• The sales funnel describes the stages of the purchasing process from the very first contact with the brand to the desire to re-use the offer.
• A clear startegy division allows you to determine next steps in reaching your goals
• Focusing on the purchase funnel allows you to increase the conversion rate.

What is a sale funnel?

A sales funnel is a marketing term used to illustrate the flow of the sales process. It clearly shows that the number of customers visiting the online store is significantly greater than actually those who ultimately purchase. Clients that reach your offer are in the upper, wide part of the funnel.
However, only some of them will go to a narrower part, and even fewer of them will go to the next step. Observation of customer behavior at each stage of the purchase funnel allows to understand the expectations, behaviors, and preferences of individual groups. This analysis helps to obtain and prepare the most accurate offer for customers and eliminating factors that may affect canceling the order.

Sales funnel in planning marketing strategy is an effective practice for large brands as well as for small online stores. Although the concept is universal, each of the company will have their own target group, hence the observation will bring different results. In some industries, it is necessary to get to know and identify with the brand’s philosophy, while others will generate sales only thanks to a favorable offer.

Stages of sales funnel

Regardless of the industry in which you operate, the stages of the sales funnel will look very similar. The process is divided into 4 parts, and this allows you to plan each stage and focus on the goals specified for the selected part.

1.  Building awareness among clients

The first stage in the sales funnel is to build awareness about the existence of the brand and the presence of specific products on the market. Don’t focus on creating sales offers in this stage, rather on positive brand recognization. The goal is to make potential customers to notice your logo, the range of services or a specific products, and associate them with your brand. This will help you to reach potential customers from a group that received various information from you. So your potential clients will emerge and you will focus on them.

Let them meet you!

2. Product Interest

You were able to get customer’s attention in a first stage and what next? It’s important to provide more information about the products or service you offer.  And now it’s up to you to answer all questions and doubts. The key to success is not only the product itself but also the ability to build long-term relationships. It might be helpful to create channels in social media to provide interesting information about the products, that will absorb the potential client’s.

3. Lead generation and  finalisation of transaction

A certain group of people had bumped on your strategy, and now is your job to distinguish those who are really interested in your offer.  A sales lead is considered to be everyone (a company, a private person, or an organization) who have expressed a desire to purchase or get to know your product better. In e-commerce, it can be manifested by leaving contact details, using e-mail marketing, as well as following your Facebook account.

The 3rd stage of the sales funnel is a good moment to create a buyer persona and personalize your offer. Think how can you divide your clients into groups. Some of them you would have to convince by an additional discount, others are ready to buy but need a small encouragement to finalize the transactions.
All tools for analyzing data (including website behavior and various reactions) will help you to understand customers needs. Remember-focusing on clients needs will be the main key to a successful business.

4. After-sales service

As a result, it’s easy to forget that after-sales service is as important as all previous stages, that influenced customer’s decision to purchase.
Why it’s important? Because it has a essential effect on whether the client will return to your online shop. Concentrate on providing a good shopping experience and improving your services to a client. By focusing on people who have already used the offer, you eliminate the costs and time associated with building interest in products and trusting the online store.

 Sales funnel in practice

It’s good to check examples of sales funnels in specific stages of activities becasue it might be a valuable hint in strategic planning for your own online store. They allow to diversify communication channels for individuals and to send information that will best suit their needs. See what to use when advertising your products!

 Let them notice you!

• Presence in rankings and lists
• Blogging partnership
• Charity auctions
• Social media
• Buzz marketing.

Build interest!

• Blog content that will answer customer’s questions
• Free trainings, book guides, videos on YouTube
• Action simulations, eg in the form of animation.
• Start your post with “Do you know that …”

Sell!

• Free trial – test the Offerer online store for 14 days for free!
• Opinions of existing customers.
•  Discounts and special offers.
• A reference to interests, valued by specific groups of recipients.
• Presentation of a tailor-made offer, eg mailing containing proposed products to those that were previously viewed (if the customer agreed to such activities). We would like to remind you that the adaptation of the online store to the RODO in Europe includes, among others, the various checkboxes, thanks to which you give the possibility to accept marketing campaign).

 Enjoy over returning customers!

• Loyalty programs.
• Discount on next purchases.
• Opportunity to share opinions and comments.
•  Thank clients for the purchase

Sales funnel in an online shop

The goal of creating a shopping funnel in an online store is to increase sales. That’s why it’s important to remember that the number of visits on your website will increase the chance of higher quantity of orders.  If you have already prepared a ecommerce sales funnel for your store, try to analyze the individual steps. Keep in mind that marketing activities must be attractive from the customer’s point of view, which requires a different perspective than what you have on a daily basis.

Do not forget that in  each following stage, the number of people remaining in the shopping process decreases, so it is worth focusing on the widest possible action at the beginning. Nevertheless, it will be important to maintain the interest you have gained because, without it, not many of your goods will be purchased.

How to promote the product in the online shop?

The vast majority of online stores are focusing on selling recurrent products that consumer already know. The introduction of a new product might cause mixed feelings. Firstly, they are not familiar with the product, and secondly, there are no recommendations. As a result, instead of an expected sales boom,  we can note a drop in sales or even a lack of it!

If you think to introduce a new product to your online shop, especially for a long-term, it should be a well through-out strategy, and focusing on running a marketing strategy by using various communication channels. Make customers want your new product even before it appears in your store, and remember about the promotion. Hence, lowering the price of the product will attract more buyers, and introducing products that are trendy on the market will show high professionalism.

1. Sale new products in the online store

Pre-order is the most popular way to sell new products in the online shop. But what does it mean?  It can be described as an available possibility to purchase a product before is launched for official sale. The customer makes an order and make payment several days or even weeks before its production, and receives it on the first day of sale for a wide range of consumers. Introducing a pre-sale has very positive effects. It gives the feeling of the exclusiveness, therefore the chance that the client will return in the future increases.

What to do to make the pre-sale effective?

• Apply promotion! Everywhere you have highlighted pre-order option, put a clear information regarding the discount price.

A very good catch on customers is to give the exact amount of price reduction. However, with small discounts, it is worth using the percentage rate. It’s more attractive to use a 5% discount rather 5 euros in relation to 100 euros.

• Communicate very clearly, that the introduced offer is a pre-sale option and the attractive pricing will disappear after the product will be placed in the shop.
• Explain that the number of available pre-orders is limited. The introduced limit will increase call-to-action and will stop customers from postponing their purchase.

