E-commerce business plan template

Download this e-commerce business plan template in PDF or Word format, or tailor it to your project directly in our business plan software.

Discover our e-commerce business plan template

Our e-commerce business plan template gives you the structure to write a professional plan

Not accustomed to writing business plans? Our e-commerce business template will turn a typically challenging process into a total breeze.

Modelled on a complete business plan of a e-commerce shop in Normandy, our template features both the financial forecast and the written part that presents the project, its team, the local market and the business strategy implemented by the management.

Cast your eyes on this template to achieve a better understanding of what your bank and investors would like to see, so that you can create a business plan that meets their expectations.

e-commerce businesss plan template
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How to use this e-commerce business plan template

Edit the e-commerce business plan template online, or download it

There are 3 ways to use this template:

  • Edit it online: you can adapt this template to your business idea by changing the text or the financial forecast directly in our business planning software
  • Download in PDF: if you're just after a little inspiration, you can download the e-commerce business plan template in PDF to read over it
  • Download in Word format: want to edit your plan on Word? Simply export the e-commerce business plan template to Ms Word (.docx) format
online editor for e-commerce business plan template

E-commerce business plan template content

This template includes a complete e-commerce business plan example, with a financial forecast and the following sections:

  1. Executive summary: the executive summary gives the reader a clear and concise overview of your business idea
  2. Company: this section lays out the structure of your business, including its location, management team and legal form
  3. Products and services: here, you'll give an overview of the services or products offered by the company
  4. Market analysis: the market analysis is where you’ll demonstrate that there is a strong demand for your products and services through a thorough assessment of the industry (customer profile, hot trends, regulation, competition, etc.)
  5. Strategy: this section highlights the company's game plan when it comes to pricing, marketing and mitigating risks along the way
  6. Operations: this step lays out the company's operational organisation, including the recruitment plan
  7. Financial plan: the financial plan includes a table of sources & uses (initial funding plan), and complete financial statements (P&L, balance sheet and cash flow statements).
  8. Appendices: this part provides the opportunity to include multiple financial appendices generated by our software (debt maturity profile, monthly financial statements, financial analysis, etc.).
cover page and table of contents for the e-shop business plan template by The Business Plan Shop
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Executive summary of the e-commerce store's business plan

The executive summary gives the reader a clear and concise overview of your business idea.

Our e-commerce business plan example's executive summary is formed of the following subsections:

  1. Business overview: in this subsection, we outline who the e-commerce store founders are, what legal form they've chosen for the business, and the rationale behind the choice of their location
  2. Market overview: in this subsection, we summarize the conclusions of the market analysis performed by the e-commerce's owners and explain which type/s of online buyers (age, income, gender etc.) they aim to target.
  3. Financial highlights: in this subsection, we give an overview of the forecasted financial performance of the e-commerce store over the first 3 years of operation
  4. Our ask: in this subsection, we outline the amount of financing required to start the e-commerce store and how it's going to be funded (the founders are seeking a bank loan to start their e-commerce store)
executive summary for e-commerce business plan sample

Company overview included in our e-commerce business plan sample

This section lays out the structure of your business, including its location, management team and legal form.

Our e-commerce business plan template's company section is formed of the following subsections:

  1. Structure & Ownership: in this subsection, we outline who the e-commerce store's shareholders are and what legal form they've chosen for the business
  2. Location: in this subsection, we present the area surrounding the location chosen for the business and the layout and main features of the premises
  3. Management Team: in this subsection, we give an overview of the background of each of the e-commerce store's founders, explain how they met and why they decided to start a company together
company overview included in e-commerce business plan template
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Products and services offered by the e-commerce store

The products and services section is where you will present the different types of items sold by your e-commerce store.

In our e-commerce business plan template products and services section, we cover:

  • Animals (pets): a selection of home pets (reptiles) ranging from snakes to frogs
  • Pet accessories: everything you need to keep your reptile in good shape, ranging from heating to to terrarium
  • Pet food: specalised food products including insects, rodents and pellets
product and services description of the e-shop business plan example

Market analysis for the opening of the e-commerce store

The market analysis is where you’ll demonstrate that there is a strong demand for your products and services through a thorough assessment of the industry (customer profile, hot trends, regulation, competition, etc.)

Our e-commerce business plan example's market analysis section is formed of the following subsections:

  1. Demographics and Segmentation: in this subsection, we explore the market in depth. We look at the supply and demand sides both at the national and local level, analyse the hot trends perceived by the founders, and the key statistics that will help the founders build their positioning
  2. Target market: in this subsection, our founders explain which type of pet (reptile) lovers they view as their ideal customers and why they chose to target them
  3. Competition: in this subsection, we take a look at the direct (e-commerces stores online selling reptiles and related products) and indirect (other ways of purchasing reptiles, accessories and food) local competition to ensure we have a differentiated positioning and that the market is large enough to accommodate the arrival of new e-commerce store
  4. Regulation: in this subsection, we give an overview of the main regulation applicable to our e-commerce store
market analysis section of the e-commerce business plan template
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Setting the strategy for our e-commerce

This section highlights the company's game plan when it comes to pricing, marketing and mitigating risks along the way.

