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In recent years, online retail has grown at an astonishing rate in Hungary. More and more people want to set up their own business and online shop, which is no surprise, as e-commerce is one of the most convenient and profitable business models.
However, there are many people who are not yet familiar with even the basics, so they do not know where to start on their journey to becoming online retailers.
Below, we therefore aim to help ensure that, at the very least, setting up your own online shop does not cause any problems. Of course, there will be plenty of other tasks to deal with as well – the legal framework, taxation, payment and delivery options, and so on – but the foundation of e-commerce is, first and foremost, having your own fully functional online shop.
The most important things are the domain and the hosting
If you want to get started in e-commerce, the first and most important step is to register your own domain name and rent hosting for it. The cost of the domain name is negligible in the grand scheme of things, but it is very important, as this will be the address and contact details for your online shop, which might look something like this, for example: www.peldashop.hu
One thing to bear in mind is whether to choose a domain name extension in .hu, .eu or perhaps .com. If your aim is exclusively to sell domestically, then the .hu extension may be the best choice. However, if you are also considering selling abroad, or if there is a possibility of future expansion, you should definitely opt for a .eu or .com extension.
However, a domain name alone is not enough; you also need web hosting. Unfortunately, without practical experience, it is very difficult to choose the right one. This is why it is essential to have a comprehensive business plan setting out what products you want to sell, the scale of your range, what features you want to offer customers, and which e-commerce platform you will use to build your system.
These questions essentially determine the type of web hosting required. It is essential to have sufficient storage capacity – for a standard online shop, it is worth considering a minimum of 10+ gigabytes – as well as the potential for future expansion, and that it provides all the features and services we may need for e-commerce.
Which e-commerce platform should we choose?
Since we began this article by stating that a domain and hosting are the most important things for entering the world of e-commerce, let’s assume that we are driven by a serious goal and intention.
We can choose from free marketplaces or rentable online shops, but on the one hand, these do not offer a sufficiently professional overall impression, and on the other, we may from time to time encounter limitations that prevent us from making successful progress.
If you’re just starting out, open-source e-commerce systems may be a good choice; they can be skilfully customised to suit your needs, generally work well, though they do sometimes require compromises. However, to achieve the best end result, you’ll need the help of a specialist to set them up.
In contrast, bespoke online shops are far superior; although they are more expensive, they are always developed with the help of experts, and the sky’s the limit – we don’t run into any constraints and can, in practice, create exactly what we want.
This is the e-commerce platform that the web hosting service will run, and it is what we’ll be able to access via the domain name; that’s why these three elements are so important if we’re to gain a foothold in the world of e-commerce.