You’ve decided to start your eCommerce store. You think you have a great product and storefront design, excitedly you launch your store and then nothing. Does this sound familiar? The truth is eCommerce is a saturated market, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t space for you and your brand. Before you fall into the valley of despair, never to be seen again, you need to educate yourself on being relevant and profitable.
We’ve put together this article to help you succeed in selling online, from choosing the right website builder to making sure your design fits your brand and everything in between.
Which website builder is best for eCommerce?
When it comes to website builders, it seems everyone has an opinion. In the end, it will come down to personal choice and which one you’re most comfortable using but to help you decide, we’ve put together some objective pros and cons of the most common website builders.
Wix
The most appealing aspect of Wix is that it is super simple to use, which makes it an excellent choice for beginners. It allows you to drag and drop your information, and SEO material such as meta tags and descriptions are easily editable. All of the plans you can buy on Wix allow commission-free sales, which means your money is yours. Unlike other sites, Wix plans also include web hosting, which means you don’t have to connect different software or pay for web hosting services on top of your plan. The only drawback is that once your site is live, the template can’t be changed, so be sure to pick a template you like.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a well-rounded website builder with a focus on social media integration. You can tag photos and make sales on your website directly through your Instagram pics. The Squarespace designs look great and can be used for selling any number of products. You can even set up paid meetings and consultations or sell digital products. Squarespace lags behind other platforms in its ability to accept payments. Their payment methods are more limited than other platforms, but they take credit/debit cards, PayPal, Apple pay and stripe.
Shopify
Shopify is the daddy of the eCommerce platforms, and with good reason. It allows businesses to create a store with customizable services and product pages. It comes with integrated SEO and marketing tools, as well as advertising apps and social media integration. The analytics on Shopify are evident, so you can get a good overview of what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. It is an all-round service. Its only real drawback is uploading photos can be a bit of a nightmare as the platform doesn’t crop or resize them automatically.
How do you find the right product and set the right price?
Unless you already have a brick and mortar store or offline business that you plan to take online, deciding on the right product can be a minefield. So how do you go about sourcing the right product that people want to buy? There are a few tricks that online entrepreneurs use to build their product range, and we’ve listed some of these below.
Jump on trends early
This is one of the best ways to ride the wave of the next best thing. Jumping on a trend early can establish you as a market leader before others even have a chance to start selling your product. Trends shouldn’t be confused with fads, which will fizzle out quickly; trends add value or solve problems in a new way. Some of the best places to keep ahead of trends are Reddit and tools such as trend hunter or google trends.
Hobbies
Cash in on enthusiastic hobbyists and sell products that are in high demand. Arts and crafts supplies and baking supplies always sell well, but you could look at hiking, fishing, camping, or others that come to mind. This is an even better idea if you incorporate your passion, you will naturally stock good products through experience.
Use keywords to find products
Using tools that tell you how often a keyword has been searched over the past day, week, or month is a fantastic way to choose a product. Keyword tools will tell you how often the product has been searched, what queries people ask surrounding products and much more. This can be a little technical, and you might need a keyword expert. Still, useful software can help, such as Keywords Everywhere, Keyword Tool and Keyword Inspector.
Pricing
Pricing your goods isn’t a one-time deal; it’s something that you’ll review over time and change as your costs do. It can be a bit of a nightmare trying to figure out how to price your products, but the general rule is to add up your variable costs, fixed costs and profit margin. Costs will vary from business to business, but materials, production, shipping, and marketing are all things you will have to consider. It’s also a good idea to get a broad overview of competitor pricing and work out the average cost of the product you are trying to price.
Advertising, how much should you spend, and where should you advertise?
Advertising is an inevitable cost of starting an eCommerce business. How much you spend and where you choose to advertise will depend on many variants. Your budget and product will determine how you go about advertising. The general advertising rule is to spend between 7% and 8% of your gross annual turnover if you have prepared a yearly forecast. Google ads will get your website featured on google, and social media ads ensure your business will be seen.
If you have no money for advertising, there are free ways to advertise, and social media is the best way to get your brand seen for free. Build your followers by adding value to your social media posts. Offering educational, entertaining and inspirational content is a great way to get followers to engage with your brand and follow you. The same rule applies across all social media platforms and on your website. It’s a good idea to have a blog and to add to it regularly. Google bots like sites with authoritative articles, and you will build domain authority and increase your rankings with good quality content.
Social Media
You must streamline your online presence if you want to stand out. Customers engage with brands they trust, and the best way to build trust is to make sure your brand image, voice and values are the same across all platforms. There is no point in having a profile picture on Twitter that is different from Facebook. It will only confuse customers and make them lose faith in your ability to produce the goods.
Marketing
Before you even launch your eCommerce store, you must start marketing. Have a coming soon site that captures emails, advertising your goods over your social media every day, and encourage followers to sign up to your mailing list. Set up email marketing campaigns that announce your opening day discounts, your product launch days and any competitions you plan to run. Tease your customers with live videos on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and create demand around your brand before you launch. You will have your customers begging to buy from you.
The Takeaway
The choices and opportunities are endless when it comes time to launch and advertise your eCommerce business. The most important thing is to research all of your options and pick those that work best for you and your niche.
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