Whether you offer different kinds of products or services that people can enjoy, you must see that the emergence of online stores and shops greatly affects the market you are a part of. Selling products online is one whole thing, and yet, to sell products online is a whole new different avenue that you need to explore and get yourself acquainted with. While technology offers many tools to help you sell products that are particular to your business, you still need to understand many things to fully take advantage of selling your products online. Don’t you worry! We got you covered. This article will discuss what goes into selling product and/or services online.
Selling Online: Pros and Cons
Let’s talk about how selling your products changed and what it means to a business such as yours. Like any other movement in the market, you face both advantages and disadvantages when you start selling online. Let’s first take a look at and talk about how this could negatively affect your business.
When you sell products online, you arm yourself with a powerful tool. However, it can do more harm than good to your business when not used most effectively. For instance, selling online inhibits you from personally assisting and interacting with your customers. While you can fashion your website to help make their experience better, true human connection is still lost. This is also partially why it also can be difficult to gain customer loyalty. We say partially because, besides that, there is also the fact that when you start selling your products online, you also become only one of the many business owners that do so. It is very easy to enter the online market, so your business's competitors can grow by the minute, and you have to keep that in mind. Some costs come into creating and maintaining online stores and websites. In addition to all of this, selling products online also means getting them to your products at a delayed time.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
However, don’t be discouraged! There are still many things about selling online that can help you and your business thrive and expand your reach. For one, and maybe the best thing about selling your products online, you are not limited by time or geographical location. Because when you sell products online, you put them up for an indefinite period - no closing of doors for any of your customers. Consequently, you also aren’t limited by one specific timezone since, with the proper marketing and advertising, you can reach people worldwide without worrying about how you will accommodate their requests. Another advantage you gain when you start selling online is that you actually know the name of the customers that avail of your products. This helps you establish healthy relationships with them, even without meeting them in person. And while there are certain costs that you have to pay when you start selling products online, there are also costs that you avoid and benefits that you reap along with them. For instance, you are rid of the costs of rent for a brick-and-mortar store and of staff to help maintain the said store. With this, you also benefit from more easily tracking your inventory and having a more organized “store”. In addition, you are also afforded much better assistance in monitoring shipping and billing details since everything is automated.
Tips on How to Sell Online
After discussing the pros and cons of selling your products online, it seems only fair and just to give some tips on how to start selling online and sustain your efforts in the long run.
1. Do Your Research
Research is vital for having a successful online business - or a business in general. As a business owner, you must know and understand as much as you can about how to help your business. You have to remember that you face a lot of competition, so arming yourself with the appropriate and ample information is essential for success in this endeavor.
- Learn more about the analytics of having a website and an online store. This will help you keep better track of the statistics and movements of your store.
- Get to know your target market. In successfully selling your products online, you need to understand who you are advertising. You have to understand what drives them to know how to best approach and communicate with them.
- Keep an eye on your competitors and the market in general. The world you have entered is one with many players, and to keep up with its movement, you have to know and understand your own edge and strengths. A way to do that is to know and contrast what your competitors have that you don’t and/or vice versa.
2. Set Your Goals
With every journey in the business, certain goals must be set. This is not to discredit the journey in itself, but more so that you can keep track of your progress of selling online and set your eyes clearly on the next milestone you want to achieve for your business. This will also help you plan your business's financial, economic, and other aspects and prepare enough resources to go through with it all. Some of the questions you can ask yourself are:
- Where do I wanna be in 6 months? or 1 year?
- What specific milestones do I want to achieve the next time?
- What are the profit margins that we are aiming at?
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
3. Be Creative and Unique
You will be up against so many minds and skillsets when you start selling online. Thus, you have to find ways to stand out from the crowd. Selling your products online doesn’t just entail having an online presence and having good products. It also must involve getting the online community's attention and reaching out to customers with who you can build long-lasting relationships.
- Focus on finding the right type of advertisement that would get your business or your products trending.
- Allow a little mystery to your products or customers without alienating them away from you.
- Keep in mind that there are no silly ideas. Everything under the sun is up for grabs and possible to attain and execute with the right resources and determination.
4. Find the Right Tools
Even with all the research and ideas that you have up your sleeve if you don’t look for and find the right tools and resources you will use, you won’t really get that far. Selling your products online can be smooth sailing as long as you know your tools and resources.
- Google Analytics. This is the tool that you can use to track the statistics and movements of your store and website.
- Strikingly. This is a website builder where you can create blogs and create an online store to serve as a home for your products and customers.
- Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Social media platforms can help your business grow and reach more audiences.
Start Selling Online With Strikingly
After introducing you to different resources that you can use when selling your products online, we now want to introduce the Strikingly Simple Store. This is an online website builder where you can highlight your products in various ways and set up an online store right there and then.
Image taken from Strikingly
- Sign up or Log in with Strikingly.
- Go to Your Own Site and edit it.
- Click “Add New Section” and Select “Simple Store”.
Image taken from Strikingly
- Start Adding Your Products, their Pictures, and their Descriptions.
- Share and advertise your website and online store.
To get to know more about it, here are some other features of the Strikingly Simple Store:
- Multiple Store Section
- Multiple Payment Methods
- Checkout Forms and Options
- Shipping Fees, Labels and Options
- Digital Download Products
- Product Reviews
- Setting Up Taxes
- Setting up Pre-orders
- Creating and Giving Out Coupons
- Google and Strikingly Built-in Analytics
Image taken from Strikingly
Strikingly is one of the best tools that you can use to start selling online and making your products and your business known and available all over the world. It’s user-friendly and easy to use, so it guarantees you that you will not waste your time going through complicated processes and interfaces to create your own website and online store.
Selling your products online can be a real challenge, but do it right and well, and your business will undoubtedly soar and thrive. With the ample time and attention spent on the right and smart efforts, you will be helping your business grow and can reach and affect more lives for the better. So arm yourself with the right tool, and sign up with Strikingly today!