Our e-commerce business plan template strategy section is formed of the following subsections:

  1. Pricing: in this subsection, we explain how we set the prices of our main categories of products (animals, accessories, food) and the rationale behind our choice
  2. Marketing plan: in this subsection, we explain what action we'll put in place to build awareness and loyalty among our e-commerce store customers
  3. Milestones: in this subsection, we give an overview of the main goals we set for ourselves for the next 3 years
  4. Risks and Mittigants: in this subsection, we perform an assessment of the medium and long-term risks that could jeopardize the financial viability of our e-commerce store and outline how we intend to mitigate them
e-commerce business plan example: stragtegy section

Operations section of the e-commerce business plan template

This part lays out the company's operational organisation, including the recruitment plan.

Our e-commerce business plan example's operations section is formed of the following subsections:

  1. Personnel plan: in this subsection, we explain what our opening hours will be and explain the responsibilities of each of staff member in our e-commerce store
  2. Key assets and IP: in this subsection, we list the assets and intellectual property rights which are critical to our business operations and explain how we will secure and protect each of these
  3. Suppliers: in this subsection, we give an overview of the main suppliers we will use our what commercial terms have been negotiated with them
e-commerce business plan template: operations section
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Financial plan included in our e-commerce business plan template

This section presents the expected financial performance of the e-commerce store over the next 3 years.

Our e-commerce business plan example's financial plan is formed of the following subsections:

  1. Start-up funding: in this subsection, we list the cost of each item required to launch the e-commerce store
  2. Important assumptions: in this subsection, we explain the methodology and the main assumptions used to build the e-commerce store's financial forecast
  3. Sales forecast: in this subsection, we detail the expected revenues and growth rate for our e-commerce store in the coming years
  4. Cost structure: in this subsection, we list all the expenses required for our e-commerce store to operate smoothly
  5. Projected Profit & Loss statement: in this subsection, we analyse our forecasted P&L and comment on the expected profitability of our e-commerce store over the next 3 years
  6. Projected cash flow statement: in this subsection, we analyse the expected cash generation of the e-commerce store
  7. Projected balance sheet: in this section we give an analysis of the liquidity and solvability implied from our balance sheet
e-commerce business plan forecasted P&L

Appendices of the e-commerce business plan template

This part provides the opportunity to include multiple financial appendices generated by our software (debt maturity profile, monthly financial statements, financial analysis, etc.).

Our e-commerce business plan template's appendices include:

  1. A maturity profile chart showing the principal repayments of their loans over the next 3 years
  2. A monthly cash flow forecast: showing how much cash is being generated or consumed each month over the first 3 years of operations
e-commerce business plan template: monthly cash flow forecast

E-commerce business plan template sample

Executive Summary

Business Overview

1001 Reptiles will sell animals and terrarium accessories all over France through its website 1001-reptiles.com. 

The company will be located in an industrial building in Caen. 

The legal structure chosen is a limited company. The company will be managed by 2 of the 3 shareholders acting as co-managers. 

The managers have known each other for more than 15 years and have very complementary skills: Mr. Jean D (30% of the capital) will be in charge of supplies, shipments, and customer service, and Mr. Rémy Y (30% of the capital) will be in charge of the administration and marketing of the Internet site. 

The third shareholder, Mrs Laure H (40% of the shares) will not be involved in the management of the company. 

Market Overview

The French terrarium market is a niche market estimated at €39m in 2015. 

This market benefited from an average annual growth of 23% over the period 2008 - 2015, during which time this segment saw its share of the French pet market increase from 0.24% to 0.78%. 

In terms of products, the dominant category in the pet market is food with 74% of the market (by value), with pet shopping itself representing only 3% of the market. 

E-commerce is a growing distribution channel in the pet market (+6% penetration since 2012). E-commerce is also a particularly suitable channel for terrariums since the offer for this category is currently underdeveloped in specialized retail outlets that prefer to reserve their floor space for more established market segments, such as cats, dogs, or fish.

1001 Reptiles intends to take advantage of this situation by developing an e-commerce offering, proposing a wide range of animals, accessories, food products, and care. 

Our offer will target both owners of lizards, snakes, turtles, and amphibians, as well as people wishing to acquire such pets. 