2. Display new products on the homepage

The homepage is a business card of the online store, and it gives the first impression to the clients about the brand. Remember to include information about the most important promotions as well as new products. When displaying new products consider to include:

•  slider,
•  pop-up windows,
•  fixed elements at the bottom, top or side of the page, for a certain period,
• add section ‘the latest added products’.

During the presentation of the selected product, focus on the distinctive graphics that will attract attention, and provide any additional technical data in the form of a transparent infographic.

3. Run a Social Media Contest

Use new products as an award in the contest, this will give the opportunity to increase their visibility. It will certainly increase the need for purchasing, and people that have not been able to win will decide to buy a product in the future. An additional advantage of the competitions is the involvement of the participants. The necessity to follow a few simple steps translates into spreading the posts, and hence the number of potential buyers increases.

4. Write blog posts about the new products

Another way to promote the new assortment is to include it in the blog posts. Information on the specification and detailed description will increase customer awareness. What’s more importantly, you can add a CTA button, which directly redirects the reader to the offer with a pre-order.

Another very significant idea is to start cooperation with bloggers. The online store may pass the product for testing based on the exchange program. Depending on the adopted strategy, you can ask the influencer to redirect its recipients to the pre-order offer after posting it in a post. Only those who have their own proprietary assortment that is not dependent on an external company and its sales plan will have the freedom to make arrangements.

5. The newsletter will help you reach existing customers

When promoting new products, it is worth using existing customers. This is a wide group that has already trusted your brand. Perhaps they have already subscribed to the newsletter and shared their data on shopping preferences. Thanks to this you will be able to reach them with the most personalized offer. If you want to create an email campaign and will increase sales, remember that the content must be attractive.

Create something that will attract clients. For example, you can send to your customer’s database an email with a special discount on a new product. Even 5 or 10% can make them feel special. In the end, only regular customers can count on the mentioned discount.

Introduce a new product and don’t worry about the sale

If you want to introduce a new product to the store, but you are worried about the demand and interest of customers, you should check the market first. A great way to check if the new assortment you want to sell will be popular is dropshipping. This is a logistic model, in which the goods are sent directly from the warehouse to the customer, and does not require purchasing goods upfront. Therefore, it offers a wide range of possibilities for testing new products.

• Dropshipping enables you to run an online store without inventory.
• Automatic integration with wholesalers allows you to save time and money but also gives the possibility to boost your sales with a wide range of products.

How does dropshipping work?

The characteristic feature of dropshipping is that you do not need to own goods to sell them. Thus, you eliminate the costs of renting storage space. This opens the possibility for you of setting up a company with a low financial contribution and a small risk of entering the market. Sending the purchased goods directly from the warehouse to the customer means that you save time and money spent on packaging products and delivery process. Hence, your main task is to focus on providing effective advertising, which will guarantee a large number of orders.

Dropshipping works in a very simple way. The order placed by the customer in the online store goes to the store’s administration panel, from where it’s being sent to the warehouse. The wholesaler on behalf of the shop owner sends a package to the customer. As a result, commercial relationships occur only between the online store and the customer as well as between merchant and wholesaler. Therefore, all claims regarding the purchased goods are directed to the online store.

 How to start dropshipping?

The first step in starting an online store in any logistics model is to determine the products you want to sell. In the case of dropshipping, the possibilities are endless. However, when choosing the industry in which you want to start to operate, you should pay attention to the following issues:

• the size of the products sold,
• the number of potential returns from the customer.

Why those factors are important if the shipment of the goods is on the wholesale side? Although you are not the one who sends the product directly to the buyer, you have to remember the fact that you are the one who is dealing with the storing all returns. It might happen that some of the wholesalers will agree to receive returns directly to their warehouse, but it’s never a rule. Deciding for the dropshipping model you certainly have not prepared yourself with big warehouse space.

Dropshipping of garden pools can be a profitable business, but it will require a space for storing the returned items. The situation will look similar in the case of dropshipping of clothes, which is one of the most frequently returned goods. The best idea of the assortment in a dropshipping model would be small products that are rarely returned to the store, e.g. watches.

Dropshipping step by step

Being aware of the sales process from the inside will allow you to plan the time needed to run an online store and generate profits from dropshipping.

• Choose the products you want to sell

When choosing an assortment for an online store, it is worth focusing not only on the size of the products and the expected frequency of returns but also on current trends in the e-commerce market. Be updated about new trends and try to sell goods that are currently on demand. Another good practice is to tie several categories of products together. This will allow you to purchase certain goods with the necessary accessories. Thanks to this you will increase your sales and will make customers return to your store. Dropshipping gives you a chance to have a very wide range of products and the possibility to provide unique products.

• Set up an online shop

In order to start making money in the dropshipping model, you have to have an online store. The best solution will be to use the software in the subscription model, which is fully prepared for dropshipping. Entrepreneurs at the beginning of the journey often choose more expensive dedicated software, that consumes their time on technical issues. Offerer offers full automatic integration, professional team, and low costs of functional software that will allow you to focus on sales development and will save your time on more important issues.

•  Establishing cooperation agreements with wholesales
  

Every warehouse has its own policy. Moreover, the price that will be presented to you will be an individual offer. Remember at the beginning of your adventure with the dropshipping, you probably won’t get any discounts or special offers. In order to get in the future low prices from the wholesalers, focus on gaining as many customers as possible by imposing a low margin. Before starting the cooperation with the warehouse, make sure you know everything about key issues.

• Choose already integrated dropshipping wholesale or integrate with a new one

Offerer platform is integrated with over 50  dropshippping wholesalers that you can easily have access to. What are the benefits of integration e-store with the wholesaler? Firstly, it allows you to sale immediately a wide range of products, because all descriptions, photos, and titles are imported directly from wholesale. Thanks to high automatization, you do not have to provide all goods to the store manually, which saves a huge amount of time and money, and accelerates the entry into the e-commerce market. Integration with the warehouse also allows you to regularly update prices and inventory.

In case you want to cooperate with a wholesaler that is not on the list, we can do a new integration on your behalf.
All you need to to do is provide us with a file of products prepared by the warehouse.

• Promote your shop
  

Remember it’s very essential to promote your online shop and products. Thanks to the effective promotion you will reach a wide audience, which will translate into increased sales and improved brand awareness. Using many communication channels such as social media, including Facebook will definitely help.

• Sale of goods

Sale of products in dropshipping slightly differs from the classic process

1.  The customer places the order and pays it in the online store
2.  The online store sends them to the warehouse.
3.  The wholesaler sends the goods to the buyer.
4.  The online store sends a receipt or invoice to the customer’s email.
5.  The merchant pays wholesaler before or after the order is shipped.
6.  Returns are accepted by the online store and complaints by wholesalers.

