The last few months have been some of the most challenging in recent times for entrepreneurs. No thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, aka COVID-19!
There’s no doubt that the year started with lots of hope and dreams. And that is understandable because yr. 2020 is both a leap year and the start of a new decade.
But all those dreams were overturned when the novel coronavirus entered the scene.
Following the lockdown of both economic and social activities, a lot of businesses literally crumbled. Right now many are out of job and many more are uncertain about tomorrow as more businesses are considering more job cuts.
According to the International Monetary Fund the global economy is going to face one of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression as a direct effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The world Trade Organization has also warned that global trade will likely contract by between 13% and 32% this year.
However, while uncertainty seems to be the order of the day, life changing opportunities have also opened up online.
For example, with the lockdown in place and people ordered to avoid public places, the internet became the relying point for both social and economic activities. The result is that internet usage increased by as much as 50% during the period of the lockdown.
Indeed, this is good news for online entrepreneurs as online businesses saw a jump in patronage. In its recent “Global Shopping Index” report for Q1 2020, Salesforce revealed that the number of unique digital shoppers rose 40% year-over-year (YoY) during this period.
Furthermore the report showed that while the COVID-19 lockdown was in force, digital shoppers drove 20% revenue growth, compared to 12% in Q1 2019!
It’s clear from these stats that in the midst of the bleak economic outlook starting an online business is a wise business idea right now.
But the question is: what type of online business should you start?
While there are lots of online businesses that you can start right now, in this article I want to suggest you start an ecommerce business. I’ll also give you a guide on how you can get started right away.
Why eCommerce Business?
If you’re like me then you must have read or watched a lot of articles or Youtube videos of recent with titles like: “20 businesses that will boom after the corona virus pandemic.” Fact is, a lot of these articles only give you a list of COVID-19 induced business ideas. Most of which will simply fade out once COVID-19 is contained.
On the contrary ecommerce has been on the rise for the past few years. For example, here are some ecommerce business stats even before COVID-19:
- Global retail ecommerce sales, according to cumulative data from Statista.com, will reach $4.5 Trillion by 2021 from $1.3 trillion in 2014. This a 246.15% increase! (Source)
- 71% of shoppers believe they will get a better deal online than in stores
- Roughly eight-in-ten Americans are now online shoppers: 79% have made an online purchase of any type, up from only 22% back in 2002. (Source)
Mind-boggling figures, right?
Alright, now watch this video…
5 Reasons Why Ecommerce is Growing
Frankly, I passionately believe that ecommerce is one business model that will continue to grow even post COVID-19. And if you’ve not done so, now is the time to start your own ecommerce business.
How to Start a Successful e-Commerce Business from Scratch
Here are the simple steps to starting your own ecommerce:
- Choose your ecommerce niche
- Creating your own brand
- Source your products
- Setup your online store
1. Choosing Your e-Commerce Niche
Firstly, you need to choose a niche for your ecommerce store. A product niche helps establish a solid ground to your business. You can’t just change from one business to another and expect your trustworthy buyers to keep up.
Start selling something that you have at least a slight interest in. This is so you can get through the days of low sales and technical issues better than usual.
There are 3 ways to decide upon a niche.
First, you can look up on the newest trend. This method serves only as a short term business model that can earn you a quick extra dollar. Some of the tools that will help you do this are Google Trends or Terrapeak.com.
Before now selfie sticks were in vogue. Nearly everyone was fascinated by the idea. When this was the case those who managed to keep up with the trend made their killing – selling only selfie sticks.
Use the above sites and this post on eCommerce trends for 2018 to get ideas on the latest fad in the market.
Another tool you will want to use is the “Best Seller List” on ecommerce websites like Amazon.
What you need to focus on is the products that received good reviews but without many sellers. This will grant you less competitors; which means better sales.
Make a spreadsheet of trending items for the past 3 or 6 months to observe the demands of the market. Now, the last method that has been proven to work great when choosing a niche is NOT to rely on any online tools. Instead, you can pick a niche using these criteria:
- Select a niche that you can add value. Adding value to your niche will set you apart from most competitors.
