How did you start your adventure with an online store? Have you previously worked in the e-commerce industry?

The e-commerce industry is something completely new to me. Before I decided to launch an online store, I collected information about the e-commerce market for three months. I have browsed many websites on the Internet, read articles on the subject and watched videos and guides, listening to the advice of experts, specialists, and practitioners. Before I chose a specific platform, I knew that I would like to work in the children’s industry. For 10 years I ran a stationery store, so I decided to use this experience and start my own online store.

How did find Offerer? What prompted you to choose our offer?

I came across Offerer.com, watching one of the webinars arranged by you about dropshipping. Thanks to the information gained from your webinar, I have decided that I want to give a try to this logistic model. As a result, I started to search for software solutions that can give the possibility to run an online store in the dropshipping model. I delved into opinions on forums and it turned out that Offerer does not have a single negative review and this applies not only to the functionality of the software but also to after-sales service, i.e. mainly technical service. It was an extremely important issue for me. This is why I chose your software.

Having integration with one dropshipping wholesaler and assuming that the customer pays for the shipment in advance, you only have to place the order to the warehouse. Wholesaler takes care of the rest of the delivery process. However, in the case of integration with several wholesalers, the sales process becomes a bit more complicated. Every seller who decides to choose dropshipping should remember a few things.

First of all, the goods have to be ordered in several places, and in each warehouse, this process looks different. It happens that in order to fulfill one order, I have to collect goods from two warehouses. I give notice to the customer that the goods will arrive in two separate packages. Secondly, to my surprise, 90% of my clients choose a collection fee as a form of payment, which means that I have to pay for the shipment so that the warehouse can carry it out. It might be not convenient but I can not fail to provide customers with such a payment option. This slightly increases the cost of transport, generating additional charges.

How did you see the process of implementing the new integration with wholesaler from your perspective? Has it run smoothly and successfully?

Definitely yes. The entire process ran smoothly and successfully. The administration panel is intuitive and user-friendly. When I had any questions I called to the technical support, and always got professional help. Your technical support is something that I value the most in working with you.

When you use main integration, does it offer different opportunities and meets your expectations? Which of the solutions do you appreciate the most?

As for the software itself, it offers many features that help in everyday sales management. Actually, I discover something new almost every day. However, perhaps the most useful feature is the automatic entry of new goods – it really saves a lot of time.

How often do you need to update the offer in the store to be compatible with the warehouse stock in the warehouse?

The offer in the store happykids.sklep.pl is updated once a day and it is enough.

Do you plan to connect more warehouses to your store?

At the moment I have integration with three wholesalers and I am not planning any changes in the near future.

What are your plans regarding the development of your online store?

When it comes to plans for the future, I think about selling on the European market. However, this is still a distant topic. For now, I’m still learning and analyzing. Please, therefore, wish me patience, and consistency. I’m very happy that I chose Offerer software and truly recommend this everyone who thinks to start an online store.

Thank you for the interview and we wish you all the best!

What is cart abandonment?

The definition of an abandoned shopping cart should not cause any difficulties to anyone. The customer reviews the offer, selects the products, sets them up, adds them to the basket and … leaves the store instead of completing the transaction. An abandoned shopping cart is not only unsold hundreds of articles, but also a wasted marketing budget. Overall you not only invest in the products but in marketing campaigns:

• Positioning and Google Ads,
• Cooperation with bloggers and your blog,
• Facebook page.

Above expenses were supposed to boost your sales. Your sales are determined not only by customers decision but also by various steps that led a customer to your offer. That’s why you can not afford to ignore unfinished orders! In order to effectively minimize this process, you need to know where the abandoned baskets are coming from and to what you should pay attention to when searching for the cause of this occurrence.

Where do abandoned carts come from?

The reasons for abandoned baskets can be noticed at every stage of the shopping process. Although the unfinalized transaction may be the result of many inconveniences noticed by the client, they can be generalized to an overly complicated, unclear and purchasing process that takes too much time.

Reasons for abandoned carts happening because of the software:

• Too many steps in the shopping process.
• The need to register on the site before buying.
• Inability to find a field for a rebate code and convenient rebate conversion.
• No purchase summary- which the customer will check the product parameters selected earlier.

The Offerer shopping cart is characterized by the maximum simplification that consumers appreciate.

