E-commerce launch: 6 things to note before you start

Eric Pong
prior to ecommerce launch tips - Floship

Several e-commerce businesses have been booming for the past few years or so. An increase in the stability of the market, as well as better strategies, have ensured its success.
Given below are a few things that one needs to keep in mind prior to launching an e-commerce business.

Conducting Market Research: 

With the economy turning more competitive with each passing day, it is a must to have apt knowledge of various preferences and concerns of your customers.  This is where market research turns out to be important. Investing in an e-commerce business without great knowledge is a risky task. Hence, there is a need for enthusiasts to have a deep understanding of the various aspects of managing and maintaining a business. 
It is essential to create a business model that best suits the needs and requirements of the business, as no two e-commerce businesses could have the exact functioning strategy and feasible model. This research might provide answers to various questions that act as the stepping stone for the building of any e-commerce platform. These questions revolve around the basic ideology of the business, like product or service that is to be provided, the target audience, and the strategy that needs to be incorporated to ensure a successful launch. 

Finding your Niche: 

The accumulation of various products and ideas into a single business model could possibly turn out to be disastrous. Hence, there is the need for identifying the niche that has the highest success rates at any given point of time within a said locality. While narrowing down the various niche options, it is important to keep in mind that any business requires a stable market. Hence, one must choose a niche that has set base in the said locality and has higher chances of being established within a definite time. 
Having said this, it is crucial for business owners to focus on niches that have a competitive atmosphere while at the same time is not overly used in a said region at that particular time. Having picked a practical and functional niche will go a long way in helping with the expansion of the business, which would eventually gain large profits due to the increase in sales.  

Creating User Personas: 

Personas basically stand for the image that the organization wants to portray. This is extremely important as the image released to the general public is the basis on which the potential customers judge the quality of the services. Setting a persona that is both relatable and at the same time appealing to a majority is a tricky job. This acts as the deciding factor of the futuristic developments of the e-commerce business. 
Spend a large amount of time on speculating the various possibilities and options that one could choose from. This would help in comprehending the specific needs and the priorities of the firm to market this very ideology that would stand out and be impactful in the long run. The persona that is ultimately chosen is what the company stands for, and this gets communicated to the public. 

Selecting the Right Product: 

After having taken care of all the above-mentioned steps, it is now time to move on to the next stage, which is the selection of the product. The selection of the primary product needs to be done with extreme care as it often leaves a lasting impact on the minds of the general public. 
While choosing the product, try to understand the existing trends in the market and then estimate how long these trends would continue to flourish. This could be the deciding factor based on which the product could be finalized. If the markets seem to have extinguished its need for a particular resource, it’s always better to steer away from them as the chances of it resurfacing are very slim. Stick to products that haven’t quite gained momentum, but have very high chances of doing so in the upcoming years. This increases the success rates substantially, which would be greatly advantageous.

Creating Brand Value: 

The idea of brand value has been lingering around the e-commerce sector industries for a very long time. This has to do with the need for establishing the brands in a proper format, which would attract the attention of a larger number of people. Brand value is of topmost priority, as the sustainability of the product that is being sold by the e-commerce business greatly depends on it. To enhance brand value, one needs to resort to various marketing strategies that will automatically lift the business ideals to greater heights. It is also crucial for organizations to set up online platforms where the customers could have direct contact with officials of the firm and also be updated on the new developments that happen within the company. The better the brand value, the higher would be the sales. 
Establishing an e-commerce business is not an easy task, and often requires hard work and persistence. New business owners need to carry out these steps in a meticulous manner to ensure that the business kicks off in a smooth manner.

Outsourcing your Order Fulfillment

Attracting websites visitors and doing sales is difficult and time consuming as it is. You wouldn’t want to be wasting time on pick-packing your parcels, labeling them and shipping them yourself. Besides wasting a lot of time that you could otherwise spend on improving sales and marketing, you would also need to know a lot about individual country’s tax rates and regulations. Why not outsource it to an e-commerce order fulfillment provider who specializes in it?
Floship is one of Asia’s largest e-commerce order fulfillment providers, located in Hong Kong. We help companies like yours store, pick, pack and ship incoming orders internationally. Our software integrates seamlessly with over 65 different e-commerce marketplaces and platforms, such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento. For a fully custom, integrated and automated fulfillment process, reach out to Floship. Our solution experts will do their best to fully understand your business and provide you with a solid fulfillment strategy.

Author

Neeraj works as a Growth Assistant at AirTract, a go-to place for all expert advice wherein people ask questions, get video consultation, write articles, share knowledge and experience. Graduated as a Computer Science Engineer, he is now a digital marketing enthusiast who reads and finds the latest techniques to grow an organization. If he is not working, either he would be on a football pitch or listening to music.

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