Setting up your online store : choosing an e-commerce platform
There are many free platforms that might tempt you into choosing them. This is what I originally went for as I was looking for minimal start up cost. This was probably my first mistake. You end up with very little support, and a basic website that ultimately costs more. I went with woocommerce due to it being free, then the upsells of various plug-ins soon mounted up, costing more than I originally planned. Those plugins soon went out of date needing a new purchase. I’m not saying these are not good platforms, but I would say they are more suited for those with teams that have web building experience or if you are prepared to invest in a complete unique storefront.
This has lead me to ekm. First of its not the perfect platform. None are. But I think it does strike the balance between features, price and support. For the reasonable monthly cost you get a website that is kept up-to-date, and a decent level of support from an account manager, who may be able to give appropriate advice and experience right at the time when it is most needed.
They also have a high tier that helps you create a completely unique website based on your ideal.
A website will be the best option one day, and for that I recommend ekm, but if you are just starting out the best e-commerce platforms are probably eBay and Amazon, and Onbuy. Not only do they have a low cost of entry, but they attract millions of views organically or from their adverts. Something that is impossible for you to do at this point.
Choosing a Platform - Start up in eCommerce - eBay
Finding Products to start your online store
This can be the trickiest part espcially if you have a low budget. The best start you can give yourself is to learn how to make products yourself. This can give you a unique selling point and conplete control over product creation, stock and prices. Try to find what is missing in the market or at least not as well catered for.
If you find product creation almost impossible or don't have the time, you can get products for your online store from sites like AliExpress. The products are cheap enough to provide a modest margin of profit and you provide a service of having products in stock near to the buyers location thus providing faster shipping times.
eBay can be a good place to start of your online store as long as you know the audience that eBay attracts, however I cannot recommend eBay as a long term solution if you are looking to build a strong high profit margin brand. You may create a successful business selling low margin products in high volume. This is ultimately the eBay customer - Consumers who want to buy things on the cheap. The second main product category for eBay is higher margin, and that is rare items. In fact if you have a good source of rare items you may do rather well selling on eBay.
For most people it’s best to use ebay to get started and get the revenue coming in. Many companies started off selling cheap products then gradually investing in building their brand into powerful high value brands. HTC did this to great effect at the beginning of the company - mainly selling oem products until they could invest in marketing their own brand.
Key point: Base models sell better - no upgrades so don't include extras ( batteries lenses etc)
When selling on eBay it’s pertinent to know what will sell quicker and for as much margin as possible. EBay will provide different results compared to your own website. This post deals exclusively with tech and gadgets with the aim to furnish you with the right information for you to get the most out of your listings. This is great when you have to sell old laptops etc but invaluable if you are going to make selling tech your market segment.
Base configurations only.
It important to understand the type of person who will be buying your product. If it’s second hand then it’s someone who doesn’t want to pay full retail price, he wants a deal to buy in the cheap. This is why keeping products at base configuration is the best way to sell especially pcs and even more so Apple Macs. There is only a marginal return for upgraded versions - they just don’t hold there value in the same way a base configuration will. Remember the typical person buying second hand or refurbished is looking to save money and so will be more served by buying the base configuration pc. This should be kept in mind if looking to sell upgraded hardware too.
Gadget bundles
This principle also applies to tech with accessories like cameras games consoles etc. it is tempting to put stuff all in and this can be a great way to clear stock quickly but it doesnt get you the same value as splitting things and selling individually. Again most people won’t be looking for a camera with a spare battery most people are happy enough paying less and having one battery. Same with lenses, the pre owned shopper is more interested in paying less rather than getting more.
High Volume Low Profit Margin Items
having studied the typical eBay customer, they are generally after second hand products or low cost new items, this should also be evident from the marketing communications from eBay itself.
Pre-owned, Refurbished or Returned Items
Using eBay can be an effective way of selling pre-owned & returned items without sacrificing space on your main platform brand.
Outlet / Sale Items
One way Apple builds strong high value consumer trust is by not putting their products on sale. If you need to clear old / out of fashion stock using eBay as a separate entity outlet store can be a good avenue. This will help clear stock out but will protect your main brand.
eBay Alternatives
Shpock
Facebook Marketplace
Village
Paperclip
Onbuy
Once you get enough revenue to build and invest in your business it it always the best idea to move to your own platform. If you have a good business model selling on eBay then it may be worth while staying with them, however if you are looking to make more profit per item, looking to build your brand and can invest in the advertising required to get people to your site then using eBay until your no longer need them is a good way to go forward
eBay as a way to diversify income
It may also be a good idea to use sites like eBay if you have a physical store. This is a good way to diversify your revenue stream if maintaining your own website is not commercially viable.
Considerations: fees and postage
When using sites like eBay you will need to factor in all postage costs (including tape, labels, boxes etc) plus all associated ebay fees. Note ebay takes 10% of any postage charged to the customer by you. It's up to you if you want to absorb this cost or pass it on to the customer.
