Looking for ways to make money online? Business Owl has come up with 101 ways to do exactly that! We’re kicking off our list with this one, folks – start an online store.

What is an online store?

Just like a physical store, an online store sells goods to customers. A decade ago, online stores were a revolution, but these days most bricks-and-mortar brands sell online too, like Walmart.com.  Some brands, though, only sell their goods online – leading online stores include Amazon.com (turnover in excess of $9 billion) and Apple iTunes (more than $1.4 billion in sales last year).

How Does an Online Store Make Money?

Quite simply, through sales of your goods, just as if you were manning a real physical store! Since you cannot take cash from virtual customers, though, most online store sales are via credit card payments or person-to-person payment services, like PayPal or Google Checkout. Either way, though, a hefty commission will be taken from each sale.

How Do I Create a Virtual Store?

There are some great e-commerce site builders out there, some of which are free and some of which are paid-for. Take a look at:

These e-commerce site builders will allow you to build fairly sophisticated e-commerce websites, but for relatively little investment. Your online store should include the following components:

  • A catalogue of products
  • A multi-product order form, which lets customers tick which items they want to buy and how many of each, or
  • A shopping cart, into which customers can ‘deposit’ their goods as they browse your store
  • A customer-friendly payment method – either person-to-person payment services or your own merchant account for processing credit card payment.

Get Some Online Store Ideas…

If you want to make money with an online store, think nîche! Don’t even consider competing with Amazon; for small business owners, nîche online stores have greater potential to develop into a profitable part-time or full-time business. We think these cool niche online stores have got the right idea: