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Sell for Tomorrow
Sales may be few and far between today, but smart business owners can spend their downtime laying the foundation for "sales for tomorrow."
- Building relationships is at the heart of selling. Keeping in touch with clients – even though they might not be in a position to buy right now – can keep your bond with them strong and ready for whenever the recovery begins.
- Sending notes of gratitude and otherwise following up with clients is a job that too often gets shoved aside in the press of daily business.
- Take time now – while you have time – to say thank you.
During these troubled times, it might seem like you couldn't sell water to a land-locked fish.
Perhaps this is a good time to re-evaluate your definition of selling. Selling means more than making a sale. It means serving your clients, filling their needs and solving their problems.
Right now, that might not involve your company's products or services. And, yes, that hurts. It hurts your small business, your bottom line and your commissions. It may already be hurting your lifestyle.
Still, even if you're stuck at home and your clients' businesses are on hiatus, there's still work to do. Even if you can't make any sales today, you can lay the groundwork for the sales you'll make once things get back to normal. I call those "sales for tomorrow."
In the process, you might help your clients in ways that you never thought you could or even should. Here is how to make those sales for tomorrow, today.
Make a plan.
Whether you and your staff are teleworking from home or your company has temporarily shut down, chances are good that you have more free time than you did when you were working at the office all day, every day. Use that time to devise a strategy for making sure your clients will still be your clients once everybody gets back to work.
The best way to do that, of course, is to keep in touch with them, even when they're not in a position to buy.
For part one of your plan, make a list of your clients. Recall the last time you spent time just shooting the breeze with each one. Look up their phone numbers. Create a schedule for yourself to contact each one of them every couple of weeks.
Shoot them each a text asking to schedule a phone or video call. Once you have someone on the line, don't try to sell. Simply check-in.
We're all feeling a bit isolated these days, even if we're sheltering in place with our families. It's nice to have someone to talk shop with. It's nice to know that the people who do business with you are concerned about your welfare. It's nice to have someone outside of the family you see every day to talk to about how it's going.
For part two of your plan, come up with a strategy for keeping track of key details that your client might have shared with you. For example, if the conversation turns toward family, you might make a note that your client's oldest daughter will be graduating in May. Then, during another check-in call you make closer to graduation day, you can congratulate your client on her daughter's achievement. Using that little bit of information, you could even send a graduation card to the daughter, a gesture that will be perceived not only as thoughtful and kind, but as an indication that you really were listening and you were interested in the conversation.
Editor's note: Looking for the right CRM software for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
Software designed for keeping track of what you sold to whom can double as a sort of diary of your clients' relevant personal details – milestones like birthdays and anniversaries that you would like to celebrate with them by acknowledging them when they're coming up. That customer relationship management – or CRM – software also can help you keep track of when you last called each client, so as you make your plan, you can schedule your next call.
Listen carefully.
During those calls, listen for what your clients need, and realize that it probably won't have anything to do with what your company has to sell.
Right now, what they might need from you is a friendly ear, someone to empathize with, or a long chat about how much you're both missing the baseball season.
Take a genuine interest in what your clients say. Reciprocate by sharing your experience. It's friendly. It's kind. It's how to nurture a relationship that, frankly, is or should be more important than making a sale today.
Look for opportunities.
The better you get to know someone without the pressure of selling and buying – without the implicit understanding that you are interested in each other because money and services will change hands – the more you will understand that person's wants, needs, and problems. The better you understand that, the more valuable you will be to that client once the selling and buying resume.
Maybe the client will steer the conversation toward concerns at work. The client may take the opportunity to ask some questions about your products or services that he or she never had time to bring up with you during the rush of everyday business.
Take some notes. Get the answers to those questions. Follow up with information and suggestions for the client to consider at leisure. Don't push. Keep the conversation casual and personal. Then, when the two of you are ready to get back to business, you'll both be a step ahead for the next sale.
Of course, if your client wants to talk shop, go for it. People who are into their jobs, but who have little contact with their own clients and employees, might welcome the opportunity to bat around ideas, talk about the latest industry news, and get an update on who's doing what in your field.
If that's what the client needs or wants to talk about, you can be the one to fill that need.
Don't ask for the sale.
During routine times, every sales pro knows that the best way to close a sale is to ask for it. These aren't routine times.
Use this time to get to know your clients on a more personal level. Don't apply any pressure to buy or make decisions. Don't ask for the sale. Instead, ask what's up. Ask if you can call again. Ask about your client's family. Ask for recommendations for Netflix movies.
A "sale for tomorrow" call is not a regular sales call. It's a getting-to-know-you call. It's casual and personal. It's not about taking an order for your company. Again, if it's the client's wish to turn the conversation toward business, it's fine to go there. Just don't make it the reason for your call. In fact, if the client says he's ready to buy, by all means, make the sale.
Follow up with customers.
Best scenario: You turn your client into a real advocate for you, your products and your company. The customer who appreciates your attention during a crisis is likely to become an even more loyal customer of your company's once things settle down.
When everyone's back in place, remind your client about the friendly conversations in which he or she revealed a need that your company can certainly fill. But that's in the future. Right now, let your clients know how much you value them.
When's the last time you thanked clients for their loyalty? Of course, you thank them after every sale. But do you thank them simply for being your clients?
Now is the time.
Even clients you haven't been in touch with for years might appreciate an email or a text that simply says, "I'm just checking in. Thinking about how grateful I am for you. Hope all's well."
An expression of genuine gratitude can remind a long-ago client of a good experience with your company. And it can reinforce for a current client that doing business with someone who cares enough to reach out for no other reason than to check in and shoot the breeze is a pretty good way to do business.
8 Social Commerce Strategies To Win Consumers' Hearts And Wallets In 2020
Although the vast majority of retail purchases are still made in-store, global online sales are on the rise, and are expected to account for over 22% of all retail sales by 2023. In fact, eCommerce has already begun to overtake physical store sales in some cases. According to a U.S. Commerce Department report, the total market share of online U.S. retail sales were higher than general merchandise sales for the first time in history last February.