The payment model is convenience for people who do not want to invest capital in the purchase of a product to the store. Dropshipping allows you to pay only for goods that have been sold. As a result, there is no risk that unsold goods will remain in your stock.

Basic information about dropshipping

1. What is dropshipping?

Dropshipping gives owners of online shops the ability to sell products without the need to store large quantities of inventory or the stocked goods. It offers owners the ability to sell their items directly from the supplier to the individual customer–skipping any requirements for large warehouses for storage and additional overhead. This mitigates the additional risk of storing larger quantities of products that may or may not sell as well as expected. Shop owners, however, are responsible for the completion of a customers order from basic shipping formalities and customer service on behalf of their customers. As a result, the customer is bound by the contract only with the online store, and the owner of the online store is responsible for its service and sets the terms of cooperation with the selected wholesaler (as is the case with standard sales including storage of products).

2. Are there commission fees for my wholesale partners?

No. There is no required commission fees for your wholesale partners. In dropshipping, your wholesale partner passes their set prices of a product directly to you, which then you can markup to the end user. The wholesale partner is not entitled to the margins you make from your customer. Your partnerships with wholesalers conform to the traditional partnership between wholesaler and retail.

3. Is dropshipping meant for me?

Whether you’re new to the ecommerce world or someone who has tons of experience selling online, dropshipping is for everyone and is quickly becoming the new standard.

• whether you have a full-time job or you are at home watching the kids, dropshipping provides greater reasons to start an online shop and create additional sources of income without the headache of personally managing a warehouse and overseeing stock. Dropshipping truly takes out the hassle and risk of running a larger than needed operations that was once required when selling online.
• this type of arrangement also provides greater opportunities to minimize risk and maximize profit. If you’re launching a new store and aren’t certain about which products will sell & how often they will sell, dropshipping provides the opportunity to “test the market” without the need to overstock items upfront due to minimal warehouse requirements. Use dropshipping as a smarter and faster way to determine which items are most popular before committing to stocking them in larger quantities later in the future.
• as you will learn, without the requirements of storing your stock in warehouses, this will give you the ability to diversify your stock and give more options to your customers. For example, if you are selling basic gym equipment, and you want to upsell your customers to buy additional accessories, dropshipping provides you this option as warehouses run up your cost as you have more options. More options for your customer will mean more sales!

4. Do I have to form a company in order to sell products via dropshipping?

The answer to this questions may be based on your partnerships agreement with certain wholesalers and manufacturers of the products you are interested in selling. But the safe answer is yes, you must have a formal company from which your shop is registered to. Many wholesalers cooperate with individuals operating on the basis of a non-registered activity. If you want to find out whether the wholesaler you choose will be willing to cooperate, it is best that you contact them directly.

5. What taxes will I pay?

Regardless of whether you have your own warehouse or use dropshipping, you will pay tax based on your income. The amount depends on the margin you impose.

6. How much can you earn on dropshipping?

The earnings you make are fully dependent on you. Dropshipping only provides you the platform and opportunity to minimize risk and maximize profits. Your online success will be completely based on your product, marketing, & ability to receive better pricing directly from the wholesaler/manufacturer.

7. How do I start?

To start dropshipping you must first set up an online shop. Thanks to Offerer, you can immediately launch your shop using our easy to use ecommerce platform that provides full technical support at a monthly subscription price. After you set your shop up, your job is to find out which products and from which wholesale/manufacturer you’d like to start selling from. Thanks to Offerer’s tools, you’ll find a wide range of wholesalers that you can automatically download products to your store from to begin selling. This will allow you to skip the long process of manually inputting individual products. Before you make your first sale, it is important to determine the responsibilities, prices, and terms of cooperation with your wholesale partners.

Goods sold by you in the dropshipping model

Before you make your first sale, it is important to determine the responsibilities, prices, and terms of cooperation with your wholesale partners. It’s important to remember that every agreement is prepared on individual terms and conditions.

8. Does dropshipping require a cash register?

You do not need to use a cash register. An acceptable and often used solution is issuing invoices (registered, margin or VAT) and sending them by e-mail. If you have a cash register, you have to issue receipts and archive them. If an invoice is issued, it will be connected to the archived receipt. The method of transfer of proof of purchase should be included in the regulations of the store. It is your responsibility to issue a documentation and or receipts confirming a customer’s purchase. It is not the responsibility of the manufacturer or wholesaler of your product to do this.

In the event when the warehouse should pack a receipt or invoice to your parcel, your customer could receive it with the amount for which you purchased the goods at the wholesale price. Please be sure to communicate with your wholesale partners to avoid such a situation.

9. Does every warehouse have dropshipping option?

While dropshipping is becoming widely accepted by online shop owners, not every wholesaler has adopted this system to provide a fully integrated experience with those using this method. It will be a good idea to find out more information directly from the wholesaler you choose to sell products from–information can either be found on their websites or you may have to directly contact them for more information. If you decide to choose our platform to setup an online shop, you will find a list of wholesalers that are committed to providing you their services for dropshipping. Here you will find a list of our partnered wholesalers:

10. How do I handle the fulfillment of orders using dropshipping?

Fulfilling and handling orders for dropshipment is easy. The product purchased by the customer on your shop will appear in the administration panel. All you have to do is place the order directly with the warehouse the products are available from so the warehouse can send it to the customer.

11. Where can I see the goods from the warehouse?

Familiarization with wholesalers’ goods is only possible after registration in the warehouse. As mentioned earlier, it is necessary to have a company. Some wholesalers have a module that allows testing the assortment and example prices, which is fiction login by a fictitious login in the registration field. Although, this solution is not available in all of them.

12. What are the prices of goods in the warehouses?

You can familiarize yourself with wholesale prices directly with your wholesale partners. The amounts that will be offered to you will be determined between the wholesaler and your online shop. You can accept pricing offered by your selected wholesalers or directly negotiate terms based on the length of the joint cooperation. Initially, your prices may be higher and prior to shipment to the customer, the wholesaler will expect a prepayment from you in order to build the credibility of the new company.

13. What margins can I impose?

The margin you impose in most cases is not regulated. However, your price of any product should not fall lower than the price extended to you by your wholesaler. Determining the best price for your product should be based on your research and understanding of your target customer in any given market. Your offer should be competitive while giving you the necessary margins to stay in operation considering other expenses.

14. What is the price of delivery from the warehouse?

The vast majority of wholesalers cooperate with courier companies or have their own suppliers. When discussing the cooperation, you will be offered delivery prices, which you can negotiate.

