in the cloud. Merchants using Demandware won’t have to worry much about platform
maintenance and development since it’s fully hosted by the company (though this may
limit your freedom a bit).

One of Demandware strengths is that it’s built with omnichannel retailers in mind, and it
has features that enable merchants to easily sell across physical and digital storefronts.

Oracle Commerce – This enterprise ecommerce solution can be implemented on-

premises, or it can be hosted by Oracle or a third party. It has features that can benefit both
B2B and B2C merchants, and it comes with powerful functionalities that enable you to sell
more complex merchandise and data-rich offerings.

Oracle Commerce also allows users to easily customize sites and campaigns while giving
them the ability to efficiently launch sites for multiple brands and markets.

Shopify – A popular choice among many SMBs, Shopify has features that let you sell
online, on social media, and in-person. It lets merchants build and customize their
ecommerce site through easy-to-use interfaces and templates. And it has features such
as inventory management, reporting, buy buttons and more. It also has social selling
functionalities for those who are active on sites like Facebook and Pinterest.

Shopify is fully hosted, which means merchants won’t have to worry about maintaining the
platform or using their servers.

WooCommerce – WooCommerce is an open source ecommerce platform for

WordPress. It comes with standard features such as analytics and reporting, shipping
options, and mobile-friendly functionalities. Built specifically for WordPress,
WooCommerce seamlessly connects with the platform. This makes it a very attractive
choice for existing WP users.

WooCommerce is highly extendable and very developer-friendly, offering things like

custom AJAX endpoints, Webhook systems, and more.

BigCommerce – Used by big and small brands alike, BigCommerce offers features such
as a site builder, shipping options, reporting, and more. It also enables merchants to sell
on other sites and platforms, including eBay, Amazon, Facebook, Google Shopping, and
Square. Plus it has a Buy Button for enabling sales on blogs, emails, and more.

Additionally, BigCommerce has a built-in B2B offering for wholesalers and merchants
selling to other businesses.

BigCommerce is fully-hosted, so the company handles all platform maintenance and

updates.

Volusion – Another popular ecommerce solution, Volusion enables merchants to create

online stores, showcase their merchandise, and take payments all on one platform.
Volusion comes with standard features including a site builder, shopping cart software,
marketing tools, and more.

Drupal Commerce – This is an open-source ecommerce framework that enables users

to build online stores and applications on Drupal. Drupal Commerce is highly flexible and
offers hundreds of modules that allow users to enhance and extend its functionalities.
There’s also Commerce Kickstart, “a distribution of Drupal Commerce packed with
features that make it more complete, faster to launch, and easier to administer.”

2. Online marketplaces

Ecommerce transactions can also take place on online marketplaces — sites that
facilitate transactions between merchants and customers. Many online marketplaces
don’t own inventory; rather, they just connect buyers and sellers and give them a platform
on which to do business.

Some of the top online marketplaces on the web are:

Amazon – A company that needs no introduction, Amazon is one of the world’s largest
online marketplaces, offering extensive selections of books, electronics, apparel,
accessories, baby products, and more.

As of 2015, there were more than 2 million third-party sellers on the site, and according to
Amazon, these sellers sold 2 billion items in 2014.

eBay – eBay is another popular online marketplace that connects merchants and buyers,
facilitating B2B, B2C, and C2C ecommerce. eBay offers products in several categories,
including electronics, cars, fashion, collectibles, and more.
eBay merchants can also hold auctions that let buyers bid on products. This allows the
possibility of selling items above market value.

Etsy – Etsy is an online marketplace that specializes in handmade, vintage, and one-of-a-
kind goods. Millions of independent sellers use Etsy to showcase and sell their creations,
and people (buyers and sellers alike) love the site because of its community-centric feel.
Alibaba – Alibaba is an online marketplace for wholesalers, manufacturers, suppliers, and
importers/exporters. It’s an effective site that allows users to find vendors and purchase
merchandise in bulk.

Fiverr – This is a “freelance services marketplace” that connects people (mostly

entrepreneurs) with service providers who offer anything from graphic design and online
marketing to translation and video development. As its name indicates, gig pricing on
Fiverr starts at $5 USD, though depending on what you’re selling, that can go up to
hundreds, even thousands of dollars.

Upwork – Formerly Elance-oDesk, Upwork is a marketplace that connects individuals

and businesses with freelancers from all over the world. What types of services can you
buy and sell on Upwork? Answer: a whole lot. Freelancers on the site range from web
developers and designers to virtual assistants, accountants, and consultants.

3. Social media

Social media can pave the way for ecommerce in two ways: social sites can facilitate a
sale by directing shoppers to a merchant’s ecommerce site, or they can allow users to buy
something directly on the platform.

How social media facilitates e-commerce

May also like: 3rd Party Sellers

In many cases, social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest
aren’t used as ecommerce platforms. Rather, merchants use these sites to showcase
their merchandise. And when shoppers come across an item that they like on social, they
are directed to the merchant’s ecommerce site.

For instance, many retailers who show off their products on Instagram use solutions such
as Like2Buy to enable customers to purchase the items. Here’s how it works: when a user
sees a product that they like on their Instagram feed, they can click the merchant’s
Like2Buy link so they can view the item’s product page.

Conducting ecommerce transactions on social sites

Social networks are also exploring ways to let consumers complete purchases without
having to leave the site.

Pinterest, for instance, has Buyable Pins that enable merchants to sell products featured
on their Pinterest page. According to the site, “Buyable Pins have a blue price tag, which
tells people your product is in stock and available for purchase. People can easily spot
these Pins all over Pinterest—in search results, in related Pins and on your business
profile.”

Buyable Pins are currently available on Shopify, BigCommerce, and Salesforce

Commerce Cloud.

Speaking of Shopify, the ecommerce platform also offers a fully integrated Facebook
store that allows shoppers to purchase products without having to leave the site. Shopify
also has Messenger support, so customers can buy items and track their orders through
chat.

The above-mentioned initiatives certainly are interesting, but it’s important to note that not
all social selling projects are successful. Take Twitter’s Buy buttons. In 2014, the social
site released a feature that allowed customers to purchase items directly from a Tweet.

It wasn’t a huge success.

In 2017, Twitter officially shut down the project, though it told Recode that the company
“will continue to invest in ad products for retailers that help drive purchases via the social
network.”

Ecommerce examples: success stories and flops

Now that you have sufficient background about ecommerce, it’s time to look at some real
world examples of ecommerce success and failure stories. Check them out below, learn
from their examples, and see what you can apply in your business.

Ecommerce success stories

This section lists some of the top ecommerce sites on the web, and it sheds light on what
makes them successful.

Amazon

We’ve mentioned Amazon quite a bit in this piece and for a good reason: it’s one of the
most successful ecommerce businesses in the world. Aside from a thriving marketplace
featuring third-party sellers, Amazon also has massive revenue coming in from its Prime
membership, as well as subsidiaries such as Amazon Web Services and Zappos.com.

What makes Amazon successful

Bestselling author and speaker Bryan Eisenberg, who recently published the book Be
Like Amazon: Even a Lemonade Stand Can Do It (co-authored by Jeffrey Eisenberg and
Roy H. Williams) often talks about the 4 Pillars of Amazon’s Success.
These pillars are:

1. Be Customer Centric – “Amazon is not trying to force customers to fit the way they
want to sell them,” he says. “Amazon would rather fit themselves into how customers buy
today and will change their buying behavior in the future.”

2. Be Creative – Amazon is always conducting experiments and coming up with ways to

improve the shopping experience.

3. Be Focused on Customer Experience – According to Bryan, “Amazon will do

everything possible to have people talking about what an amazing experience it was to
shop or return items through their store. Every tiny detail in the store is designed to have
customers engaged and excited to be there.”

4. Continuously Improve & Optimize – Amazon makes good use of its data. The
company is always crunching the numbers, and it uses data in just about every aspect of
the business, including customer experience, warehousing, operations, finance, and
marketing.

Birchbox

Birchbox has a two-pronged business: it offers a subscription in which the company

charges members $10 a month to receive “personalized mix of 5 hair, makeup, skincare,
and fragrance samples.” Birchbox also has an online shop that allows customers to
purchase full-sized products. As of 2015, Birchbox had more than 800 brand partners
and more than a million subscribers.

What makes Birchbox successful

Several factors contribute to Birchbox’s success, but one of the most important ones is
data. The company’s co-founder, Katia Beauchamp, told Forbes that data became their
best friend.

Here’s one example of how the company uses data. Birchbox asks subscribers to review
each item and uses that information to match customers with the best products. Birchbox
also sends the data to their partners so they can determine what works and what doesn’t.
Another key to their success? Unlike most of their competitors, Birchbox isn’t just a box
subscription service. The company allows members to buy full-size products rather than
just with samples. This enables Birchbox to differentiate itself.

Wayfair

Wayfair is a home furnishings e-tailer that offers a wide selection of more than 7 million
items. Forbes reports that “Wayfair netted an estimated $18 million on $915 million in
2013, up 55% from the year before.” And as of May 2017, the site had over 36 million total
visits.
What makes Wayfair successful

Wayfair is a drop-shipper, and it hardly carries any inventory. That said, the company does
a tremendous job managing suppliers, orders, and fulfillment. “They figured out how to
manage 7,000 vendors and the drop-ship process so the vendors go directly to the
consumer,” says Battery Ventures’ Neeraj Agrawal in an interview with Forbes.

It works like this. Vendors upload their inventory data into Wayfair servers, and the
company’s algorithm crunches the numbers and uses that information to determine
shipping time and processes.

“Once an order is placed, software kicks in to notify the supplier. The system then decides
how to ship the item–a Quoizel lamp might mean a small package via UPS or FedEx; an
area rug requires a delivery company Wayfair contracts with.”

In addition to efficient supplier and order management, Wayfair also strives to get to know
its customers. The company encourages each shopper to create an account, and it
observes user behavior, so Wayfair personalizes the shopping experience accordingly.

Zappos

Zappos is an online shoe and apparel retailer based in Las Vegas, NV. It’s currently owned
by Amazon, but it’s still worth taking a look at what makes this ecommerce site successful.
What makes Zappos successful.

Zappos is famous for its customer service. One of the retailer’s core values is to “Deliver
WOW Through Service,” and it lives up to that value time and time again through its
employees.

For instance, while other businesses encourage call center agents to get off the phone as
quickly as possible, Zappos wants its employees to stay on the phone for as long as
necessary. At one point, a Zappos employee even spent 10 hours on the phone with a
customer.

When asked how the company felt about this, Jeffrey Lewis, Zappos Customer Loyalty
Team supervisor said, “Zappos’s first core value is deliver wow through service, and we
feel that allowing our team members the ability to stay on the phone with a customer for as
long as they need is a crucial means of fulfilling this value.”

Ecommerce flops

You’ve seen the success stories; now let’s look at some of the biggest flops in the industry.
Pay attention, and learn from these companies’ mistakes.

Boo.com

Boo.com was a UK-based clothing and cosmetics e-tailer that failed just two years after its
launch. It was just one of the many Internet companies that shut down during the dot-com
bubble in the year 2000.

The NASDAQ Composite index (which was composed of many tech companies) shot up in the
up late 1990s, but saw a sudden drop after the bubble.

For the uninitiated, the dot-com bubble burst occurred from 1997 to 2001. The rapid
growth of Internet usage and adoption at the time fueled investments at incredibly high
valuations and companies that haven’t even turned a profit went public. The hype wasn’t
sustainable, though, and capital soon dried up. As you’ll learn below, this was ultimately
one of the reasons why Boo.com (among others) shut down.

Why Boo.com failed

Bad user experience, a faulty growth plan, and a high burn rate all contributed to the failure
of Boo.com. For starters, the site needed JavaScript and Flash as well as many large files
to run. This resulted in slow load times and ultimately, a bad user experience.

Boo.com also tried to expand way too fast, and its operating expenses were too high. And
because of the crash of tech stocks at the time, the company wasn’t able to raise enough
funds to stay afloat.

eToys.com

As its name suggests, eToys.com was an online toy retailer. It launched in 1997 and then
filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

Why eToys.com failed

Like Boo.com, eToys had tried to expand too fast and also incurred high operating
expenses. Because of the market conditions following the dot-com bubble, eToys failed to
obtain capital that would allow it to continue operations.

But that wasn’t the only factor that led to its failure. According to ABC News, “during its first
holiday shopping season after going public, the site was swamped with orders, as were
other online toy sites. EToys sold more than any of its competitors, but the publicity over
late shipments dogged the company. Analysts say it also made customers wary of holiday
Web shopping during the 2000 holiday season.”

The bad publicity didn’t stop there. At one point, the company sued Etoy, a Swiss art site.
eToys tried to obtain the etoy.com domain saying that it was too similar to eToys.com. The
move was met with widespread backlash, and eToys.com backed off.

Toygaroo

Founded in 2010, Toygaroo was an online toy rental service that was dubbed Netflix for
toys. Toygaroo enabled parents to rent toys for a period, then give them back when their
kids got tired of playing with them.

Toygaroo had a promising start. Its founder, Nikki Pope, appeared on the hit TV show
Shark Tank and secured a $200,000 investment from Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary.
Unfortunately, that investment didn’t pay off. Toygaroo filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and
subsequently shut down.

Why Toygaroo failed

While the exact details of Toygaroo shutdown weren’t clear, it looks like the company had
problems dealing with its rapid growth as well as with executing its business model.

Phil Smy, former Chief Technology Officer for Toygaroo, told Shark Tank Blog, that
Toygaroo might have had trouble scaling the business. “The business was growing,” he
said. “To be honest, that was the problem. Explosive growth is a difficult thing to handle for
small businesses. I thought – and still think – it is a great idea. The business model needs
some changing from what we were doing. I would have grown more organically (i.e.,
slower) and also found investors who were willing to go the distance.”

b).Who all are eligible for E-commerce business?

How to Start Online Business in India

Thinking to start an online business in India? Wondering which type of online business
should you venture in? You can rest all your queries and concerns because here we
provide a wide variety of options to choose from as the scope of e-commerce is huge and
lucrative.

With numerous online business opportunities available in India, we will help you in making
the right choice that best suits your business requirements! Before that, let’s have a look at
the future of E-commerce in India-
Future of E-Commerce in India:

With increasing smartphones and internet penetration, the e-commerce industry is

witnessing tremendous growth.

‘Growing At 19%, Indian Ecommerce Market Hits $33 Bn: Economic Survey 2018’

Looking at the aforesaid statistics, the future of e-commerce in India looks really bright and
promising. Isn’t it? Let us have a look at some interesting facts that will incline you more to
set-up your online business in India:
Ÿ Interestingly the Indian e-commerce industry has been on an upward growth trajectory
and is expected to surpass the US to become the second largest e-commerce market
in the world by 2034.