It’s easy to see why brands are increasingly prioritizing their investment in online sales. A recent survey of over 200 retail executives by eTail and Stackla found that 50% of retail brands are currently working to align social media advertising with their overall eCommerce strategy, and 75% say they will increase or maintain their investment in social media marketing within the next 12 months.
With all the trends pointing towards the 2020s being the decade of eCommerce, brands will be working harder than ever to capitalize on this inflection point between commerce and social media - more commonly referred to as 'social commerce'.
In this post, we'll go over eight winning social commerce strategies to help retailers build consumer trust and boost online sales in 2020:
Know (and Grow With) Your Customers
At a time when there is more competition for shoppers’ attention than ever before, marketers’ success will hinge on their ability to understand their customers’ behaviors, and adjust their strategies to create the most optimized shopping experiences everywhere those customers are.
Invest in the Right Channels
There's a huge range social and digital platforms that people around the world use every day, however, brands have finite budgets and resources to put towards digital advertising. The better you know your customers, the better you’ll be able to pinpoint the right channels to focus your marketing efforts around.
Which channels do they use to browse and share content? When do they typically use those channels? What types of content do they engage with most? Getting answers to these questions and others like it will go a long way towards informing a winning social commerce strategy for your brand.
Always Be Optimizing
As new platforms emerge, and your customers’ behaviors continue to evolve, so too must your social commerce strategy. Just because a particular channel or strategy has worked in the past, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be fruitful in the future.
Marketers today have troves of consumer data at their fingertips, but the challenging part is making sense of it all. Investing in analytics platforms and tools can help you efficiently synthesize large (and often siloed) datasets into actionable insights. Just remember, as Like Counts continue to be hidden across popular platforms like Instagram and Facebook, it will be important to de-emphasize the role that vanity metrics (such as Likes) play in instructing your overall social strategy.
Create Seamless, Shorter Paths to Purchase
When it comes to modern shopping, convenience is crucial. Brands that can craft an end-to-end purchase process, with as few frictionless steps as possible - across all key channels - will be the ones who most effectively connect with and convert browsers into customers.
To ensure that you capture the right people, in the right place, at the right time, you’ll need a seamless, omni-channel social commerce approach that’s informed by your customer data and insights.
This includes, but is not limited to, leveraging social checkout features, creating eCommerce, shoppable social feeds and integrating your online and in-store experiences.
Leverage Social Checkout Features
When someone's scrolling through their favorite social feed and they discover a product that they instantly want to buy, the last thing a brand wants to do is create even the smallest barrier between that moment of inspiration and that person making a purchase.
Until recently, this scenario would force brands to direct that shopper to a link in its bio, which would take the shopper to its mobile site, where they would have to search for the item they had just seen in order to purchase it - and by that time, a good percentage of people would have already dropped off.
As every eCommerce manager knows, fewer clicks = higher sales.
and by that time, a good percentage of people would have already dropped off.
As every eCommerce manager knows, fewer clicks = higher sales.
To help optimize social shopping experiences, platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat have begun testing checkout features which enable brands to seamlessly sell products directly from their organic or paid social posts, without users ever leaving the app. Other platforms, like Pinterest, are also working towards this goal, by offering brands the ability to add product tags to their posts in an effort to streamline the path to purchase.
Showcase On-Site Social Proof and Shoppable Content
Brands shouldn’t just be making it easy for people to “shop the look” on social platforms. Incorporating visual and actionable social proof into your eCommerce approach is also a proven way to boost online engagement, as well as sales. In fact, customers are 6x more likely to purchase a product if the page includes pictures from social media.
Create an interactive lookbook or visual catalog of social content, then add ‘Buy Now’ calls-to-action to drive people directly to purchase pages.
Leverage User-Generated Content and Organic Influencers
User-generated content (UGC) - the images, videos and reviews that people post on social networks - is viewed as the most trusted, authentic and influential content by consumers, making it an incredibly valuable resource for marketers to leverage.
In fact, UGC is seen as 9.8x more influential than traditional influencer content. This trend points to the fact that today’s social influencers are closer to reality TV stars than they are to your average customers - and are experiencing declining consumer trust because of it. As a result, retailers should consider shifting their influencer marketing strategies away from paid macro-influencers and towards organic influencers instead.
I’ve made this case in a previous Social Media Today article, arguing that brands’ organic advocates are their greatest content creators, and companies that can find, engage and strategically motivate those genuine creators in 2020 stand to build more loyal and engaged communities, while delivering authentic content experiences that drive real retail results.
Create Authentic Experiences Throughout the Buyer’s Journey
Most marketers who leverage UGC and influencer content tend to do so only on organic social, yet this compelling social proof can also be effective at creating authentic experiences across every point in the buyer’s journey.
As long as you obtain permission from content creators, UGC can be used to drive results on all your channels and campaigns. Use it as fresh creative in digital, social and print ads, feature it in promotional and community emails, showcase it as social proof throughout your websites and mobile apps, display it on your eCommerce pages or even on in-store signage or live event screens.
Get Your Customers Involved
While UGC marketing is typically pretty reactive - finding, curating, rights managing and publishing content after your customers have already posted it - organic influencer programs take a more proactive approach. Once you invite advocates to join an organic influencer community, you can get creative and specific about the kinds of content you’d like them to create about your brand or products. And studies show, they’ll be excited to participate.
Start a social competition, launch a #hashtag challenge, offer rewards points, or host a pop-up event for your fans. Whatever creative campaign or long-term community initiative you launch, make sure the asks to your communities are specific, and that your terms for participation are clear.
Ethically Embrace Chatbots
On-site, mobile app and messenger chatbots have become a core way for retailers to engage, inform and promote their products to customers. Facebook Messenger chatbots, in particular, have become a retail favorite, giving brands direct, 1:1, “always-on” interactions with shoppers, and a new way to obtain quantitative as well as qualitative customer data.
However, direct messaging also has the capacity to be extremely invasive, if not used judiciously. If abused, it could result in an irreparable breach of customer trust.
