Start An Ecommerce Business

The benefit of e-commerce is that you can reach customers over a wide geographic area, so keep that in mind when you are doing your research. Ecommerce business is a business model where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services with consumers over the internet.

Ecommerce business

Customer research

Work out what it is you want to sell, and who you want to sell it too. Customer research is absolutely crucial when it comes to launching a successful business.

Decide on your product range

Armed with research from your ideal customers, you can start to put together the actual range that you want to sell. A small range, or even one item, can be a great way to get started and help you learn as you go along.

Postage and packaging

Make sure that your packaging is sturdy and fit for purpose – nothing puts customers off quicker than a damaged item. Mail an item to yourself as a test run to check the condition that it arrives in. Be aware that many customers will appreciate recyclable and zero-plastic packaging.

Check your pricing

Once you have the items you want to sell and the packaging and posting options figured out, you can calculate your profit margin. It’s very important that you work out your profit margin for every item that you are planning to sell. Don’t forget to include all the costs that are involved, from the cost of the item itself, to the cost of packaging and even the cost of getting the items shipped to you.

Keep it lean

Unless you have a huge budget for starting your business, you will be in a much better position if you keep your start-up costs and inventory levels lean as you start to learn about what your customer really wants, and who you are as a business.

Choose your route to market

Having an ecommerce business only requires having products, access to the internet and a way to take payments. Some lean startups begin with an Instagram account, Often the best thing to do is to simply get started. You may also choose to start on a marketplace such as Etsy, Amazon or EBay, but fairly quickly, most businesses will need their own website.

Decide on a marketing strategy

Start with their most popular platform and keep showing up. Think about what types of information and posts would be most interesting to them, and then start trying different ways to communicate.

Key steps to launch your ecommerce business

• Validate your product idea by talking to potential customers.


• Consider how you will sell and ship your product to online customers.


• Source products by procuring inventory or manufacturing your own.


• Select online selling channels, which may include Amazon, your own website, or both.


• Build your online storefront and add products.

Conclusion

Ecommerce businesses are booming. In 2020, more than 200,000 selling partners from around the world began selling in Amazon stores in the U.S.