By: Andrew Arnold
Ecommerce sales are increasing year after year and is showing no signs of slowing down, with 51% of Americans preferring to shop online. If you’re thinking of starting an online store and creating an ecommerce website then there is no better time to begin.
Clearly more people are purchasing from their home, tablet or mobile device instead of driving to your bricks and mortar store. With this change in purchasing attitudes, can you afford not to be online? Creating an ecommerce website might sound like a daunting task, but it is not as challenging as you may think.
In this article, you’ll:
● Learn what to consider when starting an online store
● Where you can find products to sell
● Which platforms you can use to create an ecommerce website
Choosing your industry and product
To start an online store, you’ll need to choose the right product to sell as this can have a massive impact on whether or not your ecommerce website is successful. But with millions of different products available, how do you know which ones to sell that will ensure yours are purchased?
There are usually a lot of factors to consider when choosing an industry and product. Below are the key points that you should consider:
Price
How much does your product cost? If it is too cheap it will be difficult to reach a positive Return on Investment (ROI). If it is too expensive there is a good chance customers will take more convincing to make a purchase. They probably want to speak with someone over the phone or through live chat prior to purchasing, possibly checking out review sites and your social media sites to be convinced. Customer support requires more resources for you to make a sale, although can be profitable if your product price is right. Ask others and initial purchasers what is the price they are willing to pay for your product.
Profit margin
What is your profit margin for each sale, in other words how much after costs to sell the product will you make? Many products sold online have a margin around 30–35% however this can change drastically depending on the industry. For example, electronics typically have slimmer margins while phone accessories are often marked up a whopping 200% and even more. Before you start an online store, make sure you know your profit margin of each product you wish to list. Often this will require contacting the manufacturer directly or signing up with a distributor.
Local availability
Can consumers purchase your product locally? When a product does not exist in a local store, it is easier to drive sales to your ecommerce website? The consumer is left with little choice but to purchase online through your online store.
Shipping size
How big and heavy is the product? Bigger and heavier products tend to attract higher shipping costs that can dramatically impact sales. Many customers expect to have free shipping. Therefore, it can be difficult to sell a product with a shipping fee. You could combat this by including the cost of shipping into the price tag whilst raising the price and offering “free shipping.” The caveat however, is that increases in price can decrease your sales. A tip would be to offer products that are smaller and hence require lower shipping costs.
Finding manufacturers with great products
Now that you have identified which products you want to sell you will need to figure out who the manufacturers are going to be. There are various methods of finding manufacturers that can save a lot of your time.
Shopping searches
Google Shopping is a powerful search engine that only searches physical products sold online. It lists some additional information on who the re-sellers are (great for sniffing out the competition) but more importantly who their suppliers are. Before you start an online store, simply enter your product into Google Shopping and search which manufacturers show up under the “Brand” section.
*Beware if you are in a location that is not supported by Google Shopping – you’ll be unable to check out the competition!
Directories
Why not search several online directories of suppliers that make it easy to find manufacturers? The two directories below are the most popular ones:
Worldwide Brands has nearly 10,000 wholesalers and more than 10 million products. The cost is $299 one-time fee for lifetime use.
Wholesale Central has approximately 1,500 suppliers and over 700,000 products. Here comes the sweetest part — it is free and for unlimited use.
Once you have compiled a list of manufacturers the next step is to start reaching out in hopes of reselling their products. Start with the manufacturers and distributors who have the least intimidating application and requirements. This is because many manufacturers tend not to deal with newer online stores with a limited sales record. Many larger manufacturers will want to know who you are working with first, so start with smaller suppliers to get larger suppliers on board later.
Create an ecommerce website and start an online store
Now that you have composed what products to sell and which wholesalers to obtain your products, the next step is to get them online. That means you’ll now need to create an ecommerce website and online store.
First, whilst you are waiting for the replies from manufacturers it is best to have a simple “coming soon” page before you begin to add your products. Knowing what products to sell will dictate which ecommerce platform to use or whether you require something special and customised.
Read More >> https://blumint.co/start-online-store-create-ecommerce-website
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