Embrace Chatbots, But Establish Messenger Marketing Best Practices
Any company that engages in messenger marketing should first outline standard practices and policies before launching any direct messaging initiative. While these policies will likely be unique to every company, some standard practices include the development of opt-in, unsubscribe and messaging type and frequency policies.
Get Personal
Consumers expect personalized experiences from brands, and they reward the ones that can provide it.
Almost half of retailers engaged in social commerce (49%) say that it helps them personalize customer experiences, based on behavioral signals and the increased the visibility of their product listings.
There are a number of ways in which brands can personalize experiences across the customer lifecycle, but companies like Amazon have really raised the bar when it comes to providing personalized product recommendations - meaning everyone else is playing catch-up.
Personalize Product Recommendations Based On Browsing and Purchasing Behavior
Personalized recommendations have driven 49% of shoppers to purchase a product they did not initially intend to buy - and it’s easy to see why.
Getting personalization right requires brands to have a deep understanding of a shopper’s intention. By connecting behavioral indicators - previous searches, browsing history and frequency, past purchases, cross-channel engagement, etc - to your recommendation engines (not to mention retargeting ads and email campaigns), you can provide timely and highly relevant content to shoppers that can help move them from “I’m not sure if I need anything else” to “This is exactly what I needed.”
Social commerce has already had a significant impact on the retail industry, and it remains a massive opportunity for brands who can put winning strategies in place.
Video Advertising In 2020: Your New Tool To Increase Ecommerce Sales
Video Advertising in 2020: Your New Tool to Increase Ecommerce Sales
Customers are more informed than ever.
With greater access to information and decreasing attention spans, competing for that attention is no easy task.
Video advertising is an often underutilized yet growing form of engaging with your customers that provides value other mediums simply can’t.
Video ads are the ideal attention-grabbing combination of visuals and a narrative — perfect for introducing your brand, showing off individual products, or driving sales.
Organic engagement on video is higher than any other type of media, and 80% of users can recall a video ad they’ve seen in the past 30 days.
Video is changing the way people shop and make purchasing decisions — 85% of millennials say they’ve made a purchase after viewing a marketing video.
Video ads can help move potential customers through multiple stages of the funnel more quickly than almost any other type of touchpoint.
In the words of Mark Zuckerberg, “video is a megatrend,” and everyone should be able to take advantage of the benefits of video advertising.
At Waymark, we empower ecommerce businesses to create premium video ads in seconds with our online video maker.
In the process of bridging the creative gap and running ad buys for our customers, we’ve learned a lot about optimizing video ad campaigns.
Here’s a complete breakdown of the current state of video advertising and how you can jump in to build your ecommerce brand and move your product.
What Is Video Advertising?
Well, that depends on who you ask.
Networks heavily invested in display might claim video advertising encompasses any digital ad that contains video, including in-banner and in-text ads.
They might say any advertisement that falls within a video stream qualifies as video advertising.
What we’re diving into in this post is a definition of video advertising that focuses on video content that tells your story, sets you apart from your competition, and drives your audience to action.
That can live in a lot of different places and look a lot of different ways.
Video advertising campaigns evolve with ad formats, and as social media platforms increasingly prioritize videos over other types of content, it’s becoming crucial to nail your video communication.
We’ll dig into what makes video advertising different and how you can use it to grow your ecommerce brand.
How Videos Are Changing The Way We Advertise
The dawn of the age of video advertising has created a paradigm shift for marketers.
According to Forbes, Video ads now make up over 35% of all ad spending online.
Video enables you to say much more with less — to construct a story for your brand that’s engaging and packs a punch.
Not only that, but online video is predicted to make up to 80% of all global internet traffic by 2020.
Social media platforms prioritize videos over other types of content, and videos help brands build more trust than traditional ads. All of these trends make it crucial to nail your video presence.
1. They appeal to the short attention spans of today.
The digital media landscape is crowded. We’ve all heard that time and time again.
The good news is that consumers are way more likely to watch a video than read a block of text or spend 15 seconds considering an image.
Video ads consistently see higher engagement rates and time spent than other types of ads.
Not only that, but 80% of users can recall a video ad they’ve seen in the past month.
So if you want to engage customers, video ads are an easy way to capture the attention of your audience and stand out.
2. They allow you to effectively spark interest in a short amount of time.
Video ads can communicate more than a tagline — they can promote a sale, build a story, outline your value proposition, or go deep into product details.
Importantly, they are incredibly good at driving customer action.
15-30 seconds is the optimal length for a social media video ad, which allows you to hit the balance between catering to a short attention span and creating a meaningful narrative.
In just 30 seconds, she piques the interest of all her followers with her snappy and action-packed video ad.
3. You can control the narrative.
Instead of hoping the customer reads what you want them to, you can show them in a captivating video.
One of our favorite customer examples at Waymark is Havenly, an online home design service that has a unique value proposition.
Havenly uses a few different types of video ads — the 15-second branding video and the live-action explainer.
Havenly’s value proposition can be hard to get across with just beautiful photos of the rooms they design, so they use video to communicate who they are and how they can make your life better.
With this video, they’re able to concisely explain their service in just 15 seconds. It visually develops their brand and hits all their key messaging points, and is personalized for the platform it appears on — Instagram.
This video from Passion Planner titled “How to Create the Life You’ve Always Wanted” shows a detailed view of the product, and walks users through exactly how to use it.
With a length of 1:26, the video is both a detailed explanation that works for customers further along in the funnel who want to learn more and a quick, attention-grabbing opportunity for new purchasers to explore the planner.
The video ad format allows Passion Planner to pack in a ton of detail through a visually engaging and cohesive narrative.
4. Building brand awareness through user generated content.
Some of the most impressive social followings have been built using user-generated content — it’s a video strategy fosters brand advocates and makes for beautiful, human content.
It’s also an excellent way to reach new audiences. Airbnb, Glossier, and GoPro are among the top users of this strategy.
It’s no surprise that user-generated video ads work.
After all, word-of-mouth advertising has always been one of the most effective forms of advertising.
