Planning on starting a eCommerce business?
To create a successful eCommerce and drop shipping business, one must conduct extensive research prior to launching a website or product line.
You must be able to find trends, niches, and gaps in the market, and the only way to do that is to carefully analyze the marketplace.
You want to narrow down your niche and find a demand for a really specific, cheap, and lightweight product.
That being said… it doesn’t have to takes time to find a product that you can buy wholesale and sell for a profit.
That is if you know what you’re doing 😉
But once you manage to find a product that has potential, the next step is to create a platform where you can sell that product. It’s best to create a well-thought out plan before you start ordering the products.
There are also several factors that you need to consider when starting a eCommerce business.
Serious About eCommerce? Check This Out >>
Starting a eCommerce Business: Think Value
You need to put in place a plan to add the greatest value possible for your customers.
In other words, ideally the product should benefit them in some way and it should be made from the highest quality materials.
You want to make it as easy as possible for someone to order a product from you.
For example, maintain product quality, provide excellent customer support, add warranties, offer free shipping, etc.
There are many ways you can make the ordering process a walk in the park, and customers will appreciate it.
The drop-shipping sector has increased greatly over the last decade.
And the drop shipping industry is highly competitive.
You need to learn how to stand out in the crowd and make sure you offer the best customer solutions.
One of the best ways to do that is by providing your customers with detailed information.
As a new drop-shipper, it’s best not to worry about price-gauging or price-wars, as the major companies have a much larger budget than you.
They’ll be able to buy a lot more products and distribute them a lot better.
Though that might seem discouraging, it also provides you with an opportunity to provide better customer service.
Most large companies have horrible customer service!
eCommerce and Drop-Shipping: Keep it Simple!
When setting up any business you need to be an expert at all areas to fully know how your business works and how to improve it.
When starting a eCommerce business, it can feel overwhelming because you are in control of every aspect of the business. You’ll often feel like you don’t have the necessary skills or experience for all the new tasks.
Relax, though it can be tough, it can also be a lot of fun, and you’ll learn as you go!
Remember – Baby steps!
To avoid issues, I suggest that you refrain from ordering too many products; that’s a common mistake new eCommerce businesses make.
I Did 6K in eCommerce on 6,000 iPhone Cases..
My first order was brilliant. Just $1,400 for inventory and delivery. I drop shipped using Amazon and they lost my order.
Made out with 100% sales!
Point is.. Order small amounts.
Wait until you run out of stock, or at least confirm that there is demand for the product before you order more.
Amazon Seller Tip: To test products, I would create an Amazon ad based on the product I wanted to import, and see what the response was like. If I got orders, I would either be able to drop ship the product.
If I had to import 50 unites, I would write the customer a personal note explaining a delay or cancel the order.
Point is, test your products. Another good reason to look into Terapeak. This is direct sales data from eBay and Amazon on what’s hot.
Learning how to market online can vastly improve your sales, and it’s a skill that is quite valuable, a skill that will always be in demand.
Become Awesome at Online Business: 100% Free Training!
Though there are many different ways to market online (advertisements, social media, sponsored posts, pay-per-click, etc), you won’t be able to know which method is bringing in results unless you track every aspect of your business.
If you are serious about starting a eCommerce business, learn how to split-test pages and advertisements to find the ones that deliver the best results.
An auto responder system like Aweber (for email marketing) tracks this information and makes it simple to decide which pages convert best.
Once you find the sweet-spot, the sales will keep on coming in, and you’ll have a successful business in no-time.
Specialize: Get Your eCommerce Niche Down:
As I mentioned earlier, it’s best to find a specific product that is in high-demand.
Luckily, there are quite a few tools that will help you narrow down a product.
There’s one tool that I use quite often called Terapeak.
Click this link to read our review of Terapeak – I found them ver beneficial, highly recommended.
They helped me identify hot products and sell them on Amazon or eBay.
Here’s a Few Other Cool Resources for eCommerce Entrepreneurs..
Click here to learn how to sell on Amazon.
Click here to learn how to set up ads on eBay (Same for Amazon).
Learning how to read sales data is extremely important to your success in the drop-shipping business.
Most people will make the mistake of assuming their products will generate more revenue, and in most cases, the opposite is more likely to occur.
Don’t over-estimate your potential revenue!
