By It’s no more news that the future of e-commerce is bright for retail business owners. According to experts, the revenue of e-commerce is expected to increase continuously at a CAGR of 11.51% in the coming years. With a lot of goodies expected to surface in the coming years, it’s only fair if you also benefit from them by investing in e-commerce. With 95% of all purchases expected to be carried out via e-commerce by 2040, these goodies are expected to keep coming for many years. That said, here is a burning question; what exactly are the most effective ways to start investing in e-commerce in 2023?
As you read further, you’ll discover a few reliable steps for investing in e-commerce in 2023 to get the best results.
What exactly are the different types of e-commerce?
E-commerce is a term that combines two different words “electronic” & “Commerce.” In simpler terms, this term represents the activity of buying or selling products electronically on different online platforms.
Today, the act of buying or selling products online is divided into four categories; B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C.
- B2C, also called business-to-consumer, is a type of e-commerce that involves selling services or products directly to consumers. A good example is what Amazon and eBay do.
- B2B or business-to-business is a type of e-commerce where business owners sell their products or services to other businesses. A good example is a wholesale supplier selling to retailers.
- C2B or consumer-to-business type of e-commerce occurs when consumers sell their products or services to business owners.
- C2C or consumer-to-customer is a type of e-commerce in which customers sell directly to customers.
Irrespective of the type of e-commerce you’re looking to invest in, below are a few steps you can follow to get started:
1. What sales strategies will work for you?
How exactly do you intend to sell your products or services? Before going ahead to start investing in e-commerce, you certainly need to find the right answer to this question.
The good news is that there are different sales strategies you can decide to work with. All that matters is that you need to use something that works well for your products or services.
- For instance, you can decide to work with either dropshipping or wholesale. But what exactly do you know about dropshipping vs wholesale?
Well, both wholesale and dropshipping are effective strategies you can employ when investing in e-commerce. The former involves buying your products directly from manufacturers in bulk. This way, you can always get discounts, which will allow you to resell and make enough profits. Dropshipping, on the other hand, doesn’t require you to manage any inventory. Instead, all you need is to take orders and keep the handlers alerted about them.
- Retail arbitrage is another effective strategy you can work with. This involves buying products from a physical retailer and reselling them via online stores.
- Other strategies that work include online arbitrage, private label sales, and handmade goods. All you need is to make your research and choose a strategy that works for you.
2. Clearly define your business idea
Without clearly defining your business idea, you’ll most likely struggle to pick the right selling strategies. Here’s where the need to write your business plan comes in handy.
With your business plan in place, you can easily decide how you want your services or products to reach your customers.
3. Setting up your business
Setting up your e-commerce business requires a lot of processes. First, you need to start by picking a business structure that works for you. After that, you need a business name.
After getting your business name from the right source, other things you need to apply for are:
- Employer identification number
- Business checking account
- Licenses
4. Setting up your e-commerce website
Another important step involved when investing in e-commerce is the aspect of setting up your online store. Hiring the right e-commerce service provider is important here to ensure you get the best results. You’ll need to pick a suitable e-commerce platform to work with, such as Shopify, or BigCommerce.
The right service providers, such as AWM, shouldn’t only help in the aspect of e-commerce website creation. In addition, they should be able to help in the aspect of e-commerce management.
5. Order fulfillment
Of course, you need to figure out how to manage your online fulfillment of orders. This means you should put good measures in place to ensure your customers’ products get to them directly. Your e-commerce website builder should be able to assist you in this area.
6. Ability to use the right sales funnels
With the right sales funnels, you can easily attract your target customers to your business. Below are the right sales funnels you need to consider:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Purchase
- Loyalty