15. Does the warehouse send out parcels for “cash on delivery”?

The options for payment and shipping methods are an individual matter to be determined. Some of the wholesalers do not allow such a possibility, while others require payment for the order before shipment. However, it is worth establishing a buyer’s credit to make the dropshipping process run more efficiently. The product will be immediately sent to the customer, which can be paid on delivery.

16. Can you send goods outside of the country in dropshipping?

The shipping of products outside of the country is a matter of rates and the method of shipping. This is something that can be discussed with your wholesaler and determined by the types of shipment methods.

17. What if the customer buys products from two different wholesalers?

It may happen that your client (eg when buying through eBay auctions), will buy several items from different warehouses. Usually, the total cost of delivery is applied (eg 5 euro for the first parcel + 10 euros for the second of the selected goods). If this form is not satisfactory, you can choose the price of such a shipment – the cheapest or the most expensive option available for the purchased products. Offerer’s software allows you to divide the shipping costs between the two wholesalers.

18. How to settle invoices issued?

Invoices should be entered in the SAC (Single Control File). If the customer does not have a tax identification number, enter “none” in the field. If you leave the field blank or enter 0, the system may indicate that the document has been filled in incorrectly. It is a good thing to ask the person who runs the online store’s accounting.

19. Does the wholesaler accept returns/refunds in dropshipping?

Depending on your agreement with the wholesaler, refunds may be something you are responsible for. In the case of some wholesalers, it is possible to return the goods back to the wholesaler and issue a refund to the customer who decided return them. Unfortunately, the money for the goods going back to the warehouse will not be returned to you. When considering the industry in which you want to conduct dropshipping, take into account the dimensions of the products that can come back to you. If you do not have any free space, it is better to avoid bulky goods.

20. Is the wholesale partner responsible for complaints?

The vast majority of wholesalers accept complaints about individual goods on the agreed upon rules set between you and the warehouse.

21. How will I know the availability of a given product?

Due to the fact that you do not have your own warehouse, you must use the inventory collected by the warehouse. You can check the warehouse status on the warehouse website at any time in real time. Thanks to Offerer, the data displayed in your store can be updated up to 8 times a day, which means every 3 hours. Observation of demand will allow you to prepare for its possible sell-out.

Dropshipping in Offerer: Technical Issues

22. How to integrate your store with the wholesaler?

The connection of your online store with the selected wholesaler runs through the administration panel and the integration module. For its implementation, it is necessary to provide login and password from the warehouse or link to the file (depending on the requirements of the warehouse).

 23. What is the cost of connecting the store to the warehouse?

We offer integration for stores on the Offerer platform with over 209 wholesalers. To do so a wholesaler integrator is needed. Thanks to this, you can take advantage of offers from all wholesalers that you are interested in.

24. Can I integrate a store with a wholesaler that is not on the list?

If there is no wholesale on our list that you would like to cooperate with, let us know and we will do the integration for you. This will be possible only if the file from the warehouse will contain key data information (e.g. product photos). The total cost of the process is 150 euros net and includes:

• verification of warehouse files – 50 euros net,
• integration with a wholesaler if possible –  100 euros net.

It is extremely important to make sure that the selected entity is definitely a wholesaler. We do not integrate with individual stores.

25. Can I hide my partnerships with my wholesale partners outside of the Offerer network?

The integration with the wholesaler is performed after agreeing on the terms of cooperation. Due to the fact that it is a public entity, all Offerer online stores can use this integration that was set up between you and your wholesale partners. We are creating a open community that also gives you access to over 209 wholesalers, 50 of which offer dropshipping based on previous integrations from other shops in the network.

26. Can I showcase and offer products from various wholesale partners?

Of course! You can integrate your store with any number of partners available on the wholesale list. A wider range of products and offering from various partners give you a more dynamic shop.

27. Can I download only one product from the wholesale partner

The choice of one specific product is not possible.The most commonly used solution is to download all products from a given partner. The advanced tool allows you to select goods from a given category or offer a selected manufacturer that includes the range of offered products. .

28. What if I have the same product from two different partners?

If you use the offer of several warehouses, it is possible that you download the same product several times over. This is due to the fact that every partner  has separate ID numbers for its range. However, duplicating products in the store is not a problem. There may be a difference in pricing from each partner even though it is the same product. As a result, you have the chance to manage their visibility. In this case, you can hide the more expensive of two prices and later restore visibility again when the cheaper option run out. When demand for a given product will increase, you can also decide to apply higher prices. Duplicating goods should be caught manually by browsing producer categories.

29. Will the orders automatically be forwarded to the wholesale partner?

An order placed by your customer will appear in your store. It is on your side to notify your partner for shipment.
None of the orders from dropshipping is automatically forwarded to your partners. Products purchased on eBay will first appear in your store, and then you will be able to transfer the orders to the selected partners for fulfillment.

30. What about orders from eBay? Will orders be directly forwarded to the store or wholesaler?

None of the orders from dropshipping is automatically forwarded to your partners. Products purchased on eBay will first appear in your store, and then you will be able to transfer the orders to the selected partners for fulfillment.

Start making money on dropshipping – a tip from Offerer!

At the beginning of your adventure with dropshipping, it’s worth focusing on building your own brand. Bigger competition on the market makes it difficult to earn money immediately. To be able to offer competitive prices in the future, focus on maximizing sales at the beginning of your business. A fairly low margin will generate a lot of purchases, which may later provide reason for your partnered wholesaler to lower your prices in the future due to volume. Saving on costs from your partners will allow you to invest into smarter promotions to help increase your visibility and future profits.

If you have other questions that were not covered here, let us know! We can help!

Having an online shop brings many possibilities. The advantage of having e-store is a reduction in costs due to the lack of necessity to maintain a stationary store, by applying new solutions available on e-commerce. One of the innovative and convenient ideas is to run an online store without using the warehouse. What is dropshipping and what benefits it brings?

Dropshipping is an online sales model that is gaining popularity among e-business owners every day. It allows selling products online without inventory. This model is based on the process of shipment of goods to the customer from an online store to a warehouse. The buyer makes the purchase in the e-store, but the parcel is being sent from the warehouse. Having a dropshipping  gives you the possibility to eliminate the need of having a warehouse as well as dealing with the delivery process.

Now as you know what is droppshiping the question arises how it might look in practice. The sale process in dropshipping, or store without a warehouse, is as follows:

1. The customer places an order in the online store. What is very important is that the store has the current stock list of wholesale, on its website ( this is possible thanks to integration with wholesalers, which ensures the condition of the assortment);
2.  The buyer makes the payment;
3.  The store sends a request to the warehouse regarding the order realsiation, with the set price deducted from its margin amount
4. The wholesaler sends the goods directly to the customer.

