Get a Fully Functional eCommerce in Weeks!
Posted by Andres Aguerrevere on
We are living in a constantly changing world; everyday new technologies appear to make our lives easier. It is no surprise that many aspects of daily life are adapted and made simpler throughout Internet, from communicating with our loved ones to doing business, it is a reality that can’t be avoided.
It’s a great time for entrepreneurs; eCommerce is in constant growth and according to a study made by emarketer shows that for 2018 it is expected to reach up to $2.5 trillion. On the other hand, starting an online business is easier, faster and gives you the chance to profit while you take care of your everyday life.
The key to succeed on your eCommerce business is to create your business strategy beforehand and launch your product. Let’s take a look at the steps you need to successfully launch your online business.
- Find the right product:
Of course it might be obvious, but choosing your product is essential, because selling the right one will not only help your business succeed, but knowing what is it that you are offering will help you set the right business plan. Run your own market research, find out what’s trending and decide your product. If you’re still not sure on what is the right product for you, here are some tips on what makes a product “good”:
- Choose something small and light. Remember the size does matter when it comes to shipping, so make sure your product is easy to pick up and carry.
- Use niche products: Be specific, don’t just sell “Sweaters”, instead offer “White kitty sweater”, make it easy for consumers to find your product, avoid being generic.
- Range of prices $15-200: If you choose products over this price range, you will need a lot of capital to start. However, staying within these prices is affordable for you, and you will likely have more customers.
- Sell a product with constant buyer: You need to find a product you with buyer all year round. If you offer products such as seasonal cards or iPhone 5 cases, you might have a high number of conversions for a couple of months, but then your product will be out of date.
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- Evaluate your idea:
Once you’ve decided on your product it is time to put your idea to test, to measure if you made the right choice. Follow a few steps to find out more about the product you chose, and its marketing and demand characteristics.
- Study your competitors: Research other providers that sell your product, think as a customer looking for a specific product and analyze how you feel with them. Look at their time in business, their customer’s interactions, and the traffic to their site; this will give you an idea on what to do with your own.
- Research the market: Understand what people are saying about this product you want to sell; websites such as Hashtracking can help you find search information related to the hashtags affiliated to your idea.
- Check the market trend: Use Google Trends; a free, easy to use app that allows you to search key words related to your idea, and analyze the trend, based on its Google searches.
- Get your product:
Once you’ve decided and tested your idea it is time to find the right supplier or manufacturer for your product. You must first settle down whether you will use a local or overseas manufacturer, you can use some online directories such as Thomasnet, Makersrow, and Alibaba. Then, plan your email and all the information you need from them, don’t focus only in pricing, but also minimum quantity order, payment terms and shipping information.
- Write your business plan:
This will become your road map on the path you need to follow, make sure you consider every aspect of your business and avoid leaving anything to improvisation. Creating the right business plan will make the whole process easier, since you’ll be aware of every one of your moves and plan ahead. By seeing the greater picture you can prevent possible flaws in your plan and solve them, and finally it helps you get even more involve in what you’re working on.
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- Set up your business.
So now you know what you want to sell, you know where you’ll get it, and you know the steps you will need to take. It is time to actually create your own brand, choosing its name, logo, design your online store and apply your marketing strategies.
Brand image is very important in every product, but for those that are starting its presentation is everything, so choosing the right name is crucial to attract all possible customers. Having a good domain name is the start to have a good business; here are some tips to guide you:
- Be creative; you can blend two different words that relate to your product, that sound catchy and easy to relate, for example YouTube.
- Use short, and easy to spell names.
- Avoid using a domain name too similar to a preexisting one.
- .COM is the top domain name to use, if you are planning to sell in a specific country, you can use a country specific one, for example co.us for USA.
- Even though you start selling one single product, think big; do not use its name on the domain, so whenever your business grows it doesn’t affect it.
There are many online resources that can help you verify available domains, or create one from a key word.
Other important aspect to consider when setting it up is to find the right design for your logo. Remember that it will be the image of your company so it must be creative, simple and easy to identify.
- Prepare a marketing plan:
How would you make people know about your product, learning SEO is essential to attract traffic to your site, using the right key words can mean a huge increase in the number of visits you receive.
Need a marketing plan? No worries... drop us a line --> Email the Wegacha Team
- Build your online store:
Once you have your business and marketing plan, your domain name ready, and your brand image designed it is time to open up your store. Remember every detail is extremely important, from the layout to the products description. Once you get the traffic, you website will be the one to convert the possible leads.
The description of your product is key to convince your possible customers they are in the right place, consider the following elements to write an appealing description.
- Think about your ideal buyer: Who are you selling to. The vocabulary to use will depend on the target. Address them personally, making sure they feel your product is the solution for their problem.
- Focus on the benefits; don’t get lost with too many specifications. Let them know how they will win with your product.
- Let them use their imagination, your customers don’t have the chance to hold the product on their hands, so help them imagine the experience of using the product. Appeal to their imagination
By describing exciting situation where they use your product.
To complement the description use high quality photos or videos that display your product, so customers are able to see it as much as possible.
Following these steps will assure you don’t miss any important detail in the process, apply them in the right way with these tips to have a successful eCommerce business:
- Take your time before the initial launch, we know you’re excited to open up your business, and don’t want to waste any time, but taking the time to make sure everything’s ready will ensure your success. This one of the reasons why having a business plan is important, it will help you set deadlines and to make sure every detail is right as it is supposed to be.
- Make sure you have a customer-focused site; your webpage must be interactive, user friendly and directed to make your customer feel well with the product. Remember that your ultimate goal must be customer’s satisfaction not only with the product, but with the complete purchase experience.
- Use the right social media, depending on your target it might change. Make sure you are addressing the right audience for your product.
- Allow customers to interact with you, provide feed-back and ask as many questions as the may need before purchasing.
- Use tracking software in advance, to help you monitor the traffic and conversion your website receives from day one.
With this road map on what to do, you will have success on your side. We know there is not just one way to build a good online store, but with these steps and tips you are on the right path to owning a prosperous business.