Setting up shop online for beginners

by Adam Howitt on Aug 03, 2011

A case study on selecting, configuring and launching an e-commerce store with fulfillment from scratch.

A case study on selecting, configuring and launching an e-commerce store with fulfillment from scratch.

Google Checkout & PayPal Only handles the payment part Complicated shipping setup Amazon Fulfillment Handles both shipping and order capture Advantage of product marketing on Amazon.com But for clothing must have UPCs and be approved (still no word on that)
Shopify - $99 per month includes carrier shipping rates Very quick to setup, add products of varying sizes and genders Configured to pull USPS world shipping rates by weight Plugins (see below) to extend the features of the platform as needed Pushes products out to Google Shopping searches too SEO Optimized platform Easy sales tax capture PayPal Website Payments Pro $30 per month for tight integration (but could have gone without for free)OrderCupShopify Plugin $10 per month configured to print and pay for USPS postage Jilt Shopify Plugin $9 per month to auto-email abandoned customers 24 hours after they quit Invites Value Mailer Polybags 10x13 200 for $19.38PrintexxLasterjet shipping labels 200 for $7.89 - better than trimming and sticking 200 shipping labels
Great shipping and fulfillment process Just one day of setup start to finish Received payments, picked, packed and shipped 91 t-shirt orders in 2 days including international orders Great feedback from our members about how simple the e-commerce store was to use Total monthly cost of $148 (plus shipping and transaction fees) On 200 shirts we're looking at no more than $2 overhead per shirt to be on the platform excluding labor to pick, pack and ship orders

Setting Up Shop Online for Beginners
adam@adamhowitt.com
312.361.3797
A case study on selecting, configuring and launching an e-commerce store with fulfillment from scratch
The Problem
200 shirts to sell to our members
No existing store
No fulfillment process
No tidy way to charge
What We Tried
Google Checkout & PayPal
No integratedshipping
Amazon Fulfillment
Complicated setup
What We Picked
Shopify $99 per month
PayPal Website Payments Pro $30 per month
OrderCupShopify Plugin $10 per month
Jilt Shopify Plugin $9 per month
Value Mailer Polybags 10x13 200 for $19.38
PrintexxLaserjet Shipping Labels 200 for $7.89
What We Got
Easy to use, structured platform
One day setup start to finish
Processed 91 orders in 2 days
Great feedback from customers
Monthly cost of $148 excluding shipping and transaction fees
Less than $2 per shirt overhead
Questions?
www.adamhowitt.com
adam@adamhowitt.com
312.361.3797