Advantages of dropshipping

• The biggest advantage of an online store without a warehouse is the low cost of setting up and running a business
• If you have a dream to run a business from anywhere, dropshipping is a perfect choice for you. You can manage orders and promote your store by relaxing by the beach.
• Wholesalers that have dropshipping model in their offer are most often large players. That’s why their offer includes a wide range of products. At the beginning of the business, you might not have the possibility of having an impressive range of goods, that’s why it is worth to start selling in a dropshipping model. This will atract more visitors to your website.
• Many entrepreneurs search for certain business ideas on which they can earn money immidtadley. There is no guarantee of success, although you can try to increase your chances by checking what are the risks in the chosen business industry. In order to minimize risk in the very beginning of your business a store without a warehouse is a great idea,  if you manage to make money in this model, you will be able to consider investment in the development of your shop.

Offers provides 209 ready-made integrations with wholesalers. You will certainly find something for you. Lear more HERE

Disadvantages of Dropshipping

Despite many advantages, this model also has disadvantages:

• Dependency on the offer of wholesalers;
• Lack of full control over the process of order fulfillment.

Summary

The dropshipping model has many advantages – the biggest ones are low risk and minimized costs. Can this form of sales work in your business?  We hope this article will help you to find the answer.

1. Adjust your online shop

Let’s start from scratch, which is adjusting the e-store to customer requirements. Perhaps your online sales have slowed down or you want to take your shop to the next level. In order to see these changes, you have to incorporate good e-commerce practices into your business. Consider the following questions:

• What does the graphic design of your online store look like? If your branding and graphics are outdated or from the “XX century”, your customer may want to run far far away and never come back.
• Is the e-store mobile-friendly & responsive, i.e adapts to mobile devices? Remember that as people make more purchases using their smartphone and tablets, it is necessary that your website is responsive to these devices. The easier it is to reach the checkout section of your product, the likelier it is that your customer will make the purchase.
• Is the design of your online store user-friendly? Your website must be customer-friendly at every stage of the shopping experience, e.g a search engine should give appropriate hints, products should be sorted in appropriate categories, the whole store should be logically organized so the user will not get lost in it.
• Is your e-store optimized for all types of connectivity? If you have good stable servers and designed the webshop to handle all sorts of levels of activity, this will ensure that your visitors can glance through your products without any hiccups. This will ensure that your visitor makes a smooth purchase of your products at checkout ????
• What shipping methods do you offer? For example in Poland, the most popular is a courier, and parcel lockers- this is an option that must be available for your online store.
• What types of payment services does your shop offer? You must give the recipient a minimum of 3 options for finalizing the transaction: quick payments, cash on delivery or a traditional transfer.
• Have you installed the SSL Certificate? These days, it is important to build trust with your customers and ensure that their information is encrypted and protected. The last thing you want is for your customer to feel insecure about whether or not their payment information is protected before they decide to make their purchase. Get your SSL Certificate and this will never be a worry!
• How do you communicate with clients? Is your Customer Service at the highest level? You should be available during specific hours, respond quickly to messages and always be professional. Remember, customer service is key to giving people more confidence that they will receive and be satisfied with your offering.
• Are you honest? Remember, before anyone wants to spend money with you, it’s your job to build trust up front by being as clear and transparent about your products, services, and prices. Don’t ever try to hide anything, If you’re disingenuous, customers can feel it even through their mobile browsers. Honesty is the difference between a sale or an abandoned cart.

We hope you think about these questions and give yourself honest feedback. These few suggestions may be what helps propel your store to the next level!

2. Simplify the ordering process

Another step also involves the design of an online store. First of all, you should simplify the ordering process. What does this mean in practice? Ideally, the basket should consist of 2, maybe 3 steps, so it is easy for your customer to go from point A to B.

.In addition, only ask for the most necessary information for shipping/payment; otherwise, your customer may feel uncomfortable and abandon cart. What else? Do not force the customer to register in the store so that he can place an order. It is better to encourage him with rebates to sign up with a user account. Otherwise, you may have an abandoned shopping cart.

3. Add video

Let’s move to the next step, which may help increase sales in your online store. Did you know that video brings great results in e-commerce? Think about the fact that during online shopping, the recipient will not see goods “live”, and the video presentation of the product on the item card will be a good substitute to increase sales.

How else can you use the videos? In video materials, you can also show your company’s history, values, mission, and product creation process. Such visuals will build awareness of your brand.

4. Use bundling

Now something that will definitely improve your results.
In the online store, you can use two techniques: cross-selling and up-selling. The first one is based on suggesting to the client supplementary items for the main product, e.g. shoe polish.

The second one is to offer similar products that have better parameters but are slightly more expensive, such as a computer with a larger RAM memory. You can use both techniques on the product card, creating special tabs or preparing sets.

The option of entering the opinion about the assortment in the store by the recipient will also be great. Remember that positive ratings build your credibility.

5. Suggest free returns

The next technique is psychological, to increase sales in the online store-free returns. Why will this option increase the number of your orders? Because customers are often afraid that the product bought online will not meet their expectations and will differ from the presentation in the pictures.

A free return gives the client a mental comfort by knowing there is a return option, that gives the possibility to send the item back without paying any additional fees. Of course, not everyone can afford free returns, especially when some of the clients abuse this possibility.

Okay, we’re halfway through – 5 effective ways to increase sales in the online store! Read on:)

6. Promote your store

It’s no secret to anyone that advertising is a deal breaker, especially in e-commerce, where competition is incredibly huge. That’s why you should definitely promote your online store.

There are many advertising methods to choose from i.a positioning, Google AdWords campaigns, social media (including paid activities, e.g. Facebook Ads), price and opinion comparison websites, trade portals, blogs, industry websites or affiliate programs.

What is the key to increasing sales in the online store through advertising? Three things:

– Advertising strategy adjusted to the target group and industry;
– Create a strong and unique brand;
– Create valuable content in accordance with the principles of content marketing.

7. Run a shop blog

I will go straight to the point –a well-run shopping blog generates a lot of traffic in the e-store and increases sales. Why? The site where you share articles improves the visibility of your online store in Google search.

In addition, your blog can be visited by someone who is interested in a related topic but has not heard about your e-commerce. Then, with an interesting text, you will sow a seed about your brand in the mind of the recipient, which in the future can sprout and become an order ????

