Taiwo makes beautiful Ankara “infused” shirts and delivers first class service to his customers. He is much loved and respected so much that his customers refer him to others, and he has built loyalty with them. Taiwo however knows that the value he offers is needed by more people whose locations are significantly distant from his store, and he wants to take his business to them.
He begins to research ways to market his product beyond his physical location, and he discovers that he can own an online store and do business over the internet via e-commerce. During his research about the benefits of e-commerce, some facts caught his eyes and well, because Taiwo is very amiable, he wishes to share them with you.
Wider Customer Reach- There is no limit when it comes to your target audience. No longer do you have to be confined by the limits of your local vicinity. You can reach any location in the world and take advantage of new market opportunities.
Remain Open 24/7- Unlike your physical store, you can be open always. Even when you sleep, customers can find you and make purchases. Imagine making money while sleeping.
Better Management of Resources- Due to the automated sense of ecommerce, you can target a specific demography who will be interested in your product and service. This will save you from spending time and money marketing to people who are not your target customers.
Amazing! Isn’t it? The next thing for Taiwo to consider is how to set up his online store? Whilst he might need a technical hand in setting up his store online (except of course he has the knowledge of programming), there are some basic things he must consider, be apt about, and decide on as he sets up your online store.
Top on the list is Product and Consumer- Whatever preferences or model your store will adopt must be suited to your kind of product and the consumers expected to buy them. Proper research of your target audience is a ‘must-do’.
Actual store software- This is the software that drives all you do on your store, in other words it powers the store. You have two options to this- Hosted (which is basically running your store on an already created server), or Self-hosted (you pick and pay for the server, and download, install, and maintain the eCommerce software yourself). Your budget and level of expertise should be your major consideration.
A full security plan- Lots of personal and financial information will flow in and out of your site so you want to be sure your customers details are secured with you.
Choose a simple domain name- Your domain name must short, simple and describes your business.
Decide your payment gateway and shipping mode- There is no business without remuneration, so you must decide how payment will be made for services. Also, you must consider how goods will be delivered to customers in the places they chose to receive them. Great attention is needed here as this affects the integrity of the business.
Market your business- You must then begin to blow your own trumpet, and you will want to blow it loudly. Whether you leverage email, social media, SEO or other forms of online marketing, it's critical that you share your store with the masses.
Now, you are good to go! It’s safe to remind you that proper research must go down before you make any decision of how to set up your store. You should pay close attention to the trending issues and innovations in the ecommerce world. Both globally and locally, businesses in the ecommerce terrain are adopting the ‘mobile first’ approach i.e. making their websites more mobile friendly as a large percentage of the demography that shop online (18-34 year olds) use their mobile devices more. On the local scene, it is noted that returning customers buy more than new customers which means once you impress a customer, you stand a chance of having them shop with you again, you must therefore work on your early sales. Niche marketing is gradually coming to fore as more stores offer exclusive products not previously present in the market. As our world evolves, and technology advances, e-commerce will gain more acceptance and soon become a part of daily living for everyone. You should get started now.
