You hear about e-commerce, the profits you can make through it, and the wealth you can finally reach. But you don't know how or where to start?
It seems very complicated to you, and you need a guide or a method that shows you in detail the steps that you have to implement. Isn't that right?
In the beginning, you have to understand that e-commerce, like any other business, needs knowledge and experience, and for this we will answer your question, “How do I start e-commerce?” through this guide.
Where we will provide you with all the foundations and steps that must be followed in order to be able to attract customers and achieve profits, as the matter is not limited to a product and a website only, but rather it is a little more complicated than that.
7 steps to getting started in e-commerce
The first step: find suitable business models for you
The first steps that you have to work on to start in e-commerce is to know and understand the most suitable business models for you.
Each of us has his own experiences in life, and one structure cannot fit all, so you should look for goods and services that you know a lot about, and that you can provide to consumers via the Internet.
You can easily determine your ideal by asking yourself a few questions:
What is my area of expertise? What service or skill do people want that I can provide? What type of products do I want to sell and do I have the requirements to sell them or not?
By answering these questions, you will be able to narrow your search, and you will know exactly where you can start in e-commerce.
After reaching a number of ideas, search for those ideas and compare their markets to each other, as some markets are highly competitive and some are low competitive.
Crowded markets are dominated by large brands that you cannot compete with at your beginning, and on the other hand, low-competitive markets have few customers, so you have to choose a point in the middle where you can compete with your experience in this market.
And after you take your time to think and come up with what you want to sell, you have to think about where you will start selling from.
Each product has its own marketing method, whether you will start your own online store or display your products on Amazon or other stores.
There are several tools that will help you identify the extent to which customers search for certain products and the demand for these products, such as:
And other free and paid keyword research tools that you can use.
Step Two: Check out your target market
After you have identified the market in which you will start working, now you have to start doing your research about this market, and exploring information about competitors, their history and previous work, and this is in order to be able to actually start e-commerce.
With that information, try to find a new value or unique selling point that you can provide to beat the rest of the competitors.
One of the most important things that you should look for is the gaps in the target market, as each market has gaps that you can work to fill in order to distinguish yourself from your competitors.
These gaps vary, as there are those who suffer from poor service after payment, and there are those who suffer from the quality of the products. By searching for these gaps and filling them, you will enable you to attract many customers and gain their confidence in your product.
And you can get this information easily through customer reviews, as it is a wealth of data that gives you accurate details about the weaknesses of any product, and you can also use it to get new product ideas.
During your research, you must take into account the customers you target, what their characteristics and way of thinking are, and that is important in order to be able to predict what they expect from the product that you will offer them and their demand for it.
By determining the age, location, and standard of living of potential customers, you will be able to provide them with the best possible service, and this will also help you in doing one of the most important e-commerce operations, which is marketing.
And after you finally reach the target product, you must apply some criteria to it in order to make sure that it is profitable for you in the short and long term.
One of the most important of these criteria is that the product is not associated with a certain fashion, because this will not be a successful investment in the long term, but will soon evaporate after a period has passed. You also have to set appropriate pricing for the product, and make sure that the price of the product is commensurate with the category you target.
And after adhering to all these rules; You have to keep in mind that it is possible to encounter some unexpected problems during the sales process with customers and in the case of a volatile market, but you have to take advantage of these obstacles in developing the quality of the product and increasing your experience.
Third Step: Create your unique brand
After you have finished all the details related to the product and its standards, you now have to focus on making your product distinctive, by focusing on the factors that will make your brand appear more professional.
The first of these details is the name, where the name of your brand must be unique and distinctive, and it must be expressive in one way or another about the product you offer.
But first you have to make sure that this name is not already taken by another brand , as this will help you in all aspects, especially in marketing and SEO.
In addition to the name, you should pay attention to the visual aspect, as you must have a distinct visual identity , and that mark must be compatible with the target customers.
If the product is aimed at children, then your logo must contain a lot of colors and cartoon shapes, unlike what it would be if it was directed at men, so you must make it expressive of what you offer.
Step Four: Get a source for your products
At this stage, you will need to obtain a source for your product if it is a physical product, and this is one of the most important stages of starting an e-commerce business.
The sources of the products may vary according to their nature, as some products such as pottery and soap can be made manually, and in this case you will be in control of the cost and risks, but at the same time you will achieve a very weak profit margin.
The second type of product, which is the most common type, is the one you buy from a distributor and then resell it again at a profit margin.
In this case, one of the factories or wholesale stores can be used to provide you with the products you want, but in that case you will need to cover the cost of the products before selling them.
Where you will need large quantities of the product during the sale, in which case you will have no control over the price, as the distributor determines the purchase price and the market determines the selling price.
You can also use dropshipping if you don't want to handle inventory yourself.
On the other hand, there is a type of product that does not need all this fuss, which is digital products . By offering a digital product online, you don't have to deal physically with the goods, and you can sell templates of photos, videos, or any kind of material.
Fifth Step: Obtain the necessary permits and licenses
When starting e-commerce, do not neglect other aspects that are not related to selling and profit, such as legal aspects, as this matter may cost you a lot later.
The licenses required vary depending on the industry and the products you work with, and not all products require licenses to begin operating in.
Therefore, you should search and know the types of licenses in your geographical area, and obtain them before you start working, in order to protect yourself and your business in the future.
And if you do not like this process, there are many offices and institutions that can provide the necessary advice and information, and implement what is required in your favor, such as accredited lawyers.
Sixth Step: Create your online store or choose a platform to work on
After completing the previous steps, you are just a few steps away from starting e-commerce and making profits. Now all you have to do is design the store through which you will sell your products, in case you do not want to sell on famous stores such as Amazon, Noon, and others.
And you have to keep in mind that the design of the online store is one of the most important steps in the e-commerce process, so some factors must be taken into account during its design, such as the fact that the store is easy to browse for the user and simple in order to be understood and dealt with easily.
Also, its design must match the branding that you previously designed in order to reflect a professional look for your business, and there are many e-commerce platforms that provide you with multiple great designs.
These platforms differ in their prices, packages, and features that they provide, so you have to research them and choose the most suitable for your business, and after completing the design, all that remains for you is to list your products and start operating the site.
You can use any of these platforms according to your personal preference, but we especially recommend the Shopify platform , due to its ease of use, great features, and global reliability.
With simple steps, you can start the Shopify platforms with a completely free trial through the following link:
Step Seven: Market your products and attract customers
Now that you are done with everything related to preparing and sourcing products, designing and listing an online store.
Now your site is ready for customers, and here we have come to the last and most important steps, which is marketing your products, as marketing is the main factor that attracts the right customer to you.
There are many e-marketing strategies that can be used according to the type of product and its target group, so you have to find the most suitable method for you and start working with it.
But no matter what you work with, you will need in all cases to create an email list of interested people and send them offers and discounts.
And to put gifts on your website, and to run campaigns on all means of communication to gain new customers.
Or you can also allocate a budget for marketing and hire a marketer to do that process for you in the best possible way.
In all cases, you must monitor the activity on your site in order to make sure that you are on the right track, and in order to be able to change your strategies if the return is not as you expected.
Here are some articles in Gainers dedicated to online store marketing methods and strategies:
- 16 effective ways to market your online store and increase sales
- Top 3 Marketing Channels for Ecommerce (According to Experts)
- How to use Pinterest to double the sales of your online store
- 9 ways to double your online store sales through Facebook