“If you build it, they will come” may have worked before the digital era, however, the reality of the marketplace today is this; it takes more than building an ordinary e-commerce website to draw shoppers.
This guide will put you through the essential steps needed to get your store up and running as quickly as possible. We’ll be focusing on the minimum setup required to start receiving orders on your KitCart website.
What is Kitcart and How Does it Work?
Kitcart is a cloud-based eCommerce website builder that helps small businesses sell products to customers around the world. Kitcart allows small businesses to set up an eCommerce website and sell their products to anyone and everywhere. KitCart merchants can also sell in physical locations using KitCart POS(point-of-sale system) to record their walk-in sales.
With KitCart, small businesses can build and customize an e-commerce website and sell in multiple places, including web, mobile, social media, online marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. KitCart also has features to manage products, inventory, payments, and shipping.
Kitcart Pricing: How Much Does Kitcart Cost?
Here's a breakdown of the pricing for each plan:
Kitcart has a free forever plan to encourage Small business owners to build their eCommerce websites and sell their products to customers all over the world. The following are also premium plans available for small businesses on Kitcart.
Kitcart Bronze Plan – $50 per annum
Kitcart Silver Plan – $100 per annum
Kitcart Gold Plan– $250 for two years.
Kitcart also has bigger plans for enterprises. You can check out the full pricing guide
How to Use Kitcart – Step by Step Guide
Create Your Website
1. Sign Up for Kitcart
In order to start using Kitcart, all you need to do is sign up for an account. Navigate to the Kitcart website, and click on the Get Started button. Fill in your desired email address, password, and store name. Then proceed to choose a unique name for your website. After you’ve signed up and created your website, click on the walk me through button so that Kitcart AI will pop up to guide you through a quick setup, where you can easily input basic details for your website.
2. Get a Custom Domain
This is your first step to launching your website. Having a website without a domain is like owning a house without an address. Secure a .com domain for your brand today.
In the case your business name is already taken, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go back to square one. My Identity can help you find creative names for your Kitcart website. Nekkyhairs, for instance, uses nekkyhair.com for its URL.
Additionally, you can check out top-level domains (TLDs) like .shop or .store. .co You’ll notice that many stores use TLDs because they make for a unique and memorable URL.
Customize Your Website
The first step towards getting your store set for orders is customizing the looks. From the color choice to uploading your logo, putting up nice sliders, and choosing your store theme
3. Upload your logo
Creating and adding a logo to your KitCart store should be your top priority. A logo plays an important part in setting your brand apart from the crowd. You can add your Logo to your online store to help strengthen your brand and to add a polished look to your website.
You can add or change your existing logo on your Kitcart storefront by following the steps provided below:
How To Add Logo To Your Store
- From the KitCart admin, tap Store settings
- In the assets sections, tap the logo
- Tap choose file button to upload your logo
- Hit the save button
4. Upload Your Favicon
A favicon, or favorite icon, is a small square image or logo that appears next to a web address. You can find favicons on your browser tabs, as well as on browser pages that list web addresses, such as the bookmarks page.
The ideal size for a favicon is either 16x16 pixels or 32x32 pixels. If your favicon file is too large, then it will be reduced to 32x32 pixels when you upload it to Kitcart.
Here’s How To Add Favicon To Your Website
- From the KitCart admin, tap Store settings
- In the assets section, tap the favicon
- Tap the file button to upload your favicon.
- Hit the save button
5. Add Sliders To Your Website
A slider refers to a slideshow on your online store, a display of products, images, or video contents, popping up one after the other. It’s likely the first thing your customers see when they visit your store and it’s a guaranteed way to make your store much more interesting.
Sliders are a good way to get your information across without losing your audience’s attention after only a few seconds.
How To Add Image Sliders To Your Website
- From your admin dashboard, go to Store Settings > Sliders > Create New
- Upload the slider image
- Pick a Button Text you want to appear on the slider (such as shop now etc) and the Url you want it to lead to. For example, add ( /shop ) if you want the slider to lead to the shop page.
- Hit the submit button
- If you want the slider to have a dynamic display, navigate to plugins and install Kitsliders, and choose any of the kitsliders display formats such as Megatron, Optimus prime, etc.
- You are good to go.
How To Add Video Sliders To Your Website
- From your admin dashboard, go to Store Settings > Sliders > Create New
- Input the Video Url (link to video)
- Upload the cover image
- Pick a Button Text you want to appear on the slider (such as shop now etc) and the Url you want it to lead to. For example, add ( /shop ) if you want the slider to lead to the shop page.
- Hit the submit button
- If you want the slider to have a dynamic display, navigate to plugins and install Kitsliders, and choose any of the kitsliders display formats such as Megatron, Optimus prime etc.
6. Choose Your Store Theme
Themes determine the look of your website. So it’s also an important part of setting up your KitCart store. KitCart provides you with a variety of themes you can use for your store, depending on your kitcart plan.
