How to sell products online? The ultimate guide

“How to sell products online?”

The ultimate guide

E-commerce has become the easiest way for small businesses to sell products online. If you’re someone who’s thinking of how to sell products online.

Then, you’re at the right place as here we’ll provide you with a step-by-step guide to selling products online. First, let’s look at some of the online selling statistics.  In 2021, an estimated 2.14 billion people worldwide purchased goods online.  About 50% of customers shop more on mobile than in-store.  Digital or mobile wallets are the preferred payment method of most online shoppers, used by 49%.  Nearly 80% of customers shop online at least once a month.

The significant surge in selling products online came after the pandemic hit.

Even most of the businesses that have physical stores came online to get customers and boost revenue. Selling products online from home might

seem easy and simple but it is not. You need to do complete market research and find the best ways to go about it.

How to sell products online? To start with, you should evaluate what products you want to sell, who your potential customers are, and how you can reach out to them. You need to determine the ways to deliver your products to the customers easily at their doorstep. Comprehensive research and proper planning can help you put up a successful eCommerce strategy.

Keep reading the blog, to learn the step-by-step guide on how to sell products online. We are sure by the end, you’ll be able to create a plan to sell online.

How to sell products online?

Selling products online is a good way to expand your audience reach and increase sales. You can attract customers from different parts of the world and earn profits. Have a look at the steps to know how to sell products online.

1. Decide which products you want to sell

To begin selling online, you should decide which products you want to sell to the customers. You need to think about from where you’ll source the products to sell online. There are three ways from which online sellers source products: DIY (Do it yourself), wholesale, and dropshipping. No matter which method you use but each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Whenever you are thinking of selling products online, select the products that you think are better than the products already available in the market.

Now, we will discuss the three methods by which you can know how to create a product to sell online.

DIY products This includes the products that you can make yourself. Some people do it as a hobby and some do it as a business. For example, scented candles, natural face masks, etc. DIY products require time and effort to be produced. But you can get maximum margin in this type of products.

For premium and expensive handcrafted products, you can take charges accordingly. However, you might need to reassess your process in case you don’t get enough orders to sustain your business.

Wholesale products This is the traditional retail model in which you need to buy products in bulk from a manufacturer or wholesaler and sell them individually. There are various sites from where you can get wholesale items like Alibaba and Etsy Wholesale.

However, make sure that you check the source carefully before placing your order.

You can read reviews, see Better Business Bureau (BBB) listings, and ask questions to the wholesalers. Ensure the products you buy are of high quality and match the specifications they have claimed. Since you have to sell the products to consumers online, you should look for good quality products.

Drop shipped products This drop shipping model requires you to market the product and take orders.

However, the order fulfillment is done by the supplier. Here, you get a low-profit

margin and also tough competition from other online sellers selling the same products. Some of the popular drop-shipping suppliers include AliExperss, Wholesale2B, Inventory Source, and Megagoods.

2. Identify your niche market

As you know the market is large and highly competitive. It’s always a good idea to find niche products that have specific target customers. Most of the time these are unique and one-of-a-kind products made in small batches. For example, lefthanded scissors are an example of a niche product.

You should first identify your niche market so that you can target those customers effectively. Select the niche market that you have knowledge about so as to enter that market easily. You can gather information about a niche by joining social media groups and communities related to it.

Watch sites like Trendwatching and Trend Hunter to know what are the latest trends in how to sell products online. From the Google Ads Keyword Planner tools, you can check how big is your niche market. All this information about your niche market will help you in planning your marketing strategy.

3. Do market research

Now, you know what you want to sell and who you want to sell. But will people be willing to buy what you’re selling? For this, you need to conduct market research and find out what value you offer and the suitable price for it. You need to find out answers to the following questions about how to sell a product online:      

How big is the market for the products you want to sell?

Are people satisfied with the existing similar products in the market?

What needs and wants are those products not able to meet?

