Build an online store

How to build an online store in 5 steps

Get tips for setting up an ecommerce storefront, plus an overview of Amazon tools that can help.
A dashboard for Amazon store builder

Get helpful tips on launching your store

Whether you’ve selected your first product and want to set up shop online, or have built a brand and want to go global, an online store is a great way to connect with customers and tap the opportunities available through ecommerce.

Building a digital storefront can be a major hurdle on your way to success. It takes time and resources to create your own direct-to-consumer website, maintain a presence on social media, or sell through other online channels. Luckily, there are resources to help simplify the process, plus best practices you can follow to ensure a smooth experience.

Let’s review how to create an online store. Then we’ll cover a suite of Amazon tools you can use to share products with customers.
A man looking at a computer screen showing an online store on amazon.com for the fashion brand New Republic

Creating an online store from scratch

The right ecommerce solution can give you the ability to reach your intended audience. It can also provide a smooth and secure user experience to help win customer trust, and analytics to track sales and spot opportunities to grow your business.

The good news? Amazon makes creating an online store straightforward from start to finish. No design or coding experience? No problem.

Amazon templates allow you to create a customized shopping experience with text, images, and video. Like R+Co hair products, you can share your story and showcase your unique brand with multiple interactive pages.

Learn the lingo:

Stores builder

The Amazon Stores builder is a tool for creating an ecommerce storefront in the Amazon store. It uses drag-and-drop tiles to simplify the storefront creation process—no coding or design expertise required. Once live, the storefront layout automatically adapts for desktop, mobile, and tablet browsers.
A man looking at a computer screen showing their products

How to create an online storefront on Amazon: 5 steps

The Amazon Stores builder allows you to create a multi-page, immersive experience to introduce customers to your business, tell your brand story, and showcase your catalog through customizable rich media like text, imagery, and video.

When you create an Amazon storefront, you get a custom web address to use in your marketing. You can then list products and start to get performance metrics about page visits, traffic sources, and sales so you can continue to optimize the shopping experience for your audience.

1. Sign up and enroll your brand

To start selling in the Amazon store, create a selling account and pick a Professional selling plan. Then sign up for an Amazon Ads account.

Next, create an Amazon Brand Registry account and enroll your brand. Brand Registry is a program that helps protect your brand and gives you access to the Stores builder, as well as other brand management tools. To enroll in Brand Registry, you’ll need:
  • Your brand name, or a logo that includes your brand name, permanently affixed to your products or packaging
  • A pending or registered trademark for your brand name or logo that’s issued by the designated government trademark office of a country with a corresponding Amazon store
If you don’t have a trademark, Amazon’s IP Accelerator program can help you secure one.

2. List your products

Listing products is an opportunity to use enticing headlines, product photos, and other elements to earn clicks.

You can either handpick products to feature in your storefront or use dynamic widgets to automatically populate different product displays, such as best-selling products or recommendations based on visitor behavior. Dynamic widgets use Amazon data such as keyword search, best-selling products, and recommendation history to help you optimize and update the products that appear on the storefront.

3. Create an Amazon storefront

Once you’ve finished enrolling your brand in Brand Registry and have your products listed, use the Amazon online Stores builder to create an online home for your business and convey what your product line is all about.

Here’s a quick tutorial, along with some tips for using the Stores builder:
Seller central menu illustration
  • Log in to Seller Central, hover over Stores in the main menu, select Manage Stores, then select Create Store.
  • Choose a storefront format. You can pick from three templates, each with adjustable tiles for images, text, video, and other content:
    • Product Grid: Display a selection of products with this simple, straightforward, and user-friendly layout.
    • Marquee: Include a curated product display with additional space for imagery, product descriptions, and customer quotes.
    • Showcase: Flexibly feature a broad selection of products with space for product information and rich visual content.
  • Select Page Manager, then select Add a page to build your storefront:
    • You’ll see there’s already a home page for your brand, but you can use this method to add subcategory pages to display all your wares.
    • For each page, you can enter the page name and description, and choose a page template.
    • Each page can navigate to a different page within the storefront, up to three levels deep. For example, you could have a page to cover different features, product categories, or best sellers.
  • Use the Tile Manager to add and arrange content on the page. You can use a combination of images, text, and video to create an engaging experience for shoppers.
  • Check the Preview Window to see how the storefront will appear for desktop and mobile browsers. Select an individual tile within the page to edit.
  • Once you’ve finished building the storefront, select Submit for publishing. The moderation process can take several days, so keep an eye on the status bar to monitor progress. To avoid setbacks, review our Stores creative guidelines.
When your storefront is approved, the content will go live and be visible to Amazon customers. To see how your storefront is performing, return to Stores builder anytime and navigate to Insights to track page views, sales, and more. You can also use the Stores builder to make ongoing edits and updates to the storefront as needed.

4. Enhance product listings with A+ Content

A+ Content is an Amazon tool for adding advanced features like lifestyle imagery, product-comparison charts, and more to a product detail page to help it stand out and convince customers to make a purchase.
When you add a product to your Amazon storefront, customers will see the offer on a product detail page. The standard version looks something like this:
Amazon.com product detail page
With A+ Content, you can enhance product detail pages by adding your branding and other flourishes to create something like this:
Amazon.com product detail page with A+ content

5. Drive traffic to your virtual doorstep

Once you’ve built an online storefront, take advantage of performance advertising and ecommerce marketing strategies to reach more customers, including:
  • Cost-per-click (CPC) product ads
  • Deals, coupons, and promotions
  • Social media marketing
  • Email and blog content
You can use a mix of these and other techniques such as SEO to increase brand awareness. For example, you can use social media to drive traffic to your blog. Then at the end of blog posts, encourage visitors to sign up for your monthly email newsletter. In your newsletters, offer tips and advice, along with promotions and coupons for products available in your ecommerce store.
Woman looking at a branded storefront on laptop

Integrate with an existing online store or ecommerce website

Is your brand already online? You can integrate Amazon with your existing sales channels. Expand your sales potential and customer base using the Selling Partner Appstore:
  • Add an ecommerce solutions connector app. Integrate additional ecommerce sites with Amazon for quicker listing, improved order management, cross-channel inventory syncing, and more.
  • Add a multi-channel fulfillment app with complete solutions for multi-channel Amazon sellers. Manage logistics like order listings, inventory, shipping, and product reviews all on one dashboard.