For the silver plan, you have access to themes like Organic, Storefront, and Evara). For the bronze and lite plan users, you have access to the lite theme while the platinum plan has a limitless number of themes to pick from.
Organize Your Website
It’s easy to get hung up on the aesthetics of a website and sacrifice form over function without even realizing it. it’s easy to get caught up with customizing your store, don’t fall for it. Focus on results. The following will guide you through the process of adding products to your KitCart store, setting them into categories, accepting payments online, etc.
7. Add Your Products
You can add or update information about a product such as its title, description, price, stock quantity, weight, and picture in your KitCart admin.
Here’s How To Add a New Product
- On your KitCart admin, go to Products > Add products
- Enter Product title
- Add a Short Description, Regular Price, Special Price (optional) if you are running a discount, Stock Quantity, and Weight
- Add a good quality image not more than 3MB
- Save to drafts or Publish
8. Set The Categories
You can group your products into categories to make it easier for customers to find your products. Here are a few examples of product categories that you might create:
- clothes for men,
- women,
- Children
How To Create Your Product Categories
- Go to the products section on the KitCart admin dashboard
- Click on categories
- Click on add new categories
- Input the name of the category
- If its main category leaves the parent category section as none, however, if it’s a subcategory you should add it under the main category.
- If you want the category created to display on the website set the featured option as yes and in case you don’t want it featured click the No option
- If you want the category to display in the menu section, set it as Yes, and if you don’t want it displayed in the menu section, set it as No
- Upload a thumbnail(an image that shows what the category is all about)
- Hit the save button
9 . Set Up Your Shipping Method
Before opening up your store to customers, you need to load the ready-made shipping fees or manually set it up if you have custom Shipping details;
How To Create Shipping Method
- From your admin, click Shipping > Method
- Click create a shipping Method
- Add Name and Description
- Hit the save button
Create Shipping Type
- From your admin, click Shipping > Shippings
- Click create Shipping
- Add a name for the shipping, eg home delivery, weight, price, methods( DHL, USPS, Gig logistics), and locations
- Hit the save button
10. Set Your Currency
The default currency for KitCart is American Dollars, but that doesn’t mean that your shop has to operate in US Dollars. You could use other currencies on your store, or multiple currencies on your store if you use one of the more popular
- From your KitCart admin,
- Go to Settings> Shop Settings.
- Click Multi-Currency > Add currency
- Add your preferred currency and rate
- Hit the save button
4b. Multi-currency
The currency that your customers use to pay for their orders can be different from the currency of your payouts from your Kitcart base currency. That is, your store currency can be different from the currency of your bank account.
Suppose that your store is located in Nigeria, but the majority of your customers are in the United States. If you sell to a lot of Americans, then set your store currency to United States dollars (USD). If you sell to Europeans then add another GBP as your other currency.
- Click Add a currency to add more currencies
- Hit the save button
11. Set up your payment gateways
Setting up your payment gateway is an important step toward getting paid by your customers. When a customer checks out, they can choose to pay for their order using any of the methods that you’ve enabled in the Payment Providers area of your KitCart admin.
KitCart allows you to receive Automated Payments such as Paystack, Flutterwave, Stripe, and Paypal which enables you to receive Crypto payments with Bitpay. Also, you can Cash On Delivery (COD) by setting up a display name at checkout and adding additional detail. Manual Payment with Kitpay is also available where your customers can pay with a bank transfer online without using a credit card.
How To Set up Flutterwave On Your KitCart Store
- Go to Payments > Automated Payments
- Install Flutterwave
- Enter your Display Name, Public Key and Secret Key
- Choose currency and the purpose of what you are receiving payment
- Enable and save
How To Set up Paystack On Your KitCart Website
- Go to Payments > Automated Payments
- Install Paystack
- Enter your Display Name, Public Key and Secret Key
- Choose currency and Purpose
- Enable and save
Paypal
PayPal allows payment through credit cards, bank payments, buyer credit, or PayPal account balances. You can also test your PayPal setup by stimulating successful and failed transactions.
How To Set up Paypal On Your KitCart Website
- Go to Payments > Automated Payments
- Install PayPal
- Enter your Display Name, currency, Client ID and ClientSecret
- Choose currency and Purpose
- Enable and save
How To Set up Stripe On Your KitCart Website
- Go to Payments > Automated Payments
- Install Stripe
- Enter your Display Name, Stripe Key and Stripe Secret
- Choose currency and Purpose
- Enable and save
12. Add menus and links to your Website
You can add menu items to your online store menus to build your store’s navigation. Menu items are links to products, collections, webpages, blog posts, policies, or other websites. You can also remove or edit menu items
How To Create Menu On Your KitCart Website.
- From the Kitcart admin,
- Click on store settings
- In the store settings tap menus
- Click on Customise header menu ( for the menus you want to display on top of your website)
- Enter a name for the menu item. This name displays in the menu and can include eg ( shop) so it links them to the products sections.
