If you want to start a new business or expand your existing business, the first idea that comes to your mind may be online selling. That’s because nowadays, selling your products online is considered a service that can surpass even your physical store.
Due to accelerating digitalization in every field, mobile lifestyle, and advantages for both buyers and sellers, e-Commerce has now become a necessity rather than a possibility. You should clear your doubts about online selling, which completely fills the concept of e-Commerce, and start online selling without lagging the industry.
So, what are the requirements to sell online? Let’s go ahead and dive in!
What to know before getting started with online selling?
The first thing you need to know about e-Commerce is that the opportunities are vast. Many people think that e-Commerce is oversaturated, and it is impossible for them to build a successful business. The truth is, yes, starting an e-Commerce business today is harder than it used to be but there are still so many opportunities.
The reality is that direct-to-consumer and private labeling is growing at a rapid pace. Manufacturers and brands understand that they don’t have to work with these retail partners. They can bypass these, keep their profits high, and gain more control over their brand and audience.
Every retailer is increasingly shifting towards e-Commerce, investing more in their digital footprint and online presence. There are so many opportunities for you to succeed in this field. There will always be many more consumers as there are creators and sellers and there is a never ending and growing group of people buying everything online.
Take advantage of this big change to start your own e-Commerce business.
Why is marketing so important for online selling?
The main factor is visibility. Without visibility, no one will buy your product because no one sees or knows it exists. It may literally be the best product in the world, but without adequate marketing it will be very difficult to succeed.
There are two types of marketing:
- First, Increasing Brand Awareness
- Secondly Increasing Your Sales
You want to have a marketing plan and that marketing plan is totally dependent on your business and product. For some Instagram influencers, marketing may be the best return on investment. Some Youtube ads, Google ads, sponsored posts, or social media etc. These could be much better.
So, you should go in with the expectation that the first few dollars you spend on marketing won’t quite work out. However, if you keep trying and trying, you will come across some type of marketing strategy that works for your brand or company.
Online Selling Tips For e-Commerce Beginners
1- Being prepared
So making sure that you have all the proper things in place before you start selling online is really essential. You want to make sure that you have the right shipping supplies so that when your items sell that you can pack them up and get them out on a timely manner.
You also want to make sure that you have things like a printer, a computer or a phone so that you can go ahead and print those labels you want to be able to track your business. Basically just being organized is also part of being prepared.
You can also have a plan to go to the post office to ship things, just make sure you are prepared.
2- Slow Shipping
This is part of being prepared that you want to make sure you have all of your shipping supplies but you also ship in a timely manner.
Customers nowadays expect things to be shipped out the next day if not the same day. So, you have to do what’s best for your business but our suggestion is to always try to get it shipped out very quickly.
3- Messy shipping
You want to make sure that your e-Commerce business looks professional. So, don’t just throw your products in the cereal box tape them closed, and put them in the mailbox.
So, please make sure that you have clean nice looking shipping.
4- Good customer service
The customer is always right that’s just kind of the number one tip in retail. Unfortunately, we do have to try to appease to our customers because making them happy is going to make your business happy.
Good customer service is the way to have a successful e-Commerce business.
5- Do Your Research
Not doing your research means not knowing what you’re doing. So, you want to make sure that you do your research ahead of time. So that you know what you’re selling. You don’t want to waste your money buying items that aren’t going to sell.
If you’re going to be buying to resell you want to make sure that you go on ahead of time you can see what the completed listings are make sure you do your research.
Also, before you start selling on a new platform make sure you understand that platform. What their fees are? What their conditions of sale are? You want to make sure that you’re prepared which we kind of go back to mistake number one.
6- Keeping Good Bookkeeping
It’s really important that you track your sales. We know it’s not the fun part of selling online but it is really essential if you’re gonna treat this like a real business. When it comes to tax time, it is going to benefit you if you have tracked your sales, fees or expenses.
All of those things throughout the year instead of waiting until tax time.
So, making sure that you know your numbers, you understand what your profit margins are, and what you’re spending your money on. Is it worth it? Are your sales number high enough to justify your cost?
7- Be Organized
Not being organized and not keeping good inventory is big mistake. So, like we just mentioned in the bookkeeping section, you also have to make sure you’re very organized with where your inventory is.
You want to make sure that because you want to ship quickly you need to know where your items are. So, you need to be organized and have an inventory in place.
If you’re normally a messy person make sure you put some sort of system in place that will help you with that part of your business.
8- Variety in your product
So, when you start out as a new seller, you’re going to have an item that you’re really going to love. The only way to grow your business is to diversify what you’re selling. You don’t want to put all your eggs into one basket. That’s because what if that category crashes?
You want to make sure that you have different types of products throughout your business.
9- Varying Platforms
You want to make sure that you pick a different platform to start with if something ever happens to your platform. You can find what suits your business the best and what interests you the best.
10- Do Not Give Up Too Easy
Finally, giving up too easy on your e-Commerce business would be big mistake. We know that business is hard sometimes. It’s not always going to be easy or fun. There’s going to be certain aspects of your business that you hate to do but they’re necessary for your business. So, please don’t give up!
Realize that there’s other people out there to support you to answer your questions. Also there’s some other great resellers on Youtube, Instagram or any other platforms. So, please make sure that you’re not alone and know that we’ve all made mistakes and that we’ve all had issues with our business. So keep going and don’t give up.
BONUS: Your customers shouldn’t be everyone
This is a very important part because many new e-Commerce people think that if they make a product that appeals to everyone, everyone will want to buy it. However, the truth is, if you have a product that appeals to everyone, that product will probably appeal to everyone just a little bit. Definitely not enough for them to buy.
This is especially true for private labeling niche products. It is a type of product that you do not think will be in demand, but actually exists. So, when creating your first product, remember that it doesn’t have to appeal to everyone. For a small group of people it should be a product that clearly fits the bill.
Targeting your product to a smaller audience also helps with marketing ROI. No one has enough money to market it to everyone in the world. Not only will it shrink your marketing budget, but it will also make it much more effective and your conversion rate much better.
