5 Steps to getting your inventory online successfully

When you first begin to get your inventory online, it can be time consuming and frustrating. Here are some tips to make the process a bit less daunting:

1. Pick a category to populate first, e.g. a specific brand or an item type such as T-Shirts. The key here is ensuring that you have a small sample of what you sell in your retail store, that you can use as a learning experience. Keep it down to about 10 distinct products for your first batch; you can increase the size of the batches as your confidence level increases.
2. Get images of the products in the first batch, being sure to treat them in a similar manner. It is important for the professional image of your site to ensure consistent image treatment. Be sure to use a process that is repeatable when you take your pictures. (It is generally not advisable to take pictures of your products outdoors, as the light quality can vary substantially from minute to minute.) Keep your background consistent; if you use a white background, always use a white background, with the same lighting.
3. Decide what information you would like to share with your customers about the individual products; e.g. Brand, Special Features, Materials, Short Description. Try to be consistent with the length of the descriptions, and the type of information available: "Sweet 17 Jeans, Low-Rise Button Fly, Dragon Detail, These stylish hand embroidered jeans flatter every figure and provide excellent comfort. 80% Cotton, 20% Lycra" Be descriptive, but keep it short.
4. Decide how much you intend to sell your products for, and how many you have on hand to sell.
5. You should now have everything you need for the first batch; it's time to upload your items, your descriptions, your pricing, your inventory counts, and finally, your images.

Congratulations, your store is up and running! Now for the next batch...