Watches are practical for telling time—but they’re also a fashion statement. If you know a thing or two about the statement a watch can make, you have a great business opportunity in learning how to sell watches online. You won’t be the first watch store on the scene, but with a little help from your friends at Shift4Shop, you could be the best.

Consumers are officially comfortable with shopping online, which makes online retail one of the hottest markets today. The technology is affordable and easy to use, even if you don’t have a whole lot of experience running a website. If you’re ready to learn how to sell watches online, continue reading for four tips on getting started.

1. Partner up with a reliable wholesale distributor.

Where can you find a steady supply of watches that you can buy in bulk for a discount? Searching for a watch wholesaler is one of the first steps to starting your online business.

There are two things you should look for in a wholesale distributor. The first is price—does the markdown for buying in bulk give you a big enough margin to make a profit? The second is dependability—does the wholesaler have a good reputation?

2. Choose a software platform as the backbone of your business.

As you learn how to sell watches online, you’ll begin to understand the importance of choosing the right software for the job. The first question to ask here is “Does the company support its customers?” If the answer is yes, get out there and check out what customers have to say about the software.

You’ll also want a great feature set that makes it simple to create gift sets, show and edit high resolution pictures and connect your store to social media channels. The best way to accomplish that is to get an ecommerce ready website template for watches.

3. Create a brand that matches the types of watches you plan to sell.

You can’t sell every kind of watch on the market—it’s just too expensive. As you learn how to sell watches online, you’ll want to pick a niche—types of watches that fit a specific audience. Then, you should create a brand (name, logo, colors, website design) that fits your niche.

For website design, a software solution like Shift4Shop offers template options for quick, low-cost layouts. That way, you won’t have to make a huge investment on a designer.

4. Use marketing to get the word out to your audience.

When you learn how to sell watches online, take note of what marketing can do for your store. Unfortunately, it’s hard to count on people just wandering in on the web. You have to get the word out through various methods, like optimizing for search, getting listed in product feeds and establishing a social media presence.