If you would like to join the many thousands of Australians who make a good living selling products online, it does require an awful lot of market research to find products that are suitable and in high demand. Choosing a product line is probably the most important of all the decisions you need to make regarding setting up a shopping cart website, and this can only be done with some serious market research. If you get this wrong, it will be a costly mistake, and you should take your time selecting products, as this is the key to success.
Web Design & Hosting
Of course, you will need the services of a web designer, preferably one who is very experienced designing and building shopping cart websites, and it is possible to find an SEO company that also hosts, designs and builds professional websites, who will also register your domain name and when the site is ready, they would offer several web-hosting packages.
Digital Marketing
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that digital marketing is an optional extra, as it most certainly is not. With so much competition online, you must enlist the services of a leading SEO company that will focus their efforts on driving web traffic to your e-commerce platform. Search engine optimisation is a very important service, which will make your website more prominent within specific Google searches, and as there are millions of online consumers that search for products and services daily, SEO is a must-have service that you simply can’t afford to overlook. The Internet is constantly changing, and although you might be well-ranked with Google today, that can all change in a very short period of time, therefore all SEO work needs to be ongoing. Click here for an entrepreneur’s startup checklist, which is recommended reading for all novice entrepreneurs.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is a very powerful marketing tool, especially when a leading SEO company takes control of your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, as they would build a steady following that would grow over time. If a professional team are replying to user comments, this will boost your reputation, and by posting high-quality content, your followers will engage in social media exchanges.
Logistics
Your picking, packing & delivery should be outsourced to a third-party logistics (3PL) expert, and all you need to do is send the 3PL provider your products and your packaging, then you simply forward all orders by email and your orders will be fulfilled in a timely manner. The other method is to find a wholesaler who will deliver products to your customers, which means you do not have to keep a stock of products. It doesn’t matter how good your products are, if your delivery times are not on point, your business will suffer, which is why you need to help of a reliable 3PL provider.
Setting Up Payment Gateways
It is important to give your customers numerous payment methods, including:
- Major credit cards
- Direct bank transfer
- Bitcoin
- PayPal
Of course, if you are accepting payment via your website, then you must have an SSL Certificate, which is demoted by an ‘s’ after the ‘http’, making ‘https’, which means secure. Your web hosting company can provide an SSL Certificate and it only costs a few dollars and it will give your customers peace of mind, knowing their financial data is secure.
Online Reviews
In many ways, this is the key to consistency, and if you have many positive reviews from happy customers, this is very persuasive and will help people to make a decision to shop in your store. You can create a special page on your website for customers to leave comments regarding both your products and the service they receive.
Business Plan
Your business should be based upon your comprehensive business plan, which would cover every aspect of the enterprise, including the following:
- Startup costs.
- Running costs.
- Marketing Strategies.
- Asset management.
- Profit forecasts for the first 3-5 years.
- The concept of your business
- Organisational flowchart.
Once you think your business plan is complete, ask a business guru to run their eyes over it, and they will certainly find a few issues that need to be resolved.
Business Software
There are many customisable software packages that can really help your business, such as automatically tracking competitors, notifying you if they change their prices, and this keeps you up to date, allowing you to alter your prices if you see an opportunity. If, for example, a rival seller runs out of stock, the software will inform you of this, allowing you to take advantage of the situation. Here is some government information on setting up a business in Australia.
Once you have arranged all of the above, there will be obstacles that you encounter, and with a positive mental attitude and a lot of determination, you should enjoy sustainable growth and build a business empire that will give you and your family a secure financial future.
The post The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Setting Up an E-Commerce Business first appeared on Feedster.
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