The rapid growth of e-commerce site has motivated many people to eye the possibility of entering into this market. As you get ready to start the business from scratch, it is vital that you master all the key details that you must take care of for smooth sailing.
It does not mean everything would be easy for you when you take care of all the five factors mentioned here before launching your e-commerce website. However, things will at least run better than if you had ignored these five factors.
Opening an e-commerce Site
1Products/services to offer
Venturing into e-commerce is like any other business, and this requires you to determine from the start the kinds of products or services you want to sell on the website. That is, what market gap do you seek to serve or compliment as you launch the website?
In most cases, individuals venturing into e-commerce normally mimic similar businesses that they may have come across. That is not entirely discouraged, but you need to ensure that you are as unique as you can get. If you already have a physical business, starting an e-commerce store may be easy because you would have to simply take it online.
2Who is your target audience
As you determine the products/services to offer, also define your target audience. Target audience means the people you plan to sell your products/services to. This can be a broad consideration. However, you can break it down using the points highlighted below:
1. How do they access the Internet? – mobile or computer.
2. What’s their culture?
3. What’s their geography?
4. What are their buying preferences?
Get the answers to these questions and plan your e-commerce website accordingly. For instance, if you know that they access the Internet through mobile devices, you will want to make sure that the site is mobile-friendly. Their buying preferences will also influence your choice of keywords for the site and the order in which products are listed.
3Payment methods of e-commerce Site
What payment methods will the e-commerce site accept? Credit card processing had always been a headache for most people starting e-commerce stores. However, the last few years have made it easier to collect payment online than it has ever been. You have numerous options such as Amazon Pay, PayPal, Apple Pay, Square, and many others. The more payment methods you can list, the more convenient it would get for your buyers to check out their order.
4Selling capacities
You need to run an estimate of the buyer’s purchasing capacities so that you can know how much to invest. This may seem a challenge to execute, but it may be easier than you think. Assess the locally available data from trade centers and other industries to compute the potential selling capacity.
Setting up an e-commerce website does not entirely cover all your needs to go online. You should create social media profile and link to the e-commerce store. The essence of creating social media profile is to increase your reach of the potential target audience.