Ecommerce is how much of the world buys and sells now. Over 200 million people in America alone shop online. There may be millions of ecommerce sites, but few sell any more than a thousand dollars in goods and services. That means it’s a wide-open field, just ready for you to jump in and start your own ecommerce business. NY Affairs shares some tips to help you get started with your new endeavor.
You’ve Got to Have a Great Website
If you’re not skilled at building your own website, try using a website builder. There are several to choose from. Just read reviews to find one that suits what you want to do, your level of expertise, and what other users think of each of those site builders. Or, if you really want a professional website, hire a freelancer to build one for you. There are sites like Upwork and Fiverr that allow you to filter by expertise, experience, and price per hour when hiring a web designer.
Make your website easier and more user-friendly by including visuals like photos, videos, and infographics. Infographics can allow you to share complex ideas in a simpler, easier-to-understand format. And an infographic builds your brand by creating a recognizable look and style. With the help of online infographic makers, you can make custom infographics in a flash. You can customize it with images, icons, fonts, and graphics to make it unique and perfect for your website.
With so many people using their mobile phones for everything, including purchasing items, it’s important your website be compatible with those devices. Doing so improves the user experience by providing a less demanding method for navigating the website. And finally, mobile users buy more!
Marketing Made Easy
Marketing. It sounds complex and complicated, but it’s really just inviting people to come to your store and take a look around at what you have to offer. You’ll need to think about the kind of person who would be the ideal customer and narrow your invitations to them, so you’re not wasting marketing postage. That’s where marketing research comes in. Not only will you make better marketing decisions, but high-quality market research can help your business get funding as well because investors will want to see the size of your target market.
You can start by just asking friends and family what they want that your competitors aren’t giving them. Then expand that to your social media sites. Create a poll or survey with carefully crafted questions to give you the best insight.
Then look at what your competitors are doing — How are they advertising? What are they offering? Who are their customers?
Offer discounts and specials, even if it means it costs you. That discount now can mean a whole lot of sales later. That’s a pretty effective way to market.
You’ll also need to use paid advertising, but that can go hand-in-hand with your free social media marketing. You can build your own business page on Facebook and invite your friends to like and share it. Then, with your paid advertising, Facebook will let you in on how your campaign is doing, like how many people saw your ad.
Keep Track of Inventory
How much you’ve spent on supplies, shipping, marketing, and all business expenses need to be tracked for several reasons. You need to make sure your profit margins are where you want them, you can track how much you’re spending and look for places to cut back if needed, and, of course, for accounting and tax purposes. It’s also important to track your inventory to make sure you have enough supplies so there are no delays in fulfilling orders.
Using prescriptive analytics, the right software can now make more accurate decisions with ordering and distribution. Software like Ordoro allows for multichannel selling, so you can manage product listings for your Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, and Shopify channels.
With more and more people buying online, there’s no better way to run a small business than the ecommerce way. You can be open 24 hours a day, have a global reach, it’s cost-effective since you don’t need a physical store, and you’re able to create a personalized shopping experience. It’s a great time to be an ecommerce entrepreneur.
