Before starting an ecommerce business you have to be honest with yourself about how much you understand online business and the nature of ecommerce itself. Ecommerce is extremely involved, both from a technical standpoint with regard to the website platform, but also from a marketing standpoint as well. In this regard it is not very different from a bricks and mortar business with regard to the investment of both time and energy.
Things to Consider Before Starting an Ecommerce Business
Before starting an ecommerce business you have to be honest with yourself about how much you understand online business and the nature of ecommerce itself. Ecommerce is extremely involved, both from a technical standpoint with regard to the website platform, but also from a marketing standpoint as well. In this regard it is not very different from a bricks and mortar business with regard to the investment of both time and energy.
On the other hand there are some obvious advantages, like not being limited to a local marketplace. Ecommerce is more dependent on marketing than a traditional business, and your success will definitely be proportionate to your online traffic. You will need to learn about inbound marketing techniques, search engine optimization and email marketing to have a real chance of success with an ecommerce business. It is not as simple as setting up an online store and waiting for customers to pour in.
Product market
When you start an ecommerce business youll need to consider what you will be selling online first of all. Its usually best to sell something you know intimately and understand, rather than just picking something that you think will make money. Choosing a product solely on the gamble that you believe it may be a money spinner is a recipe for disaster. You will struggle to market it effectively and fielding customer questions will be a nightmare.
If you sell a product you know, or even better a product you are passionate about, then you will have a better overall chance of success. You will know how to market the product from the perspective of the consumer and you will understand what your customers are really looking for from the goods that you will be supplying.
Ecommerce platform
Choosing an ecommerce platform is one of the more difficult things for those who are not technically savvy. There are some older well established platforms out there like OS Commerce, however, many of the newer solutions like Wordpress, Magento and Prestashop are easier to manage and have a lot of online video tutorials made by the user community. There are also several online services that offer a complete solution and include customer service help, but they cost far more than just hosting an open source solution yourself.
Try to get something you are comfortable with managing yourself without any help. The less dependent your business is on someone other than you, the less chance there are of things going wrong that are beyond your control. Invest in yourself.
Website design for ecommerce
No matter how good your product is or how great the functionality of your website, presentation is still everything to most users. Your website has to have a good clean, functional design that is attractive to users and easy to understand. It also has to have professional polish to it, or customers may be concerned you are a scam or fly-by-night. Consider hiring a professional for help with this part, it really is that important.
Payment gateway
Setting up a way to take secure online payments is important for you and your customers. You will want to get a secure payment gateway from a provider like Authorize.net, this will allow you to take credit card payments online securely. The reason that it will be secure is because it will be encrypted and none of the information will be stored in a way that is accessible, giving your customers peace of mind and it will ensure that you get paid.
Online marketing
Online marketing, more than anything else, is going to make or break your ecommerce business. With all of the websites and major online outlets out there, you cant have the expectation that people will just stumble across your website. Its also unreasonable to think that you can climb your way to the top of Google. Putting together an inbound marketing strategy that takes advantage of search advertising, banner ads, content marketing and video marketing is going to be an investment youll need to make if you hope to succeed in making people aware of your business.
Packing and shipping considerations
There is still a physical component to ecommerce, and that is shipping products to your customers. Having a reliable packaging supplier is important. If anything you are selling is perishable or has temperature related considerations you may need to look into a specialist packaging outlet such as TPS solutions, providers of thermal packaging.The last thing you want is to receive customer complaints relating to the final stage of the ecommerce process.
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