Have you ever thought of selling products online? How did it feel? If you have the interest to start a business, I know selling online can be extremely rewarding. This type of business provides the path to success without the uncertainties involved in purchasing property and building a physical store. This is what we call the world of eCommerce – selling products and services through the internet. It offers a vast opportunity to entrepreneurs worldwide. And we are going to be learning how to sell products online!
Ecommerce has business strategies too. The strategies are similar to strategies used in any type of business, but the prime benefit is the ability to specifically measure the effectiveness of eCommerce activities. Entrepreneurs willing to market their products or services online can make use of a variety of tools and techniques that are cost-effective and relatively easy to maintain. The major strategies deployed by most people include using video, using a shopping cart analysis, and using social media.
There are diverse steps to create an e-commerce business. One has to choose an industry, formulate a business name, and decide the type of customers to serve. As long as the storefront will be on the internet, coming up with the right domain for your website will be beneficial in building your online store, and taking care of other details like which shipping carrier to use.
Steps To Sell Products Online
Having these great tips about online business intact, find out on the easiest steps to sell products online below:
- Decide on what products to sell
This is the foremost step. The products can range from unique products you’ve created to sourced items from third-party vendors or drop shippers. The best way to come out of this step is to start with something broad and then narrow it down to a niche. Learn how to find profitable products here!
- Identify your target market
This involves intensive research. Identifying your target market helps in deciding product pricing, website design and branding, and building your initial marketing strategy. This steps help in showcasing your product’s benefits to potential customers.
- Pick an all in one eCommerce platform
Picking the equitable eCommerce platform is as essential as the product that you will sell. WordPress and Woocommerce together is highly recommended as it allows you to possess both the eCommerce website and the shopping cart software. With this, coding skills and having to pay transaction fees on sales is not required. Besides, with Master Online Tools you have access to the support team to help you structure your store and any tech blips that many happen.
- Build your online store
With your brand in mind, choose an e-commerce theme or a custom design that works with it. The key is to find an e-commerce solution that has all the tools you need to come up with your online store. You thereby need to add products, create a checkout, and other essentials. Setting up product categories, and uploading your inventory will be beneficial too. Don’t forget to set up shipping methods and payment gateways.
- Get payments into your bank account
There are a few ways you can start accepting online payments. Mind you, some are faster and a piece of cake to implement than others. Heading to the traditional route and opening the merchant account is one of the options. If this is not appealing to you, you can decide to skip that step and use a payment processor that doesn’t feature those requirements. These include PayPal, Square, or Stripe. The advantage of these is that they are easy to set up and are already built into most eCommerce software. The most popular method for paying online is by use of credit cards.
- Advertise and market your website
You have your e-commerce store up and running, what next? Connecting with potential customers of course! An all in one eCommerce platform has the built-in SEO that allows you to optimize your site for search engines and users. The best form of marketing is a multidimensional approach that includes social media, search engine optimization, email newsletters, and paid advertising. Marketing your online store right away ensures a steady flow of customers.
Where to sale products online
You have started your online business, but now wondering where to sell your products or services? When learning how to sell products online, knowing where is just as important as how. Worry no more. Below are the major online selling platforms you can try to offer your products or services.
- Build your own store
- This option allows you to have complete and utter control over your business and allows you to scale up and down depending on how your business is doing.
- Sell on Etsy
This is a popular market place for artists and handcrafters. You can sell handmade products as well as mass-produced art supplies. Although creating an account in this site is easy, the site charges some relatively hefty fees.
- Sell on Facebook
A lot of people throng Facebook. This is because it’s an excellent social media platform for interacting with customers and helping your business get known.
- Sell on Google
This is the most popular search engine. Getting your products or services right there on the front page will help attract more potential buyers.
- Sell on eBay
This platform is best known for its auctions. Millions of buyers visit eBay each day looking for great deals on thousands of types of products. You are just required to set up an eBay storefront in which you will offer an assortment of items at fixed prices.
- Sell on Amazon
This is with no doubt one of the largest marketplaces in the world. Besides, it is the first stop for millions of everyday shoppers. One can handle all Amazon sales from the 3d cart dashboard, even for products one may have on Amazon but not yet in the 3d cart.
- Sell on Pinterest
Pinterest makes it easy to share content. Millions of users browse it every day. Some of the best ways to sell products on Pinterest include Buyable Pins, Rich Pins, and Promoted Pins. Each type of pin works differently to get your products viewed by buyers and provide a faster way for them to purchase.