How to Get Your eCommerce Side Hustle Up and Running in Less Than a Week

Ever thought about running an eCommerce store as a potential side hustle?

If you’re like us, you’ve probably thought of online stores as labor and time-intensive. Shopping on Amazon and eBay can give one that impression. All those professional-looking product pages!

But we couldn’t be more wrong.

Our research proved that starting an eCommerce store can be done in a week or even less if you follow the right process. You don’t need big capital, either. The perfect ingredients for a side hustle!

That’s why this week, we’ll discuss the best practices and tips for starting an eCommerce business.

The key is determining how much time and money you’re willing to put in, what you’ll sell, and where you’ll sell it. And yes, you can do it for only 15 hours a week from home while maintaining your day job and pursuing other passions.

Believe it or not, it’s lucrative, too. But only if you do your homework, exercise due diligence, apply the experts’ advice, and learn from the mistakes of those who have gone before you.

This newsletter will help you decide if starting an eCommerce store is the side hustle you’ve been searching for.

What can you expect from our newsletter this week?

• Trends: We’ve compiled some interesting statistics on the most popular categories in eCommerce, where most people spend their money and more!
• Strategies: If selling physical or digital products is your thing, you’re in for a treat!
• Tool of the Week: An eCommerce store comprises numerous nuts and bolts, but a platform like Bigcommerce will make it seem like child’s play.

Trends

What categories are most popular in eCommerce? Where are people spending their money? And where are all these online stores hosting their sites? We’ve collected the latest available data for you. Enjoy!

Top consumer goods categories 

Electronics and Fashion are hot markets when it comes to consumer spending in the United States. Can your eCommerce store compete? Or are you better off looking into less saturated markets? That’s up to you to decide!

Largest eCommerce retailers   

According to Statista, as of 2022, Alibaba Group was the largest e-commerce retailer worldwide, generating an estimated 780 billion U.S. dollars in annual online sales.

Amazon was the second largest e-commerce retailer in this time period, with around 690 billion U.S. dollars in online sales. However, forecasts project that Amazon will overtake Alibaba by 2027, with estimated annual online sales exceeding 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars.

Most popular eCommerce platforms

WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform with a 23% share of eCommerce merchants globally. WooCommerce is an open-source, completely customizable platform while Shopify with close to 15% of the total eCommerce merchant base is a hosted eCommerce solution.

As an open-source, WooCommerce is quite popular with businesses that have the bandwidth to code and build their own solutions but the Shopify ecosystem comprises many small and medium merchants (aka side-hustlers like you and me!).  

Strategies 

eCommerce platforms like Bigcommerce and Shopify have made launching an online store faster and easier than ever.

This week’s issue covers examples of successful side hustles turned into full-time businesses, tips for choosing a platform, and recommendations for using tools to succeed at building your own eCommerce store from home.

Is an eCommerce store a good side hustle?

Most people don’t think about starting an eCommerce store as a side hustle, but that’s a mistake. Some of today’s most successful online stores were once side hustles.

The main reason it’s a good idea to start an eCommerce store is because it can help you build your brand quickly. And if you’re already selling products, whether physical or digital, you’ve got one foot in the door.

With more people shopping online today than ever before, sellers have more opportunities to reach new customers daily.

In fact, according to Insider Intelligence, eCommerce sales crossed the $1 TRILLION mark in 2022. And that’s for the US alone. 

Globally, the forecast is at $5 TRILLION. (Notice how we used all caps twice? That’s how mind-boggling those figures are.)

Here are some more great benefits for starting an eCommerce store:

• They’re incredibly easy to set up—you can be up and running within minutes with no technical skills required!
• You don’t necessarily have to maintain inventory (it’s called dropshipping, but more on that later), so you won’t need extra space or special equipment.
• It allows you to charge what you want without having to answer to anyone.
• If done correctly, it can provide passive income long after the launch. That means you don’t need to be working on your site or fulfilling orders yourself; someone else could be doing all that work for you!

Successful eCommerce stores that started as side hustles

Apple is perhaps the most famous, arguably the most successful, and definitely the most inspiring eCommerce store that began as a side hustle.

But what about everyday people like you and me?

Pink Lily

Ditching her $35,000/year job selling insurance, Tori Gerbig transformed her eBay side hustle into a full-time job. Her experiments to leverage social media to grow her client base from among her social followers paid off handsomely. She also focused on just one USP—trendy and affordable, with most items under $50.

Today, Pink Lily rakes in around $141 million annually, with an average of 11,000 items sold per day. And Tori’s just 35.