Which features do people want the most?

What is the selling price of your competitors’ products?

What are your prospective customers’ pain points?

Identify and study your competitors Identify your competitors and find answers to the questions given below to know how to sell products online effectively.

      

What are the features of their product?

What’s their unique selling point?

At what range they have priced their product?

What are the marketing channels and strategies they’re using?

What are the features they’re lacking?

What revenue they’re generating?

What has helped them to sustain their brand in the market?

Ask questions to your target customers You can conduct surveys to know if your product is appropriate and will be chosen by your prospective customers. Ask questions to your target customers and see what they think about your product idea. You can post about it on social groups and get opinions from people.

Take in-person interviews and see how people react to your product idea.

Another easiest way is to ask questions through online surveys. You can ask prospects the right questions and gather relevant information. WebMaxy Analyzer can help you conduct market research surveys with ready-tolaunch templates.

Choose an appropriate price for your product Pricing your products at a price lower than your competitors won’t work always.

Nowadays, people are willing to pay a good price for high-quality products.

However, if your competitors’ products are overpriced then you can put your products in a low price range.

4. Create customer profiles or buyer personas

Creating customer profiles and buyer personas will help you understand who exactly is your target customers. This way you’ll clearly be able to think about how to sell products online to those customers. You can create buyer personas based on different details like age group, gender, income, profession, interests, and hobbies.

Once, you have created different buyer personas, you can think about their needs, wants, pain points, and expectations. This information will help you to figure out how you can target distinct types of customers through personalized marketing.

5. Create your brand identity To establish your business in the market, you need to create a brand identity. A brand identity is built with its logo, colors, website, and marketing. It helps a business to stand out from other businesses in the market. By creating a brand you can attract new customers and build a customer base.

Brand name For creating your brand identity, you should think of the brand name that best suits your product. You don’t always need to choose fancy or difficult words. Your brand name can be simple that convey the values or purpose of your product. Try to choose a unique brand name so that your customers don’t confuse it with any other brand.

Brand logo A brand logo is the visual identity of a business that gives it a consistent look. For your brand logo, you can select the initials of your brand name or a small graphical design. You should select your brand colors based on your brand idea.

For example, if you make eco-friendly products then you can opt for green color.

The colors you use for your brand logo are the first impression of your brand. Try to choose brand colors that are eye-catchy and entice customers to know more about you. There are certain colors that are often associated with specific cultures or emotions. Select one main color and two or three secondary colors for your brand logo and marketing.

Make sure that your brand logo is simple and easy to replicate as the brand logo will be used in marketing and prints. Complicated brand logos are not only difficult to reproduce but to comprehend as well. For creating your brand logo, you can use applications like Canva. This way you won’t need a graphic designer and you’ll be able to create your brand logo on your own.

Be careful while choosing images for your website, marketing, advertising, and social media. As the images you use would be associated with your brand image.

For example, you’re selling a luxury dinner set. Then, you can portray your product on the dinner table or fine dining restaurant. This way people would associate your dinner set as an item to be used at the dinner table or a restaurant.

Brand voice When you are communicating with your target market through social media or personal messaging, be careful with the selection of words. The way you

communicate with your customers can make or break your brand image. While writing your marketing copy, keep your customer profiles and buyer personas in mind. Think about who you are communicating with and what are their pain points or concerns.

Be consistent with your messaging, tone, and brand voice through different marketing channels like social media, email marketing, and advertising. Keep a consistent brand messaging and voice to help people associate it with your brand across distinct channels. You can also create a list of words that you would use in advertising copy often.

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6. Create your eCommerce website

How to sell a product online? To sell products online you should start by creating an eCommerce website. Add your brand logo and colors to the website to have consistency across multiple marketing channels. Ensure that your website is simple so that shoppers can easily find the products they want.

