Visit your local library or use online databases like Northern Light or Electric Library Canada to find articles and industry reports that project online sales in the industry that you want to enter. This will help you assess whether your idea is viable. If your company manufactures products and you currently sell these products through retail outlets other than your own, you need to talk with your retail partners before you launch your online store. Critical success factors are issues that can make the difference between the success and failure of your online store. Beyond basic critical success factors such as customer service and return policies, which all online stores need, every industry has its own critical success factors that are crucial to online sales.
Some products are more information-intensive than others.
For example, selling books online is a lot different than selling cars. Customers who are shopping for a car require a lot more information than customers who are shopping for books. If the products you are selling are high-involvement goods and customers require a lot of information before making a purchase decision, you need to take this into account when creating your online store. Consider the issue of price. Some industries are more price-sensitive than others.