Remember, there are always fees to worry about, and make sure you factor in those fees before you create an estimate of sales.
Offer Outstanding Customer Service:
Starting a eCommerce business should be done on the foundation of outstanding customer service.
It should be the number one priority of any business.
Fortunately, most large companies have poor customer service, and that’s where you can make your business different.
Though you might not think it’s important, customer service can be responsible for most of your reoccurring sales.
The vast majority of business revenue comes from repeat customers. If someone likes your product and customer service, they’ll be more likely to recommend your business to a friend.
And that form of marketing is much more powerful than advertisements.
So you need to make sure that you hire staff that are not only friendly but also highly-trained and professional.
Remember, bad publicity can severely damage sales, and most people will write negative reviews about your business if you fail to provide them with an excellent experience.
Some reviews even lead companies to shutdown completely!
Focus on creating an outstanding customer service and your sales will continue to increase long into the future.
Todd,
Like you I started out in eCommerce using the drop shipping model. There is a catch-22 in drop shipping that is like trying to find your first job. Without credibility, you are always at the bottom in the Amazon listings. To get credibility you have to sell products. If you are at the bottom of the listings you don’t get in the Amazon “Buy Box”. If you aren’t in the Buy Box you aren’t selling anything. If you sell anything you don’t gain credibility and therefore you stay at the bottom. Anything I sold was just pure luck.
Since becoming an affiliate marketer and following the training, my website is gaining trust and moving up Google ranks. Oh, and I used your recommended training Wealthy Affiliate and they are an incredible online training platform.
Great article, keep up the good work informing people of the potential of eCommerce, especially affiliate marketing through and gaining traffic through keyword research.
Ed
Great feedback Ed, pretty spot on with eCommerce and Wealthy Affiliate, much appreciated.
Your article on starting an eCommerce business is interesting. How much money can you make with eCommerce?
If you don’t have traffic then you don’t make money. What’s the best way to generate traffic?
I like the idea of making money online. Thank you for sharing your valuable information about eCommerce.
Hey Daniel, eCommerce has the highest income potential. There’s sellers out there that are making 300K/month.
If you do eCommerce, you still need to have an awesome website and should learn how to target traffic organically.
At the same time, depending on your sourcing, if you can beat the competition in eBay and Amazon, this will give you plenty of traffic as well.
Others do pay per click campaigns.
The best bet would be to try all of them, but get the proper training on how to do it.
I was really curious about how to start my own eCommerce business, but it sounds like it would be very time-consuming. I agree that a lot of businesses have poor customer service. I can see how just having good customer service alone would put you ahead of the pack. I think I am going to consider some other ways to make money online before making any hasty decisions. I would welcome your suggestions.
Hi Linda,
I would have to agree with you. Although I think in time you could have the resources to automate an eCommerce business.
I know of a few advanced marketers who have their affiliate websites up and kicking over 10K/month and this allows them the time and money to explore eCommerce.
You have the largest income potential in an eCommerce site, but you have a lot more costs involved compared to an affiliate marketing business/niche website.
So that’s the route I would encourage most to go because it allows you to start your business with very little capital and helps improve your skills as a copywriter, content writer, website developer, etc.
If you need help, I’d encourage you to take our Free eCourse Internet Marketing Training.
It’s the most direct knowledge I can give after achieving success online for the past several years.
Best,
Todd
I am currently interested in starting an ecommerce business on the running shoes niche. I have heard of Woocommerce and Shopify (which you mentioned). Which do you recommend? Also, how long does it usually take to get my first sale? You mentioned not to overestimate sales. How much should I make by selling one product? Thanks for the informative post.
Hi Michael,
It always depends on the products you are selling, but try to shoot for making 2 to 3 times the cost of the item including delivery/importation fees.
If you have a WordPress site, you can just get a Woo-commerce plugin or if you prefer to go with the pro’s at Shopfiy, you’ll get a more advanced eCommerce platform to operate from.
Either way, you’ll never make a sale without traffic.
The more targeted traffic you have the reaches the client during the purchasing cycle, the quicker you’ll make sales.
If you don’t know how to target traffic to a specific niche audience, I’d encourage you to check out our Free Targeted Traffic eBook.
If you work hard to target traffic, you should see some good results in organic traffic within 20 posts.
