Starting a webshop is easier than ever. You do not need a warehouse, a developer or a big budget to sell online. What you do need is a clear plan: what do you sell, to whom, and how do customers find and trust you? In this plan you go from idea to first order, without forgetting the things that later cost a lot of time.

Step 1: decide what you sell and to whom

The strongest web shops do not start with a platform but with a clear customer. Who buys your product, why from you and what problem do you solve? The sharper you know that, the easier it becomes to write copy, pick photos and get found.

• Describe your ideal customer in two sentences.
• Name three reasons why someone buys from you and not from a big department store.
• Start small: a limited, well-presented range often sells better than half a catalogue.

Step 2: arrange the business basics

If you sell structurally, in the Netherlands you need a registration with the Chamber of Commerce and you deal with VAT. Also make sure you have terms and conditions, a privacy statement and clear information about the right of withdrawal: consumers can generally return online purchases within fourteen days. Unsure what applies to you? Check with the Chamber of Commerce or an accountant.

Step 3: choose the right platform

This is a choice you carry for a long time. Look at three things: can you change everything yourself, are the parts you need included, and does your shop stay yours?

With NerrieBuilder you describe your store and the AI builds your complete webshop, including pages, products and copy. Payments with iDEAL and cards, SEO per page, hosting and SSL are included. Read more about choosing a platform in choosing an AI website builder.

Step 4: make product pages that sell

A product page must answer three questions within seconds: what is it, is it for me, and what does it cost including shipping? So work with:

• Clear photos on a calm background, and a photo showing the product in use.
• A title that says what it is, the way people search for it.
• A short list of the key features, followed by a longer description.
• Clear price, delivery time and shipping costs, without surprises at checkout.

Step 5: let customers pay the way they want

Dutch shoppers prefer paying with iDEAL. If you also sell outside the Netherlands you need cards and often local methods. Fewer options at checkout means more abandoned orders. So make sure the familiar methods are included by default.

Step 6: make shipping and returns simple

Unclear shipping costs are one of the reasons people do not complete an order. Make it clear up front:

Step 7: build trust

A visitor does not know you yet. So show who you are: a page about your business, reachable contact details, real reviews once you have them and clear terms. A clean, fast site with a padlock in the address bar belongs to that as well. NerrieBuilder handles that basis for you.

Step 8: make sure you get found

A beautiful webshop without visitors sells nothing. So start with findability right away: a clear title and description per product, logical categories, readable addresses and a fast site. Our SEO checklist for your new website walks you through everything. Selling in other countries too? Read selling multilingual across Europe.

Step 9: test, launch and adjust

After launch the real work begins: see in your statistics which products get viewed, where visitors drop off and which pages perform well. Adjust, add and try things out. At NerrieBuilder you simply ask for a change in the chat, for example "put the shipping costs at the top of the product page".

Start faster with a template

Want your shop to look professional from day one? Start with one of the ready-made templates in the Enterprise plan and let the AI put your products, copy and brand into it. How that works is explained in live faster with a template.