So you’ve decided to enter into the world of e-commerce? Congratulations! That is a huge step in a new direction and we are here to give the rundown on everything you need to know before selling your products online!
First, we need to learn about payment portals. Payment portals are a way to collect payments online for your products. A lot of new e-commerce clients come to us not knowing they need payment portals so we wanted to start with this.
Payment portals have many different payment options as well, there are such things as pay-later that allow your customer to make monthly payments rather than one large sum. Paypal is a common portal and while it is great for customers, you do need to consider that it is a customer-preferred portal. Should your customer request a refund for whatever reason, 99% of the time PayPal does side with the customers rather than the sellers.
Next, we need to do some research into shipping (if you deliver your products virtually then you can skip this part). Shipping is complex and can be costly especially internationally. This is why before launching any products you need to research and calculate the shipping.
If you are creating the product and handling the shipping yourself through postal services make sure to constantly keep an eye on the postal office pricing and always buy in bulk when it comes to flat rate boxes so you are getting the best deals.
Are you a print-on-demand business, do you have a shipping service provider? These are all need-to-know things to have before launching your products.
Now that our payment portals and shipping are taken care of it’s time to launch right? Not quite! Just having products readily available for purchase on your website is step one. Step two is to make sure that people are finding your products! This involves a custom SEO (Search Engine Optimizer) for your business and a solid marketing plan. This marketing plan should cover organic traffic through keywords and website ratings, paid ads on social media and Google, and organic traffic through social media.
E-commerce is not just about adding products to your website and taking off (if that is something you would rather do we suggest a company like Etsy!). Having the freedom of owning your e-commerce store is a lot of setup and requires careful consideration, but in the long run will be the most customizable option for you, your customers, and your business! We hope that providing these 3 key points that many new E-commerce hopefuls miss in their planning will help you keep on track to launch your new store!
If you need help with your e-commerce business set up a free consultation with our experts!