eCommerce business is one of the fastest-growing retail areas thanks to the popularity of customers shopping from home. Getting an eCommerce business up and running takes effort and can be demanding in the beginning, but knowing what steps and decisions to anticipate will help an entrepreneur stay focused. These are the 5 things you need to know before launching an eCommerce business.
Discover What to Sell and How to Sell It
An entrepreneur interested in starting an eCommerce business already has an idea of what to sell and is passionate about the product. Having an interest in, and a full understanding of, available products make it easier to run a business and represent the products naturally. Start with a small, focused product offering to make marketing campaigns more effective.
Making a profit with an eCommerce business means buying low and selling high. When looking for a product supplier, look for one that can ship directly to customers in the beginning. Direct shipping saves money on warehouse space and order fulfillment, as well as prevents tying up money in unsold inventory. Compare suppliers and work with a vendor that ships orders quickly and has strong quality standards.
Build and Host Your Website
Many web service companies can create professional-quality websites and host them. Shopify, for example, has easy to use plug-and-play templates and key features like shopping carts, payment, search engine optimization, and marketing tools all built into the interface. Another option is to open a business using an online mall like Amazon. The benefit of an online mall is that there is already steady consumer traffic, which eliminates the time and expense of building a customer base. Note that there will be many competitors selling similar products that could impact sales.
Xivic Agency specializes in digital marketing, consulting, and development and design services. Their enterprise SEO services are designed to drive numbers and convert web traffic into sales. With a proactive and innovative approach to SEO, Xivic Agency can help eCommerce businesses increase and maintain high rankings to target new customers, reach broader markets, and generate meaningful leads.
Offer Merchant Services
Using a personal website to set up an eCommerce business requires merchant services to process payments. Considering working with a third-party payment processor such as PayPal. They are established and well-known and use several security protocols to keep customers’ financial information secure. Using a third-party processor lends credibility to the eCommerce business, but do know that the service will take a portion of sales. As an added precaution, enroll in cyber insurance to protect against backlash from a hack.
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Drive Web Traffic
When coming up with a product to sell, an entrepreneur should already have a target market in mind. Once the eCommerce business is ready to launch, it’s time to create a buzz and attract web traffic to the website. Look for the right social media platforms to reach the target market and direct marketing campaigns towards them.
Forums are a great place to find potential customers who have a strong interest in learning about products and discussing them. Launching a targeted email marketing campaign is also an effective way to build a customer following. Getting the business and products featured on relevant blogs is also a great way to create buzz and direct customers to the website.
Name the Brand
The business name should indicate to customers what kind of products are being sold. Choose an appropriate and memorable name and register a domain, which should ideally be the same or similar to the business name. Create a logo that represents that brand and that customers will easily recognize. Customers tend to associate a brand with their personal experiences, so when crafting a brand, think about what it stands for.
