Looking to launch your product online? Do you want to create your online marketplace? You may be an entrepreneur, but launching an online business needs a lot of thought. What is the 2020 online landscape, with COVID-19 that has entered? Firstly, there is lockdown and consumers are demanding authenticity, convenience more than ever before. And, before that competition has always been tough.
With COVID-19, the world has gone digital and it is here to stay. So, if that you are wanting to go digital and launch your brand, there are marketplace platforms like Flipkart, Amazon; or alternatively you can create your own portal. They are equipped with pre-built features – to meet your specific marketplace needs. If you have the dream and the will, you can kickstart your online business. Thus, you can widen your reach and conduct your business with a competitive edge and grow faster.
You’ll need to choose what products to sell and this decision is a strategy within itself, as what you sell will impact every other business decision you make, such as: brand name, website design, marketing, loyalty programs, shipping and customer satisfaction too. Each of these components is essential to a successful online strategy.
Here are some important factors to consider:
• What type of products can be sold online?
Regardless of which industry you are in, there are two types of products you can sell: commoditized products and niche products.
Commoditized products are essential, high demand, or popular goods or services that everyone needs and they can be digital too. These products make up majority of online sales, like what you buy at Walmart or Amazon that has a big brand behind it — food, shoes, clothes, kids’ toys, etc.
On the other hand, niche products are goods or services that are targeted at a specific customer base and product category. They are unique, one-of-a-kind, or handmade products; and these are made in small quantities or on demand like a unique beaded necklace, handmade frozen yogurt, or leather iPad case etc.
However, many sell a combination of commoditized products and niche products to increase their profit margin. Thus delivering an on-brand experience, which can lead your online business to success.
• Decide on products, people are passionate about
Being ‘passionate’ is a must here. Starting your own business is tough and the real picture looks difficult – like long hours, challenges galore and the many sacrifices. Being passionate about what you do will not only tide you through hard times, but it will also help in crafting a brand message that is meaningful, authentic, and engaging. This is all more significant today.
By emotionally investing in your product, you can better deliver its value and mission into the market. Plus, an emotional story will differentiate you from competition.
• Identify niche segments
Niche segments often spell out success for e-commerce businesses. Niche segments actually resonate with a highly-engaged, and highly-converting, audience. Serving a niche segment is a great business proposition because you create a product that solves an issue for a very passionate audience segment.
Serving a passionate niche audience will help in many ways – like building brand awareness, online traffic and, ultimately, new and returning converting customers.
• Spot business opportunities everywhere
Being an entrepreneur means always pushing your imagination. Take note of how society behaves. What are the unsatisfied needs? Are there norms to be broken? Is there an opportunity to improve peoples’ lives? What products gain quick customer acquisition? What industries are gaining traction?
Being updated on what’s going on in the world will help you identify new online business opportunities. In addition, evaluate your strengths and interests. Are you a naturally gifted marketer? So, get the resources together, both human and technical, to bring your online business to life. Having an organized approach to a product and business launch will take you ahead in the future.
• Identify products with branding potential
Once a potential product is identified that solves consumers’ problems, what’s next? Move on to creating a strong brand message and then make an impact in the competitive ecommerce space. Of course, you’ll need to research and truly understand your target audience. Your brand should speak to your potential customers in a way that both resonates and compels them to come back. In other words, you want to build loyalty.
• Latch on to trends early
Take advantage of an emerging market and carve out a space for your brand. To be successful it’s crucial that you stay up-to-date on recent, trending products and services. As a small business owner, hopping on trends early can give your business a boost.
So, start thinking of products or services that have been trending up in recent past, now.
• How do you begin selling online?
After all the work, you’ve got a product and now you’re ready to go to market online. Before you begin setting up an online business, be sure to have these steps completed:
1. Do market research
2. Finalize products to sell
3. Identify your customer base and segment
4. Do research on what e-commerce platform you’d like to sell on (like your own online store, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, and other sites customers commonly buy from); or you can also create your own portal
5. Create high-quality product content (including product descriptions and imagery)
6. Create a strategy to market to your potential customers (so you can drive traffic to store) With the right tools and an organized pre- and post-launch plan, you’ll be on the right track, heading for success. So, get cracking and start building your online business set up
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