Try to upload high-quality images with detailed descriptions so that customers know what they’re buying. Make sure your CTA buttons are visible and the buying process is easy for customers to understand. You can also try selling through landing pages. The landing pages are a good option if you want to sell a specific product or run promotions.

7. Set up different processes like payment and shipping To start selling online, it’s important that you set up different processes like payment and shipping. You should try to provide free shipping especially if you’re starting up your online business. However, you can put the cost of boxing and packaging in the product pricing.

Set up customer relationship management software so that you get complete customer information when they purchase from you. Send shipping and delivery details to the customers via notifications to constantly keep in touch. Make sure to send offer and coupon emails to drive repeat purchases.

8. Create good product content To attract customers and build their trust, it’s vital you provide what you claim.

Your product content should include two important things: images and detailed descriptions.  Images: You should try to add high-resolution product images on your website. If the product looks attractive, there are high chance of people purchasing it. You can also ask your product supplier to provide you with professional images of the product. You can crop the images and add your own logo while adding them to your website.  Product descriptions: Keep your product descriptions brief with the necessary information. Use descriptive language and tell about product features. Give people reward points for adding customer reviews and testimonials.

9. Market and promote your products Once you have built your website, and set up the different processes like payment & shipping, it’s time to market it. You can put up your brand and reach potential customers through various marketing channels. You can use social media like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to reach your customers. To reach customers quickly, you can use paid ads and add filters in accordance with your target audience.

These days people trust influencers more than brands for the review of different products. You can use influencer marketing to bring customers to your brand.

You can also join different social media groups with your target audience to create awareness about your brand. Try adding product demo videos on YouTube to showcase your products.

You can ask people to join your email lists and subscribe to your newsletters.

Send them offers and coupons to entice them to make purchases. You can use Google ads to bring back the customers who left their journey mid-way.

10. Modify your marketing strategy as and when required After seeing all this information on how to sell a product online, you must be thinking it’s difficult. The best way to sell online is by creating a brand identity, setting up an eCommerce store, and targeting customers with an effective marketing strategy. However, all the efforts that you put into marketing your product won’t be enough always. You need to constantly look for new ways and latest trends to expand your reach.

WebMaxy eGrowth can help you manage your eCommerce platform effectively. This tool comes with a KPI dashboard that helps you measure various business metrics. The marketing insights feature can provide you with information about your distinct marketing channels’ performance. You can manage your different social media accounts in one place.

Additionally, it has many features like audience segmentation, email marketing, marketing automation, Whatsapp marketing, customer loyalty, help desk, and retargeting.

Which are popular eCommerce marketplaces?

In case, you don’t want to build your own platform, you can consider selling online on the popular eCommerce marketplaces. Here, we have given a list of some of the popular eCommerce marketplaces if you’re thinking about how to sell products online.

Etsy

Etsy is a marketplace that provides online sellers access to more than 40 million customers. It is best for sellers who have craft-based products, jewelry, and homemade items. They charge a listing fee of 20 cents per item. They also have a transaction fee of 6.5% and in the US, a payment processing fee of 3% plus 25 cents. The payment processing fees is different for distinct countries.

Also, if you make a sale from Etsy’s off-site ads, they take charge of that as well.

The charge is 15% if you made below $10,000 from Etsy sales in the last 365 days. If your sales are more than $10,000 in the last 365 days, the percentage drops to 12%.

Amazon Marketplace

Amazon is an eCommerce marketplace that enables businesses to sell products online. For selling products online through Amazon, you need to pay them a monthly fee and a per-item referral fee. If you want Amazon to handle shipping as well then you can pay them extra. Amazon’s professional selling plan costs $39.99 per month. The per-item referral fee is based on the product category of the products to sell online.

Walmart Marketplace

Walmart Marketplace is huge and enables you to sell products online to millions of customers. Walmart Marketplace takes a referral fee per product just like Amazon and Etsy. The product fees differ based on the product category. For products in the category like apparel, accessories, beauty products, baby items, and books they take a charge of 15%. For mobiles, cameras, and electronic items they take an 8% fee.

