What is an E-commerce business?
E-commerce is also known as Electronic commerce .E-commerce business is a business model that involve buying and selling goods or services online.
Stores that sell goods and services online are E-commerce stores or e-commerce business. Examples of E-commerce business is Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, etc.
What are the types of E-commerce business?
Like other types of business e-commerce business is the same except that its transactions take place online, and you can start any kind of e-commerce store/business.
The most common type of e-commerce are as follows:
1 .B2B E-commerce
Business to business is one most common type of e-commerce business whereby a business sells goods to another business. Alibaba is a good example of B2B E-commerce business which supplies products to other business.
2. B2C E-commerce
Business to Consumer is another type of e-commerce business which involve business selling goods to final consumers. A good example of B2C e-commerce is Amazon and Walmart
3. C2C E-commerce
Another common type of e-commerce business is where consumer sell goods to another consumer. Mostly C2C business deals with the second-hand products and good examples of C2C model is Facebook business, eBay and Craigslist.
4. C2B E-commerce
Consumer to Business is a type of e-commerce business where consumers sell goods or services to a company. Example of C2B e-commerce business is where a designer sells artwork like a logo to business.
As you can see e-commerce business is not something new and you can start any niche you want.
Now you’re ready to have an e-commerce business, but
How do you start?
Well, here are Steps to Follow when Starting E-commerce Business
1. Know what you want to sell
When starting an e-commerce store, the first thing you need to know is which product to sell or service to offer. When choosing which product to sell you need to do market research.
2. Choose a Business Model
In e-commerce, there are different business models that you can choose. Since now you know the product that you want to sell where will you get it? And how will you sell it?
Do you want to make your product or to get from suppliers?
To answer your question, you can select a business model for your e-commerce business from below:
E-commerce Business Models
1. Manufacturing and white label
You can manufacture or make your product from scratch. White label product is a product produced by one firm and another company rebrand it to appear as if it has made it.
2.Store goods
Choose this model if you want to buy products from suppliers. When buying goods from manufacturer or suppliers you need to have a warehouse where to store them before sending to customers.
3. Drop shipping
If you don’t want to deal with a physical product as above you can choose this model. Drop shipping is where you organize with a supplier to deliver goods directly to the client, so all you have to do is have an online store and get clients.
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3. Set up an E-commerce store
After selecting the product and business model, you need to set up an online store to start selling. When setting up an E-commerce business, you need to have a unique business name that differentiates your business from other companies.
Now you have a business name so how do you set up?
There is two method you can use to set up an online store or e-commerce business.
How to set up E-commerce Business
- First Method: Use E-commerce Platform
E-commerce platform is also known as e-commerce website builder or e-commerce cart. An e-commerce platform is a software technology that allows one to create or build an online store, manage their sales and operations
There are many e-commerce platforms where you can set up your e-commerce business, but you need to be very careful when deciding one to use.
Here are Top Best E-commerce website builder that is highly recommended:
- Shopify
- Bigcommerce
- Opencart
- Woocommerce
- Volusion.
2. Second Method: Build an E-commerce Website
To set up your e-commerce business, you can create your website. Creating an e-commerce website you follow the same procedure like any other website but design differently.
In short like any other website, when creating an e-commerce website, you need to have a domain name, where to host your site, SSL certificate, etc.
There are many online companies where you can buy your domain name (Business name), where you can host, where you can buy SSL certificate
But again, you need to be very careful when purchasing to those companies. You need to consider many factors like features, service, pricing, reputation, etc.
I highly recommend the following company
- Siteground
- Cloudways
- Bluehost
Now you have an e-commerce store what next?
After setting up your online store, you need to start adding product images and pricing. When pricing you need to know how much you’ll earn as a profit.
9 Ways to Make Money Online Without Paying Anything
4. Advertise your e-commerce business
After launching your e-commerce business, you’re ready to go. The last part is you need to advertise your product online and offline so can start selling, and by that, you start making money online.
There are many ways you can advertise your business and also grow your e-commerce business.
Here are some of the ways you can market or advertise your online business.
- Facebook ads
- Instagram Ads
- Email Marketing
- Use influencers
- Google AdWords etc.
Conclusion
Above is step by step guide on how you can start an e-commerce business from scratch. To start an online store, you need to have a good strategy, mindset and enough time.
Also when you start making sales don’t stop there, continue advertising your e-commerce business to attract new customers.
Do you have an e-commerce business which strategy do you use? Feel free to share.
Do you need any help to set up your E- commerce Business or do you have any question? If yes, feel free to contact me Here.
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