Once the money has gone through the gateway and merchant account, it winds up in your hands through your business bank account. For ease of transactions and also to keep track of your sales, it’s best to have a separate business bank account for all the transactions from your ecommerce store.
What Is Ecommerce?
Ecommerce, or electronic commerce, is a term that’s used often in sales discussions these days. Product sellers and service providers can increase sales through online commerce and boost revenue with ease. Selling online is a popular sales method, worldwide.
In fact, statistics show global ecommerce sales could reach $6.542 trillion by 2023, representing 22% of the total retail market. The bottom line is people are doing a lot of online shopping, and if your products aren’t there, you’re missing out. Ecommerce growth has gotten a boost as more people avoid visiting a physical store due to the pandemic. As life gets back to normal, many brick and mortar stores have adjusted their site functionality so that it’s easier to shop online.
If you sell products or services but don’t sell online yet, this article is for you. Here, I highlight the basics of what ecommerce is and how it works. By the end, you’ll know why this commerce method is a slam dunk option for you. And, you’ll be ready to become an ecommerce entrepreneur.
How to start an ecommerce business
1. Choose a product
Finding a product to sell
The first step to building an e-commerce store is knowing what products you want to sell direct-to-consumer. This often is the most challenging part of starting a new online business. In this section, we’ll highlight strategies you can use to find product opportunities, explore the best places to look for product ideas, and finally, look at trending e-commerce products to consider.
Evaluating your idea
Once you have a product idea in mind, how do you know if it will sell? In this section, we’ll cover a few approaches that active entrepreneurs have used to validate their product ideas and potential market.
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Obtaining your product
After landing on a strong product idea, your next step is figuring out where and how you’re going to obtain your products. The next four posts cover the various methods for acquiring your products, along with the pros and cons of each model.
Sell your retail products online
Many independent retailers face a challenging road ahead. Shifting your brick-and-mortar business online can help you weather this storm, generate cash flow, and build a more resilient business. You’ll need to find a good ecommerce solution to build your store on, like Shopify.
2. Research and prepare
Research your competition
You’ve found your product, evaluated its potential, and sourced a supplier. But before you get into that, you’ll need to thoroughly research your competition so you know what you’re up against and how you can differentiate your business from theirs.
Writing a business plan
With your competitive research complete, it’s time to write your business plan. A business plan is a roadmap that helps bring your ideas and thoughts together. It’s vital in determining what to prioritize and how to effectively reach potential customers. A business plan also highlights your company’s mission statement to show investors and employees the core values of your brand.
3. Setup your business
Choose a business name
Aside from finding an actual product to sell online, another challenging decision is determining your business or brand name and choosing an appropriate and available domain name. These blog posts will help you tackle these important tasks.
Creating a logo
Once you’ve selected a memorable name and registered a corresponding domain, it’s time to craft a simple logo. In these resources, we’ll show you several options for creating a great logo for your new business.
Understanding search engine optimization (SEO)
You’re almost ready to begin building your online store. However, before you jump into it, you should understand the basics of search engine optimization so you can properly structure your site and pages for Google and other search engines.
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Building your store
With a better understanding of search engines, it’s time to build out your store using a website builder. There are many crucial elements to consider. Below, we’ve listed our essential reads to help you build high-converting product pages, write captivating product descriptions, shoot beautiful product photography, choose your ecommerce color palette, and much more.
Choosing your sales channels
One of the best ways to reach new customers is to choose sales channels where they already shop. The right mix of sales channels will depend on your products and your target market, but there are a number of great options that can complement and support your self-hosted store.
How much does it cost to start an ecommerce business?
An ecommerce business can be started for as little as $100, which is spent on a subscription and purchasing a theme for your store. Ecommerce companies cost less than brick-and-mortar stores because they don’t require the same amount of licenses and permits, and you don’t need to pay rent for a retail space.