What are popular eCommerce platforms? eCommerce platforms help you set up your online store in a short time. These platforms help sellers to list & sell products, manage product inventory, and take payments. Below we have mentioned some of the popular eCommerce platforms.

Shopify

Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms that offer a wide range of services. You can create your online store, manage product inventory, and payment & shipping. They have a monthly subscription plan. Their Lite plan costs $9 a month which can be used with an existing website. If you want the full platform experience, then you need to opt for the basic plan or a higher one. The Shopify basic plan costs $29/month and the advanced plan costs $299/month.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an eCommerce platform that enables sellers to grow their business online. It supports more than 600,000 stores in around 150+ countries.

They offer integrations with Google, Amazon, and Walmart. It includes features like an eCommerce web host, payment processing, and security. This platform is scalable which makes it a good choice for all sizes of businesses. Their starting plan costs $29.95/month and the pro plan costs $299.95/month.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is among the most used eCommerce platforms due to its simple and free-to-use plugin for WordPress. The best thing about this platform is that they introduce new features and regular updates frequently. WooCommerce hosting is also easily available for enhancing your store performance. This platform is best for sellers who want to launch their online stores quickly and effectively.

What are the benefits of selling online?

Nowadays, people have become highly active on the internet. Therefore, if you’re a retailer you can get more sales by having an online presence. Small businesses can benefit from online selling as they’ll be able to sell their products to a large number of customers. They can make their business global very easily. There are many benefits of selling online regardless of the fact if your business is small or large. Till now we talked about how to sell your products online, here we’ll discuss the benefits of selling online.

1. Minimal startup cost When you start a physical store, there are many costs associated with it like the rent, employee wages, and other facilities. You need to find a marketplace

location, set up the interiors, and hire staff to manage the store. All this requires you to invest a large amount of money. However, when you want to set up an eCommerce store, you just need to build a website and manage inventory & payment systems. This is much cheaper than the investment required in a brickand-mortar store.

2. Expanded customer reach For an online business to reach a large audience is much easier than for a physical store. You can run marketing & advertising campaigns and attract customers from all over the world. You can deliver your products locally & internationally, expand your reach and drive more sales.

3. Scalability Scaling an eCommerce store is easier than a brick-and-mortar store. Since the eCommerce store is digital, you can easily keep track of the products shipped, sold, delivered, and repurchased. You can see which products are doing well, and add & remove them in real time.

4. 24/7 availability With an eCommerce store, you can provide 24/7 accessibility to your customers.

They can browse your website and place orders anywhere and anytime. This can help you to boost sales, enhance customer experience, and increase your profits.

5. Sales tracking Nowadays, there are analytics software, inventory management, and logistics tools available that make it easy to track sales. You can know which products are bestsellers and how you can price them to boost sales. You can keep track of shipping and delivery status to know your overall efficiency.

6. Higher margins As you know selling products in a physical store is way much more expensive than the online store. Therefore, you can make more profits by selling products online at a cheaper price without the overhead costs.

7. No geographical constraints When you sell products online, you aren’t stuck in one place. You can sell your products to customers nationally and even internationally. You aren’t just limited to your physical location.

How to sell products online? The Bottom Line Setting up an online store is much easier than setting up a brick-and-mortar store. An eCommerce store has many benefits for a business. They can expand their reach and be accessible to customers anytime and anywhere. This has increased convenience for the customers and increased profits for businesses.

WebMaxy eGrowth is an eCommerce management platform that can help you bring in new customers and drive business growth. There are a plethora of features in this tool like the KPI dashboard, marketing insights, conversion dashboard, audience segmentation, marketing automation, social campaigns, email marketing, WhatsApp marketing, customer loyalty, help desk, and retargeting.

Schedule a demo with our experts on call to learn more about WebMaxy eGrowth, or email us at info@webmaxy.co.

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