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Starting an online store can be easy, when you have all the right steps in place.

๐Ÿ“ฆ 1. Store Information & Product Inventory

Store information

Product information

๐Ÿ”— Product / service inventory sheet โ€” make a copy or download as an excel sheet

https://stephaniekabi.com/product/e-commerce-product-page-checklist/embed/#?secret=yPYmSRbfAe#?secret=jpxzIAJYrT

๐Ÿ’ฐ 2. Online Payments

Shopify and WordPress enable Kenyan merchants to collect global payments automatically through Pesapal, when a customer places an order on an online store.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8Vzen9U4fKU%3Ffeature%3Doembed

๐Ÿ”— Online Payment Solutions โ€“ Kenya | Pesapal

About Pesapal

  • 100% compatible with Shopify for Kenyan sellers
  • Receive card & mpesa/airtel payments
  • Takes around 1 week to set up an account with Pesapal.
  • Pricing: 3.5% transaction fee (negotiable as you process higher revenue overtime)
๐Ÿ”— Pricing โ€“ Kenya | Pesapal

How to start receiving payments through Pesapal

https://youtube.com/watch?v=BdlMBI-o1Qc%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Once you open your business account, you need to send specific business documents to Pesapal on sales@pesapal.com, so that Pesapal can verify your business and activate your merchant account.

If you are a Sole Proprietor

  1. Voided/Cancelled Cheque in the name of sole proprietor
  2. Copy of Business Registration
  3. Copy of National ID, Passport or Driverโ€™s License
  4. Copy of KRA Pin Number or Tax Compliance Certificate
  5. Signed Pesapal Contract (contact sales@pesapal.com for information on how to access & submit your contract)

If you are a Partnership or LLC

  1. ID/Passport copies of Chairman/Directors of the Company PIN Certificate of all Directors/Partners
  2. Copy of Certificate of Incorporation of Company
  3. Copy of KRA Pin Number / Tax Compliance Certificate of Business
  4. Passport photo of each of the Directors/Partners
  5. Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company
  6. Copy of a voided Cheque
  7. Signed Pesapal Contract

Once Pesapal verifies them, they will automatically activate your full merchant account and raise your merchant accountโ€™s transaction limit from Ksh 1000 to one you are comfortable with.

๐Ÿ“ฑ3. Instagram Shop

It is highly recommended to set up your Instagram Shop once youโ€™re ready to launch your website, so that your products can automatically sync between the website and Instagram shop for your followers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nJAomDq_ZUk%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Your Instagram Shop can run with or without a website. However, without a website, youโ€™ll miss out on collecting online payments in your sleep & getting in-depth performance analytics about your store & MVP customers.

Sell on Facebook & Instagram 2022 | Shopify
๐Ÿ”— Guide to Setting up Instagram Shopping on Your Website

๐Ÿ”— From Likes to Dollars: Hereโ€™s How to Sell Your Products on Instagram in 2021

๐Ÿ’ธ 4. Recurring Fees (FYI)

These are costs that will come back as you run the store:

  • Website domain purchase (one-time) and renewals (annual) โ€” this varies depending on the domain name & hosting provider you choose ๐Ÿ‘‡
๐Ÿ”— Domain Name Search | Free Check Domain Availability Tool โ€“ Namecheap
  • Online transaction processing fees โ€” charged per transaction (payment collected) e.g 3.5% by Pesapal
  • Shopify platform fees โ€” $29 a month on the Basic plan ๐Ÿ‘‡
๐Ÿ”— Shopify pricing plans

๐Ÿ’โ€โ™€๏ธ Stephโ€™s personal tips for running an online store

  1. Automate as much as you can โ€” payment collections, โ€œIs this in stock?โ€ questions, checkout reminder emails, stockout alerts โ€ฆ
  2. Build trust with first impressions โ€” consistent store look, return policies, contact info, live chat, product info, product reviews โ€ฆ

Check out how ZIA Africa launched her online store on Shopify & Instagram Shop during the COVID19 lockdown ๐Ÿ‘‡

https://stephaniekabi.com/portfolio/zia-africa/embed/#?secret=GKTqglFdtc#?secret=mHIp9ODttt

๐Ÿคฒ These are other common FAQs that my clients ask all the time about getting their online stores right:

https://stephaniekabi.com/product/toolkit-for-online-businesses/embed/#?secret=MY7OAiphzk#?secret=EKxJ4UPnru

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๐Ÿ’ก If youโ€™re wondering which platform between Shopify, Squarespace or WordPress is best for your website, check out this guide:

๐Ÿ”— Which Ecommerce Platform is Best โ€” Squarespace, Shopify or WordPress?

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Image credit: Louis Vuitton online store on Behance

Stephanie Kabi

Author Stephanie Kabi

Design Mentor @ ADPList | Senior Product Designer @ Andela | DesignLab & UX Academy Ambassador | 3x UI/UX Certified

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E-commerce & Product Design for Long-Term Impact