Ecommerce - Selling Your Products Online

Starting An E-Commerce Business

Did you know that in the past few years that the majority of purchases from household items to vehicles are being made over the internet? Overall sales for brick and mortar type businesses are down and that is a trend that is not going to change anytime soon. The reason for the increase in online sales is primarily based in the unique and hard to find items that are now easily available for purchase on the internet. What was once considered a source of information is quickly becoming the premier source for customers to research and purchase products from the comfort of their own home. Purchasing items online provides customers more flexibility by not getting stuck in traffic or getting lost finding your business. Plus the best feature of all is that with an online store your business is always open and operating, even at 4am on a holiday.

Selling A Unique Product vs. A Common Product

The downfall of most online retail websites is the fact that they are selling cookie cutter products that can be purchased anywhere, especially from competitors and often at a much lower cost. The most successful online retail stores are those who sell the unique, rare, and hard to find items. Selling a product on the internet opens the door to people selling everything from uncommon repair parts to regional specific items such as tumbleweeds. Yes, believe it or not there are several companies out west who are making a fortune selling something as simple as the annoying tumble weeds that litter the streets and pastures of the open fields out west. In 2004, a husband and wife team who wanted to offer tumbleweeds for sale online approached me. At first I thought they were joking and I was looking around for the hidden camera thinking it was a joke. Within a year, both had quit their full time jobs and were selling tumbleweeds to everyone from Hollywood studios to neighborhood theatres across the country that used them as props in movies, plays, musicals, and productions. The first two customers were a production company based out of Miami had no way of getting their hands on official tumble weeds for prop pieces for a music video shoot and a high school drama club in Minneapolis that was putting on a western stage show. I learned a valuable lesson, that if there is something that you can think of to sell online, chances are that there is a buyer. The aforementioned couple has since retired from the money made through their online business. Amazing … that something so common and simple in their neck of the woods had such demand in other areas of the country.

The Downside To Selling Products Online
As with anything, selling online does not come without risk. One of the most alarming statistics that was recently compiled is that on average, 6 of every 100 visitors to your website or online store will make a purchase. So before you go quitting your day job, make sure that your website will have the traffic to support these odds, because they are not in your favor. Purely for example, let's say that you are selling a picture frame for $10 on your website. On most days you are averaging 500 visitors to your website, which is a great number. That would mean, based on the 6 out of 100 rule, you are roughly selling 30 picture frames each day, earning your business on average $150 a day, or $4500 a month in gross sales. That's not too bad of a number, but unless you are getting free wood, free glass, free craftsmanship, and free payment processing than there is a cost involved in your product. Sticking with the example, let's go with a profit margin of $2 per picture frame sold. Your profit each month would be $1800, that is before any other expenses such as advertising, labor, etc. Most brick and mortar small businesses would kill to have 500 customers walk through their door each day, that is because the purchase rate is much higher for direct sales. The direct cause of over 90% of the visitors to your website not making an online purchase can include a poorly designed website that is not appealing to the eye and is difficult to navigate through. Or, prior to visiting your website they were on the website of your competition and saw the same picture frame for less than your $10 asking price. At least in the infancy stage of your website, you need to approach it as supplemental income and not your primary source of living. Your website is working and selling products while you are sleeping and doesn't need constant human involvement. Consider keeping your full-time job or picking up a- part-time job to help carry you over until your online business is at a level where it can support you financially on a consistent basis.

Choosing The Right Payment Processor For Your Website

Having a payment processor and selling online go hand in hand. Your customers do not want to mail a check, wait 3-5 days for you to receive the check in the mail, and then wait another 3-5 days for you to allow the check to clear your bank. Online payment is instant with credit card purchases and e-checks clear in about 2 days. With that said, the checkout process is another area where many online businesses will lose the sale. Your checkout process should be simple, secure, and easy to understand. If you were ever in the position where you were buying a product online and when it got to the checkout purchase the sense of security about your purchase made you close the screen instead of making the purchase you are not alone. The smartest and most cost effective route to take is creating an account with what is called a payment gateway company. A payment gateway company acts as a middleman for the purchaser and seller. The system is the equivalent to the machine you swipe your card at when you are at the grocery store or pumping gas in your vehicle. Some of the more reputable and common payment gateways include PayPal and 2Checkout. While some payment gateways do not charge you a set-up fee for the use of their service, don't think there are not costs associated for using their service, after all they are in business as well. Some of the fees you can expect to pay are fees based on the transaction price, processing fees that can range anywhere from 1% to 5%, and in some cases a monthly fee for the service. Do your homework when selecting a payment gateway for your website. It is imperative that you know and understand the fees associated with your payment gateway to properly set the price on your item. You will find that some companies charge a much higher shipping cost than an item cost, that is because most payment gateways do not hit you with fees on your shipping and handling costs. Selling an item at a lower price and moving the additional costs to your shipping fees actually helps to increase your profit margin.

Attracting Customers To Your E-Commerce Website

If you could just build a website and then sit back and let the money roll in there would be hundreds of thousands of internet millionaires among us. However, with the large quantity of websites out there, getting yours to be found by potential customers is a hurdle that you must overcome. Type in any random product in Google or Yahoo and you will find that there are thousands of search results. If your online business is not ranking on the top 5 pages, you can almost forget about that potential customer even knowing that your company exists, or offers the product that they are searching for. There are many marketing methods available for your website. If you are targeting a specific region or area of the country you should consider local internet marketing. If you are looking to offer products globally than search engine optimization is the route you should take. Your best course of action when it comes to either of these options is to hire an online marketing company, such as The Website Shack (cheap plug, but we get results). Trying to market your company or boost your search engines on your own could cause more damage than good. Search engines are a funny breed and if you do something that they don't like can permanently ban your site from the search results. The cost of hiring an internet marketing specialist is nothing compared to the results of having customers find your website. Keep in mind that both search engine optimization and local internet advertising are not a hit and run type business. Keeping your search engine results and local visibility at the top of the ladder requires constant and ongoing work.

Providing First Class Service
The easiest and most common way to turn profit is repeat business and word of mouth. Consumers of internet purchases will most likely do some research on the company that they choose to do business with based on recommendations. So providing outstanding service from the beginning of the sale to following up after the sale are key components to the success of your e-commerce business. We as a society love to talk and share experiences. If the topic of a transaction with your business came up in conversation, you would want it to be a positive one. With most online businesses you will never have the opportunity to meet your customer face to face, so everything from your e-mail communication, phone conversations, shipping methods, and quality of your product are going to be what your business is judged on. Customer service is key and if you are able to exceed your customer's expectation, your customer base and revenue will likely exceed your expectations.