Reasons for abandoned shopping carts related to your offer:

• No preferred form of delivery.
• Too expensive shipping of goods or hidden costs.
• Inability to pay in a previously chosen way, eg by credit card.
• An incomplete assortment that prevents you from using cross-selling and the customer to buy complementary products.

How to analyze abandoned carts?

Before you start making any conclusions about the possibility of improving the purchasing process, you must take into account the fact that many buyers came to you with the intention of looking at the goods, checking whether the discount coupon work and not necessarily make an order at this moment.

In the analysis of abandoned baskets, individual behaviors should not be taken into account. Only reproducible data will allow us to draw accurate conclusions.

All important data has been included in the abandoned shopping cart tool located in the marketing tab in the store’s admin panel.

1.  The duration of the session

It can be concluded that people whose sessions on the website of the online store were very short-lived, only wanted to check the price or availability of articles and were not about to finalize the transaction. That’s why your observations should focus on customers who have spent a while checking your offer.

2.  The degree of complexity of the purchasing process

Information about the visited subpages by the customer cannot be ignored. Based on this information, you can conclude, for example, about the unclear form of division of goods. Complicated shopping process can be a sign of a reason for not purchased products.

3.  Place of abandoning the basket

The moment of abandonment of basket by customers will indicate what is inconvenient in the purchasing process. The customer leaves the shopping cart in the ordering stage? Perhaps he does not have his preferred forms of payment and delivery. Leaving the store after going through several subpages? Maybe customer did not find the products he was interested in.

4.  Traffic source

Thanks to the visibility of the traffic source, you can examine the effectiveness of your advertising campaign. On the basis of the websites displayed on the right side, you will check the conversion from various traffic sources. Perhaps one of the forms will turn out to be significantly more effective than others?

How to reduce the number of abandoned carts

The data shown in the abandoned shopping carts tool should be divided into two categories:

• Registered customers – email addresses left will help you recover an abandoned shopping cart. It’s good to use remarketing techniques that will remind your clients about unfinished shopping will be a perfect solution.
• New customers and not registered – due to the lack of email addresses you will not able to perform remarketing. This does not mean that the information obtained is useless. On the contrary! Although each of the stores should be considered individually, there are certain rules that are a guide to improving the purchasing process.

 What does it might mean when the cart is being abandoned in the final stage of purchasing?

• Invalid rebate code or difficulty to find the field section for the code.
• Using cart as a wish list.
• Too high prices that the customer did not expect.

The Offerer basket structure avoids the above-mentioned reasons for the cancellation of the purchase.

The reason for cart abandonment in the ordering process

• Too high delivery cost.
• Lack of a convenient form of delivery and payment.
• The need to fill too many fields.
• The requirement to set up an account before finalizing the transaction.
• No shipping to abroad.

Lack of preferred payment and delivery methods is one of the most common reasons for shopping cart abandoned

 

Reasons for returning back to the shopping after abandoning basket?

• The unintuitive way of navigating the website and inability to find certain products
• Lack of goods.
• Unattractive prices.

Carefully examine and track the movements of potential clients on your website. This is a great way to know their needs- especially regarding the form of payment and delivery. Make your shopping cart intuitive, user-friendly and simple (remember to ask the smallest possible amount of data according to the GDPR regulations). Also, think to prepare a ‘Wish List’ option in your online store. The desire to save products for later is one of the frequent ways of non-standard use of the cart by customers. Providing the dedicated function will allow you to eliminate a large part of the abandoned carts.

Abandoned baskets in the online store

For sure you have visited many online stores, choose products and put it the basket and eventually, you left this store by not placing the order. An unexpected phone call, a long queue, a high price – these are just some of the reasons for resigning from the shopping. The rules appearing in the e-commerce market do not differ from the models learned in stationary trading.

Although the e-commerce market gives bigger opportunities than stationery shops. At the same time, this does not mean that we have to look at the growing number of abandoned baskets with folded hands. Hence, you have the possibility to track the whole shopping process. The knowledge gained from the abandoning carts will help you in the finding of the inconvenience and optimization of the purchasing process.

Do not forget that e-merchandising or an effective presentation of products in the online store will allow you to provide the customer with all the information and encourage them to buy!

How to open a first online store?

