What are the steps for opening an e-commerce shop?
Create your brand name
Consider what the name of your online shop will be and verify that your web address of your e-commerce site, that is, your domain name, is still available.
Create your product catalog
Determine the products that you want to sell on your e-commerce site.
The extent of your catalog will define what your needs are in terms of data storage capacity and will guide you towards the best solution for your e-commerce website.
Choose the solution that suits you best
Choose your website pack, including:
- Your online shop with your custom web address
- A domain name
- 2 standard mailboxes
- A certificate SSL to secure your online shop
- Your product catalog management software with an automatic installation
Which custom e-commerce shop creation solution should you choose?
New hosting customer? Get 50% off your first web hosting for a yearly subscription!
Simple, online sales platform with the WordPress CMS | Advanced, online sales platform with the PrestaShop CMS | Create your online sales platform by coding it yourself | |
|---|---|---|---|
Simple, online sales platform with the WordPress CMS | Advanced, online sales platform with the PrestaShop CMS | Create your online sales platform by coding it yourself | |
| Solution | Solution WordPress | Solution Prestashop | Solution Generic hosting |
| Technical competence | Technical competence None. Automatic installation | Technical competence Some knowledge required Automatic installation | Technical competence Required |
| Ease of use | Ease of use Easy | Ease of use Some learning time required | Ease of use You develop and install your own interface |
| Budget | Budget Ideal for small budgets | Budget Moderate budget | Budget No budget required if you are able to develop your solution yourself |
| E-commerce CMS | E-commerce CMS Add WooCommerce plugin for free | E-commerce CMS Especially designed for e-commerce | E-commerce CMS Any CMS is posible (Magento, Drupal, Joomla, etc.) |
| Product catalog | Product catalog Yes, with the WooCommerce plugin. Meet the needs of selling online: flash sales, subscription management, etc. | Product catalog Especially designed for e-commerce | Product catalog Requires manual development |
| Customization | Customization Wide choice of free themes ou for sale | Customization Free themes and themes for sale (but more limited than WordPress) | Customization Requires manual development |
| Features | Features Ability to add numerous additional plugins | Features Various free add-ons, and additional add-ons for sale | Features Requires manual development |
| Multi-language sites | Multi-language sites Plugins can be added | Multi-language sites Multi-language, multi-store, and tax calculation included | Multi-language sites Requires manual development |
| Support | Support Used around the world Free resources available in all languages | Support Support available in English | Support No free support available |
| Domain name included | Domain name included Yes, Free | Domain name included Yes, Free | Domain name included Yes, Free |
| email address | email address 2 email addresses included (10 GB of storage) | email address 2 email addresses included (10 GB of storage) | email address 2 email addresses included (10 GB of storage) |
Select from a list of over 80 TLDs
Only available with a domain attached to web hosting pack.
The advantages of this pack
- Security: Your e-commerce website in https for free—no configuration necessary
- Ease of use: A single management interface and automatic catalog management system installation so you can get your first few pages online instantly
- Growth: Is your site a success? Upgrade your plan at any time to grow along with your e-commerce website
- Gandi support: technical support available by chat and email 24 hours a day, 6 days a week to help you create your professional website
Which solution should you choose to create a custom e-commerce website?
WordPress + WooCommerce as the best-suited e-commerce solution for all
The duo of WordPress + WooCommerce plugin makes the creation of an e-commerce website accessible to all, without in-depth technical knowledge! Customize your online shop and benefit from integrated features for selling your products.
PrestaShop for advanced e-commerce software
Accelerate the upgrade of your e-commerce shop with PrestaShop, the most widely used e-commerce software in the world. Benefit from a wide range of features to grow your e-commerce website.
Why choose Gandi to create your e-commerce website?
- Made in France since 1999
More than 20 years of expertise built on customer trust and word-of-mouth, in order to provide you the internet's best, made in France.
- Data hosted in Europe
Your site is hosted in one of Gandi's datacenters in France or in Luxembourg, guaranteeing you maintain control over your data, which will stay private.