Ÿ The e-commerce market is expected to reach US$ 64 billion by 2020 and US$ 200
billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion as of 2017.

Ÿ With growing internet penetration, internet users in India are expected to increase from
481 million as on December 2017 to 829 million by 2021. Rising internet penetration
is expected to lead growth in e-commerce.

Ÿ India’s internet economy is expected to double from US$ 125 billion as of April 2017 to
US$ 250 billion by 2020, majorly backed by e-commerce.

After going through the data, you must be lured to kick-start the process of how to start
online business in India, aren’t you? So, let us now know the basic steps involved in the
process of ‘how to start an ecommerce business in India

Advantages of setting up E-commerce Business in India:

Benefits of Doing Business Online

A.) Growing Demand

India is the fastest growing market for the e-commerce sector. Being involved by a young
demographic profile, increasing internet penetration and relatively better economic
performance. India’s E-commerce revenue is expected to jump from US $39 billion in
2017 to US$ 120 billion in 2020, growing at an annual report of 51% percent, the highest in
the world.
B.) Increasing Investment

The recent arise in digital literacy has led to an influx of investment in e-commerce firms,
levelling the market for new players to set up their base, while churning out innovative
patterns to disrupt old functioning.

C.) Attractive Opportunities

India’s start-up ecosystem is growing supported by favourable FDI policies. Government

initiatives like Startup India and Digital India, as well as rising internet penetration driven
by market players like Reliance Jio.

To sustain the stiff competition in the industry, online e-commerce business startups must
surely take a sneak peak into the do’s and don’t of Digital Marketing for E-commerce.

If you wish your e-commerce business to make a mark in the industry, understanding of
market and consumers is a must. For that, take care of the Don’ts of Digital Marketing for
E-commerce:

Don’ts of Digital Marketing for E-commerce:

Ÿ Do not set up your E-commerce business to sell a hoard of products out there in the
market.

Ÿ Do not build a website without a strong Digital Marketing plan.

Ÿ Make sure you do not spam your customers with multiple pop-ups.

Ÿ Don’t decide your marketing strategy based on assumptions.

Do’s of Digital Marketing for E-commerce:

Ÿ Speed Up Your Online eCommerce Website

Ÿ Always use quality product images

Ÿ Build a handy email list

Ÿ Showcase precise product information: features, price, etc.

Ÿ Have more human-oriented offers instead of competition oriented offers.

 3 R’s of Successful E-commerce Business

Enlisted below are the basic steps involved in the process of ‘How to Start an Online
Business in India’.

Steps to Start Online Business in India:

Step 1: Design an E-commerce Business Model

Design E-commerce Business Model

Planning out and designing an e-commerce business model is the base when thinking to
set-up an online business. The business model should be drafted such that the details
pertaining to the business concept, market research, marketing plan, operations plan and
financial planning are all taken cared of, adequately.

Step 2: Choose Product/Service to Sell Online

 Choose product to sell online

To make a choice of the product/service you wish to sell is one of the crucial moves.

The next important step is to identify the platform for selling the product/service. Either sell
on your website or sell on marketplaces. Interestingly, opting for the latter, paves an easy
way to start an ecommerce business as the sellers can join multiple marketplaces to sell
their products.

Some of the popular marketplaces are Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, PayTM, Shopclues,
etc. If you want to sustain the competition in the online business industry, you must know
how to sell on Flipkart, how to sell on Amazon India, How to sell on PayTM and how to sell
on Snapdeal.

Above everything else, you must ensure to choose the most demanded products in India.

Step 3: Do Market Research

Market Research
Wondering how to do Market Research? Worry not, here is the quick checklist:

Ÿ Decide upon the product/service you plan to offer

Ÿ Study the demand of that product/service

Ÿ Identify the possible number of competitors

Ÿ Conduct customer surveys either via phone or personal visits, as is feasible

Ÿ Find out if there is a market need that has not been met.
Formal marketing research simply makes this a familiar process orderly. It provides a
framework to organize market information for the best selling products online in India.

Step 4: Understand the dynamics of the Online Business Model

Online Business Start-up Cost

Moving on further in the process of how to start online business in India, it is important to
list the capital to be invested besides other costs involved in setting-up the e-commerce
business in India.

The cost of starting an online business in India varies basis the type of service being
offered. However, there are a few costs involved that are incurred by online businesses in
India, generally:

Ÿ Market research cost

Ÿ Web-hosting charges

Ÿ Email Marketing Services

Ÿ Website designing cost

Ÿ Human resources

Ÿ Cost of manufacturing product(s) offered

Ÿ Warehousing expenses

Ÿ Logistics charges

Ÿ Traditional Marketing cost

Ÿ Business taxes

Ÿ Accountant and financial institution fees

Ÿ Rent and utilities

So, make a thorough provision of funds to ensure smooth workflow.

Step 5: Establish Your E-commerce Business Legally

Establish E-commerce Business Legally

a.) Decide upon the legal structure of your Online Business

Legal formalities must be duly fulfilled before you start running your e-commerce
business. For this, decide upon the structure of business entity you wish to run: sole
proprietorship, partnership structure, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or a Company
format.
b.) Enquire if you need to get a tax identification number for your
business

Once you’ve finalized upon the business structure, the next important thing is to inquire
about tax return details. If you’ve opted for a corporation or a partnership based structure,
then you must file tax returns and have a tax ID number. While the sole proprietors need
not have a tax ID number instead, they can use the Social Security number allotted.

c.) Get the necessary licenses and permits to run your Online Business

Furthermore, it is equally important to obtain the necessary licenses and permits to run
your online business, which may vary depending upon the city requirement. For instance,
if you are offering to account for financial services, you will need a license in most of the
states.

Step 6: Set-up your E-commerce Website

Set-up your E-commerce Website

a.) Decide whether to do Self-hosting of the website or outsource

Self-hosting a website is beneficial for the simpler form of e-commerce businesses in India
like content writing, parenting tips, motivational thoughts etc. While, if your e-commerce
business is exclusively online, you must consider hiring a professional or outsource the
website hosting task to get a polished website. The latter being a little more costly than the
former option, accordingly define your budget.
b.) Upload the product & services details

Once the website hosting is completing, jump onto publishing the relevant content:

Ÿ Details of fast selling products in India – pictures, and descriptions in detail.

Ÿ Company objective (to differentiate you from your competitor).

Ÿ E-commerce business history and personal bio.

Ÿ Blog or any other additional content you plan to add.

Ÿ An engaging shopping cart and details defined on the payment gateway.

c.) Work upon the SEO of your Online Business website

Ÿ Trading in e-commerce business in India will be incomplete without defining the SEO
strategy. Both on page SEO and off page SEO activities carry importance.

Ÿ Add relevant keywords, that prospects must be searching for. You can do this by
accessing tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, etc.

Online Business Strategy

Everything sorted, said and in place, it is now time to take the actual action! And that is-
spread a word about your newly launched e-commerce business. Elements of a
successful online business strategy are:

Ÿ Eye-catching design

Ÿ Advertising techniques

Ÿ Email Marketing activities

Ÿ Website monetization
Ÿ Analytics & online traffic analysis

Ÿ Online PR

Ÿ Search Engine Optimization – on page and off page

Ÿ Social Media Marketing

Amongst the aforesaid, we’ll highlight upon 2 important activities:

a.) Identify free sources- Social Media

After the website, it is the social profiles of a business that customers check out! So, cash
upon the free sources to make a mark in the minds of your prospective customers:

Ÿ Create a Facebook page.

Ÿ Have an active Pinterest account (especially if dealing with fashion, travel, food-based
business)

Ÿ YouTube is another most effective platform that generates interest via audio-visual
interaction.

Use Social Media for E-commerce Brand

Most of all, being active on the Social channels is what matters the most instead of merely
having a presence. So, understand the fact that it is important to keep your followers
updated with the new product launches, sale or any other important business information
that they must know.

b.) Make money from AdSense

Another assured way to start making money from your online business in India is to start
running ads on the website. Following steps will help you start making money from
AdSense:
Ÿ Join any affiliate network (Commission Junction, ShareASale ClickBank and so forth).

Ÿ Apply for different affiliate member programs in a speciality (e.g. Payday Loans, or
Web Hosting and so on).

Ÿ Promote the affiliate program that offers most extreme payout and with a decent
reputation.

Ÿ Sign-up for Google AdWords (utilize free coupons)

Ÿ Start your promotion campaigns by making advertisements and correct keywords (use
long tail keywords)

Ÿ Your advertisement(s) will show up on real Pay Per Click web search engines like
Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.

Ÿ Potential clients will click on your advertisement and finish a deal.

You will learn how to earn from Google AdWords, as you will earn the commission by
means of an affiliate network that ensures the deal of best-selling products online in India.

Step 8: Test & Launch

Well, now it’s time to do the test run of your website and check for any loopholes. Once
sorted, you are all ready to launch your online

Now, you are all aware of the tit-bits on how to start e-commerce business in India. Do not
miss out on any step to ensure smooth set-up of your online business.

c). Idea generation for niche and general product

What to Sell in 2018: How to Find a Product Niche and Start Selling Online

This is why figuring out what to sell online is a strategy in and of itself.

You’d be surprised how many people set up a store before identifying ecommerce
opportunities. This is setting yourself up for failure.

Choosing the right products to sell will impact every other business decision you make.

Ÿ Forget a pretty theme.

Ÿ Forget a catchy company name.

Ÿ Forget which shipping options you offer.

They’re all important, but the most important thing you must get right from the very
beginning is exactly what you sell and how you price those products.
Finding The Best Products To Sell Online:

Need ideas for what to sell online?

No matter what industry you pick, there are really only two kinds of products to sell:

1. Commoditized products.

2. Niche products.

First, there’s what we call commoditized products. These are the products
everybody needs.

Commoditized products are the most popular products sold online.

Think of anything you buy at Walmart or Amazon that has a big brand behind it — food, golf
clubs, clothes, kids toys, etc.

Now think of the brands — Heinz, Callaway, Levi, Fisher-Price

Niche products are goods or services that serve a specific segment of customers.

In many instances, these are unique and one-of-a-kind, handmade products, making
them some of the most popular items bought online.

Niche products are often made in small batch runs or on demand. Think of a unique
beaded necklace, handmade frozen yogurt or leather iPad cases.
Many brands sell a combination of commoditized products and unique, niche
products.

Take a look at Spearmint Love, for instance.

This site aggregates baby clothes from across the web (commoditized), as well as offers a
few unique products of their own.

Offering only commoditized items, especially if those items are brand name or already
sold on major marketplaces like Amazon or Walmart, will make it extremely difficult to be
successful.

Amazon and Walmart can buy items in large quantities, lowering the price of the product.
Your startup likely won’t be able to compete.
However, if you can offer unique products alongside commoditized ones (think of using
Etsy Wholesale or reaching out to makers on Instagram) and build a great brand
experience along the way, you are setting yourself up for success.

Coming up with unique products can be difficult, though.

THE VALUE IN UNIQUE

The motivation behind launching our business was a combination of wanting to be in

charge of our own destiny and the thrill of making a high quality American-made product
that others would enjoy and value.

In 2004, we saw an opportunity in a updating an existing apparel accessory that had not
really changed in decades.

At that time you could still purchase the same style ribbon belt your father and grandfather
purchased 20 year before: a simple repeated clip art designs finished with low quality
materials.

After a couple years use it was worn out and you needed to purchase a new one.

So, we decided to up the game.

We started by using local artists as designers and constructed our belts using the highest
quality raw materials.

The result has been much higher quality and longer lasting product adorned with unique
whimsical designs.
We started our business because we wanted to create something new, fun and of value.
We’ve achieved that.

Here are six different ways to generate ideas when trying to decide what to sell
online.

HOW MODERN CONSUMERS SHOP ACROSS CHANNELS

Consumers shop on their own time, in their preferred channels and compare across
stores and prices. Here’s everything you need to know from demographic shopping habits
to how folks in the cities versus rural areas differ.

Build your omnichannel strategy for your target customer right now.

1. Identify or create products that solve a problem.

We’ve all heard the saying: necessity is the mother of invention.

Taking this tack when generating ideas for a product or service is a reliable avenue to
kickstart a successful business.

Opportunities may exist in a few forms, including an improved product feature, a market
unrealized by your competitors, or even unique marketing.

Try tuning into your everyday tasks. What things put a hitch in your giddyup?

Those small annoyances can turn out to be a brilliant business idea. Pinpoint a problem
and conveniently solve it.

Your product or service doesn’t necessarily need to be a huge, complicated endeavor.

It can be quite simple, yet exceptionally effective.

As an example, look at the story behind Karen Rzepecki invention of the reCAP Mason
Jars Pour Cap.
“Our story began with salad dressing,” she writes. “After creating yet another oily mess
with the lid and ring, I searched for a pour cap that would fit my Mason Jars and allow me to
shake, pour, and store dressing.”

Rzepecki realized there wasn’t one, so she went ahead and created something all her
own.

As many do, Rzepecki used reusable, eco-friendly mason jars for food storage.

However, when trying to shake, pour and store items, things got sticky.

To alleviate the issue, Rzepecki created a simple lid with a spout that fit both large- and
small-mouth mason jars and took her new product online.

Today, she owns a successful online store and is diversifying her product offering to scale
her ROI.

“Our sales have increased this year, and we are spending a lot more time relooking at our
SEO,” says Rzepecki. “Just recently we switched over to PayPal by Braintree so we could
take advantage of the simplified checkout as well as selling on Pinterest. With that, our
checkout was immediately improved. It’s all part of our work to improve our customer
experience as much as we can.”

TAKING MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS

Nothing relieved the nasal pressure, and she was increasingly more miserable at night.

As luck would have it, her mother mailed her a neti pot.

For weeks the tiny “teapot” sat in her bathroom.

Finally in desperation, she tried it.

After one rinse she got such relief she began telling everyone.
That’s when her entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and she decided she could make a better
ceramic neti pot right here in California.

Within a few years, Baraka Neti Pots were selling in herbal stores, co-ops and natural
grocery stores all over the U.S.!

2. Find products you and other people are passionate about.

Let’s be honest, starting your own business means long hours, likely some rocky terrain
and the occasional, if not frequent, sacrifice.

Being passionate about what you do will not only help you see the forest through the trees
during the hard times, but it will also help you in crafting a brand that speaks to people in a
way that is meaningful and engaging.