If you operate as a dropshipping business, for example, it’ll likely cost less to start because you don’t need to pay for raw materials, inventory, or manual labor. You only pay for products after a customer purchases them. If you’re creating your own products by hand or working with manufacturers, you’ll need to pay for equipment, materials, and labor upfront.
Now, this doesn’t mean you will definitely spend $40,000 opening up your ecommerce store. The amount spent in the first year varied significantly, depending on industry and ecommerce business model, whether the business had employees, or if it was a full-time gig.
You also don’t need $40,000 in cash lying around to start an ecommerce business. While many (66%) entrepreneurs use their personal savings to fund their business (respondents could choose more than one funding source), they also used financial support from friends and family (23%) and personal loans (21%).
Tips for starting an ecommerce store
Forget about year one profitability
Starting a successful ecommerce business is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t measure business success by profitability in your first year. Give yourself a runway of 18 to 24 months for your business to get off the ground. Spend your first year testing, reiterating, and reinvesting your sales back into your business using the above budget guidelines.
Know your target audience
Outside of developing or sourcing products, you’ll spend a majority of your time getting the attention of customers. The challenge? You want to get your products in front of the right customers—the ones who will actually buy on your site. Understanding these people, a.k.a. your target audience, can help you reach them faster and make more sales.
Sell an in-demand product
Create or sell an amazing product with proven market demand. Take a look at the top retailers today—Allbirds, Tushy, Bombas—and you’ll notice they all sell top-tier products. “Product quality is critical because a good product sells itself,” says Eric Even Haim, CEO of upsell and cross-sell app ReConvert. “When you marry a great product with an audience who’s hungry for it, your marketing becomes 10 times easier.”
Eric explains that new products don’t need to be the “next big thing.” You just need to “look for growing trends and markets where customers are underserved. Then step in with an excellent product and give them what they want!”
Experiment with marketing and advertising
“Success depends on your ability to experiment, test, and analyze your ad and marketing strategies,” says Stephen Light, CMO and co-owner of mattress company Nolah. “Experimentation is the best way to avoid falling into any assumptions about your audience that could end up hurting you rather than helping.”
Stephen suggests being open to getting things totally wrong, “especially when you’re just starting out.” Use the data you collect to create more effective campaigns that drive traffic and profit. “Plus, optimizing your ad campaigns and gathering data regarding how your customer base responds to them can help you shape your website’s features.”
Invest in outreach and link building
“The sooner you have an approach to link building and driving authority into your site in place, the sooner search engines will recognise your website as an authority in its niche,” says UK-based SEO consultant James Taylor.
“Search engines see a link from an authority source as a vote of confidence towards your website, so the more links you have from trusted websites, the more search engines are going to trust you as an authority.”
James recommends new ecommerce store owners and marketers invest in digital PR and link-building campaigns early on. This sets the stage for long-term SEO success, so you can rank higher in Google, earn more organic traffic, and make more sales.
Starting an ecommerce business FAQ
How do I start an ecommerce business?
Research what products you’d like to sell or can source to sell, select a business name, register your business with the government, obtain permits and licenses, choose an ecommerce software and create your website, load your products onto the site, launch, and start marketing your business.
What are the 4 types of ecommerce businesses?
Is ecommerce a profitable business?
Yes, the ecommerce industry is profitable. Successfully starting an ecommerce company is a marathon, not a sprint. It can take 18 to 24 months for your business to get off the ground. It’s critical that you don’t measure the success of your business by your first-ear profitability.
Is it hard to start your own ecommerce business?
No, starting an ecommerce company is easy, with platforms like Shopify enabling brands to go online in just a few days. Starting a brand consists of hard work and continual market research to improve your business. We encourage you to read all our guides on how to start a business before you set up a store.
Authorship:
https://www.ecommerceceo.com/learn/what-is-ecommerce/
https://www.shopify.com/blog/ecommerce-business-blueprint#:~:text=What%20is%20an%20Ecommerce%20Business%20An%20ecommerce%20business,money%20and%20data%20to%20execute%20these%20online%20transactions.
https://www.shopify.com/blog/ecommerce-business-blueprint