Writing valuable articles also works well for your clients and creates a bond. It is worth reminding people about your shop- you can do it by sending newsletters. Well talk more about it in the next section.

8. Send Newsletters

A newsletter is another way to increase sales in your online store. This method will effectively remind the customer about your offer, and of course, you must present it in an attractive way. You can find more information about effective e-commerce Newsletters on our blog.

9. Promotions and special offers campaign

Nothing helps boost sales with a little promotion or special offerings.  Many “opportunity hunters” are circling the network in search of attractive discounts. Therefore, make a promotional campaign and inform your clients about special deals.

Promote your deals on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the birthday of your online store or various holidays. You can also prepare dedicated promotions, for example, for followers from Instagram or Newsletter recipients.

10. Add free samples to the orders

This is the last step to increase sales for your online store. At this point, I want to encourage you to send customers with extra free samples. They do not have to be expensive products.

A free gift encourages customers to buy, and in addition, this increases your brand awareness and customer loyalty.

Last and final takeaway

You have just met 10 effective ways to increase sales for the online store. If you want to learn more about improving results in e-commerce, I encourage you to participate in my Ecommerce Power training.

On September 27 at 2:00 pm you can hear me in the free Webinar. Check also other speakers, it’s a huge dose of knowledge that will help you to understand better e-commerce market.

Do you want to open an online shop and you are not sure about the cost? Are you worried you do not have enough capital to start? Get to know the low-budget e-commerce solution and see how you can afford your own e-business.

1. How much does it cost to start an online store – low cost of entering the e-commerce market.

You probably read reviews on forums and wondered what are the costs to open an online shop. The good news is- you do not have to invest a lot of cash right away. All you need is focus on developing your e-business within a time.

Get rid of fears! If you create a website on a shop platform, you will limit the initial expenses spent on individual software.

First, register your domain. Some companies provide good discounts, so you can even get the first year of free domain.Then test the e-commerce software for 14 days free of charge. If Offerer software meets your expectations and we are pretty sure it will so, choose the best plan and subscribe. We have good deals for you!

We have prepared individual price packages tailored to the needs of our clients. In the beginning, in order to check how your business will develop, you can choose the basic subscription, and after a time with the development of your e-business, decide on a higher package, which will give you more possibilities. Running your own online shop doesn’t have to be expensive  ????

Check the PRICING and see for yourself that you can start a professional online store at an affordable price!

2. No additional costs related to shop configuration

An online shop for a subscription option is a perfect solution for beginners in an e-commerce market. Because you do not pay additional costs related to the configuration. Say goodbye to buying additional applications or paying for new features.

With Offerer, all the necessary integrations for your e-business are included in the subscription price. You can integrate your online store with couriers, payment systems, price comparison sites or online accountancy programmes.

Life is much easier when you do not need a programmer’s help to configure your e-store. You can handle the whole process with just a few clicks. However, if the administration panel service is causing you a problem, you can always contact our technical support.

3. Professional RWD graphic template for free

You want an online store with professional graphics, but you can not afford an individual solution? You can choose a responsive and modern graphics template, adapted to mobile devices. Use the Template Creator and easily adapt the visual setting to your design idea.

At the beginning of your e-commerce adventure, your funds are limited. Therefore, the Offerer Template Creator feature has been included in every subscription package, at no additional fees. When your store will start to bring profits, you can think about individual graphics project that will improve your brand awareness.

Read more about graphics HERE

 

4. You don’t need a programmer

Offerer store platform is user-friendly. That’s why you can easily navigate in the administration panel.

Functions are divided into logical groups, and each option has a special button with a ‘?’  to help you with navigation. Check for yourself that even without IT skills, you can manage your shop online.

Please note that the administration server, updates, and security are on our side. We are always available for you, our emergency line is available 24/7, so you can contact us whenever you need. It’s all included in a subscription package.

5. Benefits package

At the beginning of your on e-commerce journey,  it can be difficult. First, you are proud that you have your online store but with this comes an overwhelming amount of responsibilities, for example negotiating contracts or planning promotions.

In order to help you to enter the market, we have prepared a special Benefits Package. In this package, you will find attractive offers e.g Google AdWords.

Learn more about Benefits Packages HERE

As you can see, opening an online store does not have to be expensive or difficult. In the case of using the subscription platform, you limit the costs of entering the e-commerce market. You can develop your e-business peacefully over time and with low costs. And what is the cost of running a store? Find the answer below ????

6. How much does it cost to run an online store?

You have already learned about the costs of e-shop, and probably you are wondering how to plan a budget for the functioning of e-business. The cost of running an online store depends on several factors.

Remember that it is not enough to just set up a website – to make your store profitable, you should promote it intensively. The cost of doing business will highly depend on the advertising methods you choose.

Entrepreneurs beginners usually invest in positioning, Google AdWords campaigns, comparison websites, and Facebook Ads.

Another factor that determines the costs of running an online store is the type of industry in which you operate. Some e-businesses need more money in order to start.

The costs of running an online store also depend on the logistic model. The main point is whether you will have a warehouse and what fees you will pay for it.

To minimize these fees, beginner entrepreneurs often decide to run a warehouse at home and sell in the dropshipping model.

What else is important when it comes to the budget of running your online shop?  Fixed costs, such as bills for telephone or internet.

Remember it’s important to specify all expenses and prepare financial resources for the first 6 months. At this time, your e-business should start earning money, and the cost of running your online store will be balanced according to profit.

Best of luck and we keep our fingers crossed for you! ????

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us: info@offerer.com

1. What is an open source system?

The open source is a generally available software for online stores. Each user can download them for free from the website and install it on the server. The most popular free software are:

• PrestaShop,
• Magento,
• WooCommerce.

2. Is the open source for online stores really free?

 As previously mentioned, downloading the software for the online store is free. However, there are significant hidden costs that the beginning entrepreneur is not aware.

It will be necessary to find a person or company that will take care of technical service, updating the store’s inventory, and also will be watching over the stability of your store. Of course, nothing is for free, which means you will have to properly pay, and their services are not cheap. Depending on the year period, this person will have to work on your online activity from one to several dozen hours. At the same time, the cost of such a service can reach up to 150 euro net per hour. This expense can significantly burden your budget, so it is worth considering whether investing in this kind of software is a good solution, especially in the early stages of running the e-business.

You can not forget about additional functions or modules. Any function, even basic, which normally occurs in the shop platform, may not exist in the open source, and this will require an additional payment. Unfortunately, they are often old or not updated at all.

Another cost that incurs is buying the server and domain. Prices vary depending on the individual needs of clients regarding the hosting. Unfortunately, you can not always choose the right and tested solution. Because after a while it may turn out that the number of products and traffic in the store may be larger than you expected.

