Are you thinking of opening an online store or an ecommerce, but you don’t know how to do it?
Whether you are looking for a second job or you want to start a new business online, setting up an e-commerce business could be the right choice.
Owning an online store means that you won’t need a fixed physical location, you won’t need fixed hours and you’ll be able to make all the decisions. Furthermore, the starting costs are very low and starting with a small business can still give you the chance to grow it.
Like everything, getting started is the hardest thing to do.
Here are your next steps to start an online sales business:
- Analyze your competitors
- Choose your target market
- Choose your niche and your products
- Choose your ecommerce platform
- Choose your business model
- Promote your e-commerce
Let’s go into detail:
- Analyze your competitors
Analyzing your competitors’ activity is a fundamental step to learn what works and what doesn’t work in your sector and to learn how to anticipate their moves!
Do not miss this step and study the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, what their website looks like, its layout, whether they have a blog, what their customers think about them… - Choose your target market
Who are your ideal customers? Figure out how to attract potential customers to your site and get them to buy your products. Identify their main characteristics and adjust your strategies based on them. - Choose your niche and your products
The first thing to decide is definitely your target niche and the most profitable products for your business and the most wanted ones by your customers.
It is also important to study online reviews, in order to understand what the critical aspects of certain products are, to understand if they are easy and cheap to pack, if there is a lot of competition, etc. - Choose your e-commerce platform
There are many options available. Clearly, for an entrepreneur entering the world of online sales for the first time, it is advisable to choose a platform that is already well established and successful. The main ones are Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon and eBay, each with different features and costs.
At this point you will have to choose a hosting service for your site, choose a name, check the necessary legal requirements and choose the products. - Choose your business model
The three main business models are Dropshipping, wholesale purchasing and Fulfillment by Amazon. To learn more about dropshipping, take a look here. Buying in bulk involves the purchase of large quantities at prices that are certainly lower than normal, but you will also have to deal with packaging and shipping the goods. The third option is Fulfillment by Amazon, which allows you to pay Amazon to stock your merchandise, package it, and ship it for you. - Promote your e-commerce
This is essential to start making successful sales and earning money. The first thing to do is choosing the name, logo, images and layout of your store and promoting your store, within different marketing channels and with distinct techniques. Click here to find out more!
Put these tips into practice and start your successful ecommerce business!
Thanks to BDroppy, if you are already selling online, on your website, or through a marketplace, you can have the dropshipping service included, so you can integrate the BDroppy fashion catalog on your website/e-commerce, to sell designer clothes and thousands of original designer fashion products, using a single dashboard.
Otherwise, if you’re interested in a turnkey website, BDroppy thinks about you too! You will have your own ready-to-use ecommerce, with an integrated fashion catalog and dropshipping service included!