76% of respondents in an AdWeek survey said that they find UGC more influential than content created by the brand directly.
That right there is the power of social proof — potential customers are more likely to purchase if they see someone like themselves promoting or experiencing your product.
5 Types of Video Advertisements [with Examples]
You can use similar creative for different platforms, but each will have different results and should be optimized differently for its part of the funnel.
Ideally, your video ad campaign will include a number of these formats built to support one another at multiple touchpoints on the customer journey.
Like any type of advertising or any campaign, it’s about integrating all the elements of your strategy with one another to achieve your holistic goals.
1. Native video advertisements.
Native video ads are a form of paid media that are formatted specifically for the platform they are hosted on.
They look and feel like organic content on the platform and are directly uploaded rather than being hosted elsewhere.
For example, a native Facebook ad is one that matches the style and voice of the platform and lives primarily on Facebook.
Native video ads are the fastest growing type of video ad.
Facebook users are watching more than 8 billion native video ads every day, and most other social media sites are re-optimizing their platforms to make native ads an even bigger focus. These videos are typically longer than 30 seconds and feel more like organic content than ads.
For example, meal kit delivery service HelloFresh regularly advertises with cooking videos like this one that walks through an orange cashew chicken stir-fry recipe.
The recipes are impulsively watchable and are the kind of content Facebook users are used to seeing in their feed given the rise of media pages like Buzzfeed’s Tasty.
Native video ads prove out the old advertising adage that people don’t watch ads — they watch things they’re interested in.
A study by Twitter showed that 43% of users said they would fully watch a video if it had interesting content.
These videos flow with the user experience and often provide relevant or engaging information.
2. YouTube video ads.
There are a few kinds of YouTube ads to be aware of — primarily, TrueView and Pre-roll. You can think of them as skippable and non-skippable.
TrueView ads are opt-in, meaning you only pay when someone chooses to watch more than 30 seconds of your video ad.
These are best for branding and engagement — Google claims that brands who run TrueView ads see a 500% boost in engagement with their other YouTube content.
TrueView ads are thought of as lower-risk since the views you are paying for are from a more-interested audience who is more likely to convert.
Grammarly is one of the most recognizable users of TrueView ads.
They’re a chrome extension that scans your writing and gives you suggestions for how to make it better, and they’ve built their social strategy around YouTube video ads.
In fact, the majority of their social traffic comes from ads like this one.
How to Sell Online [Beginner's Guide]
How to Sell Online [Beginner's Guide]
So you’re interested in selling stuff online, eh?
Perhaps you have dreams of quitting the rat-race to start your own online, eBay or Amazon business (which obviously involves waking up at 10am, working in your pajamas, taking long weekends whenever you like, and answering to nobody because you're the boss...)
Or maybe you just want a few extra bucks in your back pocket.
Whatever your reason for wanting to start selling online, eCommerce offers huge opportunities for anyone with an internet connection.
Of all the ways of making money online, it's perhaps one of the easiest to understand and get started with.
Our ten-minute guide to the world of online selling will show you where to start, and how to do it right!
How to Start Selling Online Professionally
How to Start Selling Online Professionally
We’ve broken the process down into six simple steps to take you from complete beginner to professional seller.
Let’s jump right in!
What You Need to Know Before You Begin
Before you get started investing time and money into an online business, you want to be sure that selling online is right for you.
So let’s look at the pros and cons of selling online so you can weigh them up and make an informed decision.
The Pros of Selling Online
While working from home in your pajamas is definitely a plus, there are plenty of other amazing reasons to work from home while building your own eCommerce business:
- You can work from home, make your own hours, and choose how far you want to take it. The possibilities are endless. Want to make a few extra bucks to save? Want to create an online eCommerce empire? The choice is yours! There's no glass ceiling, which means no boss to suck up to. It's pure freedom.
- It's something you're probably already familiar with! If you’ve bought or sold something online, you basically understand how it works. Which, ultimately, makes selling online an easier skill to grasp than many other home business options.
- You can follow your own interests. Are you passionate about fly fishing? Cake decorating? Refurbishing antique dolls? When you start selling online, you can often turn your hobbies and passions into a profitable business.
- It’s not as difficult or risky as starting a "traditional" business. You don’t have to invest a lot of money when you’re first getting started (not to mention, you won’t have to worry about buying or leasing a physical property). It has a very low barrier to entry, which means practically anyone can give it a go! What’s stopping you?
- You don’t have to worry about storing inventory if you don’t want to! (Hint: It’s called dropshipping, and I’ll get to that later!)
- It’s fun! At least, we think it is. By the end of this guide, we’re sure you will, too!
The Cons of Selling Online
Like anything in life, selling online comes with a few downsides. It's important you're aware of these before you begin, so you set yourself realistic expectations.
- It takes time. It may take you a month or two to start seeing consistent results. The chances of you accumulating over $100 worth of sales on your first day is, well, highly unlikely.
- There's a learning curve. If you’ve sold a few things online before, you’re already one step ahead of your competitors! However, you’ll need to step up your game to sell online professionally.
- You wear all the hats. As a business owner, you’re an incredible team of one (at least starting out). You’ll take on the roles of accountant, marketer, web designer, as well as everything else. This also means that you shoulder all the responsibility. If something goes wrong, you can’t blame anyone but yourself.
- It's not all passive income. You'll hopefully be dealing with regular sales, regular shipments, and regular customer inquiries, which means that your business will require you to do real work and invest time and effort. That is, until you can afford to hire staff! Even then, you’ll want to remain involved in everything that happens.
To simplify, this isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme.
But if you're happy to spend a little time building a reputation, developing your brand, and optimizing your processes... the sky's the limit.
Choosing an eCommerce Business Model
There are several different business models to consider before you start selling online, each with their own set of pros and cons.
You will want to think carefully about which business model is best for you. They all require different levels of financial investment and will determine how you structure your business.
The simplicity of dropshipping does come at a cost. You usually pay a higher price to your supplier compared with buying in bulk, and you’ll usually incur a dropshipping fee.
