The rapid growth of e-commerce in recent years has made selling through digital channels a key part of the sales strategy for many businesses. Setting up an e-store is no longer just an additional option, but rather a necessary step to reach more customers and achieve sales targets more effectively. However, there is a difference between an e-shop and an e-store, and a quality e-store that meets shoppers’ expectations will bring more sales.
Making an e-shop involves making a number of strategic decisions before actually doing it. We’ve put together a little cheat sheet of what you need to pay attention to in order to ensure that your e-store fulfils its objectives, is attractive to shoppers and is sustainable for the future.
Estonians are also increasingly fond of e-shops
There is little need to justify the e-shop, the numbers speak for themselves. Almost 86% of the population shop online regularly – just five years ago this figure was 10 percentage points lower. Already, a significant €350 million is spent online every month.
The popularity of e-commerce has been boosted by changing shopping habits due to the corona pandemic, an actively expanding network of parcel machines and the possibility to shop cross-border, offering a wider choice of products. To compete, you need to be where the customers are, and the fact is that customers have moved online.
Setting e-shop targets
If your business doesn’t have an e-shop yet, it’s worth starting by defining your target audience – who your product buyers are and how they might behave in your e-shop. The information you share and the amount of information you share will depend a lot on the products and how much information the buyer needs to gather before making a purchase decision. This, in turn, influences what your e-shop should look like.
It may seem that there is only one purpose of doing an online shop – to sell more products. In fact, it’s one big goal that can be achieved in many different ways, which is why it’s important to think about why you need an e-shop anyway. Setting goals for your e-store will help steer your business in the right direction and ensure successful sales and growth.
Turnover can be increased in several ways. For some, it may seem that it is only worth setting these goals once the e-shop is up and running, but the wise entrepreneur thinks ahead.
- Increasing orders – the most obvious way to increase turnover is through increased orders. The more orders, the more sales. Simple! In reality, however, each order is driven by a specific buyer and therefore…
- Increase the number of customers – your goal may be to increase the number of customers. As your customer base grows, there are more potential buyers.
- Increase repeat purchases or loyal customers – in reality, your most valuable customer is a loyal customer who orders regularly from your e-shop. You don’t need to spend time and money introducing yourself and your products to them. They already know what they want and don’t need much persuasion to buy.
- Boosting your conversion rate – have lots of potential customers but few sales? Then you need to focus instead on converting customers into buyers. In a successful e-shop, the customer doesn’t leave the page until the product is purchased.
- Increasing the value of the average shopping basket – you have hundreds of products, but each customer only buys one? Each product is a separate transaction and shipment. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial if one shopper bought 3-4 products instead, with lower administration costs?
Targeted action leads to better results and also helps to control costs.
How to get started with an online shop?
As mentioned above, building an e-shop starts with defining the target audience and setting objectives. At this point, we have added a competitor survey to the list. Learn from your competitors – adopt best practices and avoid the mistakes that catch the eye on their sites.
Also think about the products you plan to sell online. Make sure you have information about the products, attractive images and if possible test product demonstrations on someone you know. Maybe there is something important missing that you might not even think of because you deal with your own products on a daily basis. What is obvious to you may not be obvious to your customers.
Together, we can now get more concrete (and technical) so that the e-shop can really take shape.
Platform choice
Today, you don’t have to do a massive web development and build everything from scratch to make an online shop. With the development of e-commerce, many service providers have entered the market and developed e-commerce platforms with different functionalities and capabilities, making it easy for businesses to run an e-commerce site.
When setting up an e-shop on the platform, you don’t have to worry about many technical aspects, the administration is handy and makes your work easier. However, as an e-shop owner, you will still have to make some choices based on your business needs.
The most used e-commerce platform in the Baltic countries is the WooCommerceinterface developed by WordPress. Globally, WooCommerce’s success over other platforms of its kind is also impressive. It is a universal platform with many customisation options, suitable for any size of business. Whether you use an existing template or add a custom solution, WooCommerce is flexible.
Businesses will also have heard of Magento (renamed Adobe Commerce). Although it can be used for e-shops of any sales volume, it is mostly used by e-shops with a larger number of products or sales volume. Magento allows interfacing with different external systems and operating in multiple markets.
Voog can be used as a domestic platform. Voog is mostly recommended for start-ups, as no additional support is needed to set up an e-shop. Anyone can do a simple e-shop on the Voog platform. The bonus is, of course, that it comes with support in Estonian. Another domestic platform used by e-shoppers is ShopRoller, which is similar in simplicity to Voog, but not yet as widespread on the market.
Internationally, Shopify, a simpler platform, is also widely used. However, due to a certain degree of closedness, it is not very widespread in Estonia. OpenCart and PrestaShop have also positioned themselves alongside WooCommerce. Although they offer similar functionality, they have fewer options than WooCommerce and, due to their lower popularity, fewer developers to help with problems.
The list is certainly not exhaustive and there are countless different providers online. However, our recommendation is to choose one of the more common solutions, so that adequate help and support can be easily found when needed. In some cases, you might consider joining an e-commerce marketplace such as Etsy.
Of course, the domain and, if necessary, the web hosting should not be forgotten. It is also useful to have an email address similar to the domain, which will add credibility to your e-shop.
Payment solutions
Customers are more likely to make a purchase online if they have access to a payment method that suits them. In Estonia, a bank link is the preferred payment method, while when selling internationally, credit card and PayPal should also be considered. If shoppers have to go to a separate online bank to make a purchase, this is an inconvenient extra step for them and some may abandon their purchase.
