Online store has developed into a significant sales channel for companies of various sizes. There are several different options for starting an online business, but in order to make e-commerce profitable and to serve customers in a desired manner, the company needs to take into account a number of different areas of the e-commerce business.

The aim of this Master’s thesis was to prepare a startup plan for the creation of an online store for the client company of this thesis. The company’s aim was to expand their business from the brick-and-mortar business to an online store. This thesis contains the most relevant information needed in order to open an online store and the startup plan created for this purpose.

The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on a literature review of e-commerce, the main features and differences of e-commerce platforms, e-commerce process, legislation of distance sales, customer acquisition and the SOSTAC planning model.

The research was carried out by using a qualitative research method, which was based on group interviews conducted with the company's employees. With the help of the group interviews, the employees' expectations and prejudices needs were identified as well as potential resources in order to plan for this new operation.

The research results gathered the necessary information for the company in order to establish a startup plan for e-commerce and a business plan was created for the online store based on the theoretical framework and group interviews. In addition, a budget and targets were created for the company’s future online store. The research also selected the most suitable online store platform and e-commerce processes and outlined the best customer acquisition tools for an online store while taking into account distance sales legislation and data protection issues.

Based on this thesis, the client company has acquired the knowledge on how to set up e-commerce, which issues should be taken into account when starting an online business, which different online store platforms exist and how customers can find their store online.