Putting Love and Life to Work

Evan Streusand launched his very first business years ago after a trip to South America.

There, he found a group of shoemakers working in a fair wage factory.

He made friends, had drinks, and when he came back to the U.S., he launched Fortress of
Inca To help support the efforts of his new friends.
Today, he sells those shoes to brands like Anthropologie and Free People.

Before Thanksgiving 2016, he decided to open an additional venture – this time with his
wife.

The launch story was oddly similar.

The two traveled to West Texas. They stumbled upon a pair of robes in an outpost, and
over the course of their vacation, found themselves not wanting to take them off.

They had drinks with the locals – in their robes. They went out two-stepping – in their
robes.

They stargazed and watched the Texas sun rise over the butt of the Rocky Mountains –– in
their robes.

When they came back to Austin, with new friends and experiences in their pockets, they
launched Highway Robery.

“Highway Robery really feels like an extension of who we are and our personalities,” says
Evan. “We love coming up with new ideas, and this particular project has got our minds
going in a million different directions. From the fabrics we want to use to the photo shoots
we’re planning down to the text we want to use on our website –– it’s all exciting at the
moment.

Oh, and puns. We love puns. Expect us to use a lot of them, be they good or bad!”

COMBINING NICHE WITH PASSION

I made a 26.2 Runner Girl anklet to commemorate my 1st Marathon.

When other runners saw it, they wanted one.

I realized that you can’t wear your race medal around to show off your accomplishment, so
I create a new line of running themed jewelry and presented the line to a local running race
director for her opinion on whether or not she thought this would be well received.

3. Find products with branding potential.

Creating a brand that resonates is particularly important if you’re thinking of pursuing a
competitive ecommerce industry.

Crafting a recognizable and memorable brand means you’ll need to put in the time to
research and truly understand your target audience.

Your brand should speak to your potential customers in a way that both resonates
and compels them to come back.

In other words, you want to build loyalty based on audience identity.

Some great questions to start with here are:

Ÿ How does your target audience like to be addressed?

Ÿ How will you position your product?

Ÿ How will you design your website to communicate your brand and appeal to your
potential customers through layout, color scheme and calls to action?
When a Brand Becomes a Lifestyle

When it comes to crafting a brand and experience that resonate, Tyler Merritt of Nine Line
Apparel is an expert.

Merritt’s goal when launching Nine Line, a patriotic apparel company, was to cater to his
fellow veterans and those still serving in the armed forces.

He quickly realized, however, that this patriotic flair hit a resonating tone with his fellow
Americans as a whole.

“We like to promote patriotism,” says Tyler. “We believe in certain things that might be
considered controversial. We don’t think they should be. You can not agree with public
policy, but to service members and other individuals, the American flag represents
something that’s sacred. That’s our personal opinion.”

Tyler promotes the Nine Line brand through every single aspect of the business, from the
t-shirts to well designed emails and product packaging.

The patriotic and respectful spirit even flows through his hiring processes. The company
hires 100% veterans.
4. Hop on trends early.
Carving out a place for your brand within an emerging market is ideal.

To do this, it is pivotal that you stay up-to-date on recent, trending products and services
–– and then launch an ecommerce site to capitalize on them before they hit peak
popularity.

Suzanne Moore started an online rubber stamp store right as the creative market was
booming, and her business grew so fast that she was able to sell the store and launch a
new venture helping other online entrepreneurs grow their own businesses.

So Suzy Stamps Aloha Stamp

This business angle can be a slippery slope, given that many trends don’t last.

However, the upside can be tremendous for a small business owner, as you’ll have a leg
up on SEO and establish yourself as a leader within the industry from early on.

Start thinking of products or services that have been trending up in recent years
(e.g., technology, survival gear, vintage, healthy living, flash tattoos).

Launch Before the Craze

Serving as proof that launching in the right market at the right time leads to success, online
store Fugoo was built on the backs of team members who played integral roles at Acer,
eMachines, Harman Kardon, JBL and Toshiba.

The Fugoo team even won “Best of CES” awards in 2015. These awards given out
typically to brands like Apple and Google when they show off new, unseen technology and
products.

“Fugoo team is comprised of award-winning industry leaders who have been integral in
the creation of many key technology industry milestones, including driving the
development and industry adoption of Bluetooth,” reads their website.

In all, the Fugoo team used their skills and industry knowledge to launch the Fugoo
Bluetooth wireless speaker just before the bigger technology brands caught on to the
trend.

5. Find products that fulfill guilty pleasures.

Another solid business avenue to pursue is catering to customers’ passions, or even their
vices.

Shoppers often spend more on their guilty pleasures, developing deep loyalty to brands
that understand their obsessions.

Take Jeni’s Ice Cream for example. Founder Jeni Britton Bauer has been making ice
cream professionally for decades, and founded her own brand in 2002.

Sure, she was ahead of the organic and all-natural trends, using whole ingredients
and dairy from grass-matured cows from the very beginning.

She also added an artistic flair to her flavors, calling on every ice cream lover’s guilty
pleasure – trying the newest, creamiest versions.

Today, customers can order ice cream online and have it shipped to their door, removing
all barriers to getting that creamy goodness to their mouths faster than ever possible
before.
Jeni’s Mission Statement:

“We are absolutely devoted to making better ice creams and bringing people together. It’s
what gets us out of bed in the morning and keeps us up late at night.

We believe that you can grow a business as a community of people, with artful attention to
detail and the customer experience, and get continuously better at the same time. That
REALLY great ice cream served perfectly in a sparkling and beautiful space, with attentive
and in-the-moment service (we believe service is an art) brings people together and helps
them connect. And that sometimes sparks fly. And that there should be more sparks flying,
generally.

We like to make people feel good.”

TURNING STRIFE INTO COMFORT FOOD

In the 2008 housing bust, I was laid off as engineer and soon developed health concerns
that lead to a new direction in my life and an opportunity to take advantage of the growth of
gluten-free foods demand.

Over the years, I’ve used my engineering skills to test and formulate a bread product that
is gluten-free, vegan, tastes really good and has wonderful texture like comfort foods
should.

We use half the ingredients of other popular commercial brands, with twice the taste!

Consumers LOVE our product!

6. Identify and serve niche segments.

Niche segments often spell success for ecommerce.
Take, for example, Berkey Water.

Berkey Water is a water purification system unlike anything else on the market. You could
put radioactive sludge in it and it would pull out drinkable water for you.

It is that good.

And because it is that good, it has niche markets which are increasingly loyal to the brand.
For instance, the prepper market –– full of individuals who are readying for disaster 24/7.
Or, the health and cancer recovery segment –– where individuals are looking for the
absolute cleanest water possible.

Plenty of other shopping segments love the Berkey Water filter, as well, but their success
has long been hinged on markets on the lookout for the absolute best in water purification.
And the love that these segments have for the product is proven in their testimonials:

10 Ideas For Niche Products To Sell Online:

1. Unique beaded necklaces.

2. Handmade frozen yogurt.

3. Leather iPad cases.

4. Bluetooth wireless speakers.

5. Baby clothes.

6. Mason jar pour caps.

7. Fidget spinners.

8. Organic beard oil.

9. Bow ties.

10. Wood apparel.

NICHE CRAFTING OVER GENERATIONS

The desire to honor my father and other farmers who provide seasonal organic food was
the main motivation behind starting CORKY’S NUTS.

Growing up on our walnut farm, I witnessed the care and passion my father put into
growing his walnuts.

It seemed only natural for me to create a company which allows people to experience what
fresh organic walnuts taste like just after harvest, rather than walnuts that sit on store
shelves for unknown periods of time.

– Nicole Facciuto. Founder, CORKY’S NUTS

7. Spot business opportunities absolutely everywhere.

If the above suggestions aren’t resonating, here are a few ways to find great business
ideas in your everyday life.

Ÿ Start taking people seriously when they give you compliments. What is it that people tell
you you’re great at? Perhaps family and friends can’t get get enough of your online
reviews. This is exactly how Spearmint Love started. Founder Shari Lott was a once-
time baby clothes blogger and reviewer. Soon, she realized she was gaining more
 praise than many of the brands she promoted. So, she decided to start calling in
wholesale orders and selling the goods herself. Today, Spearmint Love is a wildly
successful brand, and Sheri is a well-known trend-spotter in the industry.

Ÿ Start snooping around websites like eBay, Amazon and Etsy. You’ll be amazed at the
simple things being sold online, including vintage items found at a thrift store, party
lights, dog toys, tablecloths, decorative pillows and wedding decor. Checkout a site like
Golfetail which uses eBay as an additional sales channel to significantly increase
overall brand revenue.

Ÿ Think about a new spin for old items. Even just giving something a new paint job can
turn a $5 item into a $50 gem. Check out the angle Bread & Jam took on standard items
you’d likely find anywhere, turning them into treasured pieces.

Ÿ Consider impulse buys or items people buy regularly. This could include items like
incense, candles, novelties and DVDs. NatoMounts, for instance, sells phone holders
for cars –– which about 80% of their audience buys from their phone (but hopefully not
in the car!).

START WHERE YOU’RE AT AND BUILD FROM THERE

I didn’t wake up thinking, “I’m going to sell medical supplies for a living!”

I started a Youtube vlog as a journal to hold myself accountable while trying yet another
diet –– not thinking anyone one would be interested in my vlog and not realizing people
were actually following me!

After losing 65 pounds in less than 6 months, people asked me for help. Long story short,
MMS was born out of helping people be able to easily and inexpensively do the HCG diet.
It is all about helping people.

– April Rowden, Owner, Missouri Medical Supplies

Continue on to learn how to evaluate your list of business ideas to better understand what
is realistic, feasible and market-ready.
FAQs About Selling Online:

How do you sell products online?

If you are interested in selling products online, we suggest the following steps to increase
your chances of success.

It is rare that you will find any easy product to sell.

It takes work both pre and post-launch to successfully sell products online.

1. Do market research.

2. Finalize products to sell.

3. Choose which platforms to sell on such as your own online store, Amazon, eBay,
Facebook and other sites customers buy from.

4. Market to your potential customers to drive traffic to product listings.

Where can I sell my products?

For many B2C ecommerce merchants, branded stores, along with Amazon and eBay
account for over 90% of all sales.

Below are several places to sell your products online:

Ÿ Your own branded store.

Ÿ Amazon.

Ÿ eBay.

Ÿ Google Shopping.

Ÿ Facebook.

Ÿ Instagram.

Ÿ Pinterest.

Ÿ Etsy.

Ÿ Craigslist.

Ÿ Email.

Ÿ Affiliate sites.
Ÿ Ecommerce landing page

How do you start selling on Amazon?

1. Decide what you want to sell.

2. Choose either the Professional plan (sell an unlimited number of products at $39.99
per month or Individuals plan (pay $0.99 per item sold).

3. Register and start listing products.

4. Improve product visibility on Amazon.

5. Drive traffic to your products.

6. After you list your products, customers will be able to purchase them on Amazon.com.
However, you need to be strategic about helping customers find your products.

7. We suggest improving visibility of your products with tactics such as an Amazon SEO
strategy.

d). E-com website drafting

How to Build an eCommerce Website, Step by Step

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, online businesses are growing
much faster than traditional brick and mortar stores.

It makes sense.

Local retail shops, DIY craft makers, and even bloggers are starting to sell their
merchandise and services online.

What separates the successes from the failures? Among other things, a strategy and an
excellent website can greatly contribute to the overall success for business owners.
Without these, you may be setting your eCommerce site up for failure by building an
eCommerce website that is less than effective. If you want to learn how to create an
online store that’s successful, our eCommerce website guide is the perfect resource for
you. Find out the best way to create an eCommerce website by checking out this article
below.

How to Build an eCommerce Website, Step by Step

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, online businesses are growing
much faster than traditional brick and mortar stores.

It makes sense.
Local retail shops, DIY craft makers, and even bloggers are starting to sell their
merchandise and services online.

What separates the successes from the failures? Among other things, a strategy and an
excellent website can greatly contribute to the overall success for business owners.
Without these, you may be setting your eCommerce site up for failure by building an
eCommerce website that is less than effective. If you want to learn how to create an
online store that’s successful, our eCommerce website guide is the perfect resource for
you. Find out the best way to create an eCommerce website by checking out this article
below.

Your Guide to Making a Successful E-Commerce Website

First things first, you’ll need a product to sell to figure before you can start with your e-
Commerce website building. Once you have your product, you can start creating your
online store front and designing your eCommerce website! Click below on any of these
subcategories to hop directly to the eCommerce tutorial section you need help with, or
simply follow along step-by-step below:

1. Create your product.

2. Determine pricing for your online store.

3. Figure out shipping options.

4. Choose your eCommerce platform.

5. Pick a domain name and brand.

6. Build your eCommerce website.

7. Set up your merchant account.

8. Add a SSL certificate to your website.

9. Start selling online!

1. Decide on your product.

If you’ve been dreaming of setting up an online storefront for a while, then you may well
already have a product in mind that you’d like to sell. Whether it’s something you make,
like handcrafted furniture or handmade soap, or something you’ve found a source for at
wholesale prices so you can sell it off at a profit, every eCommerce store has to start with a
product.

Do some research to make sure your product is viable. Is there already a market out
there for your product?
If there is already an established market, consider whether your product is unique enough
to break in. Will you be able to compete on pricing?

Develop a MVP and get started.

2. Set your pricing.

Pricing can be one of the hardest aspects to get right when running a new business.

If you price too low, you’ll lose money or just barely break even – which won’t make the
time and effort you put into your online store worth it. If you price too high, you won’t make
enough sales and still risk losing money on the whole endeavor.

To figure out what pricing that makes the sense you have to first figure out your
business’ finances. This includes:

Ÿ the cost of materials to make your product

Ÿ web hosting for your eCommerce site

Ÿ taxes

Ÿ shipping

Ÿ the percentage credit cards or Paypal will skim off the top

Ÿ additional marketing and advertising costs

Then figure out how much you want to add on top to pay yourself (and make a profit!).

Pricing pro tip: Before you set your final pricing, research what your competition is
charging. You may get to bump your prices up a bit (oh happy day!), or you may have to
lower them in order to stay competitive.

3. Research shipping costs and options.

If you’re selling a physical product, how will you deliver it to customers?

Your impulse may be to pass on the full cost of shipping to the client, and many online
stores do take this route. However, it’s important to note that shipping costs can have a
strong psychological impact on consumers, with 44% saying they’ve abandoned an online
purchase due to high shipping and handling costs.

