Starting and running a successful eCommerce business is not an unrealistic goal, and can be accomplished fairly easily with the right tools. Here are just some of the tools you can use to make your business successful.
1. A Dropship Platform
A successful eCommerce business will rely heavily on a consistent supply of high-quality products and the ability to ship directly from the supplier to the customer. Dropship online allows you to run an online retail business without having to handle inventory directly or have the upfront investment needed to stock a store. You can set up a dropship online store in minutes with Modalyst, which provides access to multiple suppliers throughout the United States and Europe. They also have a private label division that will allow you to choose and sell products under your name.
You can also work directly with suppliers like outletsale.com, which provides discounted and bulk home goods. While the selection is limited to just home goods, the prices are meager and offer an excellent opportunity for profit. Unlike the dropship platform, you will be purchasing products and managing your inventory. However, it will provide greater control and involvement than you may otherwise get. For some people, choosing and handling the inventory is part of the fun of running a retail business. If you pick this route, you will need to make sure you have space in your home to organize and process your inventory.
2. Photoshop
The saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” is more accurate than ever when it comes to eCommerce. When people are buying things online, it is the photo that makes the sale. It is your only opportunity to get their attention and convince them to make the purchase.
With Photoshop, you can enhance, edit, and crop photos to ensure they are the best possible. You will want to obtain multiple pictures of each product from different angles. If possible, getting a photo of the product in use or staged will provide potential customers with ideas of how they can integrate the product into their life.
3. Hootsuite
Hootsuite simplifies social media marketing by allowing you to schedule posts across multiple channels. You can schedule out your posts by the week or the month with Hootsuite. You can go back and make changes if you want to, and you can cancel posts easily.
Having a robust social media marketing strategy is vital to a successful eCommerce business. Social media alone can drive your business to success, so building a consistently broad audience requires constant updates and activity, including response to customer questions and comments. Managing your social media alone can be a full-time job if it is not planned out and scheduled. With Hootsuite, you can create a monthly editorial calendar for your website and social media. Once you have the calendar set, you create the content you need and then schedule everything to post on the days you want to post.
Starting and running a successful eCommerce business is an incredibly realistic goal. However, you need to understand how they work and what drives sales and marketing. There is a multitude of online courses available that can help you better understand the internet and social media marketing, how to take photos that sell products, and how to conduct market research that will show you consumer trends and what people are buying.
You may also choose to outsource some of these tasks. There are plenty of freelancers and online companies that can provide photo editing services, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and everything else you will need to create a successful eCommerce store.
In addition to the tools you will need to create a successful business, you will also need tools to keep your business in order. Programs like Quickbooks can help you track all of your revenue and expenses in a way that will make it simple for you to analyze where you are at financially.