by Online shopping has changed the whole dynamics of the shopping industry. It has created a flood of customers reaching out to catch all the excitement of shopping from the comforts of their homes. Well, the buying aspect of customers is evident but what about the process at the other end i.e. the seller’s end. What if one wants to sell his/her product on an e-commerce site? How to go about it? What are the formalities of this process? Large scale manufacturers find it easy to register on multiple platforms for selling their product but what about small scale sellers like in-house seller or someone who doesn’t have a formal space for any official process.Registering yourself with an e-commerce site for the purpose of selling your product makes your product visible to millions of people trying to buy something that you offer. The more the visibility of your product, the more favourable the chances of it getting bought. This is significant for even those who are already actively involved in selling but want to widen their customer base and reach out to more and more people. One thing that small sellers need to note is that the product will have to be delivered to the inventory maintained by the e-commerce player or company in advance which might be a problem for small scale manufacturers as they basically cater to a need based approach. However, this lets you maintain all the aspects of selling in an easier way, be it sourcing the product, trying to grow, calling potential customers, delivering the product on time, to enhance customer satisfaction and take it to greater heights than usual. To sum up, it lets you
- Make more money
- Grow your business fast
- Save time
- Delight your customers,
all at the same time. Along with providing world class fulfillment, it also offers fast shipping and acclaimed customer service that can help bring your business to the next level.
Now, there are some things that need to kept in mind before making up your mind to sell your product on an ecommerce website. Let’s take a look at them,
- Planned approach – if you have decided to seriously consider selling your product online then plan each and every step meticulously. Decide the whole approach that you are going to take. Identify the present trends in shopping and then move on with your targeted selling.
- Identify the kind of product you want to sell – this step is the most significant as it depends on a number of factors that may decide the future of your product. Go and visit top e-commerce websites and then carefully observe the latest trends; what most people look for, what are the salient features of that product so that you can improvise and offer a better version of it. Understand the needs of your customers for this purpose. It won’t be beneficial if you decide to sell some random product without giving it much thought. You won’t be able to find any takers if the product you are offering doesn’t match up to or is not better than what is presently available in the market. So, analyse the trends and then zero in on the product that best suits your own preferences.
- List out the potential ecommerce websites – make a list of websites that you want to be involved with like Amazon, eBay, Flipkart etc. Pan out the pros and cons of every website and then make an informed decision.
- Look for online support feature – make sure that the ecommerce site you have decided to involve with offers online support as in keeping an online inventory of your products, where you’ll be able to track your orders anytime and from anywhere etc. This helps you maintain your business efficiently.
- Advertising your product – now that you have decided the kind of product you want to sell and the e-commerce website, it’s time for you to make sure that people come to know of your product and see it on top whenever a search regarding similar products is requested. For this very purpose, people use SEO, which involves attaching a keyword of your choice to the content or product offered by you, for online marketing and posters, banners, commercials etc. for other modes of advertisement. This provides a heads up to the entire process. Even the best of the best product needs the right publicity in order to let people know of its availability. This step is highly recommended for each and every seller out there to succeed in and grow their business.
- Ensure quality – if you want people to come back for your product then you have to offer them quality product. Something unique and exceptional quality never goes unnoticed. Today people always look for trustworthy products which offer them durability along with being appealing and having good after sale services. Make sure you offer your customers everything they are looking for in a product as bad products have a short shelf life and will discourage customers to purchase any other product of your company as well.
- Tag with right price – set a realistic prize keeping in mind your target audience. Don’t go overboard with all your desires to gain maximum profit. Offer a reasonable price so that people change out and ultimately buy your product and want to give it another try of they are pleased with the quality. Too steep prices can be a bit of a turn off. A reasonable price can be calculated after analysing the product price offered by your rivals, if any. This gives you an upper hand both in terms of price and quality.
- Do not request, show the need – do not request the people to buy your product instead make them realise the need for your product. The usefulness of a product is as necessary as any other factor. People won’t spend any money just because you are requesting, you need to offer them value for money.
- Stress to buy – insist people to buy your product in a productive way as in giving them free discount coupons, additional discounts for purchasing more quantities of the product. Such a strategy helps to grow your customer base along with increasing your sales.
- Build relationship, keep knocking – show them benefits of choosing your product or good future prospects. Build a good rapport with offering good after sale services, ensuring timely delivery (taken care of by the ecommerce player). Send them emails and flyers informing them of any new product launch or offers or campaigns regarding your product. This also helps in increasing the overall impression or image of your brand.