Ÿ Instead, consider offering one of these alternative shipping methods:

Ÿ Offer free shipping, no questions asked

Ÿ Offer free shipping and up your product pricing slightly to cover the cost
Ÿ Offer free shipping for orders of a certain size

Ÿ Offer a flat shipping fee

4. Choose your eCommerce web hosting.

When it comes to eCommerce, you have two options: use a marketplace that already
exists like Etsy or Amazon, or building an eCommerce website and brand that’s all your
own.

If you want a website and brand that’s all your own, many website hosting platforms
(including HostGator) make it easy to find compatible eCommerce website hosting
options that you can work with in the same space you use to work on your website. This
way you can direct people to your online store.com. You look like a real, live store!

An eCommerce software like Magento will make it easy for you to list your products, set
your price, and add a shopping cart to the website. They take care of ensuring the process
is intuitive for both you and your customers, so you can just focus on selling.

5. Pick a domain name and brand.

This is the fun part for business owners! Just think, what will customers be telling their
friends when they talked about that awesome new product they just bought from _____?
Fill in the blank with your brand.

Brainstorm words and phrases that say something about the products you’ll be selling,
and words and phrases that mean something to you. And be sure to stay away from
names that have already been copyrighted by other businesses. Follow these top tips for
choosing a domain name for your eCommerce website.

6. Build your eCommerce website.

Many hosting platforms can make at least part of this step easier by providing or a
merchant site builder you can work from rather than having to build a website from
scratch.

At this stage, you’ll also need to work on writing web copy that describes your wares and
helps persuade website visitors to buy.

Once you set up your site, you have to do more than just add your products. In addition to
product pages, your eCommerce website development and planning should also include
the following pages:
Ÿ A home page where you feature weekly deals and sale items

Ÿ An about page with a brief description of what you do

Ÿ A contact or customer service page so customers can easily reach you

Ÿ A blog where you post updates, industry news, and helpful tidbits
Aside from these pages, you will also have to consider your website’s theme, eCommerce
plugin options, Google Analytics, and all other practical aspects that will help create your
online platform.

7. Set up a merchant account.

Online stores need a way to receive money – specifically, a way to receive credit card
payments. A merchant account does the very important job of ensuring you can get paid.

You have options that range from big, familiar brand names like Chase and PayPal, to
companies more focused on small businesses like BluePay and PaySimple. You will have
to pay a small fee to the company in order to get your money, but the ability to accept the
money your customers send will make the fees well worth it.

8. Get your SSL certificate.

When you create your site, be sure to install a SSL certificate. These certificates provide
the green lock you see next to URLs when you’re shopping online, and they keep your
customers’ private information safe.

If customers are going to hand you their private payment information (or more accurately,
enter it into a form on your website), you need to make sure the sensitive details will stay
safe. An SSL certificate for your website encrypts all the sensitive information customers
provide so that hackers won’t be able to grab that credit card information as it’s sent over
the web.

9. Start selling!

Now it’s time to start making money.

Once you launch your online store, you should start thinking about promotion. Content
marketing, social media, and paid promotion are all areas worth looking into to start
getting people to your website. Check out our post on cheap, easy ways to start marketing
your business.

If you’re not quite ready to make that level of investment in your online store, start with
old-fashioned word of mouth. Talk to your friends about it, mention it to professional
acquaintances, and bring it up at any events around town likely to attract the kind of
people interested in what you’re selling.

e). E-com plugins and themes set up

Setting Up E-commerce Using WooCommerce

Description
In this lesson you will learn the basics of using the WooCommerce plugin for WordPress.
By the end of this lesson, you will understand installation, general store settings, adding
and editing products, order management, sales reporting, and the system status report.

Objectives
After completing this lesson, participants will be able to:

Ÿ Identify multiple ways in which WooCommerce satisfies the needs of an eCommerce

retailer.

Ÿ Install the WooCommerce plugin and complete the initial setup wizard.

Ÿ Add and modify products, review orders, and change the store settings.

Target Audience

Who is this lesson intended for? What interests/skills would they bring? Choose all that
apply.

Ÿ Users

Ÿ Designers

Ÿ Developers

Ÿ Speakers

Ÿ All

Ÿ Experience Level

How much experience would a participant need to get the most from this
lesson?

Ÿ Beginner
Ÿ Intermediate
Ÿ Advanced
Ÿ Any

Type of Instruction
Which strategies will be used for this lesson plan? Choose all that apply.

Ÿ Demonstration

Ÿ Discussion

Ÿ Exercises

Ÿ Feedback

Ÿ Lecture (Presentation)

Ÿ Show & Tell

Ÿ Tutorial
Time Estimate (Duration)

How long will it take to teach this lesson (in minutes)?

60 minutes

Prerequisite Skills
Participants will get the most from this lesson if they have familiarity with:

Ÿ Basic knowledge of installing and activating WordPress plugins

Ÿ Basic knowledge of installing and activating WordPress themes

Ÿ Managing Media

Ÿ Categories vs Tags

Readiness Questions

Ÿ Are you familiar with the concept of a plugin in WordPress?

Ÿ Do you have a self-hosted WordPress website?

Ÿ Do you have a user role that allows you to install plugins and themes?
Materials Needed

Ÿ WooCommerce plugin, version 3.4.4

Ÿ Installation of WordPress, version 4.7 or higher
Ÿ Sample pictures to represent the products: Phewa lake, Karelian forest (any other may
be used)

Notes for the Instructor

Ÿ The recommended way to approach the scenarios would be to demonstrate and

explain the process first, and then ask students to repeat the actions using their own
devices, while you’re available for questions and troubleshooting if something doesn’t
work out.

Ÿ It is easiest for students to work on a locally installed copy of WordPress. Set some time
aside before class to assist students with installing WordPress locally if they need it or, if
possible, send them instructions before the class so they come prepared. For more
information on how to install WordPress locally, please visit our Teacher Resources
page.

Ÿ The preferred answer to the screening questions is “yes.” Participants who reply “no” to
question 1 might require a bit of explanation, and if they answer “no” to questions 2 & 3
they may be grouped with other students to work in pairs on the installation.

Ÿ You may print out the Example Lesson part to use it as handouts or send it out as a PDF
file to keep it green and preserve the links used throughout the document.

Ÿ This lesson is meant to serve as an introduction to using WooCommerce and does not
aspire to fully cover its functionality. At the end of the lesson feel free to refer your
students to the WooCommerce documentation to help them fine-tune their shops. It will
be helpful to demonstrate what the documentation looks like and how to use it.

Have You Thought About...?

Ÿ What if the participant doesn't have the correct version of WordPress and plugin?

Ÿ What if the participant's user role doesn't allow to install plugin and theme?

Ÿ What if the participant's site is hosted on WordPress.com and doesn't have the access
to install plugin and theme?

Lesson Overview

Ÿ Introduction to WooCommerce and its usage

Ÿ Installing WooCommerce plugin and setting up the store

Adding and managing products

Ÿ Understanding WooCommerce menu items

Ÿ Practice exercises to have participants install the plugin and setup their own
ecommerce store

Exercises

Add new product

Practice to add a new product. Participants can use the Karelian forest picture attached in
this lesson or other images of the liking.

Ÿ Go to Products > Add New

Ÿ Set the attributes of the product to have 3 different sizes: 27x39", 18x11" and 36x54'’

Ÿ Set different prices for each of the sizes of the posters

Change currency

Practice to change the currency to be accepted by the store.

Ÿ Go to WooCommerce > Settings.

Ÿ At the General > Currency options, change the currency to Malaysian Ringgit (RM).
Add new shipping method

Practice to add a new shipping method for local pickup.

Ÿ Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping zones and click Edit

Ÿ Add shipping method for Local pickup

Ÿ Add another shipping method if desired

Assessment

Which of the following is NOT a part of WooCommerce core functionality?

1. SEO

2. Reports on sales volume

3. Coupons management
4. Orders management

Answer: 1. SEO

Which of the following describes a WooCommerce variable product?

1. A set of variations on a product, with a random option chosen

2. A product listed and described at a website but sold from a third-party website

3. A product that doesn’t require shipping

4. A set of variations on a product, with control over prices, stock, image, etc.

Answer: 4. A set of variations on a product, with control over prices, stock, image,
etc

Why would you choose to use attributes instead of product categories to categorize items?
(select as many options as apply)

1. To allow users to search for several parameters simultaneously.

2. To ensure better SEO

3. To define some extra pieces of technical information about the product like color, size,
weight, etc

4. To simplify adding new products

5. To be able to create coupons to provide discounts to the customers based on their

geographical location

Answer: 1. To allow users to search for several parameters simultaneously. & 3. To

define some extra pieces of technical information about the product like color, size,
weight, etc

Additional Resources

Ÿ WooCommerce blog is a nice resource to follow for advice

Ÿ WooCommerce also offers extensive documentation - among the many topics you may
want to pay attention to the Getting started section

Example Lesson
Introduction: What is WooCommerce for?

WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin designed for small to large-sized online

merchants using WordPress. Some of its important benefits are:
Ÿ The plugin itself is free.

Ÿ It has very flexible settings including a wide range of product options to sell and over 300
free and paid extensions to choose from.

Ÿ The customer data is independent of any third party software platform.

Ÿ WooCommerce is 100% open source (which allows you to benefit from an active and
growing community of contributors).

During the flow of the lesson, we will be working for an imaginary company called YaWP!
which sells large sized photo prints that you might want to use to decorate your home. You
will install the WooCommerce plugin, set up the newly created e-shop to operate, add
some products to the store, and review the menu options and reports. You will also learn
about resources you can study to continue refining your e-shop to suit your needs.

Setting up the shop

Preparation

First, you need to have WordPress (version 4.7 and above) installed. The second step will
be to select a theme for the shop look & feel. Generally, it’s best if the theme is built and
optimized for WooCommerce (here is a guide you can use).

In this lesson, you'll use the Storefront theme, which is from WooThemes, the creators of
WooCommerce, and is designed to build e-commerce websites. Install and activate the
theme before you proceed.

Although Storefront is the theme WooThemes recommends for use with WooCommerce
(it's their theme, after all!), there are plenty of other themes, both free and commercial, that
are designed to integrate well with WooCommerce. If you don't use a theme designed for
WooCommerce--and any will do--you'll probably have to add code and other modifications
to make your store work.

WooCommerce Installation

For the training purposes it’s okay to be using a local installation of WordPress, but for a
real-life scenario you need to be running WordPress on a self-hosted site and review
server requirements before installation. Otherwise, you may encounter issues when using
WooCommerce.

1. You will now perform an automatic install of WooCommerce plugin. Log into your
WordPress Dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New. In the search field, type
“WooCommerce” and click Search Plugins.
Install the newly found plugin by clicking Install Now and activate a plugin when
prompted by clicking Activate.

2. Once the plugin is activated you'll see the WooCommerce setup screen.

Onboarding Wizard

An onboarding wizard will guide you through the steps needed to perform the initial
configuration of WooCommerce.

1. Store Setup: This screen requests you to enter your store's location, currency that your
store is accepting and the types of products you plan to sell in your store.
2. Payment: Here you can set the payment methods used by your shop.
There are two online payment options available which are Stripe and PayPal. Both
payment options require you to have an account registered in order to accept payments
using their services. To simplify the configuration here, you won't configure the online
payment options so unselect Stripe and PayPal options.

Expand the Offline Payments section, select the Cash on Delivery option and click
Continue.

3. Shipping: On this screen you're able to set your shipping options as well as the weight
and dimension units used to ship your products.

For this demo, we're going to use Flat Rate as our shipping method at $5. Turn off the
option of Location not covered by your other zones. Leave the Weight unit and Dimension
unit configuration as default. Click Continue to proceed.
4. Recommended: The next screen shows you the recommended features to be installed
for your WooCommerce store. For this demo, we'll select only the Storefront Theme
option. Click Continue to proceed.

5. Your store is now setup and ready to add your first product! Click Create a product
button to add a product to your store.

Adding a new product

Shop Organization: Categories, product tags, and attributes

Recall that your imaginary client YaWP! is selling large posters. Presumably, YaWP!
customers are interested in the thematics and the size of the picture. You will use Product
Categories to indicate the thematic, and you also have to manage the sizes available for
sale.

Product categories and tags are very similar to regular post categories and tags. So, for
sizes you could try to use product categories as well, but there are two reasons why that is
not the most convenient option:

Ÿ The larger the print becomes, the more expensive it is, so it would be best to be able to
set different prices for different sizes, while still having the picture and all its sizes listed
as one item. This will make it easier for your customers to find and order the product.

Ÿ A user might want to include both size and thematics as their search parameters
simultaneously.

Variable products are a product type in WooCommerce that lets you offer a set of
variations on a product, with control over prices, stock, image, and more for each
variation.

Attributes are pieces of data that can add more technical information to a product and help
users refine your catalog while browsing/searching. Additionally, attributes are a key
component of authoring variable products.

In the WooCommerce > Products > Attributes section, add an attribute before you create
different variations of the picture. Type in “size” for the attribute name, and click Add
Attribute.

Managing a new variable product

1. Go to: Products > Add New. Generally, adding a product feels quite similar to writing a
regular post in WordPress, so the view of the form should be familiar.
You'll fill in the basic data first: name of the product, description, and product categories as
shown in the image above.

2. Add a product image using the Product Image form (under product tags). You may use
a sample picture provided to “sell” it or use some other picture of your liking. This is how
an added image appears once you add it:
3. Now, make the product variable. Select Variable product option in the Product Data
dropdown list.

Here is a bit more detail about the some of the other product options:

Ÿ A Simple product type describes the physical offline product which requires shipping. A
book or a laptop which do not require variation would be simple products.
Ÿ A Virtual product is a product that doesn’t require shipping, for example online tarot
reading.
Ÿ A Downloadable product is similar to virtual, however, the customer is given a file to
download - could be an indie video game.

At the moment virtual and downloadable products are not present in our list as we have no
digital payment method configured.

4. Click through the first tabs of Product data meta box: Inventory, Shipping, and Linked
products. This is where you can add some important data for your products. At the
moment, you will skip through them and go straight to setting the product attributes and
variations. Open the Attributes section.

5. Select "size" from the select box, and click Add.

By choosing ‘Custom product attribute’ from the select box you can apply custom product-
level which will not be available in layered navigation or other products.

6. Once you have chosen an attribute and added it, apply the terms attached to that
attribute to the product. The attribute can be hidden on the frontend of your site by
leaving the Visible on the product page checkbox unchecked.

Check both of the checkboxes and click Add new to add the values to the poster's
available sizes.

7. Type in 27x39" and click OK. Repeat adding with 18x11" size.
8. Save the entered attributes data by clicking Save attributes.

9. Switch to the Variations tab. Make sure Create variations from all attributes option is
selected and click Go. Then click OK on the confirmation message pop-up.