It is different with the subscription of Offerer shop platform. With us, you have unlimited web hosting, and price packages are prepared based on our many years of experience in working with clients.

In summary, despite the seemingly free functioning of your online store on open source software, the additional costs that you will have to pay for each functionality or change on the site, can reach up to 1000 euro net a month, and often more! However, if you use the SaaS software, you will pay from 100 to a maximum 190 euro – it depends on the subscription option you choose. The difference is enormous, right?

3. The configuration of a free online shop

Every software for online shop should be adjusted to your own individual needs before start selling. All software for online stores must be adapted to their individual needs before selling. However, the configuration process for the open source model is very long, time-consuming and requires a lot of programming knowledge.

If you want easily manage your website and give your customers user-friendly experience in your store, you need to install plug-ins, create functions and design integrations.

In case you do not have advanced IT skills, you will have to look for information on forums and discussion groups. Implementation of the collected data will cost you a lot of working hours, which will delay the start of your e-business.

Hence, when you have programming knowledge, you will be able to adjust the open script to your individual needs. In addition, the configuration of the e-store should go smoothly.

However, the e-commerce industry is dynamically changing, that’s why installing application once for a long-term won’t be enough. You need to follow trends on a regular basis and change the integration parameters, which may result in incorrect operation of the store’s mechanism.

If you are overwhelmed by the configuration of a free online store, you can commission work to a programmer or specialists from a company or agency. However, before you invest the money, you need to find a trustworthy person who will meet your expectations, which is also not easy. Then you will have to wait for your request to be completed and often pay not a small sum. 

It looks completely different when it comes to the configuration of the online shop for a subscription. With Offerer.com you have more than 1200 functions and extended help system.

From the store’s administration panel with a few clicks, you can integrate with the price comparison engine, payment gateways, and couriers. Thanks to this, you save time and energy.

Nevertheless, in case of doubts or problems, you can always contact the technical support team. In addition, specialists from Offerer.com continually develop the software, update and control its proper service.

4. Will you pay additional costs?

Unfortunately, in the case of a free online store, you pay a fee for each new integration, function or the smallest graphic element. Developers of open source software often do not keep up with the introduction of new changes in line with market trends. So will you pay additional costs?

That’s why launching the function and integration on the website involves programming them, which is time-consuming and very expensive. This step is a must, you will not skip this process. If you want to succeed in the e-commerce market, you must meet customers needs and expectations.

Free online stores often do not offer free templates, so buying a ready one and implementing it exposes you to additional fees.The same is when it comes to graphics.

What does it look like in the SaaS model? With Offerer you do not pay additional costs. Integrations, applications and current updates are included in the pricing of software subscription. In addition, you can use the free RWD graphic template, which you can adapt to your ideas using a webmaster’s editor.

5. Advantages and disadvantages of open source software and shop platform

Advantages of open source:    

• open and flexible source code
• community support on the web
• free installation
• high efficiency for many products

Disadvantages of open source: 

• the requirement to finds and buy a server
• paid additional features
• lack of free graphic templates
• time-consuming configuration and creation of new integrations / functions
• a need for high programming skills or to hire an external company

Advantages of online shop software subscription:

• hosting and server administration included in the subscription price
• additional features included in the subscription fee
• free RWD graphic design templates
• a fast configuration of the online store
• technical support and software development

Disadvantages of online shop software subscription:

• limited source code
• no adjustment to specialized online stores
• subscription fee method

6. Which software should you choose for your e-store?

Consider your options and analyze your budget, evaluate your programming skills objectively.

Free open source platforms have a lot of fans and supporters. But they are mainly recommended to people with IT skills who can devote a lot of time to configure the online store.  They are also a better choice for large e-businesses with a wide and specific range of products.

Whereas, having a shop on the Offerer platform gives you a wide possibility not only in terms of features and functionalities but also provides excellent technical support, and all of this at a subscription price. This system is recommended for beginning entrepreneurs as well as medium, and small online stores.

 Think carefully about the best option for you. Take into consideration mentioned above factors and start your adventure with e-commerce!

1.  Manage product inventory

Regardless of whether you import goods from a producer or wholesaler, you should constantly look for new products. Some goods cease to be manufactured or become difficult to access.

Therefore, you should constantly monitor sales statistics and be in contact with suppliers. Make smart decisions – don’t buy an unprofitable assortment and invest in a new one.

Gold products:

Follow the principle of golden products, ie: for specific products on which you can have a high margin. It’s easy to implement into the store 100 or 1000  any products from the warehouse. The trick is to select 10 pearls that will sell very good and bring a high profit at the same time.

2. Select suppliers

Apparently, the more products in the online store, the better. If you have a wide offer and you reach the recipients’ tastes, you can generate profits.
Don’t choose blindly. For example, if you import 100,000 products from wholesalers and you will have no demand for those products? As a result, this will not drive high sales, rather to the bankruptcy of e-business.

Choose wisely! Remember to check all beneficial factors while choosing a supplier for your business. Decide to cooperate with companies that will influence your sales performance and will bring you real profits. Integrate with the warehouse only when you know that its products match your industry and wanted by the customers.

Pay attention to the price of goods, so you won’t overpay.

3. Follow the product trends

There are times when there is a ‘bum’ for a certain product. That’s why it is worth following the trends and know what goods are desirable by your target group. Even when the certain product will stop be popular, the profit will remain, and in the minds of consumers, your e-store will become an attractive website.

4. Update the information on the store’s website

Consumers are discouraged by an online store if they see outdated content. Take care of your positive image and update information on a regular basis!

If you stopped to sell a particular item, remember to remove it from the site. However, when the product is temporarily unavailable, inform about it. It is not acceptable for the store to display a banner with an outdated promotion, hence remember to delete it. The potential customer will compare prices and will think that you are unreliable, and will purchase elsewhere.

Therefore, control the content and keep updated new products and sales, even in a few short and catchy sentences.

The above tips might be obvious. However, many entrepreneurs forget about them. Do not be one of them! Take care of the development of your product base and online store. After all, you’re on the Offerer.com store platform, you can afford to succeed!

How to open an online store?

