Online shop for soap makers: selling your soaps and natural cosmetics

You weigh, you mix, you pour, then you wait for your soaps to cure. While they cure, they don’t ask anything of anyone. Neither does an online shop: it sells while your bars dry on their racks.

123Ventes is designed for craftspeople who would rather be in the workshop than at the computer. Here is how an online shop answers the questions that come with making soap and natural cosmetics.

A catalogue sorted like your shelves

Cold process soaps, solid shampoos, balms, deodorants, scented candles: your customers don’t all come for the same thing. You sort your products by category and subcategory, by skin type, by use (face, body, hair, home) or by collection. The customer looking for a soap for sensitive skin finds it without wading through your fig candles.

A product page that talks about skin, not just scent

Online, the customer can neither smell nor touch your soap. Your text and your photos have to do it for them. Each product page has a short description, to make people want it, and a long description, formatted as in a word processor, to explain everything.

• The oils and butters used, and what they bring.
• The list of ingredients, exactly as it appears on the label.
• The weight of the soap, and advice on how to use and store it.

You can also attach a PDF leaflet, for example to explain how to make a solid shampoo last. Hint: not in the shower tray, sitting in water.

Photos that make people want a bath

Each product page takes a main photo and four views. Show the whole soap, the cut edge with its swirls, the top with your stamp, and the product in its packaging.

• Take your photos near a window, in daylight, without flash.
• Add one or two raw ingredients next to it: a sprig of lavender, a few oat flakes. Without turning it into a side salad.

A short video of a loaf being cut can also go with the product page.

Scents, sizes and gift sets as options

Your goat’s milk soap comes in three scents? No need to create three product pages. You offer the variants as options on a single page, with or without an extra charge. Gift wrapping can also become an option.

You enter the real stock of each product. When a batch is sold out, the product can no longer be ordered. And if a soap is still curing, you can show a lead time on the product page, so the customer knows when it will arrive.

All of this is set up from the catalogue management.

Cosmetics regulations, without skimming over them

A soap or a balm sold to the public is a cosmetic product. In Europe, it falls under the EU Cosmetics Regulation, whether you sell at a market or online. Broadly speaking, each product requires:

• a product information file, kept up to date;
• a safety assessment, carried out by a qualified person;
• a notification on the EU Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP) before it goes on sale;
• complete labelling, including the list of ingredients using INCI names.

Scented candles also have their own labelling rules. The details change over time: before launching a new product, check with your chamber of trades, your consumer protection authority (in France, the DGCCRF) or a specialist body. Outside the EU, ask the relevant authority in your country.

Light parcels that are easy to ship

Good news: a soap doesn’t break. A 100 g soap travels very well to a pick-up point, with Mondial Relay or Colissimo. You can also offer collection from the workshop.

• Weigh the packed parcel: your shipping costs are then worked out automatically, by weight band and by zone.
• Protect balms in jars from the heat in summer, and candles from knocks.

You can also offer free delivery above a certain amount, or slip a small sample soap into orders over a certain amount, thanks to the promotion rules. The carriers are described on the delivery options page.

Mother’s Day and Christmas: the soap maker’s big moments

Gift sets mostly sell before the holidays. For these periods, you can prepare a version of your shop in Christmas or Mother’s Day colours, and switch it on when the time comes. Put your gift sets forward and send a newsletter to your customers a week or two before. Remember to start your batches early enough: cold process soap can’t be rushed, not even for Father Christmas.

From the market to the shop, and back again

At markets, people smell your soaps and leave with two bars. Three weeks later, they have run out. Print your shop’s address on your labels and on a small card slipped into each bag. The customer who loved your clay soap reorders it from home.

On the stall, the 123Ventes till records the day’s sales. The stock is the same as in the shop: you won’t sell online the last bar that went at the market that morning. The customer file then helps you keep your regulars coming back (see customer relations).

How much it costs

The subscription costs 29 € a month or 319 € a year, with hosting and the security certificate included. 123Ventes takes no commission on your sales: only your payment provider’s fees apply, about 1 € on a 50 € order paid by card. If you would rather not do anything yourself, the turnkey set-up costs 400 €. The details are on the pricing page.

Your questions

Are there special formalities for selling soap online?

They are the same as for selling at a market: a status that allows you to sell, and cosmetic products that comply with the EU regulation (product information file, safety assessment, CPNP notification, labelling). The online shop is simply one more way to sell. If in doubt, check with your chamber of trades or the relevant authority in your country.

How should I present the ingredients of my products?

Put the list of ingredients in the long description of each product page, as on the label. You can also attach a PDF leaflet.

Can I sell abroad?

Yes. You choose the countries you deliver to and the rate for each one. First check the rules on cosmetics and labelling in the countries concerned, and start with your own country if needed.

How long does it take to put my products online?

The shop is created in a minute. After that, allow about ten minutes per product, photos included. Start with your ten best sellers from the market, and add the others batch by batch.