Shipping also tends to take longer as most dropship suppliers are based in China. But dropshipping is extremely popular and many people have built successful eCommerce businesses using it. Dropshipping is best for people looking to dip their toe into selling online, those who don’t have a lot of capital to buy in bulk, and people who want to keep their workload to a minimum.
See our Complete Guide to Dropshipping.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is the darling of the eCommerce world. Why? Because the barrier to entry is so low. You don’t need to make any financial investment to get started. Meaning, you won’t pay a cent until you make a sale.That means you don’t need to place any large orders or store excess stock. You just need to decide what you want to sell, find a supplier that provides dropshipping services, list your products on your preferred online marketplace, and start selling.Basically, your supplier does most of the heavy lifting and your main job is to make sales. Simple, right?Here’s how dropshipping works:- A customer purchases a product from your online store (at retail price)
- You place an order for that product with your supplier (at wholesale price)
- Your supplier packages and ships the product directly to your customer
Sourcing from wholesalers
Sourcing products from wholesalers is a more traditional retail business model. It’s used by brick and mortar stores and eCommerce stores alike. Once you’ve decided on what product/s you’re going to sell, you find a reliable wholesaler and buy the product/s in bulk. Getting the best price usually requires some negotiation.Buying in bulk requires that you have significant cash to spend up front. The upside is that you’ll usually get your products at a cheaper price than you would with dropshipping. That means higher profit margins for you every time you make a sale.Once you’ve ordered the product/s, it’s up to you to arrange storage, to list them for sale online, and to organize shipping. Alternatively, you can use a third-party fulfillment service like Amazon FBA or Shipbob (there are many options to choose from) to handle the packaging and shipping for you. However, this comes at an added cost that eats into your profit margins.You can see how sourcing from wholesalers can be more labor-intensive than dropshipping, but the financial benefits can make the extra work worth it.Sourcing from manufacturers
Sourcing a product from the manufacturer is a similar process to sourcing from a wholesaler. The main difference is that you can work with a manufacturer to create your own product, or a private label product.The initial investment is higher as you’re creating something new, but if you want to build a brand and sell a unique product, then sourcing from a manufacturer is the business model for you.There are a lot more hoops to jump through in terms of product development, design, testing, packaging, and legal obligations, but if you’re ready to set in for the long haul and build a business that you can differentiate from the majority of online sellers, sourcing direct from manufacturers is a good option.Making and selling your own products
If you’re creative, artistic, or have a unique skill, then by all means, you can make your own products and sell them online. Whether you crochet beanies, build wooden chopping boards, or engineer new technologies in your bedroom, there’s bound to be a market for your creations. Think of it as turning your hobby into a business.You can even start selling your own products as a side-hustle, while you’re still working. If you are successful, you may be able to turn it into your full-time job.The main thing with selling your own products is that all of the responsibility is on your shoulders. You can only sell as much as you make, so you have to invest your own time into production.The main benefit is that, aside from the cost of materials and your time, you don’t have to make a significant investment up front. You also don’t have to rely on suppliers. It’s all on you.
Step 1. Choosing What to Sell
You’ve probably thought about this step already.
In fact, most people start by thinking of products they can sell online and go from there. What starts as a daydream at the office often flourishes into a successful business, so be careful what you wish for!
Choosing what to sell is arguably the most important decision you will make as it will determine the demand for your product, price and profitability, market competition, sales, and marketing. It’s also one of the hardest decisions you will make.
Of the billions of products out there, how do you know which one to sell?
For the full run-down on choosing a product to sell, see our “What to sell?” article. But in general, you're looking for a product that meets these requirements:
- You can make a profit on it. This one is pretty obvious. Don't forget to factor in things like shipping, packaging, and marketplace fees!
- There’s reasonable demand for it. One of the common mistakes new sellers make is diving into selling a particular product without checking demand. Don't be that person stuck with a garage full of things you can't sell!
- The competition is not too intense. Competition can really drive down your profits, particularly when there isn't enough demand to meet it. When a bunch of sellers are competing for a small pool of buyers... things can get ugly.
What Can You Sell Online?
The answer to that is: Almost anything. However, if you want to be successful at selling online, you should follow the strategies of top sellers and choose products that meet the criteria below.
Products related to your interests
The first thing you should do to get ideas for what to sell is to brainstorm your hobbies - the things you’re interested in. The reason why this can be a good idea is that you’re more likely to be invested in selling products you’re interested in. You’ll also have a certain level of expertise that can help inform your business decisions.Once you’ve identified your hobbies, try and think laterally and outside the box to generate product ideas that aren’t so obvious. The more specific your niche is, the better.Products that you discover online
Try to become intimately familiar with products that are selling well on the most popular online marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, and Alibaba. Obviously you don’t want to sell products that are already doing well in highly competitive markets, but often those hot products can give you ideas for similar, complementary, and less competitive options.Products that are backed by market research
You can do your own market research, or use a tool like SaleHoo’s powerful market research lab to do the heavy lifting for you. SaleHoo Labs uses data from Amazon and eBay to determine the sell rate, average retail price, and competition for a massive range of products. You can simply browse by product category and set specific filters to identify products that you can be confident will sell online.
What Products are Selling Best Online?
This is the million dollar question. But the answer is not simple. As you will know from your own market research, there’s a wide range of products that are selling well online.
The thing is, that once a product becomes a “best seller”, it’s probably too late to start selling it as the market quickly becomes saturated. You need to learn to anticipate trends, or identify ways to sell items that are similar or complementary to best-selling products.
However, according to our own data and research, products in these five niches are always selling well. You’ll just need a bit of creativity (and a dash of intuition) to discover the next best-selling product.
Another strategy to consider is selling products that tap into consumer’s physiological needs. American psychologist Abraham Maslow created “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” way back in 1943 and it’s still relied on by marketers and salespeople today. The hierarchy of needs are:
- Self-actualization: The desire to become the most one can be
- Esteem: Respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength, freedom
- Love and belonging: Friendship, intimacy, family, connection
- Safety: Personal security, employment, resources, health, property
- Physiological: air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing, reproduction
If you can identify products that fit into these deep-seated human desires, then you are almost guaranteed to have success selling them. You can see how luxury goods might fit into the ‘esteem’ need, home security items tap into our need for ‘safety’, and the latest and greatest pillow fills our ‘physiological’ need for sleep.
