Online shopping has taken the world by storm, especially here in Australia, where thousands of citizens sell products online and make a decent living doing so. If you are thinking of setting up a shopping cart website, the right product at the right price, plus an aggressive digital marketing plan and a lot of hard work and you have a winning business.
Here are a few tips for the 2023 e-commerce entrepreneur.
Outsource your IT needs
A single provider can design, build, host and manage your e-commerce platform, which allows you to focus on logistics and marketing. That includes cyber-security; your customers will expect your site to be 100% secure, a 24/7 system is in operation for peace of mind.
Logistics
There is a booming sector that services e-commerce, namely third-party logistics (3PL); they will handle picking, packing and delivery- deliver your products and packaging to the 3PL warehouse and forward all orders, it really is as simple as that. Same-day delivery is standard for domestic parcels- you might be OK doing it yourself for a while, but when your digital marketing and SEO kick in, you won’t be able to cope. They use direct thermal shipping labels and state-of-the-art GPS real-time tracking, so the customer can easily find out the precise location of their consignment.
Digital Marketing
How is the consumer going to know of your existence? Search engine optimisation makes your platform visible to Google; aim for page 1 of search results, which is the Holy Grail of e-marketing. If your SEO agency can do that, orders will be flooding in, but don’t worry, your 3PL partner has you covered; they can handle high volumes of orders. Set aside a monthly budget for SEO, the web is in a constant state of change, therefore your SEO needs to be ongoing. This is the key to success, never underestimate the power of Google.
Focus on customer service
Once you have teamed up with a 3PL company and your IT needs are outsourced, you can focus on customer service; how fast are queries answered? Are you getting many complaints? Have you trained your staff re customer service? Ask these questions to determine if there are any issues that need resolving. Click here for information on virtual office services to project a winning image.
Digital payment gateways
People prefer to pay using a range of platforms; major credit cards, direct bank transfer – create a Bitcoin wallet and accept digital currency, which is growing exponentially; your customers will raise an eyebrow when they see you take Bitcoin.
Product research
Do some serious market research before you choose a product line and try to make a factory connection to get the lowest prices; buying directly from the manufacturer gives you the biggest slice of the pie!
Put together a business plan, crunch the numbers to find out how much capital you need to launch; the right product line at competitive prices is your foundation, on which you add digital marketing and farm out logistics. Don’t forget to register the business with the Australian government and we hope your e-store takes off and gives you a good income year-round.