How To start A Successful eCommerce Business
If you are an experienced entrepreneur or craftsman, you probably dreamed of creating your own online store and starting a business that will give you a sense of fulfillment and freedom.
Unfortunately, most people don't follow the of an eCommerce business because they don't know where to start.
E-commerce companies, which are any business that buys and sells goods or services over the Internet, are thriving. With global e-commerce retail sales approaching $5 trillion in 2021, now is a good time to start an online business.
The future of e-commerce is promising. But starting an online business is hard work and requires many steps and decisions that need to come together at the right time. You will learn each of them step by step in this guide.
How to Start an E-Commerce Business
We know that online shopping is booming. How do you really start an online business?
To help you, we've developed a comprehensive business plan based on the most popular Shopify content. These blog posts, manuals, and videos have been organized according to the most important tasks that you have to face when searching, launching, and developing a profitable e-commerce startup.
1. Select product
Search for items for sale
The first step to building an eCommerce website is to know what products you want to sell directly to the consumer. This is often the hardest part of starting a new online business. In this section, we'll explore the strategies you can use to look for product opportunities, explore the best places to look for product ideas, and finally explore which eCommerce products should be considered.
Evaluate your idea
Once you have an idea for a product, how do you know if it will be sold? In this section, we will examine some approaches that active entrepreneurs have used to test their product ideas and potential market.
Receive your product
Once you come across a reliable product idea, your next step is to figure out where and how you will receive your products. The following four articles cover the different ways to buy their products, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each model.
Sell your products online
Many independent retailers are facing a challenge. Moving your physical activity online can help you weather this storm, build cash flow, and build a more sustainable business. You need to find a good ecommerce solution to build your store on, like Shopify.
2. Search and prepare
Search for your competitors
You have found your product, evaluated its potential and found a supplier. But before you start doing this, you need to thoroughly study your competitors to see what they come across and how to distinguish your business from your own.
Creation of a business plan
Once your competitive research is complete, it's time to write your business plan. A business plan is a roadmap that allows you to summarize your ideas and thoughts. A business plan is crucial for setting priorities and effectively reaching potential customers.
3. Starting a business
creating an eCommerce business
• Select a company name
In addition to finding a real product that can be sold online, another difficult decision is to determine the name of your company or brand and choose a suitable and affordable domain name. These blog posts will help you solve these important tasks.
• Creating a logo
After you have chosen a memorable name and registered the appropriate domain, it's time to create a simple logo. On these resources, we will show you some ways to create a great logo for your new business.
• Understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
You are almost ready to start building your online store. But before you start, you need to understand the basics of search engine optimization so that you can properly structure your website and pages for Google and other search engines.
• Create your shop
With a better understanding of the search engines, it's time to build your store. There are many important elements to consider. Below we have listed our main materials with which you can create product pages with high conversion, write fascinating product descriptions, photograph stunning products, choose an e-commerce color palette, and much more.
Remember that if you have any problems setting up your store, you can always contact the experts at Shopify.
• Selecting Distribution Channels
One of the best ways to attract new customers is to choose the sales channels through which you are already shopping. The right combination of distribution channels depends on your products and your target market, but there are a number of great options that can complement and support your own store.
4. Preparation for the start
As you approach the launch of your new business, you need to prepare for several points of delivery and execution. In this section, we have put together some complete guides on how to define your shipping strategy.
It is also recommended to define your main performance indicators from the very beginning so that after the start you know what success rates you should follow.
As a final checklist, this article covers 13 basic things you need to do before you start.
• Acquire your first customer
Now that you have started working, the hard work of marketing your products begins. While many new store owners should think about selling their physical goods in person, the rest of digital marketing depends on one thing: attracting targeted traffic. We will then share various marketing tactics that will help you in the first few months.
• Marketing your Business
You are now on the right track and probably have several sales under your belt. It's time to get serious and focused. The following articles will help you focus on your most successful ecommerce marketing tactics or develop new ones to generate traffic and convert that traffic into sales.
How much does it cost to start an e-commerce business?
An e-commerce business can be started for only $ 100, which will be spent on a subscription and the purchase of a theme for your store. E-commerce companies are cheaper than regular stores, because they do not need the same number of licenses and permits, and they do not have to pay rent for retail space.
For example, if you work for a dropshipping company, the startup will probably cost less, because you will not have to pay for raw materials, supplies, or manual labor. You pay for the products only after the customer has purchased them. If you create your own products manually or cooperate with manufacturers, you will have to pay in advance for equipment, materials, and labor.
Many eCommerce entrepreneurs start a business on a tight budget. To better understand the acquisition costs, we surveyed 150 entrepreneurs and 300 small business owners in the USA.
According to our research, new e-commerce entrepreneurs can expect business expenses to reach up to 40,000 in the first year, which will be reimbursed to the owner through profits.