Step 2: Finding Suppliers
Once you’ve decided on a product to start selling online, you need to find a reliable supplier for that product.
Finding a supplier is probably the second most time-consuming part of selling online, and also comes with a raft of boobytraps to avoid - so be careful! A supplier is one of your most important business partners so you want to make sure you choose the right one.
Your business model will largely determine what type of supplier you work with. But let’s get down to the nitty gritty. How do you find a supplier you can trust?
There are several ways to look for suppliers:
SaleHoo’s Supplier Directory
SaleHoo can help you save time and minimize risk when choosing a supplier. SaleHoo’s directory has more than 8000 legitimate, low-cost suppliers of a massive range of products, located all over the world. SaleHoo’s staff check and verify all suppliers before adding them to the directory so you can be confident that they’re reliable and trustworthy.Finding Dropship Suppliers
If you want to go at it alone, you can use search engines like Google and online marketplaces like Alibaba and AliExpress to find dropship suppliers. It takes a lot more time and you have to watch out for fraudulent businesses and scams. But if you’re willing to invest the effort, you can find good dropship suppliers this way. Start by searching “[your product] + dropshipper” and go from there. On websites like Alibaba, you can contact suppliers directly and ask if they provide dropshipping services.Finding Wholesale Suppliers
Google is your friend when it comes to finding wholesale suppliers. However, you should be aware that often the best suppliers don’t have a lot of time and money to invest in marketing (and their websites can look really cheap), so they can be hard to find online. If you’re wanting to secure the best deal, you’ll have to do a bit of groundwork. One way around this is to work with local wholesale suppliers, or to visit trade shows and meet suppliers face-to-face, the old-fashioned way. A lot of the sellers on Alibaba, AliExpress, and other major online marketplaces will be wholesalers, so you can contact them and make enquiries. If you want a shortcut, there’s always SaleHoo.Finding Manufacturers
You can find manufacturers much the same way as you find other suppliers - on Google, SaleHoo, and popular online retail sites. But if you’re getting them to manufacture your product, there are just a whole lot more boxes to add to your checklist. You need to be even more vigilant and ensure you do due diligence. Ideally, this means visiting the factory, meeting the manufacturer, and testing their products and service before committing to your first order. Finding a great manufacturer is essential to the success of your business.
Step 2.1: Contacting Suppliers
So you’ve found a few suppliers that you want to reach out to? Great! You’re making real progress. The next step is contacting them. This sounds as simple as flicking them a quick email. But you should know that the best suppliers get contacted by a lot of aspiring online sellers every day, so if you don’t make a good first impression, chances are they’ll just ignore you. And you don’t want that!
You need to know what suppliers want in a potential customer/business relationship, and you should also know what you want from the supplier. These are the top five things that a supplier is looking for when you contact them.
- A serious buyer mentality
- Clear, concise communication
- Good manners
- Long-term customers
- Low-risk relationships
The best way to achieve these objectives is by doing your research and not overloading the supplier with questions. To help with this, we’ve put together a list of 35 questions you should ask a potential supplier (just don’t ask all of them at once!).
We highly recommend that, whenever possible, you always opt for a telephone call. Email is OK, but it doesn’t give you that personal interaction which can help you determine the legitimacy, expertise, and professionalism of potential suppliers, which are all things you need to know when you're giving someone a bunch of money.
Step 2.2: Negotiating with Suppliers
So you’ve contacted a suitable supplier and you’re ready to commit? Now’s the time to get down to business and negotiate your deal.
Remember: your goal is to be able to source your products for less than what you'll eventually sell them for. Every little discount you can get will count towards your profits — and it can really add up!
So, how do you get a better deal from your supplier? Simple! You can:
- Order in bulk. The more you order, the better the price you can negotiate. If you’re just starting out this might not be an option, but it's something to consider for later, especially if this product seems to be working out well for you.
- Develop a relationship with your supplier. As you work with your supplier and show them you’re serious and consistent, most of them will help you out by offering discounts and other bonuses. If they don't offer... try asking. If your business is valuable to them, they'll try anything to keep you happy!
- Buy from the source (the manufacturer) if possible. If you can afford to order in bulk, buying directly from the manufacturer of the product (rather than a wholesaler) will get you the best prices. If you're not in a position to buy in bulk, consider splitting the cost with other sellers. You can sometimes find partners on wholesale forum sites (like SaleHoo's members' forum) and arrange to split a shipment.
Now that you’ve decided on what product you want to sell and who you’re going to buy it from, it’s time to make everything official and legal! Yes, that means taking the step to becoming a real online business.
Step 3: Setting Up Your Business
So you’ve got all the ingredients to launch your online business, now you just need to make everything official. Every country has different requirements when it comes to setting up a business, so it’s always a good idea to speak to an accountant or lawyer to get professional advice.
However, to make sure you’re getting started on the right foot, here are the four main things you need to consider when setting up your business.
Choosing a business name
Make sure it’s something you feel comfortable broadcasting via your social channels as well as in person. For example, don’t name your business “Miss Kay’s Underwear Store” even if you’re selling underwear. Who’s going to want to share (or even click on) a store’s social page if they think it’s a joke? Make sure your business name is on-brand. Even better, choose something original so that the .com domain name is still available.Registering your business
Business regulations are different across countries and, in the United States, they vary from city to city and state to state. A simple Google search of your country and city will tell you whether you need to register your business in order to operate legally.Applying for a Sales Tax ID (or reseller’s license)
If you are serious about starting an online retail business and sourcing products from wholesalers, in most US states, you'll need a Sales Tax ID. A Sales Tax ID is a number you obtain from your state and/or local government that allows you to charge sales tax whenever a buyer in your state, county and/or city purchases an item from you, even if it’s an online purchase. Note: This is only relevant for businesses in the US, or with customers in the US.Setting up payment options for your store
When you launch your online store, you want to be ready to start accepting money. That means you need to offer a range of payment options for your customers. These days, it’s common for online stores to cater for credit cards, Paypal, Stripe, Afterpay. You don’t need to be signed up to every payment option, but the more flexible you are, the more sales you will make.