1. Do market research

You have certainly noticed that there are more and more online stores on the market, so to achieve desirable success, you have to take actions that will help you stand out from the rest. First, focus on the competition, you can take several factors into the consideration: price, store design, product presentation, promotions and marketing.

2. Name your store and buy domain

After making a decision about the industry, it’s time to choose the name for your online store. The name is a very significant aspect it should refer to the type of business and products you offer. Remember it should be catchy so clients could easily recall your brand in the future.

Have you already chosen a logo for your brand? If so, now it’s a time to buy the domain. Don’t hesitate with this step as there are a number of people who looking to buy a domain and can overtake your name. Make sure the internet address will have the same name as your store name.

3. Choose the best e-commerce software and open an online store

Choosing an effective software will determine the success of your first online store, so take a moment to do careful research and choose the best solution. The market is full of e-commerce platforms on which you can create your online store. Most of the platforms have a free trial period and access to the admin panel. This will help you to check the solution before purchasing it.

The Offerer software you can try for 14 days for free without any obligations

Why Offerer software? First of all, the admin panel is extremely simple and intuitive to use, if you are not a programmer it’s great solution for you. In addition, there is a hint system that will help with the navigation through the platform.

When choosing a proper software, be sure to choose the one that will enable you to integrate with various systems such as payment gateways, couriers, warehouses etc. This will make much easier for you to manage your online store.

4. Create an attractive graphic design

Graphics is very often a deal breaker. Make sure your website is user-friendly and transparent. Take a chance and implement unique and special ideas. Remember about all graphics elements: colors, menus, access to promotions, leading products should look desirable for clients so it will convince them to purchase.

If you are not sure about your design skills, you can always rely on professionals. You can order individual graphic design or use the store template creator available in the subscription price. This will allow in a simple way to manage your first online store.

5. Add statistics system

While considering the constant development of your online store remember to add a tool that will allow accessing to the most crucial statistics about your website traffic. A free and very popular option is Google Analytics, this tool allows to determine which online campaigns bring the biggest traffic and conversation, the worse performing pages, what people click on the most, what people search on your website, visitors location, abandoned carts.

6. Prepare “about us” page

One of the most crucial factors is preparing a good about us page.
About us page usually includes information about your company but also possibilities that you offer for example the type and cost of delivery, accepted payment methods, returns, complaints policy. This type of information is very important to show on your website, it gives transparency to the clients, which builds trust. Your website should include Terms and Conditions and Private Policy ( preparation of those documents should be overlooked by law professionals).

7. Enter products and choose unique descriptions

After fulfilling the above steps you can start your sale at any moment, hence focus on this two steps:

• You can add the goods manually by configuring them in anyway.
• Integration with wholesalers: with a few clicks you can add products database to your online store. Thanks to this function, within 10-15 minutes, more than ten thousands of items can appear in your online store. 

A very important factor to focus on is a product description. Avoid Double Content and do not copy descriptions directly from the producers. The first content is valuable and copied one will be considered by Google as useless. If you want to take good care of your store’s SEO, beware of duplicating text.

8. Make a few tests of your online store

Before launching your website, make a few tests to be sure that it works correctly.
To ensure that it is perfectly adjusted, check:

• Prepare tests of store operations, which eliminate the occurrence of possible technical errors (e.g the appearance of blank pages);
• Usability testing– examine whether the store is intuitive enough;
• Browser compatibility testing– responsiveness – with Offerer, all available templates are adapted to mobile devices.

9. Promote your brand

Your online store with rich graphics and content works without the smallest complaint? Great, but still not enough to exist on the market. Successful Promotion Campaigns in the online world can be introduced as advertisements or good and effective SEO. One of the most serious and worth considering is Google AdWords ( Google Ads)– sponsored links and so-called Adsense, which consist in matching the content of ads to the content of the page currently being viewed. In this case, the cost will accrue based on the number of clicks.

The most effective “natural” and long-term method to promote the online store is positioning. What is referred to as positioning? In this way, we determine the process of systematically growing in the ranking of search results by key phrases at Google.

Summary

We hope that this article will help you to start your own online store. Remember to start from market research, name your store and buy the domain. Next chose e-commerce software, that will meet your expectations. Also, pay attention to your shop design. If you are not sure about your design skills, you can always count on professionals- order individual projects. While adding products use unique descriptions, and lastly promote your store.

