Many people are considering starting an eCommerce company, but few know how to get started and organize the work of their business. You must first carefully plan out all of the steps, and then create a strategy for success. For your business to succeed, we have identified 5 key steps.
What is eCommerce?
These companies allow you to purchase their products and services online. This is the classic online store where we buy goods. This industry started to develop during the Covid-19 epidemic and continues to expand today.
Business-to business (B2B), and business-to consumer (B2C) are the two main types of organization. Wholesale suppliers, industrial equipment makers, IT services providers and others are examples of B2B companies. B2C business examples include online retail (clothing and beauty products, as well as food).
Why start an online business?
Statistics show that eCommerce accounts for 22% of total sales. You can use this as a main source of income, or a secondary job. It offers several benefits.
- Passive earning is possible;
- You can work anywhere.
- Rapid growth is possible.
- Manage your time and resources more easily.
Amazon is a prime example of an successful eCommerce company. Amazon was initially a small business that grew quickly. Today, it is a huge marketplace without analogues anywhere in the world.
How do you start an eCommerce business?
It is not easy to launch an eCommerce business because you have to consider every detail. You must not only follow the traditional steps to create a business but also develop a testing strategy. You need to go through 5 stages.
1. Test your business plan and study the market
It is important to carefully research the market, and identify your competitors. You must then understand how your project is fundamentally different from theirs, and what unique things you can provide your clients.
It is also important to find out what your competitors’ clients want and how you can help them. Market analysis by Venture Capital requires a large amount of data to be collected and analyzed, which takes a lot of time. This work can be done by data analysts.
2. Find original products
You must then find reliable suppliers. You can use different strategies to sell goods. You can either create your own products, purchase them from manufacturers to store or use drop-shipping. Your choice will depend on the amount of money you are willing to invest in your new business.
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3. Selecting an online sales channel
You can start by using social media pages to gain more eCommerce experience. You can sell your product on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest. You can create your own store using Amazon.
You can sell more products and services by creating your own mobile app or website when your project is more successful.
4. Create an online store
A software for an online store can be quite complex, with many required features – main page, product cards and shopping carts, payment methods, etc. You can choose testing services in order to make sure your software is working correctly, performing the required functions and that critical bugs do not affect your business.
When launching an online shop, it is important to pay attention to the following factors:
- Create an attractive homepage;
- Create beautiful product cards and a selection of competitive products;
- Increase the number of payment options and improve the security of the transactions.
- Secure the data of your clients;
- Consider delivery terms.
Your site should be designed to encourage people to act, such as buying your products or services.
5. Marketing and promotion for your business
You need to optimize your website for search engines. Search engines must like your platform. SEO optimization is time-consuming and expensive, but will bring you steady traffic for years.
You should also create a marketing plan, promote in the media, and grow your audience on social networking sites. Create a newsletter and email promotions, as well as multiple strategies that will encourage buyers to act.
Here are some tips you might find useful.
There is no universal formula that can help a business succeed, but there are a few useful tips:
- Investing in the image of your business is a smart investment.
- Choose products carefully to avoid common mistakes
- Plan the implementation of your product;
- Collect reviews
- Use A/B Testing
- Analyze your data regularly.
Business analysts can help you to track your users’ activity and provide valuable advice about how your business can grow.
