So you want to sell products online?
Wouldn’t it be nice to sit back and watch the orders pour in all through? Sounds like a perfect picture right? A few phone calls a day… Answer a few emails; send a few things in the main…
Most online store owners start with high aspirations and think it’s all going to be a breeze but it’s not quite as simple as it seams.
It doesn’t mean it isn’t achievable; it just takes a bit of ‘know how’ and dedication.
Firstly, before even getting into the website side of things, you need to consider;
- Does the need for my product already exist and or am I trying to create a need from scratch? You’ll save yourself thousands by selecting a product that people already need!
- Is your product sale-able? If your product and the demand is already out there, find other examples of this product actually selling, not just being listed.
- Can you order samples or a small quantity of the product? Nothing’s worse then spending thousands on stock only to find it doesn’t sell! Plus, any money you can save on stock can be put to use promoting the website. When launching a new store, getting the word out is everything!
When you’ve selected a product range and ready to start, here’s what you need to do with your website;
“Don’t assume people will purchase from you the first time they visit the website.”
Focus on building a database of prospects, keeping in tough with them regularly to build confidence in your product and eventually get the sale.
Here’s how you do it… Say your new store get to a point where 100 people per week visit it. You may be getting a sale or two in that time. So this gives you a 1-2% conversion rate.
This means 98-99% of your visitors (the ones that don’t buy a product) are leaving your website and may never come back!
You need a banner overlay or something prominent that encourages new visitors to register for a free store account.
This may include something like “receive a discount code” or “special member updates” or something of value that encourages them to do so now.
It is very conservative to get 7-10% of your visitors to register. This means that instead of loosing all of the customers (that didn’t buy first time round) you’ve added 7-10 people per week that are interested in your products to your database.
Now it’s time to start building a relationship with these prospects…
Keep an eye out for next week’s entry and we’ll show you how to run a successful email marketing campaign that builds a relationship and converts prospects into customers.
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