Seo basics for new online stores
Improving your SEO is a fine experimental art. As with anything there is no right answer,
but there are good practices. So how do you improve your local SEO?
The first step is to get a well designed website for your business.
Then use the below steps to improve your websites Local SEO
List yourself in directories
The main areas are Google & Bing, then you should look to local directories in your area.
After getting a website , this is the second best thing you can do, not only will it improve your SEO but give you a communication line to your clients and enable them to share news about you to their own followers. Makes sure to link your website and include your contact information. This will help the search engines to place you in local searches and the more links you have to your site the better for your SEO in general.
This is the third best thing you can do. But also the first! After you have taken care of the above, this will be your main tool for SEO. Reach out tow blogs and websites and get articles written about your service with links in the blog post! Links outside the post count for less with search engines. The more of these the better, on more sites the better. Nothing else from this point will beat links inside of posts and articles. So get a press release sorted, anything. Remember - there's no such thing as bad press.
Old fashioned trick
Either find an online printer or take a look at buying your own, but a tried and true tool for increasing SEO indirectly is to go door 2 door posting leaflets through.
Instead of putting your number or web address on the leaflet your call to action should be ‘search for Daniel Craig personal trainer’ or whatever your pt service is called. This way google will find that many people searching for a pt in your area are searching for you and clicking on your website.
Local billboards, screens, newsagents and adverts in public spaces should fallow the same principle. People don’t always have time to stop and write down your number or website address so having a call to action as search [this] is a great way to mitigate any obstacle to people finding your pt business.
Find local business or events
Back up your files plus Collaborate & host files to achieve continued growth & success
Boost your chances of success with mega.nz
As someone who used to work in it I have seen how much new online companies neglect to keep a decent back up of their important files and more important product images sure you have images on your website and possibly keep them on your computer but to be sure and safe you should keep them on a cloud hosting platform such as mega.nz This way you have piece of mind in case anything goes wrong with your site or computer it also gives you the added benefit of accessing images anytime anywhere a huge plus if you are printing your store on social media
Using cloud hosting for collaboration
Most successful business start ups are created by partners. Whether they are brothers, friends or just share the same business interests. This is because starting a business is incredibly hard work and often takes a good investment of time and certainly money. This means that effective communication and collaboration is very important to a successful start up. A sound investment is an online service that combines large space for file uploads including video, a chat function and video calls or meetings.
Best eCommerce Business Purchases: Mailing Scales
The very first business purchase I made after I set up my online store was Mailing Scales. Before this I was either quing for a long time at the post office, guessing the weight or trying to use kitchen scales and even the Wii U balance board. It naturally became apparent that I needed the right tool for the job!
If you feel that you can get by without this essential purchase, I urge you to reconsider. Mailing Scales have saved me enough money on mailing costs and time that I know it has paid back its original cost many times over. I have used it on every sale, and sometimes it has been the difference between paying 99p or £1.50 for Royal Mail postage. This may not seem like much, but once you are sending out many of these parcels the savings or costs add up very quickly. If you are to be successful in ecommerce, saving money and maximising profits is going to be key.
Best Business Purchases : Label Printers
One of the first good items to invest in for your online e-commerce store is a label printer. In fact, I would prioritise a label printer over a regular inkjet or toner printer if you don't already have one. So first ask yourself if you need an all in one printer, will you be scanning, copying or printing invoices, letters etc. Most things are electronic now with an emphasis on using less of the worlds resources including ink and paper but many businesses still rely or want printed copies so spend some time to see what your business needs
Either way a label printer or inkjet will provide the more professional look a proper label gives you over paper and tape. Here are the two main reasons to consider a label printer, please take a look.
Time Saving
Label printers generally print within seconds while many inkjet printers can take a while especially when they decide to clean the print heads before a print. I have often waited up to 5 minutes before my canon printer managed to start printing. Theres no messing around with inks or tape and you can even use them for the packing list ( just tear off instead of peeling).
Cost Saving
As noted above there are no costly inks to buy with label printers, and with inks being one of the most expensive parts of owning and running a regular printer this could potentially save you a great sum of money in the long run.
Ease of use
Generally with a good label printer you select your label size and print. It can be that easy. Whereas there are extra steps to take with a regular inkjet printer including sizing and placing the shipping labels for the Correct label sheet such as Shipping Labels
If you already have an inkjet printer then at least at first it may be financially prudent to stick with it.
Please take a look at the following recommendations for printers:
All in one:
Brother MFC-J5335DW Colour Inkjet Printer - All-in-One
Label Prtiners:
Zebra GK420D Desktop use Label Maker
Zebra 4" Thermal Label Printer, Wireless
4 Inch Thermal Barcode Label Printer
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