10. Now the two variations for your product are created, it's time to set up how they should
be distinguished on your product page.
Click each of the variation panels for each combination and enter price - 15$ for the larger
poster and 10$ for the smaller one.

11. Click Save changes when you are finished.

12. Try to save the product now. Click Publish to publish the product.

Shop Overview
At this point, the shop is fully operational. Take a look on how it looks by going to the Shop
page of your site.
The look is quite not polished, but this could be a foundation of a great WordPress-based
shop. Note you can also create custom menus and place it in your theme’s menu areas or
in a widgetized area with the menus widget if you like.

WooCommerce menu items

Dashboard

The WordPress customizable dashboard is normally the first thing you see when you log in
to the site. After being activated, WooCommerce adds two dashboard widgets you can
use for an overview of your store:

Ÿ The WooCommerce recent reviews widget displays your store’s most recent reviews.

Ÿ The WooCommerce Status widget gives you a quick overview of your store, alerting
you if you have a processing order or an order on-hold, or a product is running low on
stock. It also displays sales statistics.
WooCommerce Menu

Take a look at the other menu sections.

1. Use the Orders section to view and manage orders. The orders placed by the
customers at your shop will be displayed here.

2. The Coupons section allows giving discounts by creating coupons that can be applied
by customers on the checkout page.
3. In the Reports section, you can view data on the store activity and export it as a .csv file.

4. The Settings section contains all the settings that you briefly explored when setting up
the shop: general store settings, products settings, shipping, payments and more.
5. Status provides an overall snapshot of your setup, as well as potential conflicts, and is
mostly used for troubleshooting on your own or when contacting support.
6. The Extensions section is where you can browse for additional plugins and extensions
to extend the functionality and features of your store.

Products Menu

This top-level menu has sections relating to managing products. This lesson used the
Products and Attributes sections earlier. There are additional sections to modify, add, and
delete product Categories and Tags.

Click on the star in the product listing to make the product "featured".

f). Product Feeding

How Product Feeds Work for e-Commerce
A data feed is a file, from which another system gets information. Feeds are widely used in
the e-Commerce, and product feeds are those that vendors use most often. They are
structured files that contain a list of products and attributes of those products. This data is
organised so that another system can retrieve and display it in a certain way. In other
words, the product feed works like a data transmitted from your software that is formatted
in the way that an endpoint system needs. The most commonly used file formats are XML,
CSV, and TXT.

In the e-Commerce industry, feeds are typically used for syncing product specifications
with merchant center and for paid online product listings to services like Google Shopping,
Facebook Product Ads, Amazon Product Ads. Aside from paid advertising, merchants can
use data feeds to export product information to marketplaces and various sale sites,
facilitate upkeep their sites, boost the site’s performance, and enrich B2B e-Commerce
software functionality.

For instance, wholesalers can use a product feed to send updated products lists to
retailers. That considerably streamlines the process of adding the products to the retailers’
databases, hence new products will come to market much faster.

Product feeds also expedite the process of recognising latest changes by 3d-party site-
search software. This sustains accuracy of the site’s search function and keeps it up-to-
date.

Product Feeds for e-Commerce Sites

Another way to exploit product feeds is to add and maintain product content on your site
with their help. There are special data feed management services for this, which can
provide images and rich content of the products. They especially come in handy for those
who are in a process of building their site.

How to Create Your Own Feed

There are a few basic ways to make a data feed:

Manually. This approach is quite effortful. The process typically implies retrieving data
from a software system, although it can also sometimes include typing information for your
feed, which can be applicable only if the product list is not very big, otherwise errors are
practically inevitable.

Third-party solutions. There is a variety of software services that make and manage your
feeds for merchants. They automate data feed management and facilitate data formatting
for product listing ads, shopping engines, and other uses. Some DFM systems make it
possible for manufacturers to share various product information with distributors and
retailers. By the way, some e-Commerce platforms offer pre-built data feed tools.

Custom integration. Most of DFM vendors charge monthly fees. So merchants may want
to have an integration built to their e-Commerce software, which will automate data feed
creation.

Where You Can Use Product Feeds

Shopping ads. Some ads services require product feeds.

Dynamic remarketing ads. Such ads often involve dynamic product images and
specifications with product feeds.

Distributors and retailers. Resellers can update their product lists in no time if you provide
them with new product data and an easy way to load the data onto their sites. Thus they will
be able to quickly start selling new products and sell more.

Marketplaces. Data feeds help to easily keep product info up-to-date on marketplaces.
E-Commerce tools. Many 3d-party tools for e-Commerce require data feeds. Example
uses are:

Ÿ Shopping cart abandonment services

Ÿ Site-search systems

Ÿ Rating-and-review systems

Ÿ Post-purchase campaign services

g). Google and Facebook Merchant account set up

Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center is where your feed lives. It’s also where you can easily set tax and
shipping rules, both of which are required before running Google Shopping Ads. A feed is
simply data about your products presented in a format that Google can read and
understand. There are two main ways to build a feed:
1. Manually–by entering your product information into a spreadsheet according to
Google’s specifications.

2. By using an extension, plugin, app, or service that pulls data from your site and formats
it in a way Google likes.

We’ll discuss the pros and cons later, for now, here’s how to create your Merchant Center
account. To get started visit www.google.com/merchants and click sign up. Here are a few
tips in setting up shop.

Have access to your domain registrar - You’ll need to verify that you own your site and then
claim it for use in Merchant Center. The easiest way to do this is by logging into your
domain registrar and giving Google access. This can all be done directly from Merchant
Center.

Know your tax and shipping settings - Under General Settings in Merchant Center you’ll
need to set up both tax and shipping rules. For sales tax you can enter your rates directly
or pick the states you charge sales tax in and allow Google to determine the rate. For
shipping you can choose between a flat rate (which could include free shipping), carrier-
calculated based on the carriers you use, or based on a rate table or rules.
Link Merchant Center to AdWords - Under “Settings” and “AdWords” click to link to your
AdWords Account. You’ll need a 10 digit AdWords ID in order to link the two. Also, you’ll
need to be logged in with an email address that has admin access to both Merchant
Center and AdWords.

Google AdWords

This guide is focused on Google Shopping, so I won’t go into detail in setting up an

AdWords account. There is a great guide for setting up an AdWords account here. Here
are just a few tips though in getting the basic settings in place for running Google
Shopping Campaigns.

Create a new campaign. Click the “Campaigns” tab then click the red + Campaign button
and select “Shopping”
Name Your Campaign, Choose your Country, Choose Your Priority. Pretty
straightforward, but naming is important if you plan to have multiple campaigns, which
many merchants will (maybe for seasonal reasons or for testing purposes). You have the
options of setting your campaign to low, medium, or high priority. Changing the priority is
only important if you have multiple campaigns. The default priority is low, which is fine for
your first campaign.

If you run multiple campaigns and if you have the same product advertised in multiple
campaigns Google will decide which campaign (and it’s corresponding bid) will show up in
search results. Google will show products based on campaign priority first and then bid
second. So if the same product is in multiple campaigns with the same priority level, then
the highest bid will win the impression. If the same product is in multiple campaigns with
different bids and different priorities, Google will go with the higher priority campaign first.

Networks & Locations. By default you will be opted into Google Search and Search
Partners. Search Partners include sites like AOL and other Google properties like
YouTube and Google Maps. Usually we recommend keeping search partners on to begin
with as the results are often decent and CPC are usually lower than in the Google Search
Network. However, you will want to come back and run some search network reports on
this to be sure. Also, don’t skip the location portion or your ads will show up worldwide.
Default Bid, Budget & Delivery. We’ll talk more about advanced bidding shortly, but you will
need a default bid. We usually recommend in the $.10 to $.85 range depending on the
price and competitiveness of what you are selling. Don’t worry too much, this this is just
your default bid. This will only apply to products that you don’t specify a bid for later.
Usually you’ll want to start out with a fairly conservative bid and watch performance
closely.

For delivery, we recommend using “accelerated” rather than the default “standard.”
Accelerated delivery will get your products showing up faster and for all the queries that
Google finds relevant for you. We’ve found that we can get data faster and find out sooner
when campaigns need more budget with this setting.

Linking Analytics & Setting up Conversion Tracking. There are two ways to do this. You can
generate an AdWords Tracking code and drop that on your order confirmation page. Or
you can pull in conversions from Google Analytics. Either way you will want to link Google
Analytics to your AdWords account so you get Analytics data inside of AdWords and
AdWords data inside of Analytics. To link your AdWords and Analytics accounts together
click on the wheel in the upper right by your email address and account ID.
Then click on Linked accounts and Google Analytics and follow the steps. Then click on
Merchant Center and follow the steps. You will need to have the same email address with
admin access to AdWords, Google Analytics, and Google Merchant Center.

To create conversion tracking in AdWords click on Conversions under the Tools Tab.

Then click the red +Conversions button and then choose Website as the source and follow
the steps.
Google Analytics

We’ll get into the nitty gritty of Google Analytics reports in the Reporting & Optimization
section (Ch.7). For now, I want to point out some of the reasons why you should connect
Google Analytics with your AdWords account.

Ÿ More options for conversion tracking - We could get into a lengthy discussion on
attribution models or how to determine what traffic source to credit for conversions, but
let’s keep things simple. The important thing to note here is that in Analytics you can
slice and dice your conversion data in lots of different ways. Often someone will visit
your site more than once before buying.

In Analytics you can see where your ad clicks occur along the path to conversion. Did
someone click on your ad first, and then come back later from another source to
purchase (first click). Or, did they click on your ad right before purchasing (last click).
Google Analytics defaults to showing last-click attribution, or giving all of the
conversion credit to the last click, but you can also see first-click and assisted
conversions. Looking at the total impact on conversions is important as you evaluate
Google Shopping as a channel.

Ÿ Customer engagement data - While conversions are the most important metric to show
the success of your campaigns, it’s not the only data point you should consider.
Looking at engagement metrics like time on site, average pages per session, and
bounce rate can also shed light on overall performance. These additional metrics
provide helpful insights into your onsite experience. Taken along with conversion data,
engagement data provides a well-rounded picture of the vital signs of your site and
campaigns. More on reporting later. First, let’s master your feeds.

Ÿ Remarketing lists - We’ll discuss remarketing lists and how they apply to Google
Shopping in our RLSA section, but Google Analytics integration gives you ample
opportunities to create new remarketing lists based on how users interact with your
site. You can create lists based on pages someone visits (collection page, product
page, etc.), goals they’ve completed on the site (like filling out a form or watching a
video), or even time they’ve spent on your site. As we’ll discuss later, having
segmented lists rather than just an “all visitors” list, gives you more options for smart
targeting later.

How to Get Started in the Facebook Business Manager

1) Creating Your Business Manager Account

Head on over to https://business.facebook.com/ in order to set up your first business

account.

Once there, you should see a big blue button that appropriately says “Create Account.”
Next, it’ll have you log in to Facebook just like usual:
Then, create your Facebook Business Manager account by typing in your business name.
This name will be visible to everyone and can’t contain any special characters (sorry,
startup hipsters).

Next, create your business profile by typing in your name and email address.
Pretty smooth sailing so far, right?!

Once you signup, you are launched directly into the Business Manager app that will look
something like this:

Here is your dashboard, where you can access everything about your business.

The first step they will prompt is to create or ‘claim’ your Facebook business page and ad
accounts.

Look in the upper right-hand corner for a button that says “Business Settings.”

If you already have a Facebook business page or ad account setup you should see it in the
middle of the screen now. Otherwise, look for the “Setup Guide” text link in the upper right-
hand side.
Next, they’ll send you to a starting point to manage everything related to your Business
Manager.

Here you can get started with ad accounts, pages, and people. They’ve simplified these
options a lot, so it should be self-explanatory to see what you should be doing next (i.e.
“Create Page” for first-time visitors, or “Claim Page” if you already have one up, etc.).

Simply point, click, and follow the on-screen instructions.

2) Creating an Ad Account

Now let’s create a new ad account inside the Business Manager.

The Ad Account options will be in the upper row under your Business Manager Settings.
Simply look over to the right-hand side for the button that says “Create Ad Account.”
Next, it will ask you to fill in some basic information like your ad account name, what
business manager profile you want to connect it to, the timezone of your business, and the
currency you use:

Once you fill out your business information, select the people you want to add to this new
ad account:
Here you can also select default roles for each individual. So that means you might want to
give different access levels to one person who’s an outside vendor vs. your in-house
marketing manager.

Don’t worry, you can always edit this later. We’ll also show you how to add more people
(employees, admins, advertisers, and more) in the next few sections.

Once you select the initial users to add, hit “Save Changes” and your account is created
like so:

The next step is to setup a new method of payment before you can start advertising.

You should see links in the middle of the page to click and edit payment method details. Or
you can look over to the upper right-hand corner to return to some of the information we
just setup (like people).
Now let’s add a new payment method. Look for the text link “View Payment Methods” as
shown in the picture above. It will bring you to a blank page that confirms there are no
payment methods currently available.

So click on the “Add Payment Method” button to begin:

Once you enter the appropriate details, your Facebook ad account will be almost ready to
start advertising.

The only thing holding you back now is a Facebook Business Page (if you don’t have it
already). So let’s set one up.

3) Creating a Facebook Business Page

Head back to the Setup Guide section of the Business Manager and look for “Create
Page” to get started creating one from scratch.
First, you’ll need to choose a Category for your page:

Go ahead and type in your Page Name (for the Company) and select a business category
(e.g. Consulting Agency).
Click “Create Page” to you know, create your page, and Facebook will automatically link it
back to your Business Manager, too. (Nice guys.)

Then, you’ll also be redirected back to your Business Dashboard to do one of two things
next:

Follow the link to your new page and started editing it, branding it, etc:

Add people, a new partner, or remove the page at any time

If you click on the first choice, you can follow the link over to customize your new Facebook
Page.
Let’s give a look to the second option.

4) Adding Business Manager Admins and Employees

Adding people (employees, partners, vendors, etc.) to your new page or ad account is
incredibly easy once you’re already inside the Business Manager.

Start by navigating back to your Setup Guide and look for people (listed towards the
bottom):

From here, either click on “Add Admin” or “Add Employee” (or both) to pull up the following
dialogue box:
The Employee and Admin roles will have different access levels. How you organize them is
entirely up to your own business and relationship status (no, not that one ) with these
people.
Adding an email will move you through a few steps to assign each new person to a specific
page or ad account you just created.

Here, you can also select different roles for each Page in this account.

Now go ahead and repeat the same steps for ad accounts and product catalogs in this
same dialogue box.

