Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably familiar with the concept of selling online, also known as e-commerce. Someone who sells online might also be known as an online retailer, as opposed to a traditional (bricks and mortar) retailer. Selling online has been a game-changer in the retail landscape because it’s given the average person a leg-up into the retail industry through its low barriers to entry. As an example, you don’t need to fit out an expensive physical shopfront when you sell online, and you won’t need to rely on fickle foot traffic. In this article, we will get a deep understanding of establishing an online business and how you showcase your product in the connected world that is waiting to buy quality products.
Table of Contents
- Getting started with e-commerce
- Creating your online store
- Delivering a great customer experience
- Marketing your online business
Getting Started with e-Commerce
I break down the essential elements of selling online.
I dive into the different types of online selling and where it all began, as well as the difference between physical and digital products (you can sell more than shoes and sofas online — consider subscriptions, courses, and audiobooks, for example).
One rule tends to be consistent no matter what business you’re in — Bad ideas don’t work.
I help you assess your idea for your online business so that you understand what makes for a good idea that can translate to online sales success.
I help ensure you are selling products that solve problems, rather than just selling products for the sake of it.
When you have your ideal products in mind, it turns to the nitty-gritty of sourcing these products.
I show you where to begin your hunt for products, and where you can meet some world-class manufacturers with whom you can begin real conversations.
And then, after you find the products you want to sell, we need to set up an inventory management system, one of the most complex parts of running an online business — you need to start storing your products smartly and efficiently from day one.
Creating Your Online Store
It may sound boring, but before you start piecing together your online store, you need to get your legals in shape — though the fun part is choosing a domain name, or your ‘www.something’.
Later, I will help you get started with choosing your business name and securing a domain, as well as all the admin behind the scenes.
I will move on to helping you choose an e-commerce platform that’s right for your business — in other words, picking the engine that’s going to power your new online business.
Some great options are on the market, and I will show you the pros and cons, and the bells and whistles, of your options.
After choosing the right platform, you need to understand what it takes to build a beautiful, high-converting online store, with a great user experience, which comes in, and I take you on a guided tour of a typical online store (both the customer-facing front end and the engine room, or back end).
It’s all about establishing the blueprint for success, in terms of the design of your online store (your website).
I’ll talk you through the ins and outs of designing and building an online store (and how your e-commerce platform can help you keep it simple, stylish, and well-suited to your target market).
Images and words are both part of the conversation here as you seek to make sure your website’s content and your products appeal to future customers.
Later, we conclude with the reward of receiving payments, which I’m sure will motivate you to move forward.
I also cover how to use payment options to attract and acquire new customers, for example, in international markets.
Delivering a Great Customer Experience
The focus turns to the people who will be visiting your online store — in other words, your customers.
However, you also need to understand the importance of both the user experience (UX) and the customer experience (CX) to ensure you build a business (and a website) that focuses on both essential factors.
Later, we cover the onsite experience — the performance of your online store and help you understand what it takes to build a site, and a shopping experience that can turn website visitors into customers.
Customer loyalty is a huge part of e-commerce.
Loyalty can be generated by introducing whizz-bang loyalty programs, but you can also generate loyalty through good old-fashioned customer service (CS).
I break down what online shoppers expect in terms of communication channels and query response times, and I share some options in case you add a customer service platform to your e-commerce platform.
Returning customers are a sign that something is working well behind the scenes.
I look at shipping, logistics, and order fulfilment. And while it’s great to get your orders out fast, returns are a part of life when you run an online store, so I look at the ever-evolving space that is reverse logistics — in other words, handling those dreaded returns.
I also break down the ultimate e-commerce question — to refund, or not to refund?
Marketing Your Online Business
Things get spicy in upcoming articles, as it’s time to get your brand out into the world and market your business.
Later, I break down the beast that is digital marketing, which gives you a foundation for moving forward into advertising, where I look at customer acquisition through paid media strategies such as Facebook and Instagram (Meta) ads, as well as Google ads, and how to use these tools to win new customers.
I show you how to interpret the data from Google Analytics — a must for any serious online retailer.
I also consider search engine optimization (SEO) and how you can use SEO strategies to rank highly in search engine results, thus driving organic (or free) traffic. Keep your website’s content SEO-friendly.
By all means, skip ahead to help you get the text right if you are in the design phase.
Customer acquisition to customer retention is one of the keys to a sustainable and profitable online business, given that it’s usually cheaper to retain a customer rather than acquire a customer