How to Start an Ecommerce Business from Scratch?

The trend of having an ecommerce business is growing in 2025 and is expected to grow in the coming years as well. This offers an enormous opportunity for companies and entrepreneurs to have successful online businesses. No matter if it is a side hustle or a full-fledged business, to start from scratch, it needs to start with the right steps. There are many startups that are looking to grow their business, like Amazon or Myntra. But building a successful and strong platform needs a correct guide on how to start an ecommerce business?

This guide helps a business to understand how it can grow its business online and increase sales with a successful ecommerce business. For businesses starting from scratch needs hard work, creativity, and necessary steps to make the business idea successful. It is seen that the global ecommerce market is increasing rapidly every year and helps to drive more profit to business owners. Let’s explore in depth how to start an ecommerce business in 2025.

What is an Ecommerce business?

In simple terms, an ecommerce business is the selling and buying of products and services on the internet. With an ecommerce application or website, the user can browse the product or service and purchase it by doing an online transaction with a secure payment gateway. The ecommerce business can range from small-scale to large-scale to reach users globally.

Market Overview of Ecommerce Business

The research and analysis show that the ecommerce market is expected to reach US$4.32tn in 2025. Whereas the annual growth rate is (CAGR 2025-2029) of 8.02%, that is expected to grow to US$5.89tn by 2029. The overall research of the ecommerce market shows that it is expected to grow to 6bn users by 2029. In 2025, the user penetration is 42.4%, whereas by 2029 it is going to hit 49.1%. The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to amount to US$1.56k.

Types of Ecommerce Models

• B2C (Business-to-Consumer): In this type of ecommerce model, the business can directly sell the product or service to its customers online
• B2B (Business-to-Business): This ecommerce model is between companies or manufacturers who sell the product or service to other businesses. 
• C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer): For this type of ecommerce model, some good examples are eBay and Facebook Marketplace. Here, the individuals sell the items to each other through this type of platform. 
• D2C (Direct-to-Consumer): With this type of model, the product or service is directly sold to the consumer without any third party or intermediary.

Also Read : 5 Ways an eCommerce Mobile App Development Company Can Boost Your Sales

How To Start an Ecommerce Business in 2025?

The following are the steps involved to start an ecommerce business in 2025

1. Conduct Market Research
2. Selecting the Right Ecommerce Model
3. Legal Requirements and Business Setup
4. Develop an Ecommerce App or Website
5. Branding & Marketing
6. Tracking and Analytics
7. Scaling Your Ecommerce Business

1. Conduct Market Research

Before having a good start with ecommerce app development, it is important to choose the right niche for the business. Analyze the market research, trends, and competition to choose the niche appropriately. One can start with unique product ideas of their interests and their experience. For example, one can analyze Amazon for the best trending products to start their own. Google Trends can help track trends and users’ interests.  Analyze with top five competitors and analyze their products, customers review, pricing, and their marketing strategies. 

2. Selecting the Right Ecommerce Model

Choose the type of ecommerce model, it’s about the type of ecommerce business you are willing to start. 

• Private Label: One can give a brand name to the product by originating their generic product. In this model, there is more profit margin but requires a good investment.
• Drop shipping: This one is more competitive, as it requires less control over quality & delivery
• Print-On-Demand: This is about selling customized products as per the user’s demand. For example, selling custom-designed mugs, posters, apparel, etc. 
• Subscription-Based Ecommerce: The subscription-based ecommerce model has a great customer value proposition. With this model, it offers an opportunity for consistent revenue generation.

3. Legal Requirements and Business Setup

Select a unique business name for the ecommerce business with domain availability as well as the trademark database. The business should be registered under legal requirements. This includes forming an LLC or sole proprietorship. Registering with local authorities for an EIN (Employer Identification Number). Meet all the financial obligations by hiring an accountant. 

4. Develop an Ecommerce App or Website

To develop an ecommerce app or website, it is important to select the best ecommerce app development company. This helps right from the initial till the final launch and marketing of the ecommerce app or website. The ecommerce application development company helps to select the right platform, like Shopify, WooCommerce, or Bigcommerce, based on the level of the business. The ecommerce app design must be user-friendly, which loads images & videos faster and is also mobile-friendly. Making use of secured payment gateways like PayPal, Google Pay, and credit cards.

Also Read : How Much Does It Cost to Develop a High-Quality eCommerce App?

5. Branding & Marketing

It is not done by just doing the ecommerce app development. The ecommerce app needs branding & marketing to make aware of the brand to the users. 

• Develop Your Brand Identity:  Create a brand identity by logo designing that defines brand voice wth different colors and typography. 
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Users get more attracted to the uniqueness. Highlight what is more unique about the ecommerce app compared to others. What uniqueness do you offer to the customers as compared to the competitors?
• Marketing: Marketing the ecommerce app with the right business marketing strategies. This includes paid marketing, social media marketing, paid advertising, and email marketing.

6. Tracking and Analytics

There are different tools available to track the performance and users’ behavior. 

• Google Analytics: This is an analytics tool powered by Google that helps to track website traffic, visitors, and conversions. These tools help to analyze the data and accordingly create the best marketing strategies.
• Hotjar: This tool helps to understand the behavior of the user on the website.

7. Scaling Your Ecommerce Business

Scale your ecommerce business with the following – 

• Maximize the Order Value: Offer discounts on large purchases to users who will increase the cart size and, in turn, increase revenue as well
• Automation: Make use of different tools for automating your marketing, customer support, etc. 
• Expand Your Product: Offer complementary products to the customers to increase sales.