A No-Nonsense Guide to Starting an eCommerce Business in 2019

Building an ecommerce store to sell products online is an excellent way to generate money. In 2018, global e-commerce sales amounted to USD 2.8 trillion, a total revenue which came straight from the pocket of an estimated 1.8 billion online shoppers.

In the coming years, there's a positive projection that online shopping will continue to grow. So, if you have plans to start an ecommerce business, there's never been a better time than now. In this article, I will walk you through the steps to build your ecommerce business.

Choose the Products to Sell

If you want your online store to be successful, you need to pick the right products to sell. Do a product and market research to make sure that there are people who will buy what you're going to offer.

For example, you can look at the products that are currently trending, but you should see to it that they will still be popular in the coming years. You can use tools, such as Google Trends and TrendHunter, to see if a market is going up or moving downward.

You can also sell products that align with your passion. In this way, you will have enough knowledge of the goods you're offering.

It's also advisable to tap an unmet customer need. This move can catapult you into a less competitive market. However, you should make sure that the market you're entering generates profit. You also need to do brand awareness and marketing campaigns to reach out to your target customers.

Look for a Supplier

When putting up an ecommerce store, you have two options where to source your stock. You can either buy products from a supplier and resell them or do dropshipping.

The first option is advantageous because you can check the quality of the goods yourself and ensure customer satisfaction. The catch is that you need to order and pay for products that may not all going to sell.

Dropshipping, on the other hand, is a method where you accept orders from online shoppers and send the details to the retailer or wholesaler, who then ships the products to the customers. The advantage of dropshipping is that it doesn't require an upfront investment. The disadvantage is that you will have to deal with a lot of competing merchants.

Pick the Ideal eCommerce Platform

Before starting your ecommerce business, you need to secure first the domain name and ecommerce platform. Nowadays, you can find a lot of ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify or Bigcommerce, to build your online store.

With these platforms, building your online store won't be a pain in the neck and heavy on the pocket. You simply have to pick a template and follow the instructions to build the site. You can also watch Youtube tutorials when creating your ecommerce store.

Optimize YoureCommerce Site

Once you're done with the design of your online store, you can now do a Search Engine Optimization or SEO. This tactic is essential to make your ecommerce business successful.

Do keyword research to look for the kind of searches that are performed for the product you're selling. Make sure that your website contains the keywords in the URLs, page titles, headings, product descriptions, and metadata.

Market Your Website

It's crucial that you perform viable online marketing methods to generate more traffic and engagement to your site, which, in turn, improve your ranking in Google and increase your sales.

One of the most effective online marketing methods is content marketing, which is the creation and sharing of online material, such as blogs. Creating blogs not only makes your site appear in relevant search results but also adds credibility and authority in the industry you're operating.

For instance, if you're a retailer of luxury watch brands, you can create reviews about different luxury watch brands like Omega watches or write blog articles talking about tips for buying an authentic watch.

Takeaway

Nowadays, many people go online to look for the products that they want to buy. This consumer behavior makes ecommerce business an excellent venture to generate profit. So, if you're going to embark on this kind of business, you're on the right path. You can follow the steps mentioned above on how to start an ecommerce business for that purpose.