Many shops may be looking at how to set up an online shop for the first time, if you do not already have one. We’ve done some research to pull together some advice on how to tackle this.
Things you need to think about will include creating the online shop on your website, which ecommerce platform to use, how to take payments online then how to deal with the deliveries.
We found startups.co.uk has some good general advice on these topics to help you decide what to do.
This article looks at the basics to creating an online shop for your website while this article looks particularly at businesses moving online during this Covid-19 outbreak. While this is mainly aimed at food delivery there is some useful advice for retailers.
This article examines the five main e-commerce platforms available to build your online shop. It outlines prices and has some useful FAQs at the end. We’ve found this YouTube video on how to set up a Shopify store for example, so once you decide which platform to use we’d suggest you search on YouTube where there will no doubt be other similar useful tutorials to explain the platform you decide.
This article looks at how to payment online and covers the main ways you can do this.
Finally delivery. If you want to start selling fish online then there is a lot to consider about delivery. You cannot send live fish through Royal Mail/Parcelforce. You have to use a courier who is licensed to carry live animals under the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order. APC is the main courier to do this in the UK but you will need to check if they are available in your area to deliver fish currently. We also have some useful information here about delivering live fish – please read our guide to distance selling of fish here before you start.
Whatever you sell you must comply with distance selling legislation which is covered in our guide above and this article is a good round-up on what you need to know.
We are also opening access to our member guide put together by our Primary Authority Partner to help on fair trading as well. OATA Best Practice Guide 2 – Fair Trading
