Getting your e-commerce business off the ground is probably easier than setting up a lot of other types of businesses, but that doesn’t mean that you can just dive straight in with both feet. If you want your business to still be around in 12 months’ time, you need to put in the hard yards at the beginning so you have the right base to build from.
This might sound like a big deal, but in reality, it can be as simple as following the right steps and getting the right people onboard.
#1 Find high-quality products
Product quality is very important to customers, and you need to realize this from day one. Shoddy items that fall apart in five minutes will get you nothing but bad online reviews and an unwanted reputation that’s hard to shift.
To avoid putting yourself in this position, you need to research your products thoroughly and only go for the ones that you have the most confidence in. Doing this not only gets you the right kind of reputation, but it also means that you can look forward to repeat purchases from satisfied customers.
#2 Build a top-of-the range website
Just as important as your products is how you sell them. You’ll need a website that gives the right first impression, works without any glitches, and is easy for you to manage. This is likely to be beyond your own skills, especially as designing an e-commerce site isn’t the same as putting together a regular one.
The answer then, is to get the professionals involved, preferably a local company that you can easily visit face to face, if you want to. So, if you’re London-based yourself, you might consider MageCloud Magento developers in London, who have a reputation for providing excellent service and have over a decade of experience.
#3 Use social media to drive traffic
You might not be able to spend a fortune on advertising, so social media can help to get you your first customers. Build your following on TikTok and Instagram before you even launch so that people will know your name, and start by posting interesting content about your niche rather than going for the hard sell from day one. This means that when you do start posting about your products, your potential customers will see you as an authority figure and will be less likely to just scroll on past.
You could, if the niche is right, engage an influencer to demonstrate your first product to their followers, but you’ll need to do your due diligence to make sure you find the right one.
#4 Explore other selling platforms
Once you have your own website built, you could also look to selling on eBay and Amazon. Many businesses do this the other way round, but they probably don’t realize that if Amazon or eBay take a dislike to what they’re selling and close their account—sometimes through no fault of their own—then if they don’t have their own website, their business is gone overnight. Remember, your website is under your control, and this should be the base of your business for years to come.
