Doing business is hard, but starting it is a hundred times harder. But thanks to the advancement of technology, it has become much easier. Conventional business has now taken the form of e-commerce. Which has become very beneficial for both buyers and sellers. E-commerce business means electronic commerce. The traditional local business online is called e-commerce business. The greatest aspect of e-commerce is that you can expand your business all over the world from one place. And for this the customer does not have to come to you or you do not have to go to the customer.
What is E-Commerce
The meaning of the term e-commerce is internet commerce or electronic commerce, i.e. the process of buying and selling any product using the internet is an e-commerce business. In addition, even though various types of commercial transactions are done through the internet, it is considered as an e-commerce business, i.e. businesses that are conducted online or through the Internet. or conduct those businesses are called e-commerce businesses.
Some E-Commerce Business Plan Ideas
Cloth business
Clothing business has now taken a new form when it comes to online business. Which works hundred percent to get success. We all need clothes. You can find any clothes of your choice according to your budget like offline through this e-commerce. Likewise, think of yourself as a seller. Guess the plan isn’t bad. Marketers fear that this business demand will create more demand in the future.
Computers and laptops
Earlier no one cared about buying expensive products like computers and laptops online as people were afraid of buying something expensive online. But nowadays in the online e-commerce market you will find numerous platforms that are selling laptops, computers etc. of different brands.
Online learning site
Almost all parents want their children to learn everything online at home for safety reasons. And with this opportunity you can open an online learning site if you want. You can make more money if more students visit your website to learn. Besides, you can easily build your e-commerce business by making various classes as courses on education.
Foodstuff Sale
Nowadays no one wants to miss the opportunity to order any recipe or food of their choice from the comfort of their home. If you start a food selling business online through a site, you will have a lot of sales as people can easily order any food from home.
Selling electronic products
You have the option to set up an online store and begin selling different electrical products there.
Nowadays people are buying various electronic parts online. Also, electronic products never become obsolete as they do not need to be kept in stock directly.
What are the steps required to start an E-commerce Business
Idea generation and market research
This step requires you to choose a niche product that you know and understand very well. The market demand of that product should be researched.
Your research topics at this stage will be,
Your Target Audience
Competitor
Industry Trends
Market Landscape
There are many tools available online for market research. You can complete this research using the tools of your choice. For your convenience, some market research tools are mentioned below.
Surveymonkey: This is an online survey and form builder tool.
Google Analytics: These are web analytics tools that provide statistical data about online searches on a given topic.
Moz Keyword Explorer: This is an online keyword research tool that provides historical data on search terms and volumes on a given topic.
By using online tools, you can know whether the product you are doing business with will help you to make enough profit by analysing the historical data of the market demand target group ideas and customer queries of the product you want to do business with. You will know what kind of interest the target audience has in your product or service.
Business Plan
According to research by hubspot.com, about 20% of startup businesses fail because they don’t have a clear business plan. So, the most crucial part of a winning business is a clear business plan.
A business plan defines what a company’s business objectives are. It mentions how planning should be done to achieve the desired business goals of that company.
If you do not know clearly what you are going to do in your business? Then you will have no idea how to do it. So proper documentation of the business plan is very important before starting the business.
Legal and Logistics
Coming to this stage of business, you need to choose a suitable name according to the type of business. Once the name is selected, a business domain should be purchased to match that name. Business domain is basically the unique ID of a business. Audiences can easily find your business by searching on Google or other search engines.
When choosing a domain name, you must pay attention to the following points,
1. May the name be short and sound sweet.
2. The name should be consistent with the product or service you are dealing with.
3. Keywords that are very important for the product or service should be in the domain.
4. You can take help of online business name generator for business name selection. https://namelix.com/ This online name generator will give you a relevant idea of what an ideal business name looks like. You can also select the name from there if required.
Product Sourcing
If you do not manufacture the product yourself, you will need to source suppliers. In the case of supplier selection, keep some things in mind like,
How long will he deliver it to you after placing the order?
Whether the supplier has sufficient stock of the product you are dealing with or if not, whether he can bring in the products if required.
How old is his business etc.
In doing business with the supplier, you must try to properly maintain all purchase receipts and invoices. Check product quality. Discuss in detail what will be the return or refund policy.
And definitely don’t rely on a specific supply. Keep two to three more suppliers in the pipeline as backup.
Communication and product quality will be of utmost importance in supplier selection. Remember that at the end of the day you have to survive in the market with quality products. No matter how good your customer service is, if the product quality is not up to the mark, you will not be able to sustain the business.
Website Development
Websites are very important and essential tools for an e-commerce business. Basically, the process of e-commerce marketing starts with website development. To run an e-commerce business, you must have a unique website.
But the question is how should the website be?
Technology
There are two types of e-commerce websites available in the market.
One is a custom developed website,
Another is a SaaS e-commerce website.
A custom e-commerce website is a website that you create with features, design, technology, and database of your choice. Custom websites can be created using many technologies, the most popular of which are WordPress and Laravel.
Hosting
In e-commerce website development, there are many other costs besides just the development charges. E.g. You need to take a hosting. How many GB of hosting is ideal for you will depend on the type of website design elements and how many products you will have on your website. If the number of images and videos on the website is high, then you need to take more hosting.
Maintenance
Then there is the maintenance charge. This maintenance is essential to protect the website from any type of virus and hacking attack to keep it running uninterrupted. Maintenance fees may vary depending on company policy and customer requirements. It can be monthly, yearly, or semi-annually.
Generally, maintenance fees ranging from 3 thousand to 20 thousand can be observed. These costs may increase or decrease depending on the scope of the website and the type of updates to the website which shall not be limited to the mentioned costs.
Branding and Design
Logo cover photos and professionally designed posts for businesses increase that brand’s visibility and engagement. So professionals should help in creating all these branding materials.
Marketing Strategy
Now that you have your brand element website and business plan in place, you need to focus on your marketing strategy. You need to decide which channels you will promote on, such as Facebook, Instagram, email marketing, SMS marketing platforms, etc.
For each individual marketing platform, you have to work with different studies. Because a strategy that works for one platform may not work for another.
Focus should be on content marketing. Nowadays audio-visual content is getting a lot of engagement. You can do it yourself by taking training on the marketing strategy or you can hire a consultant. You can collaborate with any marketing agency if you want.
One thing to keep in mind, the more third-party agencies you engage with, the higher your marketing costs will be.
Customer Service
Customer service is essential and essential for e-commerce business. Customer queries, objections, feedback, returns etc. should be ensured as soon as possible in an organized manner. Ensure that the customer can reach you using his available communication channels. For example: Messenger chat, WhatsApp, Email, Phone, etc.
Scaling and Growth
You need to constantly be aware of market trends. Learning about new strategies, promotional tricks, advertising techniques, product innovations etc. should be continued.
Find new market opportunities and take the business to a new level through collaboration.
Building a successful e-commerce business requires constant learning, dedication and adaptability. You must stay focused on your business goals and constantly provide value to customers. Only then you can have a profitable business.
