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Validating product ideas and their potential market before you build an eCommerce business
Before you build an eCommerce business, it’s very important to validate your product acceptance. Checking if there is a genuine demand for the products you are planning to sell should be the first step.
You have to make sure that there are people who are ready to part with their money to buy your product. So make sure your customer sees value in the products. Find if there are other competitors selling the same products that you are planning to sell. Competition is good as it provides validation that your products will indeed sell.
Search google and try to find out how your competitors are doing with the kind of products you are planning to sell and check for reviews and feedbacks from customers on those products. Try to incorporate those into your selling plan when you eventually develop your eCommerce website.
Before you build an eCommerce business choose the right sales channel
Your eCommerce website is definitely important but it’s necessary to identify the other online selling channels for your retail business. This gives access to your target market who use different modes to make their purchase decisions.
The Internet has changed the way people shop and sell online. In the year 2020 COVID has ensured that retailers modified their companies from physical shops to online shops. So if you don’t be wise and implement an online multichannel retailing you will stay behind in accessing a wide network of customers.
There are different online sales channels where you can sell your products. You have to wisely choose which ones to choose from. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin by choosing too many and not able to get the most out of each channel. Prioritise one channel and then go to the next one would be the best way forward. Each of the different online sales channels, like Amazon, Facebook, Instagram and others you have plenty of opportunities to explore, and each of these mediums has its own unique advantages and target audience reach. When you build an eCommerce business ensure you make the most of these mediums or sales channels.
Evaluating the advantages of third-party marketplaces while you build an eCommerce business
Online marketplaces allow you to sell goods to a broader audience without worrying about selling it all from your eCommerce online store. Selling through online marketplaces provides a platform to make your products known to your target audience without spending too much on marketing. eBay and Amazon are examples of marketplaces you can leverage to sell your products.
You should consider the following advantages of an online marketplace
- Reduced marketing costs for your products. People searching for their requirements can end up as a sale for you in these platforms.
- More windows to make a sale of your product.
- You can check your Value to Cost ratio by comparing the items you sell with your competitors who sell similar products.
- You can scaffold on the trust of customers on these platforms to increase your sale.
- If you are selling a good product the customer reviews in these platforms really help increase your sales.
Driving targeted traffic for positive customer acquisition
Understanding your target audience and driving them to your website and the channel is very important. Not all traffic that comes to your website is equal. You should aim at high-quality traffic to your products.
You have to choose the right medium to drive your traffic. For example, search engines and marketplace advertisements can be a good area to invest in to drive sales if your products are unique and target a specific need of the customer. This won’t work if you are selling FMCG day to day grocery products. When you build an eCommerce business in Dubai, you need to find out how to reach your main target audience. This can be the difference between success and failure.
Balancing usability with design
The reason why I have put usability before the design is that for any eCommerce website the usability comes before design. Which is not to undermine the importance of design for a good eCommerce website. But a well designed non-usable website will not bring you sales.
Website usability means you give importance to the user of the website. A usable website is user-friendly, easy to traverse and understand. When you build an eCommerce business, make sure you pay close attention to the fact that the design complements its usability and both are not sacrificed. If at all there has to be a sacrifice it has to be on the design front and not on the usability aspect of the website.
Make sure that the description of the product or service that you sell is crisp and clear and leaves no ambiguity to the reader. Provide clear specifications of the product to as much detail as possible. A buyer of a couch would be interested in lot of things other than the look and feel, the dimensions of the sofa, the ground clearance weight and maintainability of the purchase.
Similarly, make the buying process a breeze! Don’t make your customer enter and re-enter a lot of information during the buying process. If you have discounts and coupons they should be readily available to the customer rather than them trying to find them out.
Categorise your products well and lay them out nicely so that users can organise their buying plan with ease.
Vow to stick by a lean strategy model for profit prioritisation
eCommerce business in Dubai can be confusing and you might end up spending too much of your investment in the wrong direction.
Profit should be the principal motive when you build an eCommerce business. Work on strategies to retain customers by providing a quality product and customer service and reduce customer acquisition cost and increase the lifetime customer value.
Keep a very strict tab on your finances and spendings, spend on areas which increases profit and reduces costs.
Assessing the importance of alternate payment options
As any good business when building an eCommerce business you should consider making it as easy as possible for the customer to make the payment. Check out as many payment options that are available in your region!
Cash on delivery, online transfer, credit card, PayPal or anything else that’s available in your region and ensure that the preferred payment systems by your target customers are indeed available on your eCommerce website.
