Rate this post

You want to build a website to sell handmade items. So easy, just a website. but what I want to emphasize here is don’t stop at building a simple website, let’s make it become a place where you can share the passion for handmade to others, where you can gain more benefits by applying marketplace model. How to build? The answer is Handmade WordPress theme from Cmsmart. However, I already wrote an article What do we have in Handmade WordPress theme on Cmsmart, so in this post, I will focus on 5 tips to build a successful handy store with this WordPress theme:

Do research

If we mention just to research, it’s too general. I can make it easy-to-understand by give you a list of question. If you can answer all of them, that’s when your research is complete:

The market trends: what is the hottest, what will not be the trend but still be the basic demand of market?

The cost to start and maintain a marketplace will be how much?

For business owners who buy Handmade WordPress theme, the advantage you can gain is that all marketing tool and management tools are already available on the theme, you don’t need to buy more plugins and add into your website with the worry of conflict occurs.

After building a marketplace, what you should pay attention is:

Charge: Do you charge a one-off joining fee or annual subscription? How much will the commission be? Is it reasonable?

What kind of payment method should you integrate?

How to design and organize your website so it can bring customers the best shopping experience?

How many international consumers or trade buyers attract the site, for example, would you be able to ship your work confidently tomorrow to the US or Australia?

How can you connect other designers or crafts people?

With this research, you don’t need to go different places, just going online is also enough, ask potential online retailers or refer on the community, huge source for you. I have an idea that don’t forget ask other designer-makers because as my experience, they are always the one that have information about which sites work well and which ones don’t.

All business models are just the examples to refer, you don’t need to follow them entirely, the most important thing is finding what is the best suitable for your strategy.

Create the best quality product images

You are selling online, especially you provide handmade service, so there is no reason to deny providing fabulous images of your work. Online shopping doesn’t allow customers to touch, to feel, so let’s bring your customers the close feeling to your product with high-quality images, the only bridge connecting you to customers. Some tips for you:

Generally, when potential customers come to a website, they will spend some first seconds to go around and look at the website to decide whether they like it or not. They will not immediately check product, price or policy. How your website look like will be the first thing they see and evaluate. So, offer them the convenience and great images, you will have chance to win.

Images should represent your brand and fit with the overview feeling of website

The best combination is overall shot plus and detail shot and you can customize texture, color, softness.

Organize related products into a certain collection or theme and it will look far stronger than if you have lots of different single products across different categories or tags.

Even with Free product, you also need to group them into a strong and professional collection.

A tiny thing but I still want to say is you can take picture of products by yourself but it would be better if you hire professional photographer who has got experience photographing hand-made products. Great images can get you onto selling websites, but also into trade shows, exhibitions and into the press.

To be continued….