With the rising popularity of e-commerce websites, more and more people are attracted to online shopping. As per a recent survey, there was almost 1 trillion dollar sales made through online marketplaces in 2016. So as an entrepreneur how can you avoid the lucrative potential of online marketing? But how feasible it is for a small or medium scale business to open their websites, go for regular updating, engage in online promotions and then make the sale? Sounds cost intensive? Well, online selling of products needs both time and money if you are trying to do all by yourself. So the best way that SMEs adopt these days are, to sell through the TrueGether or other selling alternatives. How is it going to help you? Let’s checkout.
Get an existing customer base
As a small scale business you are yet to make that mark in the market. On top of that if you are planning to sell individually over the internet it means you have to be spend some more months or years to gain the trust of a new set of buyers; online marketing is competitive as there are hundreds of sites available to choose from. The already established e-commerce websites connect you with millions of customers. The customers start buying from you because they trust the online site where you are selling and gradually start believing in your product. This is a very nice way to spread your business to the large number of online buyers. This approach also reduces the amount of risk which exists in other lines of sales and marketing. As you are getting a readymade customer base you can put more focus on manufacturing high quality products than on digital marketing.
Taste of the Real Competition
Another good part of selling online through e-commerce sites is that you can have a real view of your competitors. Besides you, there are several other sellers offering the same kind of products; may be at the same price or different. So these online shopping sites take you to a larger marketplace and you get the real experience about how your product is doing against the others. Also, e-commerce sites have really great rating and feedback mechanisms. The buyers can rate and review the products post usage. For this reason you get a real data set about how well your product did as compared to the other brands; what needs to be improved and what good you are already doing.
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Cost effective online selling solution
Yes, when you decide to sell through any e-commerce site you are actually saving on a lot of time and money. Besides being relieved from the hassle of setting up a website, this kind of selling approach also reduces the cost of employing a developer, content writer and digital marketing analyst. The only cost which you incur is a nominal fees for the listing of products and a small amount of commission after the sale is made.
Personalized services
This is another reason why you should opt for an e-commerce site for selling your goods. Customers like to be constantly informed about their order status, shipment details and delivery date. The e-commerce sites efficiently interact with the courier services and provide regular texts and emails to the buyers. The e-commerce sites also recommend users with relevant products from your brand depending on their previous buy. This kind of recommendation is customized based on customer preference, thus increasing the sale potential. So sell your products through an e-commerce site to offer personalized services to them and promote your products at the same time.
Steady flow of customers
Besides getting an existing customer base, the online shopping sites also help you retain the customers. They occasionally provide the users with deals and discounts which compel and convince them to come back again and again to the site to buy your products. They also have royalty programmers in which users are offered better deals if they buy more; encouraging them to shop their heart out.
Easy set ups
Last but not the least; start selling as soon as you want on an e-commerce platform. It is easy to register, list the products and reach millions of customers with just few clicks. So gestation period is almost nil in this case.
How to choose the right e-commerce marketplace? The site should
- Have simple vendor registration and product listing process.
- Have an easy payment structure (credit, debit cards and cash on delivery options.)
- Be flexible to help you expand or reduce the inventory as per your requirements.
- Offer better control and customisation power to the sellers.
- Give an instant start to your selling process.
So whether the web store sales have reached a standstill or you are looking for a global line of customers, whatever may be the reason, collaborating with an e-commerce site will surely give more growth opportunities.