How to start an e-shop: what you need before you begin
A successful e-shop isn't just a website with products. It needs proper preparation, professional development and a structure that helps both the customer and Google. Before we talk about themes, colours and plugins, the business foundations need to be in place.
You'll do most of the following yourself with the help of your accountant, and some of it takes days to be approved. That's why we suggest you start them in parallel with the build, not after it. Good preparation reduces mistakes and gets the store open much faster.
- A registered business address
- An ecommerce activity registered with the right KAD (Greek business activity code)
- Reliable suppliers
- Payment methods and a card provider
- An agreement with a courier company
- A domain name and brand identity
Steps 1 and 2: business address and business activity
Step 1: register your business address. An e-shop is a commercial store and needs a business address officially registered with the tax office. The space can be an office or a warehouse and must be available for inspection. If you already have a physical shop, it's usually enough to add the new activity.
Step 2: register a business activity. You need a KAD for online retail sales. If there's no business yet, you usually open a sole proprietorship or an IKE (Greek private limited company). An accountant's guidance is essential at this stage, because it also determines how you'll issue receipts and invoices. If you want receipts to go to myDATA (Greece's tax e-invoicing platform) automatically, tell your accountant from the start, so you can choose an e-invoicing provider together.
Steps 3 to 5: suppliers, couriers and payments
Step 3: choose the right suppliers. Suppliers directly affect product availability, shipping times and how competitive your prices will be. Ideally you work with suppliers who provide an XML or CSV file, so products, prices and stock update automatically in the store. Connecting each supplier costs from €150 + VAT with us.
Step 4: partner with a courier company. The right courier means fast deliveries, reasonable shipping costs and cash on delivery. In Greece the most common options are ACS, ELTA Courier, Geniki Taxydromiki (Greek couriers) and BoxNow for locker pickup. Ask two or three for a quote, because prices for small volumes vary. The e-shop connects to the courier to calculate costs and issue vouchers.
Step 5: set up payment methods. The most effective in Greece are cards through a bank, Viva Wallet or Everypay (Greek payment providers), cash on delivery, bank transfer and PayPal. The more methods you offer, the fewer customers abandon their cart. A card provider account needs approval, so open it early.
- Suppliers with XML or CSV for automatic updates
- Quotes from 2 or 3 couriers before you sign
- Card, cash on delivery, bank transfer and PayPal
Steps 6 to 8: domain, brand identity and photos
Step 6: choose a domain name. The domain should be simple, easy to remember and related to your brand. The .gr (Greece's country domain) and .com endings are the most trusted by Greek customers. Avoid hyphens and numbers that nobody remembers when they hear the name over the phone. With us, domain and hosting are free for the first year.
Step 7: create a brand identity. Branding plays a huge role in trust, especially for a store the customer has never visited. A proper identity includes a logo, a colour palette and a consistent style across your site, social media and packaging.
Step 8: prepare your photos. Good photos raise sales significantly, because images sell before text does. Ideally you want clean shots on a neutral background, from several angles and in high resolution. If you sell a supplier's products, ask them for the official photos, but add some of your own too, so you stand out from the other stores that have the same ones.
- A .gr or .com domain, short and without hyphens
- Logo, colours and style before the design
- Photos on a neutral background, from several angles
Steps 9 and 10: building the e-shop and training
Step 9: professional e-shop development. An e-shop that sells must load fast, work flawlessly on mobile, be set up properly for SEO, have a simple buying process and be secure. We build with WooCommerce on WordPress, connect the card provider and courier you chose, create a feed for Skroutz (Greece's largest price-comparison site) and, if you want, connect myDATA. We also set up GA4, so from the first order you can see where each sale came from.
Step 10: training and day-to-day management. The owner needs to be able to add products, manage orders, create offers and coupons and check stock easily. At handover we show you all of this, and most people learn it in an hour. Proper training is what makes an e-shop sustainable, because you won't need to call us for every new product.
- Fast loading and correct display on mobile
- A simple checkout with few steps
- SEO on categories and products
- Training for products, orders and coupons
How to increase your e-shop's sales
The build is only the beginning. A new e-shop has no visitors on its own, and Google needs time to trust it. Real results need promotion through several channels at once.
Google Ads bring traffic from the first week, especially with Google Shopping through Merchant Center. SEO builds steady organic traffic over months. Social media shows your products to people who aren't looking for you yet, and with our own TopSocial, posts on Instagram and Facebook go out automatically. Marketplaces such as Skroutz and BestPrice (another Greek price-comparison site) put you in front of people who are already comparing prices for what you sell.
- Google Ads and Google Shopping
- SEO on categories, products and articles
- Social media with regular posts
- Marketplaces such as Skroutz and BestPrice
- A simple plan that ties all of the above together
Our offer: an e-shop ready in 10 days from €700
If you've done steps 1 to 8, or at least started them, we take care of step 9. The E-shop package costs €700 + VAT and includes WooCommerce with up to 50 products added, card payments, connection to ACS or ELTA Courier, a Skroutz feed, optional myDATA, basic SEO and GA4. It's delivered in 10 business days from the moment we have the products, photos and payment details.
Domain and hosting are free for the first year and then cost €100 + VAT per year. You get 3 months of support at no charge and then, if you want, monthly maintenance from €50 + VAT. If you have suppliers with XML, each connection costs from €150 + VAT. Payment is 50% at the start and 50% on delivery.
Since 2016 we've completed more than 600 projects and we have 5.0 stars from 36 reviews on Google. If you don't know where to start, call us and we'll tell you which step to take first.