Step 4. Choosing What Platforms to Sell On
Now that you know what you’re selling and your business is set up legally, it’s time to choose where you want to sell. There are a lot of options, but how do you know which is the best for you?
What Is The Best Platform to Sell Online For You?
I wish I could tell you that a specific online marketplace is the best one for you, but it really depends on what you’re selling and what you’re hoping to achieve with your business. Each platform has its own pros and cons, so it pays to do a bit of research into a few different platforms before deciding which one you will use to start selling online.
You should also consider starting your own online store using a platform like Shopify so you don’t have to compete in a crowded marketplace like Amazon or eBay.
What to Look For in an Online Store Solution?
- How many users does that platform have? The more users, the more potential customers for your business. That’s almost always a good thing!
- How many sellers does the platform have? The more sellers (particularly sellers in your niche), the more competition you’ll have. It’s a good idea to weigh up the number of sellers against the number of potential customers.
- What seller’s fees do you have to pay? Every fee eats into your profit margins. Do the calculations to see what the platform will cost you.
- What type of goods are you selling? Some platforms are more suited to specific types of products. For instance, Etsy has a reputation as being great for arts, crafts, and creative goods.
- How reliable is the platform? Are you confident the platform will exist 10 years from now? It’s hard to know, but if you build your business and customer base on a particular platform you want to be sure it’s going to stick around.
- How much flexibility does the platform allow you? Some online marketplaces have strict guidelines you have to follow. If you make a mistake, your account can be suspended. Whereas, with your own website, you have complete freedom. It’s up to you to decide what’s best for you.
| Marketplace | Operates in | Product categories | Seller fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Worldwide | All | From $39.99 a month + referral fees of between 8% and 15% per item |
| Etsy | Worldwide | Arts, crafts, jewelry, collectibles | $0.20 USD listing fee and 3.5% commission |
| Bonanza | Worldwide | All | 3.5% Final Offer Value fee |
| Craigslist | Worldwide | All | Free |
| eBid | Worldwide | All | 3% Final Value Fee, or subscriptions from $1.99 to $99.98 |
| Rakuten | Japan-based, worldwide users | All | $33 a month, 8% to 15% category fee, and $0.99 per item sold |
| Newegg | Worldwide (mostly US and Canada) | Tech and electronics | Free up to $99.95 a month and 8% to 15% commission |
| eCrater | Worldwide | All | Mostly free, but they take 2.9% of sales that they bring to you |
| Ruby Lane | Worldwide | Arts, antiques, collectibles, jewelry | $100 set-up cost, plans from $69 a month, $0.19 listing fee |
| Walmart | Worldwide (mostly United States) | All | Free to join, 8% to 20% referral fee |
Where Can I Sell My Products Online?
There are a lot of platforms where you can sell your products, but the two biggest players are definitely eBay and Amazon. However, there are plenty of viable alternatives, including setting up your own website with the help of SaleHoo, Shopify, or WooCommerce. Let’s look at some of the best online marketplace options for your new business.
- eBay - You’re probably already familiar with eBay being the big daddy of the online auction sites. eBay is great for selling all kinds of products, such as used goods, and one-off items you've purchased from liquidation sales (that's when a store is getting rid of a bunch of old stock, or going out of business). The thing with eBay is that prices can be pretty low, and for many products it can be hard to make a profit. You’ll need to make sure you're choosing the right product when dipping into the eBay marketplace.
- Amazon - Amazon is a bit more “high end” than eBay, mainly because they have a rigorous screening process you have to go through just to sell on their platform. That said, you can sell products at a much higher price than eBay. They also have more site traffic and people will see you as an actual store, rather than just a Regular Joe selling bits and bobs from around the house. Let’s not forget that Amazon has their FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) program which you can use to have them store and ship your products for you. This can allow you to grow your business without needing to hire more staff to help you pack and ship goods.
- Your own website - Having your own store gives you greater freedom, less competition and no seller fees, but it's a little trickier to set up. You can use platforms like Shopify to easily set up an online store, or integrate a plugin like WooCommerce with your Wordpress site. See our article, setting up your own webstore, to figure out whether this is something you want to do.
- Other alternatives - Other online platforms such as Etsy and Bonanza can also be used to build successful eCommerce businesses. Check out our complete list of alternative online marketplaces here.
Step 5: Marketing Strategies for Your Online Store (How to Make Your First Sale)
Congratulations! Your online store is up and running. Now you need to attract customers to your listings or website. This is where your marketing strategy comes in. You can’t just sit back and expect the money to start rolling in. It’s time to get to work.
How Do I Start a Successful Online Store?
You’ve already got the first ingredient to running a successful online store: A great product! But there are several other factors you need to get right from the beginning to ensure long-term success.
- Good quality copy in your listings: The words you use to sell your products should sell the benefits to your customers. Don’t just use the description the supplier provides. Inject some fun and personality into your listings with creative copy.
- Good quality photos: You’d be surprised how many people decide to buy something based on a photo. Make sure your photos are high quality and show the product at all angles. Include an in-scale image and highlight important features. Great photography is an easy way to set your listings apart from the rest.
- A marketing strategy: You should have a plan for how to promote your business outside of your chosen platform so that you can attract more customers to your listings and make more sales. This should include paid and organic marketing methods, such as Facebook advertising and email list building.
- Ask customers for reviews: Positive reviews tell potential customers that you’re a trustworthy seller with a good product. You should ask your customers to leave reviews in order to put your future customers at ease when they land on your listings.
How Do I Become a Good Seller?
- Provide excellent customer service: Treat every interaction with a customer as though they’re your first and last customer. Be polite, honest, and provide all of the information they ask for. Your customers are your business’ lifeblood. Without them, you don’t really have a business at all.