- 24 hour support, 6 days a week
Because your questions can't be scheduled, Gandi is available 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, ready to help you on multiple support channels.
Still more possibilities for success online with Gandi!
Showcase website
Make your business known and make it easy to get in touch.
Blog
Share your passion or demonstrate your expertise and improve your credibility
Need support? Here are all the ways you can reach us
Step-by-step guides for and explanations of how to use all our products and services: Check out our documentation
Help from our Customer care team: Open a support ticket
Chat live with our Customer care team: Open a chat window
Do you have a suggestion or a comment? Send it to feedback @ gandi.net. We read and respond to every email.
FAQ/Frequently Asked Questions
Why create an e-commerce shop?
Whether you want to start the digital transformation of your business or just sell your products online, starting an e-commerce website provides the ideal format to grow your online e-commerce business. Creating an e-commerce website enables you to:
- Sell around the clock: Opening a shop online means you get a virtual sales window that's open 24/7.
- Increase visibility: Opening an online shop means attracting new customers with a national, or even international, scope
- Increase revenue: Opening an online shop means being able to suggest related products and increase average shopping cart site
- Improve your customer trust: Opening an online shop means demonstrating your expertise and generating more visits to your shop
How do you create an e-commerce shop for free?
It's completely possible to create a free, online e-commerce site with the help of website creation software. These e-commerce solutions enable you to finalize the creation of your e-commerce website. These e-commerce website solutions enable you to finalize the creation of your e-commerce website in a few simple steps. However, these solutions require compromises, that, in the long term, can limit the success of your e-commerce site, such as:
- limits to your product catalog size
- a reduced range of features
- diminished storage space or low bandwidth allowances
- displaying the name of the solution in your e-commerce site's web address
- displaying ad banners on your e-commerce site's pages
- less reactive support that may require payment
- lack of control over the location of your data
To maintain your credibility and earn the trust of your website's visitors, we recommend limiting the use of free e-commerce solutions and prioritize a high-performing solution for just a few dollars per month. By choosing to open an e-commerce website at Gandi, you'll be sure to able to offer an extensive catalog of products for sale and change providers without having to start over from the beginning.
How much does an e-commerce site cost?
The price of an e-commerce website basically depends on the size of your e-commerce shop and the level of customization you want. It is completely possible to create a free e-commerce website using free website creation software. In that case, you'll be limited in the size of your product catalog and associated features. By investing a few dollars per month, you can have much greater freedom in creating your e-commerce website.
At Gandi, creating a complete and totally customizable e-commerce website includes:
- a domain name with which to define your online identity
- web hosting for publishing your product catalog
- your product catalog manager for updating your online shop
- an SSL certificate to guarantee the security of your e-commerce website
- 2 standard mailboxes using your custom domain name
What's the difference between an e-commerce site and a showcase website
An e-commerce website is a commercial website that enables you to sell products online and that offers greater visibility for your brand. A showcase website is an informative website that presents a company's business: its identity, geographic location, as well as the products and services that you offer, but without the ability to sell directly from your website.
As opposed to a showcase website, which is static, an e-commerce website is a site that should be supplied and updated regularly, especially to add new products, update stock, and implement promotions and sales.
Between WordPress + WooCommerce and PrestaShop, which e-commerce solution should I choose?
The choice between WordPress + WooCommerce and Prestashop as an e-commerce solution depends on your level of technical knowledge and your personal preferences.
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) thanks to its ease of use without having been necessarily designed as an e-commerce solution. By adding the free WooCommerce plugin, you can use WordPress to create and manage a commercial, e-commerce website, making it the easiest solution to use for beginners.
PrestaShop is the most widely used e-commerce solution in the world. Exclusively dedicated to creating e-commerce websites, PrestaShop provides access to a wide range of features. Its interface is slightly more complicated but guarantees your e-commerce site is 100% customizable.
What should I do if I already have a domain name?
Gandi's website packs include a free domain name with one of more than 80 domain endings (all called domain extensions). If you already have a domain name with another provider, you can still choose WordPress or PrestaShop web hosting for you site. You'll then need to manually configure your DNS records with your domain name provider.
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