Kenyarn

Powered by Shopify, this online store for hand-dyed yarn is on its way to making almost $200,000 in sales. Not much, you’d think, until you learn that it started less than a year before as a 30-year-old’s side hustle.

Jake Kenyon worked full-time as a speech pathologist in a Rhode Island hospital until he contracted COVID-19 and was forced to quarantine, giving him time to assess the potential of his side business.

Several months after returning to work, and with just enough savings for three months worth of living expenses, he quit. Best decision he ever made.

Pop-Up Pigeon

One of the top eCommerce stores in the UK, Pop-Up Pigeon, is the brainchild of Sally Brockway. She offers laser-cut, hand-assembled pop-up greeting cards for all occasions.

Who sends cards to their loved ones on special events in this digital age? Almost no one, for we all know they’ll just be tossed right into the bin. And that was what spurred Sally to create pieces that people would like to keep forever.

The inspiration, though, came from a Vietnamese pop-up card her dad brought home from his visit there. Sally thought it was beautiful, and now, millions of buyers agree.

Cards Against Humanity

What happens when eight friends reconvene in their hometown during college winter break?

Well, they invent a card game that would go on to be the perpetual #1 bestseller on Amazon!

Interestingly, Ben Hantoot, Daniel Dranove, David Munk, David Pinsof, Eli Halpern, Eliot Weinstein, Josh Dillon, and Max Temkin still treat the multimillion-dollar business as a side hustle. Each continues to pursue their passion and career.

So, who minds their eCommerce store? Everyone contributes according to their capability and as their schedule allows. And they have no ambition of taking over the card game industry. Cool, huh?

Dropshipping vs. Private Label Products 

When it comes to starting an eCommerce business, choosing what to sell is one of the most important decisions to make.

Then you’ll have to decide whether you want to do dropshipping or private label products. 

Both are viable options with their own advantages and disadvantages. To help you decide, we’ve created an outline of the pros and cons for both.

Dropshipping

This convenient retail fulfillment method does not require you to stock goods. Rather, customer orders and other important information like shipment details are transferred to a manufacturer who is responsible for shipping the goods to customers directly.

When you use dropshipping, you’re the customer-facing seller. You set the price, record the purchase as revenue, and pay the sales taxes.

Even though a third party will be handling the storage and shipment, you’re considered the seller of record (SoR). That’s because you owned the products before they went out to the customer.

Pros of dropshipping

• Requires little investment: To start a dropshipping business, you simply need to sign up with a drop shipper and begin selling products online. This is a brilliant business model to get started.  
• Lower operating costs: Most of your overheads come from starting and maintaining an eCommerce store. No facilities or resources are required to process and fulfill orders. Also, you don’t need to pay storage fees or worry about logistics.
• Elimination of unused inventory: One of the greatest challenges for online and brick-and-mortar retailers is being left with items they can no longer sell. Shifting trends, expiration dates, and seasonality are all factors beyond your control. With dropshipping, you don’t have to deal with this headache.
• Rapid shipping times = Greater customer satisfaction: Your supplier manages all shipping details, including delivery services (like UPS), parcel tracking systems, and packaging materials. If you choose the right dropshipper with experience in these areas, you can be assured of fast delivery to your customers.
• Multi-channel selling: Your eCommerce store can function as the website where your main distribution happens. Outside of it is a world of possibilities to promote your listings, such as social media platforms and affiliates. When your eCommerce business grows, and you’d like to consider selling your items on multiple online spaces, you can learn the basics from this article by Ware2Go.
• Work from anywhere: And isn’t this what a really good side hustle is all about? As long as you have a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone, and WiFi, you can manage your eCommerce store from any corner of the globe.
• Scalability potential: Utilizing suppliers makes it possible to take on more orders without increasing your inventory. 

Cons of dropshipping

• Zero control over product quality and fulfillment: The success (or downfall) of your eCommerce store hinges on one thing — a reliable dropshipper with whom you can build a long-term relationship. With dropshipping, your role in quality assurance is limited. You cannot monitor or guarantee the condition of the products you sell. The most you can do is ask your supplier to ship samples to you before listing them on your storefront. The same goes for the fulfillment process. You cannot dictate delivery dates, packaging materials, or shipping methods.
• The customer service dilemma: Dropshipping allows you to be completely hands-off throughout the entire fulfillment process, including dealing with returns and replacements. Should you choose not to handle these at all, then your customers’ first point of contact will be with your dropshipper. Since they’re not your employees, you have no way of knowing how well (or not) they provide customer service.
• No brand building = Low margins: While the dropshipping model may appeal to side hustlers looking to sell generic products, it could limit your ability to build a brand or sell differentiated products. Consequently, businesses that rely on this model may find themselves competing only on price and end up with low profits.
• Stiff competition: Starting a dropshipping business requires little expense and investment, so every Tom, Dick, and Mary with a knack for selling uses it for their eCommerce store.
• No control over inventory: Finding what’s in stock in real-time is difficult. You’re at the mercy of vendors on this one. Alas, customers are far less likely to order an out-of-stock product.
• Limited offers: The range of incentives you can include in your promotions is narrower since you’re not the one doing the fulfillment. For example, you might not be able to offer free shipping or bundled items.