- Choose a niche that has passionate and desperate buyers. Here, you are looking at demands; where there’s demand there’s buyers. Where there’s a problem, you will be there to solve it with your products.
- Products that is hard to find locally. This is going to be a unique feature for your business. It will be easier for customers to look you up because of your products.
- Products that is disposable or consumable. This is to ensure that you will get repeatable customers.
- Finally, products that requires a lot of accessories, or in other words, add-ons. Any products that require back-end items are worth selling.
You don’t necessarily need to choose a niche that is 100% based on these criteria. Mix and match them and see which ones work out the best for you and your business.
2. Create Your Business Brand
When you have decided on the ecommerce niche you’d want to focus on the next thing you should turn your attention to is creating your own brand.
A brand is like an identity for you and your business. Not only will it give you the sense of ownership, but a good brand will be able to connect with your prospects and buyers at an emotional level.
Do you remember the last time you managed to buy your favorite watch from your favorite brand? When you finally bought it, you felt good about yourself. You were happy, and you have strong feeling of fulfillment, right?
That is the goal you need to achieve when establishing a brand to connect to your customers.
When you have your own brand, you will be labeled as unique and interesting.
One of the distinctive advantages to having a brand is how you can add value to everything you are selling. This is how you secure your customers’ loyalty.
What’s more, it is easier for buyers to make your products viral because it is perceived as unique.
Here are some of the ways to get your brand going.
First, capture your own unique photos. This is to ensure that it won’t have similarities to other stock photos. Any items you think resonates with your brand are unique on its own.
Next thing you can do is to hire a photographer for a more professional picture. If you want to have a high-quality photo of your brand, this is one way to do it.
Thirdly, you can design your own logo that reflects your products and company.
From the color schemes, to the objects used to symbolize your brand, you are free to choose whatever that you want.
You can visit sites like logomakr.com or even canva.com. Both sites excelled at providing users the power to create their own logo.
Then, you can put your missions and values to your site. The purpose of your business is important to your buyers.
If what you are trying to achieve is not within their interest, they won’t be so keen on buying anything from you. That is why it is best to clarify your purpose.
Another way to brand your business is through the color of your website. Your website should have its own distinctive design. The purpose of this is to give your online store a ‘color identity’.
See how most of us remembers McDonalds because of its big yellow M? Or maybe the black and white stripes of Sephora?
Finally, you can give out free stuff or vouchers to your customers. Customers are prone to buy something back from you if you allow an appreciation reward to them.
You can give them free stuff once they’ve purchased their 5th items, or spent $100 on a single receipt or others.
3. Source Your Products
To keep your ecommerce store going you need suppliers or designers depending on the type of goods you have decided to deal on.
In looking for products, you need to be on the lookout for any white label products.
White label products are items manufactured by a single company and is being rebranded by another company to make it look like their own. There are many giant companies that practice this method.
Some of the white labeled products out there consist from make-up brand all the way to your t-shirts.
Once you’ve found your supplier, you need to ensure that the companies are willing to drop ship. Most of them will let you pre-purchase units if you want to keep some of them at your home office.
But they will still keep your products in their warehouse and fulfill the orders for you.
There are many suppliers out there that can provide this service for you. Of the many that I have researched my personal favorites which I’m focusing on right now are Gearbubble.com and Powermerch.com. Both companies will assist you on supplying and even designing your own products.
There are many ways for you to hire a designer.
But if you have the skills to design your own t-shirts, caps or even bags, you can do so yourself. All you need is good software like Photoshop or Illustrator and you are all set.
However, should you prefer to outsource the job to someone else, then hiring others to do the artwork for you would be your best solution.
You can decide to look for designers at Upwork.com, Fiverr.com and even Behance.com. Any freelancing website should have freelancers who are skilled in designing clothing artwork or any others.
Simply post a job under the niche of your product. Make sure to post a precise and concise job scope to your freelancer.
Some sites even allow you to post a job to a specific freelancer. If you found the freelancer of your choice, you can invite him to do the job for you.
Otherwise, you can just post the job to anyone with designing skills.
4. Setup Your Online Store
The next thing you’d need to strike out of your checklist is creating your ecommerce site.
