Entrepreneurship and E-Commerce are the two big words of the Business world these days. Most of the new startups today are using the digital platform aggressively to run their business.
Either you are selling a product or a service, there are some rules and tips to be followed to get the maximum advantage of E-Commerce. In our company we are approached by many people who what to join this digital age and start a successful E-Commerce business.
The following tips are the ones we discuss with them and I am sharing the same with you all who are planning to start or have recently started an E-Commerce business.
-
Be legal
If you are online it means all your transactions will happen to your back accounts. So having a registered firm/ company is a must. If you are planning to start without this then you are just experimenting, it’s not real business.
-
Have a good logo, catchy name & tag line
A simple but effective logo with a catchy name and tag line can say a lot about your complete business. Since your customer is not in front of you physically, these things become a lot more important.
-
Have a kick-ass website
Clean & attractive website that follows the latest trends of technology is a must for you. A user friendly and fast navigation will help you in converting your visitors into customers.
-
Your Products and Packaging should be genuinely good
If your products are poor, then be ready for product returns or social media complaints and negativity. This can doom your business before it picks up, so be very careful about it. If your products are good then make sure that your packaging is equally good and robust. A broken or damaged product is as bad as a fake or wrong product.
-
Be very quick to catch the opportunities, trends and special seasons.
You have to be very alert and quick to start and stay in E-Commerce. Keep an eye on what the top E-Commerce companies are planning, what seasons they are targeting, what offers are given by them. If you place your promotion and marketing strategies accordingly then there are high chances that customers will buy from you too rather than only the top established names.
-
Consistent Social Media Strategy.
Everyone who starts E-Commerce knows the importance of Digital & Social Media Marketing. But then also they sometimes do not give so much focus and time on it. Websites/Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, WhatsApp etc. are good ways to create the buzz about your E-Commerce website and brand. Also these are the best ways of launching new products, offers and targeting special festival seasons etc. If not yourself, you should always hire a good Digital Media Agency who can help you with this.
-
Keep your website Responsive and SEO/Google Friendly
When someone is searching on google for the products that you also offer on your website, that time your product pages should come in search results. Also, more than 70% people must be searching google on mobile so make sure that your website is responsive and people can buy from you from their mobile easily. Responsive websites are those which change shape according to Screen Size of a PC, Tablet or Mobile.
-
Have a robust Courier / Shipping partner network
Courier/Shipping of your products is the backbone of your E-Commerce company. Make sure that you have a professional agency associated with you. Sometimes you will have to tie-up with multiple Courier/ Shipping agencies because some are good in domestic region, some will be cost effective to you in International Market etc.
-
Basic Rules of Business Online and Offline are same, so follow them
Honesty, Good Customer Service, Quality Products, Attractive Pricing are some of the basic rules of business to be always followed online or offline.
-
Big Brands don’t happen overnight. Have patience and consistency
From the launch to minimum 6 months to 1 year your focus should only be on building the brand and increasing number of customers, even at the cost of running the business in loss. If you are continuously able to increase your orders then you can start increasing the pricing slowly and your customers won’t mind because they now know you well and you have built a reputation.
-
Manage your pricing
The power of E-Commerce is that people are able to search the same product on different websites and then buy from the one who gives the best price. So, it’s very important that you manage your pricing of products accordingly else your high price products will not attract any buyers. Sometimes buyers have a trust attached to some brands and they are ready to buy with them even at a slight higher price, you can judge yourself that you have achieved that trust still or not.
-
Know your customers
Keep regularly analyzing the regions from where your visitors are coming. You can use Google Analytics for this. If you have a large range of products, you can also track that which of your product pages are being watched more in which regions. This will help you make region based strategies.
For Eg. You have a product of a garment which is getting a lot of views from south of India, then you can come up with Ads and Facebook Posts of those products and target them in that region and boost sales. Also, you can plan some articles or blogs in the local language etc. If you are getting calls from non Hindi speaking states make sure that you have the people who can communicate well with them in English if not in the local language.