How to make money blogging?

The time has passed, when the blogs were run only for passion. Today professionals and amateurs are working on the highest content quality to reach customers expectations in order to their business growth. As a result, the interest in how to make money on blogging is huge. Here are couple factors to focus on:

• sponsored articles (using various platforms i.e WhitePress),
• affiliate network (income from the sold products),
• barter network,
• ads from the Google AdSense program,
• offers presented in social media,
• sale in your own online store.

What do bloggers sell?

It’s no secret that the influencers often earn on selling:

• gadgets,
• clothing lines,
• online courses,
• books,
• and often on commissions for items bought by customers redirected to the store from their social media.

Increasing profit with blogging doesn’t have to be based on your own brand or focusing on the existing company. Authors in various areas and subjects are experts in their field, nothing prevents their content from becoming the basis for marketing their own online store. Guides, tips, article tests and comparisons are desirable content by internet users.

Bloggers that has become known as reliable photographers or food experts, gain higher trust than the competition. This gives access to a large group of potential buyers even before opening your online shop.

 

Why it’s beneficial to start your online shop from Blog?

Although starting an online shop from a blog is not a standard procedure, but worth considering. Imagine that as the owner of a cosmetics blog, you give your readers reliable tests of products of selected brands, write about the ways of caring for particular skin type, and also inform about industry novelties. As a skilled blogger that opens an online store, you gain:

• You have extensive industry knowledge, thanks to which you gain new readers, and therefore potential buyers.
• You can easily write descriptions of products that contain reliable information asked by customers.
• You have a valuable content base that attracts to your website – including those entering from the search engine.
• It minimizes marketing costs associated with building the brand image.
• You already work in social media, and also have groups on Facebook.

In fact, you already have quite a good marketing base that will boost your sale. What’s more, the ‘know-how’ will enable you to choose the right assortment and anticipate trends for the sales season.

• The craziest peak of sales starts in the mid-November.
•  While preparing the holiday’s promotion remember that your discount will not be the only factor that will drive the client’s eyes.
• One of the ways to overtake competition is to prepare an instant shipment of goods and its efficient delivery this is crucial for people who postpone shopping until the last minute.

When does the holiday’s peak start?

People are divided into those who prepare gifts a few weeks before Christmas and those who leave their shopping madness for the last minute. In online stores, we can observe the seeds of the Christmas sales peak in the mid-November. The interest in various products during this period gradual increases, and customers often add more items to the shopping list. Many of them have already specified their shopping plans and are waiting for Christmas promotions. When preparing for the Christmas sales peak, you can not forget about the events before the hottest period of online sales in November such as Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

What type of Christmas promotions is worth to consider?

The pre-holiday period is the best time in the year to attract customers with your promotions and deals. There are very few sellers that don’t consider special discounts for the customers. During this season customer has expectations and search for deals that they use before purchasing goods. If you won’t meet their needs- the probability that will go to the competition, and probably will not return to your shop again is very big. Use Christmas period potential and prepare the most effective promotions for your customers.

What type of goods should you include in your promotions?

Certainly, your experience gained in previous years will help you to know what range of products to include in the promotion campaign. You can check your sales reports, that will define well-selling products as well as effective forms of advertising. If the obtained data turns out to be insufficient or you are a beginner seller and just starting to analyze it, it is worth following a few tips in creating holiday promotions:

• Focus on branded products, that are high-quality gifts and often inquired by a big number of people.
• Use marketing led by producers. Check the current market situation and focus on current fashion and advertising that are dictating in various media. If you offer a product inquired by thousands of people who have been interested in it before, you’re halfway to success!
• Nice-looking gift packages, chocolates, personalized gifts – these are the product groups that can appear in the basket. They cannot be missing in your store!
• Seasonal products based on the theme of a Christmas tree, baubles or Santa always bring positive emotions!

When preparing an assortment covered by the Christmas promotion, do not be driven by the idea that by the end of the year you can sell everything! If you don’t think through your purchasing strategy at the end of the hottest period, you might be struggling with the product lying in the warehouse.

