If you have a business that sells products or goods to customers, then e-commerce is essential. It is unique in terms of business opportunities because of the wide range of consumers you can reach. When you factor in the popular online marketplaces that you can sell through have literally millions of users, it makes perfect sense. The figures around selling online back this up – it is thought that there are around 175 million active eBay users, for example, and over 2 billion smartphone users who could use them to shop online.
Selling safely and efficiently online
With the above stats in mind, it is tempting to dive right into selling your product online. However, you need to take some time first to make sure that you do it in the right way.
Here are some great tips to take on board:
- Online security – some reports peg the true cost of a major cyber-crime breach at $5m to the business involved! This shows why you need to take your online security seriously when selling via the internet. Make sure that your IT systems are fully protected and that you have the required measures in place to guard your servers from hackers.
- Check buyer ratings – this is a great tip when selling online as it stops you wasting time and keeps you safe. Most online marketplaces will have a way of rating buyers based on previous transaction history that you can see as the seller. Make the most of this and avoid selling to anyone with a bad rating.
- Use reputable online marketplaces – this is another superb tip as it covers both keeping your business safe and being highly efficient. Only using major marketplaces such as Amazon to sell through means that you can rely on it being safe and secure to conduct business there. They also have millions of people shopping there, so you get maximum exposure and sales.
- Update your checkout process – one real bugbear when selling via your own website or store is abandoned shopping carts. This is very often down to a long-winded or annoying checkout process that you have in place. Review yours to make it as quick and simple as you can.
Make sure to use the right online tools
When putting your goods up for sale online, how you do it is almost as key as what you have to sell. Making sure that any listings you put online are optimized to rank highly either in search engine results or marketplaces themselves is essential. There are some great tools online to help you do this. The Amazon keyword tool is one of the most popular suggested tools to use to ensure that your listings get the most attention.
Online sales can bring lots of new revenue
If you do not currently sell your goods online, then it is something to seriously consider. Many consumers not only hang out online now but also shop there. If you are not there, then you are missing out on lots of potential sales. Selling online is not only profitable but also easy as long as you follow a few basic tips, as above.