Planning can be hard, and it only gets harder when dealing with the unpredictable. Getting an ecommerce store ready is a gamble. But that doesn’t mean you have to go in blindly. Here’s how to gauge how much you’ll need before starting a new enterprise, how not to drive people crazy with ads, and how not to overstock. In other words, here’s how to know how much is too much.

Plan What You Can

Most business owners (or aspiring owners) create business plans before they get their store up and running. The same principle is applied to getting your product ready before the launch. It’s a good idea to put together a list of questions about the stock you’re looking to purchase to give yourself a framework for ordering.

Think about how many you’re aiming to sell, as well as what you’re selling. Are you ordering something because it’s a hot ticket item right now? What if that’s a fad that may have fizzled by the time you get yourself set up? Are you buying a few specialty items and keeping your inventory focused? That’s a good way to get started and keep your inventory to a reasonable level. It helps to think about what the customer wants from your site and to cater to that. Put yourself in the mind of someone from your target audience and frame your choices from there.

Know Your Audience

Knowing your target audience well is helpful when it comes to building your ecommerce site as well. A slick, professional looking online store that appeals to what your customers are looking for keeps them engaged and interested. You want a site that navigates easily and runs smoothly. If you’re not sure you can do that on your own, there are lots of places to turn for help. Do some research on the best website builder for ecommerce, specifically your ecommerce theme, before you decide to go it alone.

The Inventory Story

Managing your inventory is more than just having space to store it. You need to keep tabs on how much of each item is moving and at what pace. Sales analytics can be a great way to see patterns and peaks organized into information you can use. If two items often get bought together, keep both in stock in equal measures. If another item is sitting around when you thought it’d be flying off the shelves, give it a minute before you reorder. A lot comes down to paying attention to buying practices and adjusting your stock to the demand.

For some businesses, this might mean pivoting away from their initial idea. For others, it may mean expanding offerings. The data will be different for each site and it will take a minute before clear patterns can be seen. When you’re starting off, make note of what you think may be a pattern. That way, you can keep an eye on it to see if your prediction is right.

Getting the Word Out

When it comes to advertising, it can be tempting to inundate people with reminders of your amazing venture. A lot of businesses might start with a small budget for advertising, so the bulk of their advertising will be on social media. Social media advertising can annoy people quickly. If people are engaging with the posts or ads you’ve got a good pace going. Follow successful companies on social media and see how often they post. A few posts a day getting interaction are worth more than dozens of posts nobody sees. Or worse—unfollows.

When you start a new business, you can only plan for so much. Whether it’s stock, advertising, or dealing with customers, there’s always going to be a new challenge. The best thing you can do for your ecommerce store is to know how much is too much. Avoid overwhelming customers in favor of interacting with them and engaging.