Prepare Christmas sets

Gift sets are very popular both among women and men. Using the practice of combining various types of products will be good opportunities to sell more items, and at the same time will give your customers desirable deals. Nothing prevents you from creating exclusive gift ideas that will be recommended to specific groups of people. A rich assortment will allow you to create a perfect gift for a girl, grandfather, mountain travel enthusiast or fan of video games. Good practice will combine products in accordance with the principle of cross-selling.  Try to focus on a few promotions, among which the client will not feel lost and set number limit will be beneficial for you- it will be easier to prepare parcels for shipment, as well as to advertise individual sets.

When composing Christmas sets, remember to pack them pretty. Also, pay special attention to the fact that the set usually is prepared in a more attractive price than its parts purchased separately.

Buy more, pay less

“Buy more, pay less” is very effective approach. You can offer two any items for a fixed price, or buy one and get other for -20%- this suggestions will encourage customers to add items to the basket even if basket is ‘full’.

 A free Christmas gift

The opportunity to give a free gift is an additional motivation for people who have not yet chosen the place where they buy gifts. Here you can act in two ways:

•  Communicate clearly about the attached products to the package.
• Give notice about the promotion: spend a certain amount and get a free gift.

It will also be good practice to prepare holiday greeting cards or company gift tags that will be included in holiday packages. A small, practical gift will allow you to win the sympathy of customers at a low cost.

Special offer for participants of the loyalty program

During the Christmas period, you shouldn’t forget about members of the loyalty program. Use effective mailing to inform them about discounts that are only available to them. In order not to drastically reduce your profit, you may decide to enter a percentage discount only after exceeding a certain amount, which will provoke some people to make more purchases.

What to do to sell more?

It’s true that in the pre-Christmas period it is easier to sell almost anything. At the same time, this does not mean that by the end of November and the beginning of December we can count on a significant increase in income without the need to plan marketing campaign. Find out how to prepare a Christmas offer to sell more!
How to communicate about Christmas promotions?

Price reduction during the Christmas period will not surprise anyone. What’s more, a few euros difference, which can be decisive on a daily basis, this time will not make any impression – especially if purchases are made in the last minute. Communication of Christmas discounts has to be adapted to shopping fever. What does it mean?

• Highlight the percentage discount and no the price reduction itself.
• Use emotional marketing strategy. Refer to the family atmosphere, smile on the faces of loved ones, show that the gift will remind you of the moments spent together.
• Take care of Christmas graphics.

Build tension

Build tension associated with upcoming promotions. If your online store has a fan page on Facebook, use it to create promotional announcements. Keep reaching consumers with interesting promotions so they know your shop is the place where to go shopping during this season.

• Set a start date of promotion.
• Regularly provide updates regarding promotions.
• Create a feeling that the offers are very unique and special.

Work with influencers to promote your store

In the pre-Christmas period, all kinds of gift combinations are extremely popular. Very often consumers are looking for the perfect gift idea through the internet. Beneficial approach is to consider cooperation of an online store with a blogger who will mention your product in the published post. Ensure that the blogger you want to cooperate with is in the similar industry as you, so you will target perfect group for people for your product. Those that are a little more universal will work almost everywhere.

By choosing to place a rebate code in a given post, you’ll receive even greater customer sympathy. The ability to monitor the number of people who will use promotion will translate into the effectiveness of this promotion campaign.

Prepare online store for Christmas sale!

Businesses that work in a dropshipping model should be alert. Though the model is very comfortable on a daily basis, it may not work well in the hottest time of the year. When planning your Christmas offer, you should expect:

• Lacks in the warehouse assortment.
• Delayed shipping caused by a large number of orders.
• The risk associated with the purchase of a product that is currently out of stock.

To protect yourself and your customers from the inconvenience, make every effort to:

• Providing detailed information about the expected delivery date of the product.
• Set a limit of a given product in the warehouse, after which the range will be no longer available in your store. Otherwise, it may turn out that the product purchased by your customer has already been reserved for another person.

The Christmas sale madness also applies to sellers that have their own storage space. Using a wide marketing campaign, you must take into account the need to ensure liquidity in packaging and sending parcels. Contact courier company and specify the estimated delivery time that will provide to customers, as well as specify the maximum number of packages that you are able to prepare in one day. Remember that the orders that will accumulate will continue to grow and you might need to hire an additional employee (for the duration of the season) may be the best solution.

• 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.