Perhaps you have read about the huge success of several e-commerce companies like Dell Computer and Amazon.com. You may also be aware how much these sites can attract millions of subscribers and shoppers. And so now, you are wondering what your chances actually are in terms of being successful in your own online business. If you are considering launching an online shopping site, or perhaps just selling products online, then you should be able to come up with a great strategy for generating enormous sales.
The first thing you should do is understand your target market. As you may know well, people can be really savvy in their choices of products on the internet. As a matter of fact, you should expect that consumers these days are well-informed about the many choices of where they should purchase products. What this means is that your initial strategy should be to assess your competition so that you may figure out how your offerings will stand out in the market.
Cost and Added Value
There are two primary ways you can distinguish your products from any other sellers. One is based on price. Generally speaking, it makes a lot of sense for shoppers to be willing to pay less for an identical product. Because of this, the other way to distinguish your items if to offer “added value” features to encourage consumers to pay a little more for the same product. This will be easy as long as the customer feels he or she is going to receive an additional benefit. For instance, you can provide excellent customer support, simple product exchange policies or even free shipping.
Not Too Many Unknowns
Aside from having the perfect web design by an SEO specialist, another effective method of positioning your products online is to eliminate unknowns. It is a fact that customers feel more confident about buying products and getting services online. But keep in mind that consumers are more likely to buy branded products. For instance, online shoppers are much more likely to go for a HP LaserJet instead of any generic brand printers. The simple explanation for this is that consumers tend to have confidence in products that come from reputable and established companies already. Less popular or generic products basically increase the “unknown” aspect of the product and thus can easily lead to consumers’ window shopping first. As a result, your products aren’t going to be the customer’s first choice.
Never Without the Order by Phone Option
We all know that direct sales on the internet have been dramatically increasing. It may sound shocking, but according to statistics, online shoppers are now spending more than $4 billion a year on internet shopping. Despite this figure, it should be noted that even the most successful online marketers would admit that around 50% of all their orders received are processed by phone. In general, there are still a lot of consumers these days that browse websites first to know about the products, and still use the phone to place their orders. And so, it is important for your online strategy to include a system for personal phone support in addition to a web-based credit card processing mechanism. Don’t forget that the internet is operational 24/7, which means you have to be clear on what hours it is possible for shoppers to have their orders processed as well as your phone contact details.
Shipping and Handling Concerns
Your online selling strategy should also address various issues concerning shipping and handling. Should the shipping charges have a huge impact on the products’ prices, shoppers will likely decide to do their purchases at retail outlets instead. Equally important is the ease-of-shipping of your products. For you to easily handle volume orders, it is important to consider the standard product size. For instance, music CDs are perfect for online selling considering that they are small and light, making it possible for merchants to prepare standard shipping boxes and faster shipment of items.
Suitability of Selling Online
Although it really seems that all types of products can be sold equally well online, it is very important to come up with a sensible decision on whether your products had better be sold online or not. All that has been mentioned previously are intended to serve only as a guideline to take into consideration. Instead of really wasting your time and money on building an internet store selling products that are inappropriate for online selling, it is always recommended to prepare a strategy beforehand. Keep in mind also that the existence of a number of sites selling a certain product doesn’t always guarantee that such item is in demand or popular to online shoppers. In general, there are products that are better of just promoted or marketed online, while others are really perfect for direct sales.
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Cedric Loiselle is a highly talented writer providing quality articles for a wide range of niches. These include business and finance, as well as topics on cooking and food, and SEO and Internet marketing.