Private Label

Now that you have a solid understanding of dropshipping, let’s talk about private label products. This refers to products manufactured by one company and sold under another company’s brand name.

It’s when you buy an item from a manufacturer and resell it under your own label. Hence, it is also called white labeling or rebranding.

Pros of private label

• Brand control: When you sell someone else’s product under your own brand name, you have full control over the designs of the logo, packaging, and marketing materials. This allows you to establish a consistent look and messaging, which builds a solid brand identity.
• Low investment: Selling private label products allows you to start a new eCommerce store with very little investment. All you need is enough money to purchase inventory from a supplier (or create your own). Many vendors will accept orders in small batches. Once you have proven demand for your products and your store starts generating sales, they will increase production runs to keep shipping times short and costs low.
• Builds customer trust: Consumers naturally gravitate towards products that look legitimate, and a branded item is exactly that. Compared to generic products, those with labels that bear a logo and brand name are perceived to be more trustworthy. Throw in other information like nutritional facts, ingredients, or your product’s USPs, and you’ll hit the ground running.
• Higher margins: Unlike dropshipping where your profit comes after the supplier’s set price, private label gives you more leeway in pricing by adjusting the cost of production. For instance, you may ask your supplier to use cheaper packaging material. You also enjoy more freedom with price adjustments as needed, though you must be careful to maintain competitive prices.
• Greater flexibility: When selling your own brand of products, you have blanket authority over every aspect of the business, not just the price. Promotions (discounts, freebies) and product line expansion are yours to implement. Feature upgrades, too, if you find a supplier that provides those services.

Cons of private label

• Lack of production control: Just like dropshipping, you can’t exercise quality assurance over products you don’t manufacture yourself. And while many suppliers will customize things like colors and packaging, there is a limit to the elements they will allow you to tweak. The biggest risk you’re taking, though, is the possibility of your vendor deciding to stop production of your product or, worse, going out of business. Finding a replacement is not impossible, but it takes time and could deplete your inventory.
• Longer timelines: When producing small batches for a new store, it can take several weeks for goods to arrive. Hence, even if you might have been able to start selling immediately, your initial inventory will probably run out quickly. So plan ahead!
• Upfront payments: We did mention that you need just a small amount of capital to private label. But since you’re considered a new customer, vendors might require you to pay in full on the first few transactions. As you continue ordering from the same manufacturer, and especially when the volume increases each time, you’ll establish trust and earn a credit line.
• Competition with big brands: You are David, and they are Goliath. It’s as simple as that. Wrestling loyal customers away from established names takes more than competing on price. That’s why it’s critical to start on the right foot.

The 5 best eCommerce platforms

Bigcommerce, Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Wix eCommerce.

These five are your best bet if you decide to give eCommerce a shot. Each platform offers unique benefits that cater to various types of retailers.

For example, if you intend to sell physical products online, you would choose Shopify. On the other hand, digital products like software or apps will find a better home in Bigcommerce or Wix eCommerce.

This is why our next topic is so important. When deciding on the eCommerce platform for your online store, select the one that suits your product line the most.

1. BigCommerce

Bigcommerce is one of the most intuitive eCommerce platforms today. It offers great features like advanced shipping options, social media integrations, and a fully customizable shopping cart experience.

Here’s a rundown of its awesome features:

• Easy to set up: Bigcommerce offers a number of tools and templates to help you get started—and it integrates with popular shopping cart plugins like Woocommerce and Ecwid.
• Excellent customer support: If you have questions or issues along the way, Bigcommerce provides several support options: 24/7 phone support, 24/7 live chat, and a customer service portal where you can submit tickets.
• Integration with other online marketplaces: Bigcommerce allows you to import products from different platforms and services, including Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Shopify.
• Multiple design and branding options: Once your products are imported into Bigcommerce, you can choose how to display them from plenty of layouts. The platform gives you complete control over your eCommerce store in this area. Whether you prefer minimalistic or colorful designs, Bigcommerce offers a myriad of pre-made themes for every kind of store owner. It also provides access to premium templates with additional features like image sliders and social media widgets.
• Customer behavior tracking: Bigcommerce allows you to use Google Analytics tracking tags to help you better understand how customers interact with your product pages.
• Online store-specific tools: Your account comes with standard services such as product feeds, real-time shipping rates, and automated inventory management. In addition, you get tons of additional features designed specifically for sellers. For example, their Enhanced Shopping Cart module allows customers to purchase multiple quantities of one item from one page.