You need a suitable platform to sell your products from. Your site is the main medium between you and your prospects. They are going to review your items and place their orders here.
Which platforms is the right kind of platform for your business?
Based on my research and analytics, if you want to use third party platforms, the best you can use to build your website right now is Shopify, Facebook and Instagram. A platform like Shopify already has an established customer base and a plethora of out-of-the-box features and tools to help you grow your business.
There are also some free ecommerce solutions like Prestashop or WooCommerce. To use WooCommerce for example, you’d need to install WordPress. It comes with a number of plugins that will help you create a highly functional online store.
So, let’s start with Shopify.
Even for beginners, this site is the most convenient option there is.
Shopify is one of the best site to help you run your online business. It provides a variety of tools to help you – from showcasing your products to processing your payments, Shopify will make your online business work best for you.
Here are some of the important key features of Shopify that will help your online business:
- Shopify has their own payment provider – It accepts credit cards and even PayPal payments. The flexibility in accepting different payment methods will make it easier for your customers during check-out.
- Shopify’s online sales channels – Shopify support several different online sales channels where you can sell your products. By connecting each sales channel to Shopify, you can keep track of your products, orders and customers in one place; no matter where you are selling your products from. Some of the sites that supports Shopify’s online sales channel are, Facebook, Messenger, Pinterest and even Amazon. It also supports a ‘Buy Button’ channel where you can connect to your very own website or blog; Tumblr or even WordPress.
- Shopify eases your tracking, shipping and ordering list – From deciding your shipping method to automatically recording orders you’ve made.
Click here to get started today with a FREE Shopify.com account.
Facebook and Instagram
While Shopify is one of the best ecommerce website hubs for your online store, Facebook and Instagram on the other hand are some of the best places to drive traffic and engagements.
Both social media platforms are often used by those who are making their first step in ecommerce. Most business owners use both accounts to post their offers alongside with some of their product information.
Even if creating a page or group is easy to set up using both Facebook and Instagram, it is unfortunately inconvenient for buyers to place their orders. This is because social network platforms are not designed for online trade, placing orders, making payments and tracking your orders.
Driving traffic to your website is what they do best.
However, here’s a unique system for setting up eCommerce stores within Facebook Messenger. With this system you can sell your products live to the over 1.2 billion active of Facebook.
WooCommerce and WordPress
Most experienced ecommerce and online marketers would rather build their own online stores using this platform not just because of the flexibility the platform offers but also for the reason that it offers them more control.
So, if you’re this type of person who will want to feel that they are in control of what they do with their online store, then using the WordPress platform is your best bet. Good thing is that you can actually connect your WordPress store to any of the above platforms for ease of doing business online.
In order to set up your ecommerce site using WordPress, you need a domain name and webhosting. My top recommendations for registering your domain name is NameCheap.com while for webhosting is Hostgator.com. Both of these companies have been in this business for a long time now and their customer service is top notch.
The Quickest e-Commerce Models to Start Right Now
1. Print-On-Demand Model
The first type of ecommerce business that you can get started right now and start making money is Print-On-Demand or POD.
An on-demand delivery is the immediate or scheduled delivery of your product to your customer. It is being initiated immediately right after they make their order.
Many of the largest retailers in the world have taken a note of POD business and realize that they can assist in getting products to customers quicker.
Retailers like Amazon, Target and even Walmart can help you ship your products faster than a direct delivery from your manufacturer.
If you are interested in getting your products delivered faster, then decide on a retailer that suit your business.
For a successful POD ecommerce business, you’ll need:
- Product niche – It can either be clothing, appliances, bags or anything that you find interesting and demanding.
- Product brand – Remember to give your business a brand to help customers identify your service easily.
- Supplier and designer – List them down so you won’t have to be in constant search of another suppliers and designers.
- Online store – A Shopify online store, Facebook or Instagram accounts and possibly your own WordPress website.
For example, if you are running a POD business on books, your book files must be prepared in a print-ready format or PDF.
It is best to do a test print-out before printing it for your customers.
The next thing you need to have in place is to ensure that you specify your distribution terms with a capable POD supplier or manufacturer.