- Fast shipping: Customers expect to receive their products quickly - often the next day. If you’re dropshipping products from China, make sure your customers understand that and have some other benefit, such as a lower price, that makes the wait worth it.
- Always be improving: Immerse yourself in the world of eCommerce. Try and pick up on trends before your competition. Offer additional services or benefits to your customers. Be adaptable and don’t become complacent. The online world changes rapidly and you need to be ready to change with it.
- Enjoy the ride: Starting your own business should be exciting and fun and, potentially, provide you with the freedom to work for yourself full-time. Try and take the time to appreciate the experience and be thankful that you’re not stuck in an office working a job you don’t like that much. When you’re enjoying your work, you’re more likely to succeed.
How Can I Market My Product Online for Free?
When you’re starting out selling online, you probably won’t have a big marketing budget like major retail brands. In fact, you might not have any money put aside for marketing. Thankfully, there are a lot of ways you can market your products online for free - as long as you’re willing to invest some time into learning how to do it.
- Social media marketing: Every business worth its weight in salt should have a social media presence. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter - they’re all great for promoting your business and products and you don’t have to spend a cent. You can build an audience simply by sharing interesting and engaging photos and content associated with your product or niche.
- Start a blog: Blogging is still one of the most popular content marketing methods. If you’re selling outdoor/hiking equipment, why not start a blog on your website that your audience will enjoy. It can be great for SEO and will likely help convert customers over time.
- Start a Youtube channel: Vlogging is another option. If you’re good in front of a camera and having something interesting to say, why not set up a Youtube channel and start talking to your audience and customers that way?
- Positive PR: Do something that’s newsworthy. You’ll have to get creative, but if you can do something that generates media attention for your business that’s some of the best free marketing you can get. Just make sure it’s not a cheap “stunt” that could end up doing damage to your reputation.
- Competitions: Try giving some of your products away via competitions that you can run on whatever social media or website channels you’re using. It might not be 100% free, but it can be a great way to draw attention to your business and products.
Paid Marketing Strategies for Your Online Store
If you have some money to spend on paid advertising, it can definitely be a worthwhile investment. Paid advertising allows you to target specific audiences with your products and generate traffic to your listings immediately. Paid advertising is the only method that some online sellers, especially dropshippers, use to make sales. If you can, it’s optimal to use a mix of free and paid marketing to give your online store the best chance of success.
- Facebook Ads - Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform with 2.4 billion users. It also has one of the most advanced advertising platforms that allows you to target people based on their location, age, gender, interests, and online behavior. This is an extremely powerful tool for online sellers. It does cost money, but you can start with a strategy that costs just $10-$20 a day and once you find an advertisement that’s working and converting customers, you can start spending more. The more you advertise, the more data Facebook collects on your audiences. This helps with targeting and retargeting, helping Facebook to connect your ads with the people who are most likely to purchase your products. Facebook Ads are a case of having to spend money to make money.
- Instagram Ads - Facebook owns Instagram, so the ads you set up on Facebook can also run on Instagram. You can choose to run ads on Instagram as posts or stories and you can target people the same way that you can with Facebook. You want to create ads that are native to the platform, meaning they don’t look like ads and blend into
- Google Ads - Google is the world’s most-used search engine. Google Ads lets you place ads within search results. You know those recommended links you see at the top of search results? Those are paid ads. Google also allows you to target specific keywords relevant to your product or niche. You can set a monthly cap on how much you’re willing to spend on your Google Ads, but the average cost is said to be between $1 and $2 per click. Google also owns Youtube, which is another platform to consider advertising on.
Almost every online marketplace has its own paid advertising platform to promote your products. You should start by focusing on the platforms that your customers are likely to be engaging in most. Paid advertising is fast becoming a must have for growth and success in ecommerce. It’s worth becoming familiar with the different platforms as soon as you have some money to experiment with.
Creating a Brand for Your Online Store
A great way to differentiate your online store from the masses is by creating a professional and recognisable brand.
When creating a brand make sure it meets these criteria:
- It’s simple, memorable, and professional
- It’s original (check that the domain name is available)
- It aligns with your business, its values, and aesthetic
- You won’t be embarrassed of it in 10 years
How to Create an SEO Strategy for Your eCommerce Business
While social media and content marketing strategies, outlined above, definitely help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you’ll want to have a specific SEO strategy that bumps your business up the list on popular search engines.
Extra resources
You’ve got a lot of great tips to work with there, but if you’re after some additional resources to give you that extra edge on the competition, check out these guides:
Where to Go From Here
You should now be well on your way to running a successful online store. It can be an exciting journey, but it’s important to never stop learning so that you’re always keeping up with - or staying ahead of - your competition.
Here are some extra resources that are going to help you as you navigate through the early stages of selling online.
You could look into our advanced strategies for increasing your eBay sales or your Amazon sales.
You may also want to start considering your pricing and shipping strategies.
Finally, if you’re selling on your own webstore, you need to focus on social media, email, and content marketing to get customers to your store and keep them coming back.
Now that you’re up and running, here are some practical tips to keep you on track:
- Tips on packaging and shipping.
- Tips for importing into the U.S.
- Tax basics.
- Other strategies to kickstart your eCommerce store.
Additionally, here are some other great blogs to follow that frequently post content to help you along your online selling journey:
- A Better Lemonade Stand - Richard shares his best for eCommerce.
- eCommerce Fuel - The online blog for an awesome conference.
- KissMetrics - All about marketing & A/B split testing.
- Practical Ecommerce - Tips and tricks for the eCommerce store owner.
- Social Media Examiner - The ultimate blog for social media marketing
We hope this guide has helped you understand the basics of selling online! If you follow the tips and tricks we’ve shared, we know you’ll be an eCommerce mastermind in no time.
eCommerce is a fantastic (and fun) way to make some extra cash online — and potentially build a full-time income. It also gives you the freedom to be your own boss while doing something you really love.
If you’ve found this article helpful, be sure to share it with your friends! As always, thanks for counting on SaleHoo to provide you with the tips and tricks needed to create your dream store.
Happy selling!
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