5) Requesting Access or Claiming a Page/Ad Account

If you have an existing ad account or page linked to another business manager account
but want to transfer it, you can claim that ad account or page through this Setup Guide.

Additionally, if you are an agency that runs pages and ad accounts for clients, you can
request access to help manage it on their behalf.
Simply hit the “Claim” button, in either case, to try and take ownership of it.

Then, you’ll have to locate the ad account ID and type it in the text box:

If you’re already an admin of the page, you can also search for it by the page URL to claim
ownership of it.
Next, you’ll request access to the ad account by either doing one of these two things:

1. Type in the account ID to request access to the ad account.

2. Follow instructions in box two below in order to request access to it.

You can simply type in the page name or URL and the admin of that page will get a
confirmation to add you for access.
Okay, now you should have either received access, claimed, or created a page and ad
account. You should have also added the necessary people to your business, too.

Go ahead and proceed to the next section when you finish with all of those steps.

The Basics of the Facebook Business Manager

Let’s discuss how the Facebook Business Manager works now that you’ve got your ad
accounts and the page linked.

Login to your Business Manager Dashboard look for the menu in the upper left-hand
corner of the screen:

This will expand the entire menu of items you’ll typically work within the Facebook
Business Manager, split into columns based on your objectives (e.g. Plan, Create &
Manage, Measure & Report, Assets, Settings).

This menu is like your ‘jumping off’ point because you can do almost anything from here.

You can create or manage new ad campaigns. You can edit or add new apps. You can
create new page posts. All of your data, analytics, and conversion information will be a
click away. And you can even manage audiences, pixels, product catalogs, and videos.

Here’s how you can create new audiences for your ad campaigns.

How to Create New Facebook Ad Audiences

Open up the Business Manager menu and look under “Assets” for the Audiences text link.
Here we can choose between creating three new audiences:

1. Custom: You can connect with people who’ve already expressed some interest in you
or your business by visiting your website, engaging with your Facebook page, and
more.

2. Lookalike: Reach ‘friends of fans’ who are the carbon copies of people you’ve specified;
Perfect for increasing the number of new people to promote your brand.

3. Saved: These are people you’ve found by creating a custom combination of

demographic information with interest inclusion or exclusions.

Let’s take a look at how to create each one now.

Custom Audience Setup

Custom audiences are most often used to connect with the people who have already
shown an interest in your business, service, or product.

You can create a custom audience from a contact list, previous or ongoing website traffic,
or mobile app usage.

Here’s how to get started.

Ÿ Step #1: Go to Audiences and select “Create a Custom Audience”

Ÿ Step #2. Select which type of custom audience to create out of Customer File, Website
Traffic, App Activity, or Engagement.
A Customer File custom audience consists of current/existing customers. You can target
ads to these customers on Facebook and Instagram (and the audience network). If you
have MailChimp, you’re in luck! There’s already an existing integration so you can instantly
connect your account. Otherwise, you’ll most likely need to upload a file of customer data
(like emails or phone numbers) that Facebook will then use to match against their user
database.
Here’s how it looks when you go to setup your upload a customer list:

Here you can simply copy and paste your list or upload a .CSV/TXT file. Under the
identifiers section, you can highlight over each one to see an example to inform your file
structure:
Next, upload your list or paste it into the box and hit “Next” to map your identifiers.

Hopefully, this should have automatically mapped fields for you. If everything is good to go,
you should see a green check mark to signify the right format.

Next, click “Upload & Create” and you’re done.

If you click “Website Traffic” from the main custom audiences menu, you will simply have to
install a pixel code on the website pages you want to track visitors. Some content
management systems (CMS) will have an existing integration setup so that it only takes a
few clicks. Otherwise, you’ll have to copy and paste some code to make it happen. If you’re
super smart, you’ll use Pixel Caffeine.
Next, you can adjust the individual audience settings based on your preferences.

When finished, you’re all set!

Lookalike Audience
Select “Create a Lookalike Audience” now to replicate one of your existing saved ones.
To create a lookalike audience, you need to have an existing audience that Facebook can
then use to find ‘lookalike’ targets that similar to those already on your lists. So start by
selecting the individual custom audience or Page as the Source for your new lookalike
audience.

Then you can also select the locations to target and the audience sizes (which will
determine how specific or small the targeting gets).

When satisfied, simply hit “Create Audience” and you’re all set.

Saved Audience Setup

Navigate back to Asset Library and go to Audiences to create a saved audience.

The third and final choices could be “Create a Saved Audience.”
The Detailed Targeting will allow you to drill down into Demographics, Interests,
Behaviors, and more to make your targeting even more granular.

These detailed targeting options will include values for job title, income ranges, interests,
hobbies, and more.

For example, you can start by selecting what someone does for a living:

Then you can narrow the audience further by excluding segments of people.

For example, you can add extra criteria on to the original job title to select only people who
make over a certain amount of money each year:
In this case, we only want to target attorneys with an income of at least $150-249k.

And then you can take it another step further by excluding an additional segment based
on the type of lawyer you’d like to target:

When ready, hit “Create Audience” and you’re all set to go.

Setting Up Pixels
Head back to the Business Manager dashboard and select Pixels under Asset Library.

In the upper left-hand corner, you should see a small button that says “Set Up Pixel.” Click
and proceed to the next step.

You can install the pixel code one of two ways:

You can either integrate it with your existing CMS or use the Tag Manager.

Or you can to install your code by just simply copying and pasting it into your site’s code.
Click on one or the other to follow the instructions.

Now, here’s where the fun begins: Event code.

Event what?!

On a serious note: Events are actions taken by customers or users on your website. These
are typically ‘soft’ goals, or micro conversions, that don’t always result in a macro (revenue
generating) conversions.

The event code you install will let you track those actions for advertising purposes, things
like when a product is added to cart, new pageview, etc. Here’s an example from Facebook
to give you an idea of what your code will look like with events.
Where:

1 = Your website’s current code. You will paste the Pixel code between the two head tags of
your web pages.

2 = Your FB pixel base code that you just copy and pasted

3 = Additional, standard event code.

Here are the nine standard event codes you can add to your Facebook Pixel code
depending on which page you are customizing for:

And that’s it! Now get to work.

Creating Product Catalog in the Business Manager

To create a product catalog, head to Assets in the Business Manager menu and click on
“Product Catalogs.”

On the next screen, click on “Create Catalogs” to get started.

Here you will name your catalog and choose the appropriate type (e.g. Products, Hotels,
Flights, Destinations, etc. :
For this example, we chose “Products.” Next, you will be asked to add a product feed.

Go ahead and enter your feed name, currency, and upload type (single vs. recurring
uploads):
Then, hit next and get ready to upload your file.

Since you likely don’t have a product catalog setup or haven’t done one before, here are
some basic guidelines below to help you format the spreadsheet properly. These fields
are required for every product catalog.
The good news is that many big eCommerce platforms, like Magento, BigCommerce, or
Shopify For example, will have an app, extension, or feature to help support these product
catalogs.

Next, you can add additional detailed items for each different product specs.
Once you’ve got a spreadsheet that looks something like this one below, go ahead and
upload to get started.

h). Merchant Product Cataloging.

Product data specification

Use this specification to format your product information for Shopping ads. Submitting
your product data to Google in the right format is important for creating successful ads for
your products.

Before you begin

If you're new to Shopping ads, get started with the beginner's guide.

Other requirements to keep in mind

Google also has a few other requirements that your product data needs to meet. Get
familiar with them before you begin:

Ÿ Shopping ads policies

Ÿ Landing page requirements

Ÿ Tax rate data requirements

Ÿ Shipping rate data requirements

Ÿ Currency and language requirements.

Submit attributes and values using a supported language and currency for the country
you'd like to advertise to and the format you've chosen.

Delimited format. Use any supported language for the name of the attribute and fixed
attributes values, e.g. the condition attribute has the fixed value new. Make sure to use the
language of the country of sale for any attribute value without a fixed value, e.g. title. Use
an underscore or space within an attribute name (e.g., image_link or image link)

XML or API. Use attribute names in English only (the version not in brackets). Use an
underscore to represent a space within an attribute name (e.g., image_link instead of
image link). A space within an attribute value is allowed (e.g., in stock).

Definitions

Product. Word that describes the actual product that your potential customers would be
searching for on Google.

Item. Word that describes a product once it's been added to your product data, either in a
text feed, XML feed, or API. For example, an item is one line in your text feed.

Variant. Word that describes a product that comes in different variations. For example, a
shirt that comes in different sizes has size variants

Quick reference
Required
Submit this attribute. If you don't, your product won't be able to serve ads.

It depends
Check the attribute's related article to understand if you need to submit this attribute for
your products. Sometimes the requirements change depending on which country you're
advertising in.

Optional
You can submit this attribute if you want to help boost your ad's performance.
 Attributes Common product categories

Media Variant All

Group Attribute Apparel (books, Software product other
name movies, s product
musical types

Basic id
product
data
title

description

link

imag_link

additional_ima
ge_link

mobile_link

Price & availability

availability

availability
Date

expiration_dat
e

price

Sale_price

Sale_price_eff
ective_date

cost_of_goods
_sold

unit_pricing_m
easure
 unit_pricing_ba
se_measure
installment

loyalty_points

google_produc
t_category
product_type

brand

gtin

mpn
Product
identifiers

Detailed condition
product
description
adult

multipack

is_bundle

energy_efficien
cy_class
min_energy_ef
ficiency_class
max_energy_e
fficiency_class
age_group

color
 gender

material

pattern

size

size_type

size_system

item_group_id

Shopping ads_redirect
campaign
s and
other custom_label_
configurati 0
ons
custom_label_
1

custom_label_
2

custom_label_
3

custom_label_

promotion_id

Destinations excluded_desti
nation

included_desti
nation

Shipping shipping
 shipping_label

shipping_weig
ht
shipping_lengt
h
shipping_width

shipping_heigh
t
max_handling_
time
tax tax

tax_category

Click the name of an attribute to view full details, including more information about the
minimum requirements, best practices, and examples.

Basic product data

The product information you submit using these attributes is our foundation for creating
your Shopping ads. Make sure everything you submit is of the quality you'd show to a
customer.
Attribute Format Minimum requirements at a glance
id Required

Your product’s unique Use a unique value for each product.

identifier Use the product's SKU where
possible

Example A2B4 Keep the ID the same when updating

your data

Syntax Use only valid unicode characters.

Max 50 characters

Schema.org property Avoid invalid characters like control,

Product.sku function, or private area characters
Use the same ID for the same product
- across countries or languages
title Required

Your product’s name Accurately describe your product and

Example match the title from your landing
Mens Pique Polo Shirt page
Syntax Don’t include promotional text like
Max 150 characters "free shipping," all capital letters, or
Schema.org property gimmicky foreign characters
Product.name For variants
Include a distinguishing feature such
as color or size
For mobile devices
Include “with contract” if sold with a
contract
For the United States, include “with
payment plan” if sold in installments
For Russia
For books and other information
products, include the age rating at

description Required

Your product’s description Accurately describe your product and

Example match the description from your
Made from 100% organic landing page
cotton, this classic red Don’t include promotional text like
men’s polo has a slim fit "free shipping," all capital letters, or
and signature logo gimmicky foreign characters
embroidered on the left Include only information about the
chest. Machine wash cold; product. Don’t include links to your
imported. store, sales information, details about
Syntax competitors, other products, or
Max 5000 characters accessories
Schema.org property Use formatting (for example, line
Product.description breaks, lists, or italics) to format your
description

link Required

Your product’s landing Use your verified domain name

page Start with http or https
Example Use an encoded URL that complies
http://www.example.com/a with RFC 2396 or RFC 1738. For
sp/sp.asp?cat=12&id=103 example, a comma would be
0 represented as “%2C"
Schema.org property Don't link to an interstitial page
Offer.url unless legally required
Use an in-domain tracking URL if
needed. Don't use too many
redirects, which can increase latency
image_link Required

The URL of your product’s For the image URL:

main image Link to the main image of your
Example product
http://www.example.com/i Start with http or https
mage1.jpg Use an encoded URL that complies
Schema.org property with RFC 2396 or RFC 1738. For
Product.image example, a comma would be
represented as “%2C"
Make sure the URL can be crawled
by Google (robots.txt configuration
allowing Googlebot and Googlebot-
image)
For the image:
Accurately display the product you're
selling
Use an accepted format: non-
animated GIF (.gif), JPEG
(.jpg/.jpeg), PNG (.png), BMP (.bmp),
and TIFF (.tif/.tiff)
For non-apparel products, use an
image of at least 100 x 100 pixels
For apparel products, use an image
of at least 250 x 250 pixels
Don't submit an image larger than 64
megapixels or a file larger than 16MB
Don't scale up an image or submit a
thumbnail
Don't include promotional text,
watermarks, or borders
Don't submit a placeholder or a
generic image Exceptions:
In Hardware (632) or Vehicles &
Parts (888) categories, illustrations
are accepted
In any paint category, single color
images are allowed
the beginning of the title

additional_image Optional Meet the requirements for the

_link image_link attribute with these
The URL of an additional exceptions:
image for your product The image can include product
Example staging and show the product in use
http://www.example.com/i Graphics or illustrations can be
mage1.jpg included
Syntax Submit up to 10 additional product
Max 2000 characters images by including this attribute
multiple times
mobile_link Optional

Your product’s mobile- Meet the requirements for the link

optimized landing page attribute
when you have a different the beginning of the title
URL for mobile and
desktop traffic
Example
http://www.m.example.co
m/asp/sp.asp?cat=12&id=
1030
Syntax
Max 2000 alphanumeric
characters

Price & availability

These attributes define the price and availability for your products. This information is
shown to potential customers in your ads. If your products' prices and availability change
often, keep in mind that you'll need to let us know about all the updates to be able to run
ads. Check out these tips for keeping your product information fresh.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements at a glance

availability Required

Your product's availability Accurately submit the product's

Example availability and match the availability
in stock from your landing page
Supported values
in stock
out of stock
preorder
Schema.org property
Offer.availability

availability_date Optional Use this attribute if you submit

The date a pre-ordered availabilityas preorder
product becomes
available for delivery
Example
(For UTC+1)
2016-02-
24T11:07:31+0100
Syntax
 Max 25 alphanumeric
characters
ISO 8601
YYYY-MM-DD
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss
YYYY-MM-
DDThh:mm:ssZ
Schema.org property
Offer.availabilityStarts
Offer.availabilityEnds

cost_of_goods_s Optional
old
The costs associated with
the sale of a particular
item as defined by the
accounting convention
you set up. These costs
may include material,
labor, freight, or other
overhead expenses. By
submitting the COGS for
your products, you gain
insights about other
metrics, such as your
gross margin and the
amount of revenue
generated by your
Shopping ads.