Included expenditure categories:
• Product: Raw materials, inventory, supplier, manufacture, patents, etc.
• Mode of operation: registration / legal fees, additional software, accounting, etc.
• Online store: website /platform subscription, hosting /domain, developer /contract developer, etc.
• Shipping: Packaging, labels, etc.
• Offline: stand/ table costs, rent, petrol, etc.
• Team/ staff: wages, benefits, benefits, etc.
• Marketing: logo, branding, advertising, printing materials, etc.
In the first year, business owners spent the following:
11% of the operation
spending 10.3% of marketing costs
9% off online spending
31.6% on production costs
8.7% on shipping costs
18.8% RETURN fee
10.5% off offline costs
This does not mean that you will necessarily spend $ 40,000 to open your online store. The amount spent in the first year varied significantly depending on the business model of the industry and e-commerce, regardless of whether the company had employees or worked full-time.
You also don't need 40,000 cash to start an eCommerce business. Although many entrepreneurs (66%) use their personal savings to finance their business (respondents were able to choose more than one source of financing), they also resorted to financial support from friends and family members (23%) and personal loans (21%).).
Tips for Building an E-commerce Business
It is fascinating to start an e-commerce business. Regardless of whether you start with your first or fifth, pay attention to the following tips:
• Forget about the profitability of the first year
• Know what your target audience is
• sells a popular product
• Experiment with marketing and advertising
• Invest in raising awareness and strengthening connections
Forget about the profitability of the first year
Starting a successful e-commerce business is a marathon, not a sprint. Do not evaluate the success of a business based on the profitability of your first year. Give yourself an 18- to 24-month opportunity to start your business. Spend your first year reviewing, replaying, and investing in your business with the budget guidelines above.
Know your target audience
In addition to developing or searching for products, you will spend most of your time trying to attract the attention of customers. A task?. you want to get your products in front of the right customers — those who will really buy on your site. Understanding these people, that is, your target audience can help you reach them faster and increase sales.
Sale of the coveted goods
Create or sell an amazing product with proven market demand. Take a look at the best retailers today — Allbirds, Tushy, Bombas — and you'll find that they all sell top-notch products. "The quality of the products is crucial because a good product is sold alone," says Eric Even Chaim, CEO of the ReConvert Sales Incentive and cross-selling app. "Marrying a great product with a hungry audience will make your marketing ten times easier""
Eric explains that new products don't necessarily have to be the "next big thing"."You just need to study the growing trends and markets where customers are not sufficiently served. Then enter a great product and give them what they want!”
There are two places where market demand can be found:
Google Trends, where you can search for topics that people are looking for
Trends.co , which uses data to predict trends and business opportunities before they become popular.
Marrying a great product with a hungry audience will make your marketing ten times easier.
Experiment with marketing and advertising
It is important that your new business is known after the launch. You should try different marketing strategies to understand where your target audience is and how best to respond to your content.
Try different online marketing tactics like:
• Affiliate Marketing
• Instagram Ads
• website pop-ups
• incentivizing sales and cross-selling sales
• Organic research
• Content Marketing
• Loyalty programs
"Success depends on your ability to experiment, test and analyze your advertising and marketing strategies," says Stephen Light, marketing director and co-owner of Nolah, a mattress manufacturer. "Experimenting is the best way to avoid assumptions about your audience that could end up harming you instead of helping you""
Stephen suggests being open to fakes, “especially if you're just starting out." use the data you collect to create more efficient campaigns that attract traffic and generate profits. In addition, by optimizing your advertising campaigns and collecting data on how your customer base responds to them, you can shape the functionality of your website.""
Experimenting is the best way to avoid making assumptions about your audience that could end up hurting you instead of helping you.
Invest in raising awareness and strengthening connections
Another tip for new eCommerce stores is to come up with a plan to increase awareness and build connections. This tactic can help improve your SEO ranking on Google.
"The sooner you have an approach to creating links and building authority on your site, the sooner search engines will recognize your site as an authority in your niche," says James Taylor, a UK SEO consultant.
"Search engines consider a link from a reputable source as a vote of confidence for their site. The more links you have from trusted sites, the more the search engines trust you as an authority""
James recommends that new eCommerce store owners and marketers invest in outreach and digital outreach campaigns from the start. This paves the way for long-term SEO success by allowing you to take a higher place on Google, gain more organic traffic and increase sales.
"The sooner you have an approach to creating links and building authority on your site, the sooner search engines will recognize your site as an authority in your niche""
The plan is just the beginning
Building your own e-commerce business is as exciting as it is difficult. At a fast pace, you will learn a lot about choosing a product, evaluating its viability, the way it is manufactured, creating an e-commerce website, marketing, and selling to new customers. The process may seem like you are solving a puzzle from a puzzle, but it's still nice.
We hope that the continuation of this resource review will help you get a clearer roadmap. As always, the best advice anyone can give is to start and have fun along the way.
