A growing number of entrepreneurs are turning to eCommerce to market and sell products. Online sales have been increasing year on year as more people turn to the convenience and flexibility afforded by eCommerce. Although the idea of starting an eCommerce site seems effortless, there is a clear strategy that needs to be followed top obtain positive results. The steps include selecting the industry and product, listing the product manufacturers and setting up the website. Selecting the industry and product you want to sell is perhaps the most defining decision that you will make during the whole campaign. What you need to do is pick a product that will sell online and get you quick returns. Before making this decision, you need to consider the product shipping size, availability, retail price and sales margin. Once these factors are co-opted, the next step is picking the product manufacturer.
There are several powerful online resources that you can use to find the right product manufacturer such as online supplier directories and the powerful Google Shopping search engine. The directories often provide a list of thousands of wholesalers and products that can be marketed and sold online. During the inquiry, the suppliers and distributors will request to know more about your business. You can easily leverage your relationship with the large product manufacturers by taking the earliest opportunity to establish a working relationship with small suppliers. For purposes of authenticity, suppliers may request to see a copy of your resale Certificate number or Tax ID number. Certain operating permits can be obtained at the state or local commerce office. The long and arduous process of setting up a website follows immediately after selecting the products and manufacturers you want to work with.
Before setting up an eCommerce website, you need to decide whether you want a new website, redesign your website or install eCommerce or shopping cart software to an existing site. To do this you might need to find Freelance eCommerce designer and developer Melbourne. Picking the right eCommerce platform is critical at this juncture because the platform offers a base from where you can list your products and perform checkout. Today’s eCommerce enablement technologies have made it easy for both large and small merchants to sell their products online. The main factors to consider when choosing an eCommerce platform include the value of the features, price and integrations. The selected features are generally determined by the type of store and the product you want to sell. A typical eCommerce dashboard offers several sales functions including generating discount codes, processing orders, managing inventory and producing reports.
If your store has a physical presence, you would be wiser to choose a platform with point of sale options in order to take advantage of the various offline and online commerce enablements. You also need to pay close attention to mobile responsiveness, by incorporating mobile friendly themes and mobile friendly checkout screens. Making these changes will go a long way to optimize the checkout experience. The amount of the price you pay for the eCommerce platform should ideally reflect the budget you have set aside. Besides the cost of acquiring the platform, additional charges that you may incur will be derived from hosting fees, transaction fees and processing fees. In case you are working on a tight budget, consider more budget friendly platforms such as open source eCommerce options. There are also several cost effective platforms that target middle market budgets. If you are not constrained by the budget, you can opt for more customizable enterprise solutions, which come with a host of capabilities.
Entrepreneurs need to pay attention to integrations because the whole idea of operating a business online means much more than setting up an eCommerce platform. The platform must integrate seamlessly with other critical software’s such as app stores, add-on library, plug-ins and extensions. Good examples of integrations include Amazon marketplace compatibility, email marketing solutions, and fraud management tools. An email marketing solution in this case can help you segment your email lists based on consumer purchase behavior. The fraud detecting solutions, on the other hand, are designed to integrate with fraud management software’s in order to protect your business from receiving and executing fraudulent orders. Powerful eCommerce platforms come with a long list of features and preprogrammed extensions designed to make it easy for users to customize their sites without hiring the services of an expert.
There are several popular eCommerce platforms you can consider such as Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, Prestashop and OpenCart. Shopify has all the features necessary to kick start your business online. The enablers include credit card processing function, advanced security features and hosting services. The platform also offers an array of website templates, 24/7 support and mobile friendly seller mobile apps and shopping cart. Magento is a hugely popular open source platform. The benefits of using this platform include great user experience, extensive social media friendly free extension and access to over 9,000 plugins and extension that can be used to scale any business online. There is also an extensive resource library that can be used to set up demos and enhance store management. BigCommerce currently plays host to over 50,000 online stores, many of them small and medium size enterprises.
The platform is especially popular with store owners who want to avoid the hassles of going through CSS or HTML code editing and integrating plugins among other control procedures. The platform also gives users access to powerful support that is backed by educational videos and setup wizards. Users can also integrate easily with resources like Google shopping and Facebook. OpenCart is another powerful open source platform that allows webmasters to change the design and function of the site. Once you have set out the eCommerce platform and put in place related modalities, you need to complete the process by getting a domain name and a server to hosting your site in case you decide to use an open source platform. To make your work easier, you can choose hosts who offer a package consisting of domain name and web hosting account.
