If You’re Thinking about Selling Online and eCommerce Marketing – read this first!
eCommerce and selling online can provide locally-based small businesses big returns. Selling online, you won’t need to worry about paying overhead and any limitations relating to location are erased. Let’s say, you’re a small business selling in Toronto. Through eCommerce, you can spread and send product to Australia, Ireland, China, and wherever in the world you wish to expand to. As lucrative as eCommerce can be, it can also take up time and resources to successfully manage an eCommerce site. So if you’re thinking about selling online, read ahead first.
Look at the different online store models in your category.
Look around at what types of online stores your competition is using. If you want to sell products online, you want to ensure you’re using an eCommerce platform that’s presenting your brand’s products the way you want. Consider global shipping rules, what you want to use as a return policy, whether you want to manufacture the product yourself or use a third party, and more. If you’re making the product yourself, you have control over quality. If you’re using a manufacturer, you best be using one you trust whether it’s domestic or abroad.
Building a new eCommerce store or adding one to an existing site.
Adding eCommerce functionality to an existing website can have many benefits. Some of the add-on eCommerce platforms out there include PayPal, ProductCart, CubeCart, and others. Comparatively, if you’re looking to have your own standalone store, you’re going to want to use platforms like Shopify, Magneto, or Weebly. The advantage to having your own new online shopping store is it gives you the chance to customize, enables you to set up your own store the way you want it, and can be simpler from a design perspective to implement.
Dedicating resources to manage your eCommerce site.
Identify who is going to create and run your online store. Assign someone the responsibility of overseeing operations. Identify who is going to write product descriptions and take the images. Determine how often you will need to add or change products. Know who’s going to keep pages updated with the latest products. All these website updates can be extremely time-consuming, especially if you’re adding new product in on a regular basis. If your website will be static – as in, you’re not regularly adding new products – you may be a little more lucky.
Knowing your returns policy and shipping procedures.
Before you begin selling, you need to know what your return policy is and how affordable it can be to sustain it long-term. Identify whether you will have a ‘free shipping’ option. Know how you intend to ship products, how long it’ll take before the product arrives, and ensure shipping details are clearly outlined to your customers. The last thing you want is for someone to be disappointed by how much shipping is or how long it takes for a product they’ve purchased to reach them.
If you already have these things in play and you’ve got all your answers, feel assured knowing you’re ready to sell online. Speak with an eCommerce marketing expert today at Unlimited Exposure to get started on your website development and marketing strategy. Grow your audience, see your sales soar, and know your eCommerce site is being supported with the right strategies that’ll ensure you enjoy long-term success. Join us today!