- Click the URL field, and then enter a website address for an external website or select a link type
- Hit the add button
13. Create Informational Pages
You don’t need to have all your pages ready for launch, but some of the most helpful ones to create include:
- Contact page. This page gives customers clear ways to reach you if they have questions or points them to a place to find answers, such as an FAQ page.
- About page. An About page connects personally with customers, explains your business model, and/or shares the reason you started your business. A persuasive About page can go a long way in earning trust for new online stores.
- FAQ page. A frequently asked questions page helps alleviate some of the more common customer support inquiries.
- Policy pages. There are certain legal pages customers expect that can help protect you in case of disputes, such as your return policy and privacy policy, that you can set up by naming the page you create return and policy.
How To Create Informational Pages
- From your KitCart admin, go to Store Settings > Pages > Add New
- Enter Page Title, For example, Excerpt, and Content
- Hit the save button
14. Add a domain to your Website
Adding a domain helps you establish your brand and build trust in your online store. By default, your online store has a kitcart. shop URL when you sign up for KitCart. If you want to change the web address that’s displayed to customers while they browse your online store, then you need to add a custom domain, such as www.yourwebsite.com. You can add a domain to Kitcart in the following ways:
Buy a domain through Identity by KitCart
If you want to buy a new domain, then you can buy a domain through Identity to simplify the setup process. If this domain is the first domain that you add to Kitcart, then it’s automatically configured to be the web address that’s displayed to customers. If you already use a domain with your store, then the new domain automatically redirects to your primary domain.
Note
If you’re on any of the premium plans on Kitcart, from silver to platinum, your plan comes with a free domain on Identity. You manage all your domain settings from your Kitcart admin.
Connecting your domain to KitCart
If you already own a domain from a third-party provider, then you can connect your domain to your online store. You still use the third-party domain provider to manage your domain settings, pay for your domain, and renew it.
15. Add social links-
Let your customers meet you where they are. An average customer spends at least an hour a day across social media, so it’s a no-brainer to reach them on whatever platforms they are. Therefore an important checklist to mark while customizing your store is adding your social media links such as (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and youtube URLs).
How To Add Social Links To Your KitCart Website
- On your kitcart dashboard
- Go to the Assets section
- Input your social media URL in the social links section
- Hit the save button
Just In Case You Want To Add More Than One Social Links
- Click on add new button
- Input the other social media URL
- Hit the save button
Optimize Your Website
If you truly want visitors to take action on your website (by signing up for your mailing list, purchasing a product, or booking your services), you have to focus on more than just aesthetics.
16. SEO( Search Engine Optimization)
Whether you’re launching a new product, building a web presence for your brand, or starting a dropshipping business, when you’re trying to sell online you have an important problem to solve: how do you get customers to find your store? People who find your online store in a search engine are probably looking for products like yours, so they are more likely to buy something. You can use search engine optimization (SEO) to improve the search engine ranking for your store and help customers find your products. Follow the steps below to set your KitCart store SEO in order.
How to set up your KitCart Store SEO
- Go to the store settings
- Click on SEO
- Enter your site title, Which should include your store name and a brand-related keyword you want your store to appear for on search engines when people search.
- Enter your Twitter title( Your Twitter handle)
- Enter your site tags( keywords that relate to what your brand is all about and stuffs you sell
- input your store description ( Eg- N0.1 Skincare brand in Nigeria)
Test Drive Your Website
You need to be sure everything is in order, it’s important you test where your payment is going as well as test for your store’s speed.
17. Place a test order
By placing a test order, you can make sure that your checkout process and settings for order processing, inventory, shipping, email notifications, and taxes are all correct. You aren’t charged for a test order. You should place at least one test order during your store setup, or whenever you make changes to your payment settings.
Caution
Before you create a test order, ensure you activate the test disable the live key so your real account doesn’t get debited.
Publicize Your Website
You can use numerous platforms to reach your target audience, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn to create successful social media ads.
18. Create High-Quality Visuals
Visuals are a vital component of social .media ads that help catch your audience’s attention and get them to engage. Ensure your visuals are clear, high-quality, and visually pleasing, so you can draw your audience in to learn about your business.
19. Run Conversion Based Ads
The conversions objective is a great choice for eCommerce businesses that want to drive sales. The objectives formerly called website conversions and dynamic ads both are a part of the current conversions objective. If you want to optimize for people completing a specific action on your store you have to have a Facebook/Google pixel installed on your store, you should use conversions as your objective.
20. Use contact marketing
If you want to market your Ktcart store, email marketing is a great option. Contact/Email marketing enables you to send tailored content to people you know are interested in your business. To start promoting your Kitcart store through email, you need to have a list of subscribers.
You can get subscribers by adding an email sign-up bar to the header or footer of your website. You could also use email sign-up pop-ups to catch your audience’s attention by offering them a 10% discount on their first purchase to get their email.
Conclusion
You are finally set for launch! Is your e-commerce website perfect? No. But definitely ready to make your first sales. If you have questions or need any clarification, feel free to ask in the comment section.
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