Learn the lingo:

Multi-channel fulfillment

Multi-channel fulfillment is the process of managing and fulfilling orders across multiple channels where customers can purchase your products. Having a multi-channel fulfillment solution can help you diversify your sales channels while keeping your order fulfillment process manageable.

Monetize your audience

If you’ve built a social media following, you can monetize your audience with an influencer storefront. The Amazon Influencers program allows you to create your own page with an exclusive URL, share your recommendations with your followers, and earn rewards on qualifying purchases. You can also host shoppable livestream events where you can introduce new products, make tailored recommendations for customers, and more.
Hope & Henry storefront

What are the benefits of building an Amazon store?

Answer: All the tools you need to launch in one place.

With an online store, the smallest details can make a huge difference to your bottom line. Amazon’s built-in ecommerce infrastructure is designed to optimize every step of the customer journey and includes:
You can also lean on Amazon for fulfillment and shipping logistics to help you store, package, and ship products.

Meanwhile, if you need help with account management, returns, advertising, and other activity, the Service Provider Network can connect you with trusted third-party providers.

Set up and customize an ecommerce store, start seeing sales, and scale with the help of Amazon tools.

Helpful resources

Whether you’re looking to start a new brand, expand an existing brick-and-mortar business, or increase ecommerce sales, here are some resources to help support your path to success.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an ecommerce store?
An ecommerce storefront is an online solution for business owners to advertise and sell products and services over the internet. In contrast to brick-and-mortar stores, ecommerce makes the exchange of goods and services a scalable process by allowing customers to conveniently browse products, place orders, and initiate deliveries all through an electronic device.

You may use just one sales channel, such as a website or Amazon storefront. Or you can choose to add ecommerce as another sales channel as you grow your business.
How do I create an online store?
In ecommerce, you have options when it comes to choosing a selling channel. For example, you can build a direct-to-consumer website from scratch, sell on one or more social media sites, or create a storefront on an existing selling website like Amazon. To connect with online customers who visit Amazon stores worldwide, sign up for a Professional Amazon selling account and Amazon Ads account, enroll your brand in Amazon Brand Registry, then use the Amazon Stores builder.
What is an Amazon storefront?
An Amazon storefront is a designated space within the Amazon store for you to represent your business and showcase products. You can use the Amazon Stores builder to customize a branded shopping experience for online customers. List products, publish your storefront, and use A+ Content like tables, banners, and videos to enhance product pages. Along with an Amazon storefront, an Amazon selling account gives you access to tools and programs to help you grow and scale.
How do I create an ecommerce storefront?
The Amazon Store builder allows you to create your own branded look and feel on Amazon. To create an Amazon storefront, sign up for a Professional Amazon selling account and an Amazon Ads account, enroll your brand in Amazon Brand Registry, then use the Amazon Stores builder:
  • In Seller Central, hover over Stores in the main menu, select Manage Stores, then select Create Store.
  • Select a template based on how you want your storefront to appear.
  • Use the Tile Manager to design each page with text and imagery.
  • Use the Preview Window to see the content you created.
  • Once you’re done building your storefront, select Submit for publishing.
What are the advantages of building an Amazon online storefront?
As part of an Amazon selling account, an Amazon storefront gives you the ability to:
What are the requirements to have an Amazon storefront?
To create an Amazon storefront, check out the terms and conditions during sign up for a Professional Amazon selling plan and enrollment in Amazon Brand Registry. Also, be sure to follow relevant guidelines and Amazon policies for listing products and keeping your account in good standing.
Do you need an LLC to open an Amazon storefront?
No, you can begin as a sole proprietor and later register as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) if you like. But an LLC isn’t required for creating or managing an Amazon storefront.
What is the Amazon Store builder and how does it work?
Amazon’s online Stores builder makes creating a custom storefront straightforward from start to finish. Design a beautiful storefront on Amazon with predesigned templates—no coding experience necessary.

Customize with text, images, and video to share your brand story through multiple interactive pages. Consult our guide on how to get started with Stores for a little inspiration.
What does it cost to start a Store on Amazon?
It costs nothing. A storefront on Amazon is a free, always-on destination for your brand. They’re available to sellers and vendors with a brand enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry.

The cost to sell on Amazon depends on your selling plan, product category, fulfillment strategy, and other variables. Learn more about Amazon selling costs.
Can I use my own coding for a store on Amazon?
No, but Amazon’s online Store builder tools allow you to create a branded store experience. The Store builder also supports integration to help you connect across ecommerce channels. By integrating Amazon with your existing sales channels, you can expand your sales potential and customer base through the Selling Partner Appstore. For example, you can:
  • Add an ecommerce solutions connector app. Integrate additional ecommerce sites with Amazon for quicker listing, improved order management, cross-channel inventory syncing, and more.
  • Add a multi-channel fulfillment app with complete solutions for multichannel Amazon sellers. Manage logistics such as order listings, inventory, shipping, and product reviews all on one dashboard.
"We found that the tools, the features, everything that we can do within the branded storefront can mimic what we’re doing on our website."
headshot image of Susan Petersen
Susan Petersen
Chairwomen & Chief Brand Officer, Freshly Picked

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