Free Online Storefronts Before the big technology advancement, owning a store meant that you had to have actual space rented, employees, business hours, merchandise on hand, etc.  However, now you can do all this through a virtual store.

	How Online Storefronts Evolved Today it is possible to run a business online using resources from companies such as a web store that offer free online storefronts.  Before the big technology advancement, owning a store meant that you had to have actual space rented, employees, business hours, merchandise on hand, etc.  However, now you can do all this through a virtual store.  Using online stores eliminates the majority of what you were once renting and paying to keep a store. The earliest online stores are also currently some of the most successful and famous sites online.  In 1995, craigslist.com and amazon.com began and eBay followed a year later.  These sites are very different in their format, as eBay is really a meeting place for buyers and sellers to make transactions, craigslist is more a community message board, and Amazon acts more like an actual store as it has set prices and a variety of sellers. Online Storefronts Besides running your own online store, there are also companies that specialize in providing ecommerce and online store applications to the store owner.  These companies are particularly useful if you are not overly Internet savvy when beginning, though you will learn over time.  By using these companies’ services, you can greatly reduce the time in which to get your online store up and running. Some common features of online storefronts include integration with other software such as Microsoft access with servers, customer management, built in support, currency conversions, save for later/save cart options, advanced sale features, real time shipping estimates, customizable search options, a variety of themes, different tax structures, e-mailing product information to a friend, accepting various forms of payment, support for online transactions, security for credit card purchases, e-mail notification, and a mailing list, to name some available options. Finding Free Online Storefronts There are many online companies that offer free online storefronts.  It is important to read the fine print, as what exactly is free will vary from company to company.  Most companies will offer a free trial to use their services or software, and it can be quite difficult to find a completely free store that offers their services free for an unlimited time.  Ecrater.com offers a free online marketplace and free web store builder where you can easily create your own online store in minutes as well as have access to potential customers.  You get a free sub domain, free website hosting, and many tools to manage your online store.  All you need to do is sign up. Freewebstore.com allows you to create your own free online storefront in moments by choosing from a list of web store designs.  It is possible to quickly add products to your store, add customizations, and access your store from anywhere in the world.  They also have upgrade packages that can provide more selling tools, graphics, and other features, though these upgrades will require some sort of payment. 1Freecart.com provides a free shopping cart system, no matter what source of payment your customer uses.  Besides this software, they provide software for hosted ecommerce, free store hosting, free shopping cart web store control panel, online shopping cart software promotional tools, PayPal ready checkout, shareasale affiliate program, and they have just added trial pay integration.  They can supply all these programs free since all costs are paid from their sponsor advertisers.  However, as in the other companies, if you add additional services, there will be a fee. Free Versus Paid Services There are some benefits and disadvantages to using a free online storefront versus a paid one.  Yes, you will not have to pay any fees, but you may also miss out on a lot.  In most cases, the free online storefronts only provide the basic software needed to have an online store up and running.  To add graphics and other program and software options, you will have to pay a fee. A very popular paid online storefront company is offered from Yahoo! Store at smallbusiness.yahoo.com.  A starter plan will cost about $40 a month, with a $50 set up fee.  They can provide you with tools to design your own store, or you can hire one of their developers to do it for you.  They use wizards to add products, accept many forms of payment including debit, credit, and PayPal, use free marketing features that drive traffic to your store, include e-mail notification, have simple and straightforward processing and shipping, and provide tracking tools to maximize and increase your business.  This store is highly rated and an excellent example of everything you could want from an ecommerce store. Some added bonuses that are available from paid online storefronts are round the clock customer service using online and phone support, unlimited disc space, and data transfer through their web hosting, all e-mails may be stored at their site, some of the best security you can have, and the storefront will be up 99.9 percent of the time.  For those with thriving businesses, it will be worthwhile to have these additional features, and the cost of about $40 a month is small compared to the profit you will be making. Tips For Designing Online Storefronts As with anything, the first thing your customer sees can draw them into making further inquiries and even making a purchase.  Therefore, your online storefront will need to be engaging and attractive.  The customers should want to come and browse just by looking at the storefront.  Your storefront should not be cluttered and only provide brief information, as you can put more details in further pages.  It is also important that all your connections, clicks, and downloads work quickly.  Your most important details should be displayed upfront such as refund policies, delivery terms, and shipping charges. Some things to look out for when developing your online storefront are issues with service providers, which can lead to slow processing times and long downloads.  You need to choose your provider carefully to minimize any server overloading which will slow your storefront down considerably.  Your phone lines should also be able to carry data without any problems.  Many owners do not check this until a problem occurs, but you can lose important customer information.