Ensure that your digital files are prepared and formatted to fit the cover, content, back cover and even the spine. Then, send the digital files to your book production team.
Then you can list your books to your website. Boost the views by announcing it to your multiple social media platform. Always prepare a different marketing plan to reach out to a bigger audience.
When a customer browses through your website and finds your book, if it appears interesting to them, they will order your book.
After this, Shopify or your website, will send a message to your POD book manufacturer. It will automatically order the same amount your customer wants.
Once they’ve received the order, they are going to print, bind and package the item into a book. You can easily track the status of your book production in your Shopify account.
When your book is ready, they are going to ship the book to you first or directly to your customer. This depends on your agreement with the manufacturer.
You will then pay the POD book manufacturer a percentage of the book’s selling price. That’s all about print-on-demand. It’s really a simple ecommerce business model that anyone can run online.
2. Dropshipping Model
The final ecommerce business model I will want to talk about here is dropshipping.
Unlike POD, running a dropshipping business means you sell the products that you don’t own to your customers.
When you receive orders, your chosen supplier ships the product directly to your customers.
Your profit is simply the difference between the cost of your own purchase and the money that you asked from your customers.
Here’s what you need for a successful dropshipping business:
- Your product niches – Every successful business must have their own niche.
- Choose your supplier – Prepare a list of your chosen suppliers.
- Setup your dropshipping store using one of the most popular dropshipping hubs – Alidropship.com.
Create an account on Alidropship.com to personalize your own dropshipping webstore.
Alidropship provides all the technical conveniences. You won’t be having troubles communicating with customers, handling orders, keeping track of deals and others.
Customers will be delighted to find a specially developed website that allows them to place their orders and make purchases quickly and easily.
Plus, the webstore provides analytics to shop owner. You will get to see detailed statistics on the amount of orders, revenues, visitors etc.
They can also track your store’s performance and make any changes that are necessary.
Next is the potential high income that you can earn. By selling items from your store, you will get bigger profits from other platforms.
Customers also prefer to make purchases in webstores as opposed to blogs or social media. So first, fill in your stores with the products of your niche.
Then, post them online. You can post them at your social media website or in your own dropshipping website. Post pictures and detailed description of the product from your chosen supplier.
Next, a customer or two will be interested on what you are offering. Then, they will place an order and pay for it.
You will receive a notification whenever a customer places an order. When that happens, contact the supplier who stocks up on this product. Place the same order as your customer to your supplier.
Once you received a confirmation order from your supplier, you need to inform the supplier to deliver the order to the address of your customer.
Double check the location of your customer’s address.
Then, the customer receives the order and your transaction is completed.
These are the 2 ecommerce models that you can easily set up and run profitably online starting today. The POD and dropshipping online business model have been made easier by the improvement of technology like you find at AliDropship.com.
In wrapping up I would say that you need to update your online store always and also to be consistent in your delivery timing. Customers are happier to buy items from an engaging and a responsible store owner.
Conclusion: How to Win the eCom War As A Beginner!
So, there you have it, your guide to starting a profitable ecommerce store from scratch.
I’ve tried to condense the much I have learned about this business model into this post. However, as the competition is getting stiffer by the day, one question you will want answered is, how do you win as a beginner?
While the answer to that question would be long and complicated, and may actually require another blog post, let me give the key points as follows:
- Approach starting your online store as real business which requires work
- As I have already said within the post above, know this is not a get rich quick scheme. The available eCom tech tools are great but they will only be of little help if you don’t have the right sound business fundamentals.
- Before investing in some hyped up, pricey eCommerce training, do your own diligence. I have found more free and helpful training on the Shopify blog than most highly priced training courses. And the good thing is that you can open a free trial account with Shopify and set up your online shop while learning the ropes.
And so, if the ecommerce business model is something that interest you then you should get started right away even if you have little or no experience right now. Shopify have made selling online as fast and simple as possible.
Click here to create your Shopify FREE trial account and start your online store!
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Top Business Model That Will Boom Post COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Get Started Now was first posted on June 15, 2020 at 9:14 am.
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