Over the last decade, e-commerce has stormed into the business world and has changed the way how we do business forever. E-Commerce has destroyed many brick/mortar stores and things don’t stop there. It is now easier than ever before to make money online with business models like dropshipping only needing minimal capital. The world of e-Commerce is now worth billions with top e-commerce companies such as Amazon being Bluechip stocks. E-Commerce is now the leading way people shop and that’s mainly because of how easy it is to do so. But how do you get involved in this huge empire? Well here is a few ways you can start today.
Let’s Start With Your Aims?
What are your goals with e-Commerce? Is it to have a side income? Is it to replace your job? Are you just playing around and are curious about the entrepreneurial world on the internet? What is it you want to do with e-Commerce and why do you want to get involved? Why is e-Commerce the business model you have chosen? There are plenty of other ways to make money online like Forex and Affiliate Marketing so why have you gone for e-Commerce.
Within any business, you have to have aimed. These aims are what guides you to your destination and what creates success. You can’t do anything without aims because if you do you will fail.
Most people who start e-Commerce do it because they are sick of their job. They hate their 9 to 5 and want more freedom. The F word is key in this. Freedom. Most people start e-Commerce because they want a lot more freedom in their lives and the only way they are going to get that is if they either retire or they have a passive income stream. There haven’t really been any other reasons why people start an online business or so let alone an e-Commerce business.
Other reasons why people start an e-Commerce store is because of passion. This is why so many people sell on platforms like Etsy and some stores are niche stores tamed to markets like the cat niche or Kawaii niche. Passion is what keeps people moving forward when things get tough. If you can’t get through the tough times then our advice is simple. Don’t start. Every business even e-Commerce has tough times despite it being advertised as something where you can earn a lot of money.
What Platform Should I Sell On?
Good question. You can either build your own store or sell on an existing e-Commerce platform like eBay. Both have disadvantages and advantages so let’s have a look.
Selling on Your Own Store
- Examples: Shopify, Wix, PrestaShop, and WooCommerce
What it involves: This is where you (or a developer) have to build an independent e-Commerce store. You run the payment processor, you use your own domain, you run your own SEO, etc. It is your own store you own it completely and you are responsible for anything that happens to it. Whether it’s security, customer service, etc.
Pros of Your Own Store
- It increases the value of your business
- You have full control over design, payment processor, etc
- An absolute must-have if you want a brand
Cons of Your Own Store
- Can be costly to run
- Can be quite difficult to build and maintain
- Marketing can be expensive
Verdict: If you are looking to build a brand then you need your own e-Commerce store. Do not even think of selling on a platform like eBay or Amazon if you want to build a brand. If you want your own Gymshark, your own Blendjet then you need your own e-Commerce store. However, be aware that it costs money to make an e-Commerce store as you must pay for a hosting platform like Shopify, a domain, you have to pay for plug-ins which are apps on an e-Commerce host platform which make the store run better and you also have to be in charge of everything from customer service to payment processing.
Selling on an Existing e-Commerce Platform
- Examples: Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Redbubble
If you want to sell online but not make a store then you are in luck. Let these companies take the hard work of payment processing, advertising, etc whilst you simply sell your goods online. No, it’s not that simple. You have to compete with thousands and thousands of other sellers selling pretty much the exact same thing as you hence why you need to be on the ball with SEO on their platforms as well as being competitive with price. You also have to follow the platform’s rules and deal with getting blocked, banned, etc.
Pros on Selling on an Existing Platform
- You don’t have to buy a domain name
- You will be selling on a platform that has credibility and already markets itself
- You don’t have to deal with payment holds, security issues, creating customer service, etc
Cons on Selling on an Existing Platform
- You have to play by their strict rules
- You have no freedom on how the website should look
- Quite hard to build a real brand on there
Verdict: If you are selling mainly general stuff like laptop bags, keyboards, etc then selling on eBay or Amazon may be a good shout as you already have on those platforms people searching for those things. They are warm traffic and they are more likely to convert. If you are selling handmade goods Etsy may be a good shout as it is the marketplace for small businesses who sell handcrafted goods. However, these platforms have their own SEO algorithms so you will have to master keywords and also be ready for price wars with other sellers. In fact, it can sometimes be unprofitable.
What Can I Sell?
As long as it is in accordance with your countries law, you can sell anything. You just need to know how to market it correctly and you can use things like Facebook, Google, Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, etc to market your goods to potential customers. You can also use the power of SEO to sell as well which is Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is key on any website therefore you should to really enhance your site or store SEO as it will highly benefit you in search rankings.
You can sell a whole load of random goods and operate as a general store. A general store is like Walmart, they sell everything. A general store sounds cool but it can somewhat be quite hard to brand and most general stores end up being temporary anyway. Most general stores are dropshipping stores and general stores work really well in dropshipping. Buying stock up front for a general store isn’t a good idea because the stuff you buy as stock may not even sell well with customers.
You could have a niche store whereby you sell products within a certain interest such as fitness or cats. this is by far the most popular store type and it works well both in a dropship and physical stock form. These stores tend to last the longest and also be the most valuable out there because they can hold certain brand values and customer values other store types cannot. They can, however, go absolutely wrong and you are only limited to selling products within that niche so you best make sure it is a wide-open niche with a lot of room for creativity. But even then competition can be very stiff.
You can even have a one-product store which again is very popular in dropshipping. This is whereby you have a store that literally sells only one product. Not really anything else. A key example of this is Blendjet. What Blendjet did was they started out by selling just a portable blender. The product worked really well and now they have a range of blenders and smoothie recipes. However, a one-product store is definitely not for beginners and it does require heavy skill in marketing and innovation. But you can potentially create a store worth millions in the future to come.
Dropship: You do not own the goods. You buy the goods when a customer orders the product from you.
Physical Stock: You buy the products beforehand then you sell to customers once you have the stock.