In the era of new technologies, to have your own e-store is simply easy! First, you should choose the product you want to sell. Then make sure you have stable internet access. Also, set up a company. Finally, book your domain, select software and configure the online store. Deciding on the Offerer platform you get an advanced tool for managing your own store and eBay, along with professional Customer Service.
The advantages of Offerer are:

• 14 days completely free trial,
•  Payments on a monthly basis,
•  A lot of customizable functions and configuration of your own online store,
•  Free store template creator,
•  Efficient and stable software,
•  Integration with over 209 online wholesalers,
•  Integration with couriers, payment systems, price comparison   websites,
•  Extensive reports and statistics,
•  24/7 technical support,
•  Software stability at 99.98%

You don’t have to spend a lot in order to start! Even with a small budget, our simple and easy-to-use platform gives you the opportunity to bring your ideas to life and to immediately start selling. We provide you with the necessary tools for you to concentrate on your goals and passion.

So where do you start? How do you set up an online shop? What will your online shop sell? Follow just a few simple steps and you’ll be on your way to achieving your entrepreneurial dreams.

Ideas for online store

Think about your passion, what you are interested in and what you want to sell. Find out what are the market trends, what other online stores offer and what is a great business opportunity. It’s very important to analyze the competition in order to be able to offer your future customers something your competition can’t.

Or maybe you can offer your clients something innovative or unique? Any products that can be sent by mail or sent by courier can be sold online. Think carefully- if you hit a niche, you may have a winning ticket!

It is worth deciding at this stage whether you intend to buy goods and store them in a warehouse, which would allow you to sell your products to the customer much faster, consistently, while controlling the availability of goods and planning deliveries on time. But wouldn’t it be even better to do all of this without the costs or responsibility of maintaining a warehouse? This is now a possibility.
You’ve just read about the first step of how to open a store online, more can be found below!

Computer and Internet access

Henceforth the computer will be the most important tool of your work, as well as access to the Internet. All this will allow you to make changes in the e-store and fast contact with the customer.

Remember that your store is open 24 hours 7 days a week. However, you do not have to spend so much time in front of the monitor-information about new orders will be sent to you by e-mail.

Domain and name of the e-store

Think about the name of your online store. Your domain must be catchy, it’s also worth associating with your company’s activity – so that the client will remember it and easily enter it in a browser. Check if the domain with the name you have chosen is available.

Software for your online shop

Are you wondering how to build an online store? The easiest and fastest way to open your own online store using the services of a company that provides the right tools. Choose a good online platform, especially if you are not a programmer yourself. You will reduce learning from mistakes – your failure could quickly discourage customers – start immediately with proven solutions.

There are many software option on the market to run a store, some companies offer access to a fully working demo version of the store and an administration panel. Often, you can There are many programs on the market to run a store, some companies offer access to a fully working demo version of the store and an administration panel. Often, you can set up a trial version of the store for a limited time. You can check the Offerer software for 14 days for free and without any obligation!

Remember that our administration panel is simple and intuitive to use. In addition, there is a hint system in it, which makes navigation much easier. Our goal in creating the Offerer software was to combine functionality with usability.

While setting up an online store, take into account the choice of software that will allow you to integrate with couriers, and all types of payment systems, while being affordable. This will help you to manage your online store in a simple way.

Graphic design of the e-store

Your site should first of all be useful and transparent. If you have an original idea that stands out among others, it is definitely worth taking a risk. Remember that all graphical elements from colors, menus, access to promotions or leading products should encourage the visitor to shop.

If you feel that you need help with the design, you can contact us and we will prepare an individual project for you. In addition, a shop template creator is available at Offerer, and it’s included in the subscription price. Thanks to this, in a simple way, based on the available modules, you can design the visual setting of your online store.

You can learn about The Offerer store template creator in the following video.

Fill virtual shelves with goods

Regardless of what you plan to sell, you must do so by responding to your customers’ needs. Your e-store should be attractive and well-equipped.

Before you invite people to your shop, make sure that your products look desirable. Good-resolution photographs, as well as interesting descriptions, will be essential. Remember: your customers are not able to touch the goods, so the more information they receive about them, the better. Also, do not forget about the price of each product and updating the product availability.

Sort products in your online store so that it’s easy to find them. Suggest goods that also might be interesting to your customers – this may encourage them to continue shopping.

Many wholesalers offer integration with stores and with better software these days, easy integrations between these two groups make setting up an online shop faster. The Offerer store platform offers an integration module with all wholesalers. This system, in addition to price and inventory updates, allows you to automatically download photos and product descriptions.

Try to ensure that EVERY product has a comprehensive description – this will also be essential for search engines. There is nothing worse than products without descriptions. Search engines, such as Google, treat such subpages as local Duplicate Content (subpages do not differ except the name and price) and remove from the index. As a result, your entire store may disappear from Google.

If your preferred warehouse does not provide a mechanism for updating the product database and you do not want to change the warehouse, look for information about paid databases and product descriptions.

How to send products from the e-store?

You can invest in a van, but it will certainly be easier and faster if you work something out with shipping companies. Cooperation with couriers will certainly pay off with la arger number of shipments.

If you have the option of creating a delivery point at the company’s headquarters, it is a good idea to provide customers with the possibility of the collection point. The customer will save money on delivery fee and you will gain precious value: closer contact with the client, which may have an impact in the future.

Payments in the online store

The more payment options you give to the client, the better. You can decide to send packages on delivery, activate the option of transfer to your account or pay with a credit card, as well as using electronic payments. Remember that when it comes to money, the security of customers who trust you is extremely important. Take care of it.

To provide customers with a sense of security, install an SSL certificate in your e-store.

Currently, a very good solution is signing a contract with PayPal, which offers a number of different online payment methods and almost every store software has integration with this system.

Promote your online shop

How to gain customers on the internet? You can order marketing activities from an advertising company or take care of it yourself. Traditional advertising still works well, but if you want to get a network, you should pay special attention to: positioning on Google, advertising on internet portals and social websites, whisper marketing, links to the store on other websites, price search, online catalogs, paid advertising in Google search engine (AdWords) or newsletter. New clients will also be attracted by promotions and contests that are worth organizing.

If you will be positioning the store yourself, remember that the store’s software must be search engine friendly (just like the Offerer) and the product descriptions should be rich, lack of it is unacceptable.

You should also create your brand and communicate your values clearly so your customers can identify with your company. Thanks to this, you will build a community around your online store and create a group of loyal customers. Remember that they will provide you with a steady income.

Profits from the Internet

If you have already done each of the above steps and you keep an eye on the business, making profits is just a matter of time. Remember, it’s not a sprint–it’s a marathon. It will not happen in a month. The end of the calendar year is considered as the best period to start with an e-business. It may take up to a year or two before you build a solid customer base who love your brand and product offerings.

We hope this article will help you consider opening your first online store. Do you need more information? Read our blog and you will learn the secrets of e-commerce!