Modern business has done some wonderful things for consumers and sellers alike, but few industries have had an impact on commerce that shopping online has.
Starting an ecommerce business was once a risky and alien concept, but now, especially in the wake of the 2020 pandemic, it is as popular as ever, and the success stories just keep piling up.
This has led many galvanised entrepreneurs to ask how they can get in on the ecommerce craze.
Worry Not! ATKASA – Digital Agency is here to help you with that…
Formulate Your Business Idea & Test Viability
Like any business, you need to start by having something to sell. This might be a specialised product or service of your own design, or it could be general offerings from brands of all types.
Will you start a niche business like an online cutlery store or vape shop, or will you cover all bases with something similar to Takealot.com?
Once you have your idea however, you need to check the viability of it. You don’t want to invest all that time, money and energy into an idea without a market.
So check what the market looks like, do some research into your potential competitors. How much success are they finding? What are they doing right? What opportunities are they missing?
By the time you’re done, you should have a good, unbiased idea of whether or not your product or service is viable to sell online.
Source Your Products & Suppliers
There are a lot of components working in the back-end of ecommerce stores that can easily go overlooked. Needless to say, you want to make sure that they are all in place.
Who are your suppliers? Are you manufacturing your own products?
How do you plan on storing your stock? Do you need warehousing? Are your products made to order?
How will you get orders to your customers? Will you deliver them yourself? Will you outsource to a third-party courier company?
Pick a Selling Platform & Develop It
You might find it better and simpler to sell your products on other marketplaces instead of setting up an ecommerce business of your own. Of course then you are subject to their terms and conditions, pricing, and the like.
A better (though more expensive) option for most entrepreneurs is to set up their own selling platform, whether selling their own products or someone else’s.
If you are going the route of your own platform, you need to understand that website development for ecommerce stores can take a bit of time, and depending on the type of stock you sell, can be quite complicated.
Because of this, you will want website development to start as early on as possible so that you can complete it without rushing, without mistakes, and without it cutting into your launch dates.
Promote & Market Your Business
Once the ecommerce site is up and running, you will need to put it in front of the right people, which means marketing, marketing, marketing.
Start with SEO, it is the most cost-effective approach, but it also makes sure that your website is easily found.
Then, consider running ads on social media platforms (by creating business pages/profiles), or running ads on the Google Ads Network.
Contact ATKASA – Digital Agency for Details
There is a lot to do and we bet you would like to get started as quickly as possible.
So why not start an ecommerce business with a digital marketing agency that knows exactly how to do it?
Visit the ATKASA website and browse our services to find out more.