Have you always wanted to start your own eCommerce business? If so, then you are certainly not alone. So many people are in the same situation as you are right now, but there are things that you can do to try and turn things around. Want to find out more? Take a look below.
Finding the Right Products
If you are new to the world of selling things, then there is a high chance that you are wondering what it is you should be selling. Getting stuck on this is one of the many reasons why so many people never take the plunge when it comes to starting their own business. If you want to help yourself, then you need to be strategic when it comes to your products. You also need to identify something that might be trendy. This is not easy, and it may be a major roadblock that you need to overcome before you can be truly successful. If you go down the generic route such as by trying to sell books or even jewellery, then this may end up in a dead-end. There are plenty of major players who may be out there trying to meet this demand and as a new business, you may find it hard to compete with them. If you want to do something about this, then you need to try and create specific items that have a good level of appeal to an audience. It is suggested that you start by making a huge list of products that you may want to sell in your store. Think about things that your family, your friends, or even your co-workers may be interested in.
How to Source your Product
At this point, you may want to start planning out how you are going to source your products. This is the point where you might want to look into things such as drop shipping, as it may help you to streamline your process in general. Drop shipping is becoming a very popular option for entrepreneurs and the main reason for this is because it has a much lower up-front cost when compared to other businesses. If you have never thought about drop shipping before, then you will start by finding a list of products that you want to sell. You can then import them into your store. When someone purchases an item, you can then place an order with a supplier who will ship it directly. If you do this, then you will never have to worry about how you are going to handle merchandise or even how you are going to stay on top of trends. Inventory is not your concern, and this is ideal if you want to make it easier to stay on top of things. If you need help, explore the idea of amazon FBA.
Research Other Businesses
Research is essential if you want your business to be successful. Once you have gone through and chosen your products- you then need to look at your competitors to see what they are doing. You need to find out what their business model is, and you also need to find out if they are selling various items or if they are selling a single product. You also need to find out which social media channels they are using. Finding out how they push sales is also very important.
Building your Store
When you have chosen your products and when you have done all of your competitor research, the next thing that you need to do is focus on building your store. It is a good idea for you to choose an eCommerce platform such as Shopify as this can make setting up your store way easier. The great thing about Shopify is that it can make setting up your store very easy to do. You will need to try and choose a theme that suits your target audience and you will also need prices that accurately reflect the success that you see for your future. Naming your company something memorable will also help you out here as it means that people will remember you. The same concept applies to your logo as well. Your logo can be as colourful or as creative as you want it to be, so keep that in mind.
Promoting your Business
After you have fully launched, you then need to concentrate on your marketing as much as possible. Everything can wait until you are absolutely sure that you can generate traffic and ultimately reach your potential customers. The secret to marketing is trying to find the right channel for the products that you have. You then need to reflect on the marketing strategy you have until you find that bringing in a new customer costs less than what you would earn from a sale. You will want to aim for an infinite loop where you can then spend less than you earn every day. If you can, you need to promote your company on free marketing channels before moving up to paid noes so that you can build a steady level of awareness. Also, ensure that you reinvest your profits back into your advertisements. This is not the time for you to pocket your earnings if possible. Keep a close eye on your relationship as well as the profits earned so that you can keep things nice and steady.
Deliver a Great Service
Did you know that around 45% of customers will completely abandon their online transaction if they have questions or concerns that are not addressed? Exceptional customer service is absolutely critical if you want your business to be successful in the long term. Create content that is self-serving and also put in the work to create a detailed FAQ page too. Offering live chat support is also important, along with incentivising your product reviews. Building trust with your customers is also essential, so make sure that you keep this in mind as much as possible.
Focus on Converting
Did you know that 69% of your website users will probably leave without making a purchase? Think about it, how much would you see your revenues increase, if you were able to capture leads like this instead of losing them? Optimise your customer journey where possible. create time-limited offers and also launch a cart abandonment email plan. If you can do this, then you will soon find that it is more than possible for you to test out a huge range of tactics, so you can understand what works for your business and what doesn’t.
Work on Optimisation
44% of online shoppers will tell their friends if they have had a bad experience online. Once you have been able to lay down the foundation for your business, the next step would be for you to then focus on creating an optimised website. Ideally, you need to make sure that you focus on speed and that you also have an intuitive navigation bar. If you can do this, then you will soon find that it is easier than ever for you to get the results you want.
Update your Inventory
Believe it or not, it is the best-selling products that tend to fade the fastest. This is one of the many reasons why inventory is so important. Constantly looking for new product ideas is a very good way for you to keep your store alive. You have to make sure that you do not just rely on a couple of products when it comes to driving your sales.