2. Shopify

Shopify is the perfect platform for eCommerce businesses just starting out. Don’t get us wrong. It’s also used by some of the most successful brands in the world, including Budweiser and Tesla.

You will be pleased with the wide range of features that allow you to build an eCommerce website quickly—and with little technical know-how.

The downside? While it’s easy to get started on Shopify with a 14-day free trial, the Basic Plan starts at $29/month, which includes: 

• Advanced shipping options
• Payment processing solutions
• Business analytics tools
• Marketing resources (like landing pages)
• Themes/designs for your storefront

If there’s one thing that makes Shopify stand out among other platforms, it would be its impressive third-party integration capabilities. This feature lets you link your Shopify store with different apps and programs (think shipping providers, marketing tools, customer support services, inventory management systems).

With all your support systems integrated, data flows seamlessly between them and your store. And while not everyone needs advanced integrations like these for their eCommerce business, they can help save time when managing multiple systems.

3. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform. It is built on WordPress, but you can install and host it on your own server.

While it boasts a wide range of features, one of WooCommerce’s main benefits is easy scalability: automatic data backups and a failover environment for scaling to multiple servers. Thus, you never have to worry about your store going down due to technical issues.

Plus, because it’s an open-source platform, many developers not only contribute new features but also help troubleshoot any bugs.

However, being open source also comes with some disadvantages, such as fewer plugins for more advanced functionality.

In terms of pricing and support, several options are available from WordPress itself as well as third parties (including additional plugins). Most people who use WooCommerce tend to either pay someone else or do their own customization.

It’s worth noting that not all online stores need to be fully customizable. So, if you’re looking for something basic and don’t plan on growing into something bigger in the future, other platforms might be better suited for your needs.

For example, both Squarespace and Wix eCommerce offer fairly simple ways to set up an eCommerce store without requiring much technical knowledge. And if you want more control over how things look, they both integrate easily with WooCommerce.

4. Squarespace

Squarespace is a hosting platform that allows you to create an eCommerce store without hiring an expert or paying a monthly fee (read: it’s free).

The design and features are professional. And if you’re not savvy in the ways of eCommerce? Squarespace makes it easy to update and maintain your online store.

Be warned; free does come with drawbacks.

What you don’t get

• Customization and personalization of template designs
• Third-party integrations and apps

What you do get

• Limited built-in SEO tools
• Free 24/7 support via phone and email
• An app marketplace where you can find customizable plugins to add functionality, such as a newsletter signup form or social media share buttons

Setting up your own eCommerce store is quick and simple on Squarespace. You don’t need any programming knowledge to use it—just drag and drop text, images, and videos.

Based on the features outlined above, we think that this eCommerce store creator is better suited for businesses rather than entrepreneurs looking to make some extra cash on the side.

5. Wix eCommerce

One of the key benefits of Wix as an eCommerce platform is its drag and drop capabilities. Many online store builders are restrictive, requiring you to install code that limits your website’s functionality and customization. With Wix, you can create a modern-looking site in no time.

The other major advantage of using Wix is that it allows you to list unlimited products. This feature is essential if you hold a large inventory or plan on expanding over time. 

You can choose from several monthly-based plans. Caveat: You won’t be able to sell physical goods through their basic plan. So, if you want to sell anything more than digital items (such as clothing), you’ll need to upgrade.

Nevertheless, on a paid Wix site, ads will not appear anywhere within your design layout.

Tool of the Week

Among the 5 best eCommerce platforms we listed above, we recommend Bigcommerce for your side hustle. It’s less time-consuming to manage or develop your online store than the other four platform options.

Along with what we’ve previously mentioned, below are more amazing features you will have access to when you start a Bigcommerce online store.

1. Free 14-day trial
2. No credit card required
3. No monthly fee
4. 24/7 customer support
5. Mobile-friendly
6. Easy setup
7. Customizable design
8. Multiple shipping carriers
9. Multiple payment gateways
10. Simple integration with social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

Signing up is free. So, go ahead and get started!