E-commerce: Top tips to sell like a pro
E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay can be a transformational business tool for small business owners, helping you expand beyond boarders to reach exciting new cohorts of customers. But, with so many other sellers on these platforms, it can be challenging to stand out and make your products visible to potential customers. The good news is there are plenty of platforms that will do much of the heavy lifting for you. Find the right one by doing your research and putting a solid strategy in place.
Read on for tips and advice and sell your products like a pro.
Decide what products to sell and have a clear selling strategy: The first step to selling successfully on E-commerce platforms is to have a clear idea of what sort of products you want to sell. You also need to have a plan in place for marketing and promoting those products. Start by getting to know the marketplace and the top trends in your industry by doing consumer and market research. Consider what unique features and benefits your products offer and think about the target audience you want to reach. This information will help you develop a clear and focused selling strategy that will enable you stand out from the competition. The platform you choose needs to be appropriate to your products and your region. For instance, customers look to Etsy for home, décor, jewellery and art. So, if you’re a food business, this may not be the platform for you. Different platforms have different restriction on what you can sell. And some have very different footprints in different markets.
If features like the ability to cross-sell, up-sell and do A/B testing is a crucial part of your E-commerce strategy, make sure the platform you choose offers what you need.
Learn how to get your products noticed: One of the biggest challenges of selling on E-commerce platforms is getting your products noticed in a crowded market. To increase your visibility, make sure you use high-quality product photos, and write stand-out, detailed and informative product descriptions that highlight the unique features and benefits of your products. Getting the price right is crucial too. Your customers will compare prices before making a purchasing decision. You should do your research too, and ensure the price is right. Consider offering special promotions or discounts to drive purchases. And remember, it’s not just people who need to be able to find your products. Search engines need to be able to discover them too – and they’re pretty picky. Getting to grips with the rudiments of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) could improve your margins significantly. Use relevant keywords and phrases in product titles, descriptions, tags and categories to help customers discover what you have to offer.
Top Tip: Make sure the E-commerce platform you use supports quick and easy implementation of promotions.
Understanding platform fees: It’s time to read the small print. Make sure you’re clear on the fees associated with different selling platforms. For example, Amazon, Etsy and eBay all charge fees for listing products, as well as fees for each sale and even referral fees for every unit sold. The big selling platforms do offer selling plans, which are well-worth considering, particularly if you’re a high-volume operation. Sellers on Etsy in the UK, Italy, France and Spain will also need to pay a regulatory operating fee. Depending on the market you’re in, you may also be charged a currency conversion fee. Certain items such as vehicles may also attract unexpected fees. It all adds up, so take the time to do your research. Most platforms offer support and guidance on how to get the best deal as a seller. Factor fees into your pricing strategy, so you can make sure you make a profit on each sale.
Sync with your own E-commerce store: If you already have an E-commerce store, you could save a lot of time, effort and money by leveraging other selling platforms, many of which are powered by highly sophisticated algorithms that have taken years to develop. Syncing your store with other E-commerce platforms will increase your customer base, help you keep your products and sales data up to date, and will make it easier for you to manage your inventory across multiple channels. Shopify provides a comprehensive set of tools and features to help you manage your store, and it integrates with many popular E-commerce platforms, including Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.
Understand delivery and fulfilment options: One of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make is whether to offer free shipping. It’s important to check out what the competition is doing before making your mind up. Customers love free shipping and many have come to expect it. But for small businesses, free shipping can really cut into margins. Especially when paired with free returns, free shipping tends to encourage shoppers to be less thoughtful about purchases, leading to more, smaller shipments, more returns and higher costs for business owners. These behaviours also create a lot of environmental damage by increasing the amount packaging and the carbon footprint of your business. It’s important to be aware of what shipping options are available on the platforms you partner with and to choose the option that’s right for your business.
Make sure the platform you choose meets your current needs and is able to scale with your growing business. Ideally it should work well in different markets and allow for payments in different currencies. Check to see if the platforms you’re interested in can handle busy times like Black Friday or Christmas without crashing. Read the reviews to see how user-friendly the various options are. 24-Hour support is a must. Luckily there are lots of different options to choose from. Just make sure you read all the Ts and Cs before E-signing on the dotted line.
