As eCommerce is growing and due to that many business are starting doing good, still many business are not online and many businesses are moving online and trying to match the pace of the growth of eCommerce. Many businesses who are established since long and businesses who are recently started business are selling products and services online however sometime the growth in online selling is not as the businesses expected, not because they are selling poor products but they don’t follow very basic parameters before going online.
Selling online is differ to offline, pitching is same but the way we sell and display the product and the offers we give are very different and the deciding factor in online sales.
Online sales have huge potential to sale more that’s make the competition more tough still many retailers are going from offline to online.
Why Going Offline to Online
If you take your business online there are many benefits, let’s look at some of the benefits when you think to create online business of your offline store
· Increased Reach
Online selling will increase the reach of your business, you will be able to expand the business beyond the geographical boundaries and tap the new line of the customers.
· Low Cost
Overall cost is far more lesser if you have online store as compared to offline store. You don’t need employee, shop and many other maintenance cost in online store. In a nutshell setup cost is less in online store
· 24/7 Availability for the Business
No matter you are in your native country or any other place irrespective of different time zone, your online store is always available for the business. Any tie the customer can place the order and do the business with you.
· Offers and Discounts
Online Store is better than offline store for promoting the offers and discounts. Online words spread very fast and if someone is offering the discounts it will spread faster than your expectation.
How to Take Offline Business to Online Business
Now when you know the what are advantages of online business, lets take a deep dive in what steps are mandatory to start an online business
· Create Online Store
When you want to start the online business or online selling you need a website where in you can show your products and services to the potential customers.
You can choose the best ecommerce platform to create the website where in you can choose any features as per your need. You can choose themes as well; it means that you can customize your website as per your need.
You must display the products so effectively that it attracts the customers and the product description has to be there and that too very professionally.
· Choose the Payment Gateway
This is one of the most important aspects from the security point of view, as customers will make the online payment for the order they placed, so it’s the companies responsibility that the payment gateway has to ve very safe and secured.
When customers make the payment they are so much assured about the security that they should not think twice before making the payment and the secure payment gateway will build the trust among the customers.
· Hiring Right
Hiring the best talent is always beneficial for the online business, as they know how to handle the traffic which will come to your online store.
If there is a high traffic on weekends so that should know how to handle the traffic and they must make sure that website is up and fine all the tie so that you wont loose the business.
· Online Presence
Once you create the website for your business now it tie to let everybody know that now you are selling online as well for this you have to build the audience and letting them know that what all are you selling through your online store.
· Social Media
This is one of the most important platform if you want to get the success in your online business, after creating the online store that’s go for social media and create facebook and instagram. Social Media will help you to v=crea the audience and keep posting on social media and post all the new offers and new arrivals on the social media.
· Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is the best way to reach to the potential customers, paid ads can be run on google, facebook as these are the most famous platform to run the ads for the customers.
You pay to these companies to run and distribute or diaply your ads to potential customers or target audiences.
Apart from google and facebook ads are run by amazon as well which will help you to market your products more effectively on the amazon.
We always remember that ads will may or may not give the results in short run however, ads are the best option for the long run.
· Effective Return Policy
This is one of the most complicated thing for the customers when dealing with the online sales, due to this still many people are recultant buying online. Return policies are so confusing to many people that they loose money and never return to online shopping.
Make the return so simple and understandable so that its easy for the customer to follow, in the return policy there has to be less terms and conditions, always makes sure that company and customers both will get the benefit of the return policy. Customers must not lose the money and the company must not lose the customers.
· Identify the Products to Sell
In the current business scenario online selling is on the boom, competition is very tough it means selling all of kind products in the initial in might be fatal, so select the products which has good demand and not any online websites are not providing that products. This strategy will help you to grow fast and than you think to expand the business.
Always start will less products and scale the business and than go for more and bigger products. As per the market fashion store and electronic accessories are the best products to start for.
· Email Marketing
This is a the best strategy to get in touch with your customers, for email marketing you need to first build the email list. The best way to build the email id to let the customers subscribes and who ever visit to your online store you can collect the email id from using various emails tools.
The other best way to collect the email ids is to run the ads to collect the email ids, which you can use for the future marketing purpose. Email Marketing plays an important role in engaging the customers. You can send all the offers, discounts, new arrivals and new update related to the business.
Email Marketing is not only for existing customers but it is good if you want to acquire new customers, for new customers you can send special offers and coupons so that they can use it stick to your online store for further purchase.
· Delivery Systems
Now this is big, selecting the best vendor for the delivery is the best thing you can do for your online store. Delivery plays a very important role in the growth of the online business.
Delivery is a very complicated part of the online business, many online store are still not able to deliver the placed orders properly. Once the order is placed by the customers they don’t want their product should not be delivered late or must deliver on the correct address.
· Implement New Trends
eCommerce is a very competitive field to stay in the market and do well and aceive the success of the long run, its very important to implement the new trends in the online business.
Many business are getting into online sale so many new trends are coming up and trying those will makes your online business trendy.
Existing customers and more potential customers will also get attracted towards your store and this will help you to grow and helps you to sell more.
· Customer Service
This is also one of the most important factor in the successful business. Once the customer buy the product and if he needs some assistance related to the product than the customer service has to be apt and always ready to solve the customers query.
It says that the better the customer service is the better the sales and customer engagement, good customers service made them to come back to the store and push them to buy ore. Impeccable customers service always build the trust in t he customers that if something goes wring with the placed order than someone is there to help
Conclusion
Starting an online business is very easy but running and growing and getting custinous order is little tedious task. eCommerce is a growing and competitive field and implementing the the best features for your online store is always better and this will help you to stay ahead from the competitors.
Implement what is required than nothing will stop the success of your online store.
