An E-commerce Playbook on How to Create a Profitable Online Store

If you want to take your online store to the next level, look no further than this eCommerce playbook! It contains all the information you need to succeed, from competitive software solutions to eCommerce analytics.

Global e-commerce sales are expected to increase from an estimated $4.9 trillion in 2021 to $6.5 trillion in 2023 due to consumers making record-breaking online purchases. Although this expansion is opening up chances for internet retailers of all sizes, those most likely to succeed have well-considered brand strategies.

You're not alone in wondering how to get a piece of the eCommerce pie.

Whether you're a seasoned eCommerce business owner or just getting started, here's how eCommerce businesses generate money, what it takes to launch a successful eCommerce venture, and how eCommerce methods can help your online business save money.

What is Ecommerce?

E-commerce, commonly referred to as electronic commerce or internet commerce, is the term used to describe the exchange of money and data for the purpose of transacting business through the internet. The term "eCommerce" is frequently used to refer to the online sale of tangible goods, but it can also refer to any form of a business deal made possible by the internet.

E-commerce is the term that best describes online buying or selling, and it encompasses everything from tangible things like T-shirts, pie tins, and hermit crab homes to services like online courses and consultancy to digital commodities like software and ebooks.

E-commerce Models -

• Business to Consumer (B2C) refers to the sale of a product or service by a company to a single consumer (e.g. You buy a pair of shoes from an online retailer)

• Business-to-business (B2B) transactions happen when one company sells a product or service to another company (e.g. A business sells software-as-a-service for other businesses to use)

• Customer to Consumer (C2C) This is the sale of a good or service by one consumer to another consumer (e.g. You sell your old furniture on eBay to another consumer)

• C2B refers to the sale of a consumer's own goods or services to a company or organisation (e.g. An influencer offers exposure to their online audience in exchange for a fee, or a photographer licences their photo for a business to use)

Retailers are frequently overwhelmed by a large number of e-commerce alternatives and merchants accessible. It is a matter of determining which are most useful in helping your company meet its unique needs and issues. For instance, it's crucial that the solution interacts with the third-party tools and platforms you employ when choosing customer data integration tools.

While it's nice to start your new e-commerce venture with a lot of grand ideas, we advise concentrating on the most doable tasks first. To begin with, you definitely need a straightforward online sales channel for your goods. For this, a straightforward store template on a reliable platform like Shopify works just well.

1. Identifying Ecommerce Products

If you're brand-new to the world of e-commerce, you might be unsure of the precise products you ought to be offering for sale. In fact, getting bogged down on this is a major reason that deters people from launching their own e-commerce companies.

In reality, you need to be strategic when choosing a line of goods or a single item that's in style or difficult to locate in stores or on well-known e-commerce platforms like Amazon. Any niche you choose is going to need market research to keep you informed of the players vying for the same audience. Put simply, going the generic route can make you go into losses 

Choose more specialised products that speak to a particular market instead. Making a list of prospective goods you might want to sell in your shop is a good place to start. Consider what interests you, your friends, your workplace, or members of your family. For more ideas on what to offer, look into social selling platforms like Pinterest, Etsy, or even Instagram.

‍Dropshipping may be a good alternative for your e-commerce business plan at this point if you're also wondering how to source your products specifically. In contrast to more conventional online business models that require you to identify suppliers and stock inventory yourself, dropshipping has far fewer upfront investment expenses and is typically a lower-risk option for entrepreneurs.

2. Examining Additional Online Businesses

Your e-commerce store's success depends on research. Once you have decided on your products, research your competitors to see what they are up to. When performing a competition analysis, take note of the following:

• What is the company's business plan?
• Do they market a single product or a variety of them?
• What platforms do they use for social media?
• Who is their intended audience?
• How are sales promoted? (Pay-per-click, paid social, SEO, email, etc.)

A thorough understanding of how to start an internet business and better things to sell can be gained from competitor analysis. Additionally, it can assist you in avoiding the common product selection errors that business owners make.

3. Setting Up Your Online Shop

Following product selection and competitive analysis, the next stage is to design your shop. Setting up your shop can be simple if you choose eCommerce hosting platforms and they feature a large selection of starter designs and an intuitive online store builder that doesn't require coding.

When establishing your online business, pick a theme that resonates with your target market and prices that reflect the success you want to attain. If you choose a catchy name for your online shop, people will remember your name. This also applies to your logo, which can be as vivid or creative as you choose. When your website is ready to accept orders, don't forget to make a test purchase to make sure that users have a good experience. Limit information requests to those necessary for the checkout process and cut down on the steps needed to make an online purchase.

4. Marketing Your Online Store

Once your store has been launched, give eCommerce marketing your full attention. Everything else can wait until you are confident in your ability to drive traffic and connect with potential consumers.

Finding the best distribution channel for your goods and then refining your marketing tactics until the cost of acquiring one new customer is less than the profit from a sale are the keys to successful e-commerce marketing. Aim for the ongoing cycle where your daily spending equals your daily income. Once you've raised some exposure, switch from free to paid marketing channels to promote your company.

As soon as your store concept has been proven and you have a consistent flow of customers, make sure to continue to optimise your e-commerce operation. Here are a few more ideas you might want to keep in mind as you launch your online store.

1. Provide excellent customer service

Almost 45% of customers will give up on an online purchase if their queries or concerns are not promptly resolved. You must deliver great customer service if you want your business to thrive over the long term. Create FAQs and self-service articles, offer live chat support, encourage product reviews, and more to foster trust with your customers. All of this will generate repeat consumers for your business who are five times less expensive to acquire than new ones and provide vital social evidence for it.

2. Put Conversion Optimization First

‍Approximately 69% of website visitors will leave without buying anything, on average. What more revenue would you earn if you kept those sales as opposed to losing them? Enhance the experience for customers. Offer deals that have a deadline. create a cart abandonment email campaign. You can even launch a retargeting campaign. Try out a variety of strategies in an effort to determine which one is most effective for your company.

3. Focus on optimising your store

Keeping this in mind, 44% of internet shoppers will tell their friends about a bad experience. The next crucial step after setting up the framework for your e-commerce firm is to optimise your website. Boost the speed of your website. Construct a simple navigation bar. Ensure that your product pages are excellent. Show relevant stuff. You should refine your store search. Check how your shop appears on mobile devices last.

4. Regularly Update Your Inventory

Best-selling items have a tendency to disappear rapidly, thus inventory management is crucial. Always keep an eye out for fresh product concepts that can keep customers coming to your shop, use the inventory threshold feature of Easyecom so that you never run out of your most selling inventory. Don't let a small number of products account for all of your sales. Instead, offer new products to your current consumers, and often test out new product concepts based on Google Trends.

Some people launch online stores to support their retail businesses. Others start out as hobbyists and scale up through bootstrapping or by raising capital.

The fundamental setup procedure stays the same. You must choose an e-commerce platform that is "fit for purpose," set up your product catalogue, make necessary design and configuration changes, and then turn up the marketing. With the top platform for building stunning, user-friendly eCommerce stores and sites, you can strengthen your brand and engage customers.