Ecommerce involves selling products online. For those that have always wanted to start their own retail business but never had the funds to own a physical store, an ecommerce business can be a great alternative route. Below are just some of the steps required to help start your own ecommerce business.
Finding your products
First, you need to consider which products you plan to sell. These could be products that you manufacture yourself or products that you acquire off others. It’s possible to choose pretty much any product and find a market for it when selling online due to the fact that you have access to the whole world – however you may have to promote your business a lot harder when targeting a niche or trying to take on a crowded market. Do your research to find out what other online retailers are selling so that you can get an idea of demand and pricing.
Establishing your brand
Your brand is your company’s personality. Decide what your company name will be, what your logo will look like, what colours and fonts you’ll use and what tone of voice you’ll adopt. You may also want to establish a brand story or a message. A strong brand will help you to stand out online and will help you to build the trust of customers. There are guides to ecommerce branding that you can read online.
Building your online store
Once you have a product and a brand, you can begin building your online store. There are a couple ways to do this: you can build your own site or you can pay a professional company to do it for you. There are website builders that can allow you to create your own site without any coding knowledge, however you may find that you’re able to build a more unique website by paying professionals. When building your website, make sure that it has clear navigation, professional product photos, mobile-friendly call-to-action buttons and a secure checkout system.
Choosing a courier service
Next, you need to choose a courier service that will deliver your products to your customers. Work out whether you will need an international or domestic courier service and consider the size and weight of your average delivery. There are sites that can help you to compare shipping costs. Looking for freight shipping quotes? You can find all of this information online. It is not recommended that you try to provide your own in-house courier service.
Running your business
Once your site is live and you have established a courier service to use, you will need to consider the day-to-day duties of running an ecommerce business. This includes keeping up with orders, packaging products, answering customer questions and marketing to new customers. You will need to make sure that your website is also well-maintained. This could include running SEO campaigns, generating new content, fixing bugs and improving security. As your business grows, you may be able to find ways of growing with it such as hiring extra staff and expanding your product range.