Hope that helps,
Todd
I am really interested in different forms of online business. Drop shipping does seem to be a really popular method of doing online business these days. i work at a bicycle store and I do see many people buy products from drop-shippers that have really competitive prices.
Like you said, the number one thing that ruins the drop shippers business is poor customer service. The bike industry is service oriented considering repairs and all. It is hard to make physical repairs as an online retailer!
Great point Rhett. I think with your experience with bicycles would be a great niche site, especially if you start out with a particular niche that bicyclists can benefit from.
Drop shipping certainly is a great thing and a strong prescience with online business. It was my first favorite model that I utilized.
Now I prefer affiliate marketing, it’s even less stress and risk, plus has an passive income component that I love.
Good stuff,
Todd
This is a great and informative article on eCommerce.
At some in the future I want to add a little eCommerce shop to my website, just selling something little on the side.
I started looking into it but found it to be a little overwhelming right now,, perhaps I am not ready for it.
eCommerce is definitely something I want to look into for the future and your article is very helpful in putting me in the right direction,
Great website too 😉
Rose
Thanks Rose for your feedback. Adding a little eCommerce side business can add some serious cash as you refine your sales funnel.
It’s all about helping people, solving problems and answering questions. If you’ve got a great product that helps people, it’s only a matter of how you present your product.
I’d make sure your site is making enough in affiliate commissions and/or advertisements before adding physical products.
Best,
Todd
So for a first timer getting into the world of online business, would you say it’s better to start off in eCommerce or affiliate marketing?
Is there a way to integrate them both to effectively work together? It could really open up a lot of revenue opportunities if you make the right steps as a beginner.
Good question Ryan. They are two separate beasts and would both require large time commitments. I think the way to go is with Affiliate Marketing first. This way you’ll learn how to write sales content, rank content, and bring in free traffic while having relatively zero risk.
Later, as your niche is established and you have a decent amount of daily traffic, you could then import a beneficial product related to your niche and sell this on your site or through Amazon/eBay/etc..
If you go with starting a eCommerce Business first, you may risk a good amount of time and MONEY without ever developing any real marketing skills and your traffic would be dependent on pay per click, social media, and or Amazon/eBay.
You’ll make more money sooner and for higher profit margins with eCommerce, but much more risk.
If you want to go with selling on Amazon, check out Skip McGrath’s training resources.
If you want to complete an inclusive online business, go with affiliate marketing first. And for that, and really all your online business needs, start with Wealthy Affiliate.
Thanks,
Todd
Todd,
It sounds like you have a pretty successful ecommerce business yourself. Thanks for supporting such an easy to read plan. Some blogs I’ve read are just so hard to understand because of the grammar or language that they use. I can understand your instructions completely.
I think you’re onto something about the customer service. The market lacks it badly. I don’t know where customer service went but you remind us that it’s more important than ever. There is a lot of truth in repeat business. That is where most the money comes from.
Jonathan
Hi Jonathan,
I really focus more on affiliate marketing over eCommerce business at this time.
Mostly because I like not having inventory or risk. I did have a good deal of success with eCommerce in the past, and these are just a few good points I learned from the experience.
I also had a bit of help from some of Power Seller Skip McGrath’s training books. eCommerce can be amazing too, but I prefer affiliate marketing.
If you’re like me, then I’d encourage the training center called Wealthy Affiliate. Otherwise Skip’s training’s will be fine, although it’s more geared to drop shipping on Amazon/eBay.
Thanks,
Todd
Hey, thannk you for sharing this, you have so much solid info!
I think this can help a lot with my business online. I think customer service is one of the most important things in a business (any business)
I was looking to improve my email marketing, I will give a shot to Aweber and see what happens
thanks for the advise
Bedya
You bet Bedya,
Starting a eCommerce business is a great move. Aweber is pretty straight forward and simple to use. Again, it comes down to offering your online visitors value.
For me, I put together an ebook that walks people exactly through the process of keyword research, keyword placement and then some other great tips to help people target specific traffic based on their niche.
It’s a great way to guide people through this process.
Thanks,
Todd
I am starting out a career in online entrepreneurship and your Site is of value to me. I will save to keep up with your updates. Great work.
Awesome Rachael, that’s great feedback. If you want to see how long the process takes to make money online and what to expect, read this post.
Cheers,
Todd