Despite the World Wide Web boom back in the late 90s, anytime, anywhere shopping is in full bloom only now, during a worldwide economic crisis. It is as though the rat race has digitized itself, with big and small brands now fighting for eyeballs from a socially distant but informed and well-read consumer. Many businesses are finding solace and surely profits by making this shift, and you can too. If you are still not convinced on opening an ecommerce store, here are 6 reasons why you should start an ecommerce business in 2020.
But for those enthusiasts who are at the verge of launchingtheir own ecommerce portal, here are 8 questions you need to ask:
Table of Contents
What Am I Selling?
Perhaps even as you are thinking about How to Start a Successful Ecommerce Company in 2020, you need to first consider what to sell because ultimately, what you sell becomes your identity. So, a little market research would do no harm. If your offering is a unique one, chances are you can break the internet much faster than you thought. When you come up with a niche offering, you create a market for yourself and cash in on the opportunity. That is much better than taking the share of an existing market for products.
Whom Am I Targeting?
A little research on the target audience will help you offer better products across age, gender, geography and other demographics. It helps you zero in on what are the needs of these people. Track your potential customers and their interests in social media to have a better appeal towards them. This is one of the most important aspects to consider while launching an online store.
What Are My Competitors Doing?
Keep track of your competitors and look at what are they offering from time to time. It is good to be aware at all times to make better decisions. Do a competitor analysis of competitor websites, find out avenues of improvement in your own website and let that lead the way to prospective customers.
Are My Support Logistics in Place?
Another aspect to consider before launching an online store, should be support logistics. The cost of creating an eCommerce store is just a small aspect of initial setup. Working out your channel partners is another. Tie up with a shipping company for deliveries and also work out your return/exchange policy. Not always are the customers satisfied with the products and there is no harm in being prepared for the worst.
How AmI Handling Inventory?
There are three ways in this: you make products and you sell them, you buy products from a manufacturer and sell them or you just sell products of another manufacturer. Each mode is tangentially different from one another. Making products on your own and selling them is a huge task, while selling a product of another manufacturer is relatively easy. It all depends on your strategy and decisions.
What About MyTeam?
Build a team of experts in the retail industry, who are well versed in fluctuating market trends and are product analysts. One technical person with his website know-how and marketing tools is a must in the team to take care of the coding required in the process. Test your idea to a sample population to predict the outreach of the website. Just another important point to consider before launching an online store.
What is my marketing strategy?
It is impossible to imagine any product in today’s world without a marketing strategy. Leveraging social media through eye-catching posts, e-mail newsletters for regular visitors, informative blogs on products are some common tools that every eCommerce site uses. Integrating all social media platforms through a unified smartphone application is also a good option to infiltrate the mobile savvy population.
What will be my USP?
Every online seller must have one unique selling proposition that grabs eyeballs. The heavily competing market space for online shopping has forced e-retailers to think differently and they come up with huge clearance sale deals on a particular day of the year. Find your ultimate USP or just play it along with the other eCom players effectively.
The above eight questions are just an eye opener and one explores more questions before launching an online store. It is a good opportunity of growth for every entrepreneur.
Originally published May 19, 2016 18:24:00 PM, updated Jun 03 2020
