There’s a lot to do between finding an idea and making a full-time income from your online business. Here are eight steps to help you sell online.
Selling online has unlimited potential. You sell products or services to anyone, anywhere, and grow a profitable business with as much (or as little) involvement as you wish.
But you can’t just snap your fingers to get there: You’ll need to find an idea for your online business, make a website, and plenty more before you’re ready to bring in a steady income. Luckily, that’s where this guide comes in. Ahead, find the eight steps you need to follow in order to sell online.
8 simple steps to start selling online
- Find a niche or competitive angle
- Establish your target audience
- Decide which products to sell
- Create an online store
- Choose your sales channels
- Set up payment processing
- Choose your shipping methods
- Promote your products
- Continuously improve your services
Find a niche or competitive angle
With so many entrepreneurs operating their own online stores, you need something to set your new business apart. Choose a niche you’re interested in, then find products in high demand you can sell within it at a high price point.
Research your competition
Who are your competitors for your target audience’s attention? Find them through competitive research. Look at their marketing strategy, audience, and price points. Use what they’re doing well to inspire your own ecommerce business.
Evaluate your idea
Arguably the hardest part of selling online is deciding on a business idea. Whether you operate your store from home, on the side of a day job, or as a creative outlet, find an idea before progressing to the next stage of selling online.
Write a business plan
You know what you’re selling and who you’re competing against. Put this information in a business plan. It’s a document that outlines what your company is, competitive analysis, and marketing strategy.
Decide which products to sell
Once you’ve landed on your niche idea and the audience you plan to sell it to, it’s time to figure out what product, exactly, you’ll sell. Will you need to find a manufacturer for this product? Will you launch with a single product, or a product line?Your choices here will have a large impact on how successful your ecommerce store or online store will be.
Find an in-demand product
The more in-demand your product is, the easier it will be to find prospective customers looking to buy it. Whether you’re dropshipping or selling directly to consumers, an in-demand product makes sure you’re not wasting time promoting products people won’t buy.
Price your products
A high profit margin means you buy items for much cheaper than you sell them online for. But there’s more to sticking an arbitrary figure on your products. Your customer base is heavily influenced by price. Get it right through research and analysis to avoid scaring them away.
Create an online store
An online store allows shoppers to buy products from you over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. If you’re tight on budget and plan to validate your product idea before committing to an ecommerce store, try a more entry-level offering such as Pygmy’s Basic plan, where you can access all the tools you need to sell for a monthly fee of ₹799.
Create essential pages
Once you have a domain name, you’ll want to start building your store pages.
People look for specific information before trusting an online retailer with their money. That includes your product page, category, about page, contact page, and FAQ. Make sure you have them ready to go before online shoppers are able to look for them.
Manage inventory
Do you know how much inventory you have available to sell? Mastering [inventory management is one of the biggest struggles for retailers, especially if you sell things online across several channels.
Choose your sales channels
An online store
Your own website is a direct way for people to buy your products. Not only will you maintain high profit margins since you’re minimizing middlemen taking a cut, but you’ll collect customer data so you can deepen the relationship and set the foundation for future personalization. Know exactly who’s buying what when the order comes through your own online store.
Social commerce
Social media users rely on their favorite platforms to buy products, engage with brands, and share product recommendations. Get active on your customer’s favorite platforms to drive sales for your ecommerce business. You can sell your product everywhere from Instagram to Facebook.
Set up payment processing
payment processor allows you to take payment when selling online. It moves funds from your customer’s account to your merchant account, keeping sensitive information secure and encrypted throughout the process.
Choose your shipping methods
Modern customers demand free, fast shipping; many would abandon an online purchase if the delivery didn’t meet their expectations. They also want brands to be more sustainable.
Domestic shipping
Shipping online orders to a customer in the same country is cheaper than shipping internationally. That said, evaluating different couriers, packaging materials, and shipping zones can bring costs down—and therefore increase your profit margins while improving customer satisfaction.
International shipping
How do you get parcels to customers on the other side of the world? With an international shipping strategy, you can decide where you’ll ship to, the rules and regulations of that country, and the costs associated with getting a product into a cross-border customer’s hands.
Promote your products
Once you know what you’re selling and how customers will receive it, spread the word about your products with an ecommerce marketing strategy
Promote on social media
Broadcast information about your products on the social media platforms your chosen audience is using. Produce high-quality content, experiment with images and video, and regularly engage with followers. Use native social commerce features to share in-app shopping experiences with users without leaving the platform.
Run paid advertising campaigns
Advertising increases the odds of reaching your target audience. Whether you have a budget to invest or are sticking to free advertising sites, build an advertising strategy to promote the products you’re selling online.
Continuously improve your services
People with an entrepreneurial mindset always aim to improve. Once you’re ready to scale, continuously improve back-end operations and product assortment to remain competitive.
Small business owners spend hours working on their business every week. As you grow, automate tasks you spend the most time on. Use that free time on higher-impact activities that will help your business scale.
Experiment with in-person commerce
Take your online business in-person by attending local events. Host a pop-up shop or use your brick-and-mortar store as a way for customers to buy online and pick up items in-store.
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