It’s extremely uncommon for anyone in this more digital age who have physical products or a high street presence to not use the various avenues available to them to sell online. You may reach a wider audience and attract new customers by selling goods online.
If you’ve never participated in eCommerce, learning the ropes can seem a little overwhelming, but there are lots of rewards to be had. Maybe you began with a small local business but now wish to appeal to a much larger clientele. Or perhaps you already have a presence online but wish to investigate more channels for promoting your goods.
Who is it Recommended for?
Selling products on an eCommerce store is recommended for Anyone who wants to build an online business (and is ready for a lot of work!)
How much can you earn?
How much you can earn selling products on an eCommerce store is A Lot but it all depends on your products, the service you can offer, the profitability of your niche, and your marketing strategies. Making a good product is not enough to be successful; there are many different elements that make up a successful eCommerce business, but if you get all of them right, then the possibilities are huge. You could be making just enough to keep afloat every month or you could reach Asos-like levels of success.
Start-up costs
Starting an eCommerce business can be expensive; you’ll need hosting and an eCommerce tool to build your website; you’ll need to think about manufacturing costs (or, alternatively, the costs of buying wholesale from third parties and reselling the products); material costs; shipping costs (if you or your customers need to pay huge shipping costs, it can be a big problem since they can always go to Amazon and get next-day delivery at a low cost); storage costs; and so on.
There are two main e-commerce business models available to you:
- Either produce and market your own goods that you have created and made (of course, not literally – you can pay others to manufacture your design for you)
- Or offer goods made by others that you purchase at a discount and then sell for a higher price.
Because you can only mark up things so much when you sell them, you can only make a limited amount of profit from each transaction, the first alternative has a greater chance of being profitable (in which case, you need to sell huge volumes of products to make a good profit from your business).
On the other hand, you can set the price for things you make yourself, and typically, the profit will be higher as well.
It takes a lot more work, though, and you’ll have to:
- Create your own products
- Locate a dependable manufacturer who can turn your designs a reality and who can deliver on their promises
- Find and purchase quality components for your product at a reasonable cost.
- Set up a reliable shipping mechanism; else, delivery powerhouses like Amazon will quickly devour you.
And these are just a few of the factors to take into account if you plan to produce and market your own goods.
But as we mentioned, the benefit is that your profits will increase as well.
Additionally, there are risks associated with the alternative option as well. You’ll need to purchase enough stock to have on hand, which might be a significant investment on your part that may not be profitable.
Additionally, as we already mentioned, the profits will be reduced.
In spite of this, it’s far simpler to start using this technique than it is to have to manufacture the products and manage the production side of things.
What do I need to start?
To get started, you need a website and you can build a website with no coding skills with a easy Drag-&-Drop WordPress builder. Get 300+ design templates, 1-click WordPress installation, web hosting & domain registration, all for only $2.95/mo with Bluehost, the #1 trusted WordPress hosting.