We will be in direct competition with other websites offering the sale of products related to terrariophily, and in indirect competition with specialized sales outlets. 

We will not be the first existing company to offer this online, but fortunately the competition is relatively weak compared to other markets such as the textile market, for example. A large part of the competing sites belong to local pet shops, and have only limited expertise in e-commerce. On the other hand, most of the sites with a real know-how in e-commerce such as amazon.fr or animaux-market.com have only a limited expertise in terrariophily. 

We believe that we can offer a superior shopping experience on our site than that offered by our competitors, thanks to the mastery of e-commerce store and the extensive knowledge in terrariophily of our founders. 

Financial Highlights

We expect to be profitable in our third year of activity with sales of €445,000 and an EBITDA of €26,265 (with a 5.90% margin).

WThe company benefits from negative working capital requirements, therefore the net operating cash flow should be positive over the duration of the plan despite the loss making situation in the first two years.

Our Ask

We estimate that we need a total of €70,000 to open our e-commerce store.

Our partner will contribute €50,000 (71.5% of the total amount).

We would like to obtain a bank loan of €20,000 to complete the financing.

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E-commerce Shop Business Plan Template FAQ

What is a e-commerce business plan and do I need one?

An e-commerce site business plan is a written document that sets out the commercial, operational and financial objectives of the company over the next 3 to 5 years.

It consists of two main parts:

  • A written part that presents, in detail, your e-commerce business, the team, your strategy, and your medium-term objectives.
  • A financial forecast that highlights the expected profitability of the e-commerce site and the initial funding requirements.

The lack of business planning is one of the main reasons why more than 50% of startups fail within 5 years. If you're starting an e-commerce site, writing a business plan is a must-have in order to reduce the risk of failure of your project.

Business plans are also required by most lenders and investors in order to secure financing, therefore a business plan is also highly recommended if you're seeking a loan or equity investment for your e-commerce site.

How do I write a business plan for a e-commerce site and is it difficult?

Writing an e-commerce business plan without The Business Plan Shop can be both error-prone and time-consuming - whether you're new to entrepreneurship or experienced:

  • You'll need to research the structure of a business plan, what to include in each section, and what key elements investors and lenders expect to see
  • You may encounter writer's block (especially if it's the first time you're writing a business plan for your e-commerce site)
  • You'll need to create a financial forecast on a spreadsheet which requires a solid understanding of accounting and financial modelling in order to be done without error
  • You'll need to spend hours formatting financial data on Excel or Sheets before it's ready to integrate into your business plan
  • Any updates to your e-commerce business plan or financial forecast will need to be done manually

Luckily for you, The Business Plan Shop's online platform and e-commerce business plan template guide you through every stage of writing a business plan, so that you can spend more time managing and growing your business instead.

Our editor follows a best-in-class structure for professional business plans. Each section and subsection includes examples and instructions to help you, while our business plan templates provide further inspiration if you're stuck.

Our financial forecasting software helps you create a forecast and integrate it into your business plan with ease. Anytime you update your data, your business plan automatically updates.

And with our forecasting software all the calculations are done for you, without errors.

What is the budget for an e-commerce site and how much does it cost to get started?

The budget to start and run an e-commerce site will depend on the design of the website and the price of the domain name.

A small e-commerce website would probably be inexpensive and enough to get started with. However, if you are looking to use a web designer, you'll probably end up incurring much higher costs.

As an example, in our e-commerce business plan template the total initial funding requirement amounted to €70,000, with the founders contributing €50,000.

In order to assess the exact budget for your e-commerce site idea, you need to do a financial forecast using a financial projection tool such as the one we offer.

Is The Business Plan Shop the best e-commerce business plan template for me?

The package we offer at The Business Plan Shop goes way beyond a simple blank template you need to fill. With our platform you get:

  • Access to one of the best business plan software on the market
  • Access to our e-commerce business plan template which contains a complete example of a written business plan and financial forecast to start a e-commerce
  • Access to our entire business plan templates library - giving you dozens of examples to take inspiration from
  • Access to our financial planning and analysis platform so that you can track the actual performance of your business against what you had planned in your business plan and re-plan easily

But you shouldn't take our word for it: try our solution for free and make your own opinion!

How does the free trial of The Business Plan Shop work?

The free trial enables you to try the software for free during 7 days in order to verify that it meets your requirements before buying.

Some features are limited during the free trial, the main limits are:

  • You can only create one business plan
  • The financials of the first year are visible, but data for other years are hidden
  • You can export your plan in PDF but not in Word or CSV
  • No access to our business plan templates

You can create your account and start your free trial here.

How much does The Business Plan Shop’s e-commerce business plan template cost?

Access to our template is included with all our paid subscriptions.

Please visit our pricing page to learn about this in more detail.

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