The E-commerce business industry has seen steady growth in the past few years. But, this year, the global pandemic accelerated the growth of the e-commerce platforms more than ever before. It is predicted that the sales in retail and ecommerce industries will grow up to $14.13 trillion in the year 2020.
With travel restrictions and safe social distancing becoming the new way of life, e-commerce has taken the world over with a storm.
Whether you are a small businessman that earlier depended entirely on in- store sales but now under the changed work environment, wants a functional e-commerce website, or your aim is to look for long profitable gains through the new boom in the e-commerce business market, these tips will work in either case.
Here is a complete guide to building an e-commerce website. The aim is to build an expandable, profitable business that is sustainable. You must have the prescience to build an asset that brings back returns to your investments.
Table of Contents
E-commerce business Structures
Research about various business models available on the platform and choose the one that works for you the best.
If you do not want to want to invest heavily in the beginning, drop shipping would be the best business model for you.
If you are ready to invest upfront, having your warehouse, then wholesaling or warehousing model is the answer.
Another business model is subscription, where a single product or a set of products is carefully chosen for you to be delivered at regular intervals to clients.
Another business model focuses mainly on one product that you supplement with affiliate marketing.
Niche and Product Research
It is always better to avoid putting too many categories or products when starting a new e-commerce website. So, niche-ing down or focusing on one product has its own advantages.
Do not choose a niche that is overly crowded or is dominated by big brands. Instead, choose a niche that is competitive, which indicates demand in the market. You can use shoulder niches related to your category to increase the customer base or affiliate with each other to increase profit. Focusing on a niche that is very popular on social media is a good idea.
Before choosing a product category, be clear about the target audience you wish to cater to and the image that the store represents. Check out the search volume for the product category you want to choose and select one with at least 1000 keywords for a successful business online.
Register your business and check for Domain availability. Select your company’s name and get it registered. Choose a brand name or store name that resonates with your image that you want to portray. Then, check if the required domain name is available or not. If the domain name that you want is available, it is good otherwise you will have to select a name that suits your requirement from a set of suggestions. A tool like Instant Domain Search can help you achieve this.
E-commerce Business Plan
Now is the time to work on details related to product sourcing, finalizing of vendors, staff, logistics, marketing budget, etc. The most important part of planning for a new e-commerce business is to investigate its financial aspects.
Put into perspective your startup budget and your running expenses. Knowing in advance the unit sales and time duration required to even out your investment in the business and converting it into returns will help you never lose track of your growth graph.
The next most important thing is to plan how you are going to grow. There are a few pointers that need your attention. Firstly, work on your Search Engine Optimization, SEO, which gives you visibility and more traffic influx. Next comes Paid Search advertising, which helps you give immediate results by targeting your prospects in your ad copy found above and below the organic searches.
Paid Social Advertising is another channel that is making a lot of buzz these days. It has recently turned out to be one of the essential conversions’ platforms because of its access to maximum users. Decide on a marketing budget and try to work on the parameters mentioned above beforehand.
Build Your Online E-commerce website
Finally, after working on your e-commerce business strategy, you have reached a point where you are ready to bring your online store to life. Look for the various options available in the market to build your e-commerce business website. See what suits you best.
Register your domain yourself or through the e-commerce solution platform that you have chosen. Choose the theme and design details of your website. Assemble detail, descriptions, photos of your products.
Make your payment processing flawless and verify the process. Some e-commerce solutions have inbuilt payment solutions, others will connect your website to many popular payment gateways. With all the requirements in place, your e-commerce business website is ready to go live.
Secure Socket Layer Certificates
But, hey wait, the most crucial factor that wins your customers’ trust and confidence and maximizes your conversion rate is by providing a secure online environment. Securing your e-commerce businesses with the SSL certificate from best of SSL brands like COMODO SSL certificate creates a good image of the website owner that it cares for its consumers’ safety.
Secure Socket Layer Certificates eradicates any data breach chance when data is in the tunnel between the servers or between the consumer and the server. If you are running a single domain then, investing in a Comodo Positive SSL Certificate gives you a full security solution and increases traffic flow to your e-commerce website, leading your business on a path to success.
In nutshell, the market opportunity is massive, and it solely depends on how well it is seized to convert it into a profitable eCommerce platform. Just follow the tips above and you will soon be good to go!
