The greatest desire for most entrepreneurs is to build a business that allows them to live a lifestyle of their dreams, running it on autopilot. The e-commerce economy has proved to support these dreams by its upward trajectory and expeditious growth each year. Global e-commerce sales are in the trillions of dollars and still growing.
But you can only expect your own e-commerce success by approaching it in the recommended manner. To start and run an online enterprise effectively requires excellent planning. That means putting the following tips into consideration.
Decide on goods
Finding profitable products that are in demand is more than half the battle of starting a successful online store. This is because you are unsure of what people want or you feel like all the things you could sell are already in the market; not to mention the competition you might face in most popular products categories. Luckily, there are still a lot of opportunities out there. New products are successfully being launched all the time.
5 Tips on how to choose products to sell
- Product research: Anyone can sell anything online, thanks to platforms like Amazon and Walmart. Fortunately for you, the number of potential buyers in the modern world is unlimited. Search for products that are doing well and weigh them against your wants and needs. Your objective is to gather info and reverse engineer a strategy to sell it.
- Identify painkiller products: An effective way to develop a product that people want is by solving a customer’s pain point. For example, most women who wear high heeled shoes experience foot pain. A female entrepreneur sells special insoles to them addressing their needs. Paying attention to these common frustrations under a line of products could be another way of coming up with a profitable product idea.
- Appeal to enthusiastic hobbyists: Consumers are likely to spend on their hobbies and passion. You’d be surprised at the lengths they would go to to fulfill their guilty pleasures. Show your customers that you understand their obsessions and they will develop loyalty to your products making endless purchases on site.
- Look out for trends: Significant wins for a new business are acquired when you recognize trends early enough before others do. It helps you secure a place in the market and establishes you as a leader. Thanks to digital marketing and how it works, opportunities to create long term SEO traffic are inexhaustible. Know the latest on Google trends, Twitter hashtags, Trend hunter and other websites.
- Read customer reviews on existing products: Most customers eye specific commodities. Grasp the interesting bits of feedbacks and use them as inspiration to develop products for your online store. Also, focus on their complaints and shortcomings just in case there is an already successful product that needs to be improved.
Give thorough information
As a customer, nothing frustrates like entering an online market website and not getting enough information about the goods and services being offered. This can be fixed by detailing each item well and making sure you offer appropriate pricing, free shipping, and simplifying the buying process with simple shopping carts. Make checking out as simple as possible by:
- Eliminating the need for creating an account
- Limiting the number of screens customers have to go through
- Using few form fields with auto-fill where applicable
- Providing conventional payment methods for orders like PayPal and Amazon
- Consumers will also want to know who they are purchasing from. Give a description of your company, location, experience, and a brief history of how you started.
Be available to customers
Clients don’t like feeling completely isolated when shopping online for goods. Make sure your contact or support team is always available. Give a list of phone numbers and email addresses for those preferring written correspondence. Also, ensure customers receive prompt replies (preferably within 24hrs). A client’s satisfaction highly determines your success.
Create mobile friendly content and social media platforms
Who is your target audience? Where do they hang out? How can you get to them? Knowing how and where to advertise your merchandise is the most crucial step. Social media is a straightforward way of getting people to know about your business and can get you a lot of potential customers. Take advantage of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter to grow your business. Another thing…make sure your business page is mobile-friendly. This is because most people access online info via smartphones and tablets. Customers get frustrated when they try accessing websites only to be told that the content isn’t available, especially when they don’t have access to a computer. You might want to ask a professional for help to get your business running on mobile devices.
Budget your marketing
Focus on the one idea and concept that you have. It’s easy to want to be like other successful businesses surrounding you, and even be tempted to invest more to be like them. Don’t try to be like another company that is spending $5,000 in ads, be proud of yourself for starting small. Start by spending as low as $5 on ads. Eventually, $5 will turn into $50 then $500 and so on. Develop a life of financial freedom easily and affordably.
Bottom-line
Never stop evolving. Customer tastes, technology, and trends will change with time and so must you if you aspire to succeed in this flourishing market. With these 5 tips, there’s no limit on the success that you can achieve as an e-commerce entrepreneur. Best of luck!