expiration_date Optional Use a date less than 30 days in the

future
The date that your product
should stop showing
Example
(For UTC+1)
2016-07-
11T11:07:31+0100
Syntax
Max 25 alphanumeric
characters
ISO 8601
YYYY-MM-DD
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss
YYYY-MM-
DDThh:mm:ssZ
price Required Accurately submit the product's price
and currency, and match with the
Your product’s price price from your landing page
Example Make sure that your landing page
15.00 USD includes the price in the currency of
Syntax the country of sale prominently and
Numeric in a place that's straightforward to
ISO 4217 find
Schema.org property Ensure that the product can be
Offer.priceSpecification purchased online for the submitted
price
Make sure that any user in the
country of sale can buy the product
for the submitted price, and without
paying for a membership
Add any minimum order value in your
shipping settings
Don't submit a price of 0 (a price of 0
is allowed for mobile devices sold
with a contract)
For products sold in bulk quantities,
bundles, or multipacks
Submit the total price of the minimum
purchasable quantity, bundle, or
multipack
For the US and Canada
Don't include tax in the price
For all other countries
Include value added tax (VAT) or
Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the
price
See unit_pricing_measure and
installment attributes for additional
options to submit price-related
information

sale_price Optional

Your product's sale price Meet the requirements for the price
Example attribute
15.00 USD Submit the sale_price in addition to
Syntax the price attribute with the non-sale
Numeric price
ISO 4217 Accurately submit the product's sale
Schema.org property price, and match the sale price from
Offer.priceSpecification your landing page
sale_price_effecti Optional
ve_date
The date range during Use together with sale_price
which the product’s If you don't submit
sale_priceapplies sale_price_effective_date, the
Example sale_price always applies
(For UTC+1) Use a start date before the end date
2016-02-
24T11:07:31+0100 / 2016-
02-29T23:07:31+0100
Syntax
Max 51 alphanumeric
characters
ISO 8601
YYYY-MM-DD
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss
YYYY-MM-
DDThh:mm:ssZ
Separate start date and
and end date with /
Schema.org property
Offer.priceSpecification.va
lidFrom
Offer.priceSpecification.va
lidThrough

unit_pricing_mea Optional (except when Use the measure or dimension of the

sure required by local laws or product without packaging
regulations) Use a positive number
The measure and Use the measure or dimension of the
dimension of your product product without packaging
as it is sold Use a positive number
Example
1.5kg
Syntax
Numerical value + unit
Supported units
Weight: oz, lb, mg, g, kg
Volume US imperial: floz,
pt, qt, gal
Volume metric: ml, cl, l,
cbm
Length: in, ft, yd, cm, m
Area: sqft, sqm
Per unit: ct
Schema.org property
Offer.priceSpecification.ref
erenceQuantity
unit_pricing_bas Optional (except when Optional when you submit
e_measure required by local laws or unit_pricing_measure
regulations) Use the same unit of measure for
The product’s base both unit_pricing_measure and
measure for pricing (e.g. unit_pricing_base_measure
100ml means the price is Keep in mind that the price (or sale
calculated based on a price, if active) is used to calculate
100ml units) the unit price of the product. For
Example example, if price is 3 USD,
100g unit_pricing_measure is 150ml, and
Syntax unit_pricing_base_measure is 100ml,
Integer + unit the unit price is 2 USD / 100ml
Supported integers
1, 10, 100, 2, 4, 8
Supported units
Weight: oz, lb, mg, g, kg
Volume US imperial: floz,
pt, qt, gal
Volume metric: ml, cl, l,
cbm
Length: in, ft, yd, cm, m
Area: sqft, sqm
Per unit: ct
Additional supported
metric integer + unit
combinations
75cl, 750ml, 50kg, 1000kg
Schema.org property
Offer.priceSpecification.ref
erenceQuantity.valueRefe
rence

installment Optional (Available for Match the installment option that’s

Brazil and Mexico only) visible on your landing page
Details of an installment Don't require a loyalty card
payment plan Make sure you still include the price
Example attribute with the total price for the
6, 50 BRL product
Syntax
installment uses 2 sub-
attributes:
months (required)
Integer, the number of
installments the buyer has
to pay.
amount (optional)
ISO 4217, the amount the
buyer has to pay per
month
loyalty_points Optional (Available for Optional when you submit
Japan only) unit_pricing_measure
The number and type of Use the same unit of measure for
loyalty points a customer both unit_pricing_measure and
receives when buying a unit_pricing_base_measure
product Keep in mind that the price (or sale
Example price, if active) is used to calculate
Program A, 100, 1.5 the unit price of the product. For
Syntax example, if price is 3 USD,
loyalty_points uses 3 sub- unit_pricing_measure is 150ml, and
attributes: unit_pricing_base_measure is 100ml,
points_value (required) the unit price is 2 USD / 100ml
Number of points earned
for the product
name (optional)
Name of the loyalty points
program, 12 full-width
characters or 24 roman
characters
ratio (optional)
Number, the ratio of a
point when converted to
currency

Product category

These attributes help Google understand what you're selling so we can better connect
your ads with search queries from potential customers. Keep in mind that you can also use
these product categorizations later on to help you organize your advertising campaign in
Google Ads.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements at a glance

google_product_ Required (for Apparel &

category Accessories (166),
Media(783), and Software
(2092) categories)
Optional for all other
products
Google-defined product
category for your product
Example
Apparel & Accessories >
Clothing > Outerwear >
Coats & Jackets
or
371
loyalty_points Syntax Include only 1 category
Value from the Google Include the most relevant category
product taxonomy Include either the full path of the
The numerical category category or the numerical category
ID, or ID
The full path of the Include a specific category for certain
category products:
Supported values Alcoholic beverages must be
Google product taxonomy submitted with one of these
categories:
Food, Beverages & Tobacco >
Beverages > Alcoholic Beverages
(499676), or any of its subcategories
Arts & Entertainment > Hobbies &
Creative Arts > Homebrewing &
Winemaking Supplies (3577), or any
of its subcategories
Mobile devices sold with contract
must be submitted as Electronics >
Communications > Telephony >
Mobile Phones (267) for phones or
Electronics > Computers > Tablet
Include only 1 category
Include the most relevant category
Include either the full path of the
category or the numerical category
ID
Include a specific category for certain
products:
Alcoholic beverages must be
submitted with one of these
categories:
Food, Beverages & Tobacco >
Beverages > Alcoholic Beverages
(499676), or any of its subcategories
Arts & Entertainment > Hobbies &
Creative Arts > Homebrewing &
Winemaking Supplies (3577), or any
of its subcategories
Mobile devices sold with contract
must be submitted as Electronics >
Communications > Telephony >
Mobile Phones (267) for phones or
Electronics > Computers > Tablet
Computers (4745) for tablets
Gift Cards must be submitted as Arts
& Entertainment > Party &
Celebration > Gift Giving > Gift Cards
& Certificates(53)
product_type Optional Include the full category. For
Product category that you example, include Home > Women >
define for your product Dresses > Maxi Dresses instead of
Example just Dresses
Home > Women > Only the first product_type value will
Dresses > Maxi Dresses be used to organize bidding and
Syntax reporting in Google Ads Shopping
Max 750 alphanumeric campaigns
characte

Product identifiers

These attributes are used to provide product identifiers that define the products you're
selling in the global marketplace. We use product identifiers to understand what you're
selling. When we understand what you're selling, we can help boost your ad performance
by adding valuable details about the product and serving the ad in a more relevant way to
users. Learn more about product identifiers.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements at a glance

brand Required (For all new Provide the brand name of the
products, except movies, product generally recognized by
books, and musical consumers
recording brands) Only provide your store name as the
Optional for all other brand in case you manufacture the
products product, or your product falls into a
Your product’s brand name generic brand category. For example,
Example you could submit your store name as
Google the brand if you sell white label
products or customized jewelry
Syntax If you don't have a brand to provide,
Max 70 characters don't provide a value. For example,
don't use N/A, Generic, No brand, or
Schema.org property Does not exist
Product.brand For compatible products:
Submit the GTIN and brand from the
manufacturer who actually built the
compatible product
Don't provide the Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM) brand to
indicate that your product is
compatible with or a replica of the
OEM brand's product
gtin Required (For all new Exclude dashes and spaces
products with a gtin Submit only valid GTINs as defined
assigned by the in the official GS1 validation guide,
manufacturer) which includes these requirements:
The checksum digit is present and
Optional for all other correct
products The GTIN is not restricted (GS1
prefix ranges 02, 04, 2)
Your product’s Global The GTIN is not a coupon (GS1
Trade Item Number prefix ranges 98 - 99)
(GTIN) For compatible products:
Example Submit the GTIN and brand from the
3234567890126 manufacturer who actually built the
Syntax compatible product
Max 50 numeric Don't provide the Original Equipment
characters (max 14 per Manufacturer (OEM) brand to
value - added spaces and indicate that your product is
dashes are ignored) compatible with or a replica of the
Supported values OEM brand's product
UPC (in North America / For multipacks:
GTIN-12) Use the product identifiers that
12-digit number like relates to the multipack
323456789012 For bundles:
8-digit UPC-E codes Use the product identifiers for the
should be converted to main product in the bundle
12-digit codes If you offer customization, engraving,
EAN (in Europe / GTIN- or other personalization of a product
13) that's been assigned a GTIN by the
13-digit number like manufacturer:
3001234567892 Submit the GTIN and use the
JAN (in Japan / GTIN-13) is_bundle attribute to let us know that
8 or 13-digit number like the product includes customization
49123456 or If your product doesn't have both a
4901234567894 GTIN and MPN:
ISBN (for books) Set identifier_exists to no (FALSE)
10 or 13-digit number like
1455582344 or 978-
1455582341. If
you have both, only
include the 13-digit
number. ISBN-10 are
deprecated and should be
converted to ISBN-13
ITF-14 (for multipacks /
GTIN-14)
14-digit number like
10856435001702
 Schema.org property
Product.isbn
Product.gtin8
Product.gtin12
Product.gtin13
Product.gtin14

MPN Required (Only if your Only submit MPNs assigned by a

new product does not manufacturer
have a manufacturer Use the most specific MPN possible.
assigned gtin) For example, different colors of a
Optional for all other product should have different MPNs
products If your product doesn't have both a
Your product’s GTIN and MPN:
Manufacturer Part Set identifier_exists to no (FALSE)
Number (mpn)
Example
GO12345OOGLE
Syntax
Max 70 alphanumeric
characters
Schema.org property
Product.mpn

identifier_exists Optional If you don't submit the attribute, the

To be used if your new default is yes
product doesn’t have a If your product doesn't have a GTIN
GTIN and brand and brand, or MPN and brand:
or Set identifier_exists to no
MPN and brand
Example
no
Supported values
yes
Product identifiers are
assigned to the new
product by the
manufacturer
no
No GTIN, brand, or MPN
are assigned to the new
product by the
manufacturer

Detailed product description

These attributes are used to submit particular product characteristics that users
commonly search for. The attributes can help you control your ad's appearance when you
advertise variants. These attributes are also used to help potential customers filter by
attributes on Google Shopping. Learn more about how to submit variants.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements at a glance

condition Required if your product is Only submit MPNs assigned by a

used or refurbished manufacturer
Optional for new products Use the most specific MPN possible.
The condition of your For example, different colors of a
product at time of sale product should have different MPNs
Example If your product doesn't have both a
new GTIN and MPN:
Supported values Set identifier_exists to no (FALSE)
new
Brand new, original,
unopened packaging
refurbished
Professionally restored to
working order, comes with
a warranty, may or may
not have the original
packaging
used
Previously used, original
packaging opened or
missing
Schema.org property
Offer.itemCondition

adult Required (If a product Submit yes if this individual product

contains adult content) contains nudity or sexually
Indicate a product suggestive content. If you don't
includes sexually submit the attribute, the default is no.
suggestive content Learn about the adult-oriented
Example content policy
yes If your website is generally focused
Supported values on an adult audience and contains
yes adult-oriented content with or without
no nudity, navigate to to your Merchant
Center account, open General
Settings, and check the box next to
“This site contains adult products as
defined by our policy.” If you check
the box, you don't need to submit the
adult attribute for individual products.
multipack Required (For multipack Submit this attribute if you defined a
products in Australia, custom group of identical products
Brazil, Czechia, France, and are selling them as a single unit
Germany, Italy, Japan, of sale. For example, you're selling 6
Netherlands, Spain, bars of soap together
Switzerland, the UK and Submit the number of products in
the US) your multipack. If you don't submit
Optional for all other the attribute, the default is 0
products and countries of If the product's manufacturer
sale assembled the multipack instead of
The number of identical you, don't submit this attribute
products sold within a
merchant-defined
multipack
Example
6
Syntax
Integer, greater than 1
(multipacks cannot
contain 1 product)

Product.isbn
Product.gtin8
Product.gtin12
Product.gtin13
Product.gtin14

is_bundle Required (For bundles in Submit yes if you're selling a custom

Australia, Brazil, Czechia, bundle of different products that you
France, Germany, Italy, created, and the bundle includes a
Japan, Netherlands, main product. For example, a
Spain, Switzerland, the camera combined with a lens and
UK and the US) bag. If you don't submit the attribute,
Optional for all other the default is no
products and countries of Don't use this attribute for bundles
sale without a clear main product. For
Indicates a product is a example, a gift basket containing
merchant-defined custom cheese and crackers
group of different products
featuring one main
product
Example
yes
Supported values
yes
no
min_energy_effic Optional (Available for EU Include the legally required energy
iency_class & CH only, may be label
required by local laws or To be used in combination with
regulations) energy_efficiency_class and
Your product’s energy max_energy_efficiency_class to
label create an energy efficiency label, for
Example example, A+ (A+++ to D).
A+
Supported values
A+++
A++
A
B
C
D
E
F
G