With the Kilplase method, it is possible to make a separate contract with each bank and add a link to each bank separately. Fortunately, there are simpler solutions. For example, Payment Centre offers a payment module that is compatible with the most common platforms and allows you to add any payment method you like to your e-shop. Alternatively, consider Montonio or Luminor’ s e-commerce payment solution.
No payment solution is without a certain cost, but in developing a sustainable e-shop, it is an operating cost that ensures the success of the e-shop.
Delivery methods
Unless you’re selling digital files, you also need to think about delivery methods. Not only do you need to deliver the goods ordered from your e-shop in a way that is convenient for buyers, but you also need to make the choice of delivery method simple and clear. Delivery needs to be fast, because in the internet age, no one wants to wait weeks for goods.
80% of e-commerce parcels are delivered to parcel machines. Although there are many Omniva, Smartpost and DPD machines in the city and one logistics company seems to be sufficient, it should be possible to order goods from all the major providers in the e-shop.
Also consider courier delivery if you have larger items or want to make sure that a buyer from any corner of Estonia can get the goods delivered to their door. If your goods can also be picked up, add this option to your e-shop too.
Technically, adding delivery methods depends on the specific platform. In most cases, it is made easy and even offers automatic data exchange with courier companies. However, contracts must be concluded with logistics companies, which usually guarantee better prices.
Remember
Running an e-store may seem like a simple business to set up and grow quickly. However, it is a business and there are rules that need to be taken into account when setting up an e-store.
- The e-shop must be operated by a legal person. The contact details of the trader must be easy to find in the e-shop so that buyers can contact you if they wish.
- In Estonia, there is a 14-day right of return for e-store goods. You need to offer this option too.
- The terms and conditions of sale and purchase must be easily accessible to the buyer in the e-shop.
- Don’t forget the GDPR, which is the European Union’s data protection framework. This information must also be available in the e-shop, and the customer must agree to these terms when making a purchase.
- The buyer must receive an immediate order confirmation. Platforms have automated this, so you don’t have to manually send out the relevant information each time. Adjust the settings and the necessary information will be sent to the buyer automatically.
- If your company is registered in Estonia, all the necessary product information must be in Estonian in your e-shop.
- Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA – as of 28.06.2025) – E-shops operating in Estonia must comply with at least the WCAG 2.1 AA level guidelines for web content accessibility. This means that the e-shop must also be usable for people with special needs – e.g. sufficient contrast, keyboard navigation, support for screen readers, etc.
What next?
Now it’s time to get the e-shop up and running. Depending on the choices you’ve made, you’ll have the chance to create a suitable design, set up the product categories and the structure of your e-shop, and start adding products. All this is based on an analysis of your target audience – where and what information they expect to find, what questions they might have, how you want to communicate with them, etc. – which you have already done.
Make sure your e-shop meets all the requirements and has all the information we’ve already highlighted. This will boost the credibility of your e-shop and your business in the eyes of the buyer.
Also consider whether you should add an e-shop:
- Subscribe to the newsletter
- Live chat-i
- Blog or news section
- Social media buttons
- Possibility for comments/reviews
- Loyal customer environment
When it comes to your e-shop, don’t forget to pay attention to SEO. This will make it easier for potential customers to find you. Read more about how to do SEO effectively on our blog.
It should also be ensured that the e-shop is easy to use on mobile. Various studies show that 90% of initial product searches and 60% of e-shopping is done via mobile. Make sure that your online store is usable on different devices and scales to screen size.
Measuring e-shop performance
As with any business, the success and performance of an e-commerce business needs to be measured. Measuring performance in an e-store is actually much easier than in a physical store. Thanks to various analytics tools such as Google Analytics, it is possible to track shoppers’ behaviour at every step.
You can see exactly how your customers behave in your online store, where they look for information and why they might not complete their purchase. Applying this information to improve your online store can help increase conversion rates. In addition, you can analyse how well your marketing activities are working and whether different offers are appealing to your customers.
You can track the number of orders, the number of shoppers, the number of repeat purchases, the value of your shopping cart and the number of products purchased in a single order, based on the goals you set. It’s also worth comparing the sales performance of your e-shop and your bricks-and-mortar shop to see where your customers are.
Is the e-shop now ready?
Theoretically – YES! Practically – the job never ends. Like any website, an e-shop is a living organism that needs regular attention. Website maintenance is also important
Be sure to make the necessary updates to both the platform and the plugins to avoid a broken page. Update product information and keep your stock up to date. Test your own site from time to time to make sure everything is working as expected. Ask buyers for feedback and make improvements based on that. Don’t forget to work on SEO Seo service
Tips for a good e-shop
- Make sure the buying process is simple and logical, information easy to find and understandable for the buyer. Allow the shopper to search, filter and sort products. Cluttered tabs and unreasonably long registration forms discourage buyers from completing the transaction.
- Point out the advantages of an online shop – such as free delivery, a longer return period or other benefits that not every online shop offers.
- Ensure the fastest possible delivery to buyers. Nowadays, no one bothers waiting weeks for products.
- Make returns easy and convenient for the buyer.
- Display discounts and promotions clearly. Buyers will be encouraged. Offering free gifts or samples can also help to convert a customer into a buyer.
- For more expensive products, consider adding a hire-purchase option.
- Make sure your e-shop looks reliable and modern.
- Additional idea: send a reminder to the customer if the purchase was not completed. This can be automated.
We hope that this overview of how to set up an e-shop will be an encouragement for those who are just planning to open an e-shop and a guide for those who already have an e-business. However, if you feel that you still need professional advice or support, our specialists will be happy to help.