Optional (Available for EU

& CH only, may be
required by local laws or
regulations)
Your product’s energy
label
Example
A+++
Supported values
A+++
A++
A
B
C
D
E
F
G

max_energy_effi Optional (Available for EU Submit yes if you're selling a custom

ciency_class & CH only, may be bundle of different products that you
required by local laws or created, and the bundle includes a
regulations) main product. For example, a
Your product’s energy camera combined with a lens and
label bag. If you don't submit the attribute,
Example the default is no
D Don't use this attribute for bundles
Supported values without a clear main product. For
example, a gift basket containing
cheese and crackers
min_energy_effic A+++ Include the legally required energy
iency_class A++ label
A To be used in combination with
B energy_efficiency_class and
C min_energy_efficiency_class to
D create an energy efficiency label, for
E example, A+ (A+++ to D).
F
G
age_group Required (For all apparel Include one value per product
items that are focused on For variants
people in Brazil, France, Include with the same value for
Germany, Japan, the UK, item_group_id and different values
and the US as well as all for age_group
products with assigned
age groups)
Optional for all other
products and countries of
sale
The demographic for
which your product is
intended
Example
infant
Supported values
newborn
Up to 3 months old
infant
Between 3-12 months old
toddler
Between 1-5 years old
kids
Between 5-13 years old
adult
Typically teens or older
Schema.org property
Product.audience.suggest
edMinAge
Product.audience.suggest
edMaxAge
color Don’t use a number such as 0 2 4 6
Required (For all apparel 8
items in feeds that target Don’t use characters that aren’t
Brazil, France, Germany, alphanumeric such as #fff000
Japan, the UK, and the Don’t use only 1 letter such as R (For
US as well as all products Chinese, Japanese, or Korean
available in different languages, you can include a single
colors) character such as 红)
Optional for all other Don’t reference the product or image
products and countries of such as “see image”
sale Don't combine several color names
Your product’s color(s) into 1 word, such as RedPinkBlue.
Example Instead, separate them with a /, such
Black as Red/Pink/Blue. Don’t use a value
Syntax that isn’t a color, such as multicolor,
Max 100 alphanumeric various, variety, men's, women's, or
characters (max 40 N/A.
characters per color) If your product features multiple
Schema.org property colors, list the primary color first.
Product.color For variants
Include with the same value for
item_group_id and different values
for color

gender Required (Required for all For some Apparel & Accessories
apparel items in feeds that (166) categories like Shoelaces
are focused on people in (1856), this attribute is recommended
Brazil, France, Germany, instead of required since these
Japan, the UK, and the categories aren't dependent on
US as well as all gender- gender
specific products) For variants
Optional for all other Include with the same value for
products and countries of item_group_id and different values
sale for gender

The gender for which your

product is intended

Example

Unisex
Supported values
male
female
unisex
Schema.org property
Product.audience.suggest
edGender
material Required (if relevant for To indicate multiple materials for a
distinguishing different single product (not variants), add a
products in a set of primary material, followed by up to 2
variants) secondary materials, separated by a
Optional for all other /. For example, instead of
products CottonPolyesterElastane, use
Your product’s fabric or cotton/polyester/elastane
material For variants
Example Include with the same value for
leather item_group_id and different values
Syntax for material
Max 200 characters

pattern Required (if relevant for For variants

distinguishing different Include with the same value for
products in a set of item_group_id and different values
variants) for pattern
Optional for all other
products
Your product’s pattern or
graphic print
Example
striped
polka dot
paisley
Syntax
Max 100 characters

size Required (Required for all For variants

apparel items in the Include with the same value for
Apparel & Accessories > item_group_id and different values
Clothing and Apparel & for size
Accessories > Shoes If sizes contain multiple dimensions,
product categories condense them into 1 value. For
focused on people in example, "16/34 Tall" for neck size 16
Brazil, France, Germany, inches, sleeve length 34 inches, and
Japan, the UK, and the “Tall” fit
US as well as all products If your item is one size fits all or one
available in different size fits most, you can use one size,
sizes) OS, one size fits all, OSFA, one size
Optional for all other fits most, or OSFM
products and countries of
sale
Your product’s size
Example
XL
Syntax
Max 100 characters
size_type Optional (Available for If you don't submit the attribute, the
apparel products only) default is regular
Your apparel product’s cut
Example
maternity
Supported values
regular
petite
plus
big and tall
maternity
size_system Optional (Available for If you don't submit the attribute, the
apparel products only) default is your county of sale
The country of the size
system used by your
product
Example
US
Supported values
US
UK
EU
DE
FR
JP
CN (China)
IT
BR
MEX
AU

item_group_id Required (Brazil, France, Use a unique value for each group of
Germany, Japan, the variants. Use the parent SKU where
United Kingdom, and the possible
US if the product is a Keep the value the same when
variant) updating your product data
Optional for all other Use only valid unicode characters
products and countries of Use an item group ID for a set of
sale products that differ by one or more of
ID for a group of products these attributes:
that come in different color
versions (variants) size
Example pattern
Ab12345 material
Syntax age group
Max 50 alphanumeric gender
characters Include the same attributes for each
product in the item group. For
Example example, if a product varies by size
size_type XL and color, submit size and color for
Syntax every product that share the same
Max 100 characters value for item_group_id
If your products differ by design
elements that aren't represented by
the attributes above, don't use
item_group_id

Shopping campaigns and other configurations

These attributes are used to control how your product data is used when you create
advertising campaigns in Google Ads.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements at a glance

ads_redirect Optional Submit the same registered domain
A URL used to specify as the value for ads_redirect, link,
additional parameters for and mobile_link.
your product page. Users Valid registered domains include
will be sent to this URL example.com, m-example.com,
rather than the value that example.co.uk, example.com.ai, and
you submit for link or bar.tokyo.jp. URLs submitted with
mobile_link invalid domains, such as example.zz
Example or example.comic, will not be
http://www.example.com/p accepted. For more details on valid
roduct.html registered domains, see
Syntax ads_redirect.
Max 2000 characters

custom_label_0 Optional Use a value that you'll recognize in

your Shopping campaign. The value
Label that you assign to a won't be shown to users who see
product to help organize your ads
bidding and reporting in Submit up to 5 custom labels per
Shopping campaigns product by including this attribute
Example multiple times:
seasonal custom_label_0
clearance custom_label_1
holiday custom_label_2
sale custom_label_3
price range custom_label_4
Use only 1,000 unique values for
Syntax each custom label across your
Max 100 characters Merchant Center account
promotion_id Optional (Required for Use a unique and case sensitive ID
Merchant Promotions in without spaces or symbols (e.g., %,
Australia, France, !)
Germany, India, the UK To map specific promotions to
and the US) specific products, submit the same
An identifier that allows to promotion_id in your product data
you match products to and promotion data
Merchant promotions Submit up to 10 promotion IDs for
Example one product by including this attribute
ABC123 multiple times
Syntax
Max 50 characters

Destinations

These attributes can be used to control the type of ads your products participate in. For
example, you could use this attribute if you want a product to appear in a dynamic
remarketing campaign, but not in a Shopping campaign.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements

excluded_destin Optional
ation
A setting that you can use to exclude
a product from participating in a
specific type of advertising campaign
Example
Shopping
Supported values
Shopping
Shopping Actions
Display Ads

included_destina Optional
tion
A setting that you can use to include
a product in a specific type of
advertising campaign
Example
Shopping
Supported values
Shopping
Shopping Actions
Display Ads
Shipping

These attributes can be used together with the account shipping settings to help you
provide accurate shipping costs in your ads. Users rely on the shipping costs to help make
choices about what to buy, so it's important to take the time to submit quality shipping
information.

About shipping settings

When submitting your products to Merchant Center, you’ll also provide information about
how much you charge for shipping. Your shipping settings are used across Google
programs, including Shopping ads and Shopping Actions. Shipping cost is the most
common reason for users abandoning their shopping choices, so setting up your shipping
settings to display accurate information can help the performance of your ads.

This article explains how the various settings work and when you would use them.

Submit shipping correctly for your target country

Australia, France, and United States

Japan

Czechia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United
Kingdom

Norway or Sweden

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Hong Kong,
India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland,
Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United
Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Vietnam

How it works

To show ads to a particular country or region, you must offer shipping and correctly set up
shipping costs for that area. The shipping costs that you submit to Merchant Center must
match the costs you charge on your website or at least overestimate those costs.

Because shipping costs vary by a variety of factors, the shipping settings in Merchant
Center allow you to set up shipping tables based on factors like weight, price, destination,
and more. Choose the shipping options that mirror how you charge shipping on your site.

If you charge your customers exactly what you pay for shipping with common carriers, you
can also select carrier rates in some countries and Google will automatically calculate
shipping cost for you.
These settings can also take into account the product data that you submit through the
shipping attributes: shipping_label, shipping_weight, dimensions (shipping_length,
shipping_width, shipping_height).

What should be included in shipping

Shipping covers the cost charged by a shipping carrier or other cost directly related to
shipping. A charge is considered to be a shipping cost if it’s described using the words
"handling", "delivery", "shipping", "logistics", or "carrier". Shipping can include cross-
border charges if the cost is included under a shipping term on your website. Shipping
should also include insurance costs related to any of the five terms above.

Ways to set up shipping

To get started with shipping, figure out what types of shipping cost models you need to add
based on how you charge shipping. Keep in mind that the shipping costs that you submit
to Merchant Center must match the costs you charge on your website or at least
overestimate those costs.

How you charge Shipping option Benefit

Free shipping for Free Simple to configure and

certain ranges maintain

A flat shipping rate for Fixed rate Simple to configure and

all orders maintain

Your shipping is based Carrier rate along with the Rates are automatically
on rates from shipping_weight and calculated based on
supported carriers dimension attributes common carrier rates for all
(available for AUD, and US) users, and the rates update if
the carrier rates change

Based on a Percentage of order total Simple to configure and

percentage of the maintain and allows for
order cost varied shipping rates based
on price
Based on more than 2 Subtable Add additional dimensions to
dimensions your shipping service

Exclude a group of No shipping Easily define products that

products from delivery you want to exclude from the

Unique shipping costs the shipping attribute Allows you to manually

for one particular override account settings for
product a product with unique
Shipping-related product data

Shipping cost is often dependent on product details such as price, weight, or size. If you
charge shipping based on these attributes or if you want to use carrier rates (which are
calculated based on weight and size) you should add the relevant information to your
product data.

Based on product the shipping_weight attribute Include a shipping weight

weight (and account shipping settings) for each product so you can
vary the shipping cost

Based on product the shipping_length, Include dimensions of a

dimensions shipping_width, and product to use for carrier
shipping_height attributes (and rates

Different shipping the shipping_label attribute Define groups of products

costs for a group of (and account shipping settings) (e.g., perishable or
products oversized) and then apply
special shipping rates to

How more advanced shipping settings work

Depending on your shipping model, you might want to learn more about one or more of
the more advanced settings described here.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements

at a glance

shipping Required (Australia, Czechia, Use this setting only to override

France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Merchant Center account
Netherlands, South Korea, shipping settings for an
Spain, Switzerland, the UK, individual item
and the US)
Optional for all other countries
of sale
Your product's shipping cost
Supported prices
0–1000 USD (check here for
other currencies)

Example
US:CA:Overnight:16.00 USD
Syntax
shipping uses 4 sub-attributes:
country (optional)
ISO 3166 country code
region or postal_code or
location_id or
location_group_name
(optional)
 service (optional)
Service class or shipping
speed
price (required)
Fixed shipping cost, including
VAT if required

shipping_label Optional Use a value that you'll

Label that you assign to a recognize in your account
product to help assign shipping settings. The
correct shipping costs in value won't be shown to
Merchant Center account users who see your ads.
settings Examples:

shipping_weight Optional (Required for Submit this value if you set

carrier-calculated rates, a up account shipping
table based on weight, or a settings for carrier-
rule based on weight in calculated rates or weight-
your account shipping based shipping services
settings)
The weight of the product
used to calculate the
shipping cost
Supported weights
0–2000 lbs for imperial
0–1000 kgs for metric
Example
3 kg
Syntax
Integer + unit
Supported units
lb
oz
g
kg

shipping_length Optional (Required for Submit this value if you set

carrier-calculated rates in up account shipping
your account shipping settings for carrier-
settings) calculated rates
The length of the product If you don't provide
used to calculate the shipping dimension
shipping cost by attributes while using
dimensional weight carrier-calculated rates, we
Example won't be able to calculate
20 in rates based on the
Syntax dimensional weight of the
Integer + unit item. If that's the case,
Supported integers we'll just calculate the
1 - 150 for inches
 1 - 400 for cm rates based on the value
Supported units you provided in
in shipping_weight
cm If you submit this attribute,
submit all shipping
dimension attributes:
shipping_length
with account shipping
settings to set the cost

shipping_width Optional (Required for Meet the requirements for

carrier-calculated rates in the shipping_length
your account shipping attribute
settings)
The width of the product
used to calculate the
shipping cost by
dimensional weight
Example
20 in
Syntax
Integer + unit
Supported integers
A value between 1 and
1000
Supported units
in
cm

shipping_height Optional (Required for Meet the requirements for

carrier-calculated rates in the shipping_length
your account shipping attribute
settings)
The height of the product
used to calculate the
shipping cost by
dimensional weight
Example
20 in
Syntax
Integer + unit
Supported integers
A value between 1 and
1000
Supported units
in
cm
max_handling_time Optional (US only) Submit this attribute if you
The longest amount of want to display the overall
time between when an time it takes for a product
order is placed for a to arrive at its destination
product and when the Do not include weekends.
product ships. For products ready to be
Example shipped the same day,
3 submit 0.
Syntax For submitting a time
Integer, greater than 1 range submit
Schema.org property max_handling_time in
Offer.delivery Lead combination with
Time.maxValue min_handling_time.

min_handling_time Optional (US only) Meet the requirements for

The shortest amount of the max_handling_time
time between when an attribute
order is placed for a
product and when the
product ships.
Example
1
Syntax
Integer, greater than 1
Schema.org property
Offer.delivery Lead
Time.minValue

Tax

These attributes can be used together with the account tax settings to help you provide
accurate tax costs in your ads. Learn how to set up account tax settings.

Attribute Format Minimum requirements at a glance

tax Required (Available for the Use this setting only to override the
US only) account tax settings for an individual
Your product’s sales tax rate item. We recommend that you submit
in percent tax information for all your products
Example using the account settings in Merchant
US:CA:5.00:y Center
Syntax For the US and Canada
tax uses 4 sub-attributes: Don't include tax in the price attribute.
rate (required) For the US only, include the tax in the
Tax rate as a tax attribute if you need to override
percentage your account settings
country (optional) For all other countries
 code Include value added tax
region or postal_code or (VAT) or Goods and
location_id (optional) Services Tax (GST) in the
tax_ship (optional) price attribute and do not
Specify if you charge tax use the tax attribute
on shipping. Accepted
values are yes or no

tax_category Optional (Recommended Use this attribute if you

for custom tax rates at the have products that have a
account level) specific tax rate.
A category that classifies Category labels in your
your product by specific product data must match
tax rules the labels you enter in the
Example Categories section in
Merch