Thanks to the rise of dropshipping and ecommerce
it’s never been easier to run your own sidebusiness online.Yet it can still be a daunting process, and
oftentimes knowing exactly how to start anecommerce business – one that actually makes
money – can be remarkably difficult.If you’re thinking of starting an ecommerce
store, maybe you know the feeling too.But don’t worry, because in my hands is
a clipboard that changes everything.___Hi everybody, it’s Jessica from Oberlo,
and today I am going to share our How to Startan Ecommerce Store Checklist.We’ll go over everything you need to know
to setup your online business.We’ll cover ecommerce marketing, we’ll
talk about where to source products, and we’llshare a few other tips and tricks.By the end of this video, you’ll see that
creating an ecommerce business is much moredoable than you might have thought.Ready?Let’s get started.Our nine-point ecommerce checklist begins
with finding the right platform.By platform, we mean a virtual space for your
ecommerce business.Just like a brick and mortar store, you’re
going to need a virtual location to showcaseyour products.We use a basic ecommerce store template made
by Shopify.Their software is intuitive and used by millions
of ecommerce entrepreneurs all around theworld.If you want an in-depth tutorial guiding you
through each and every step of building anonline store with Shopify, just click the
link in the description below.The next item on our checklist: finding productsIf you’re a complete newbie to the world
of ecommerce, you might be wondering whatexactly you should sell.There are literally millions of products to
choose from, so finding the right productfor you may seem a little daunting.In fact, not knowing what to sell is one of
the most common reasons why people don’tfollow through with their ecommerce ambitions.Here are two things to think about when it
comes to picking a product to sell:First, is the product trending?And second, is the product easy to find elsewhere
or available on popular ecommerce sites likeAmazon?You can check if a product is trending or
forecasted to trend by using Google trends.Google Trends tracks how often a particular
search-term is entered relative to the totalsearch-volume across various regions of the
world, and in various languages.This gives you a sense of how often people
are looking for a particular product.If more and more people are searching for
a product every month, we can safely say thatproduct is trending.At Oberlo we have lots of resources to help
you find great products to sell online, fromOberlo search tools to our product recommendation
videos on YouTube.There is a link to one of those videos in
the description below – so head there todiscover some great products on Oberlo.If a product is easy to find elsewhere, it
might be a generic product.Generic products like jewelry or books are
already widely available.New dropshippers trying to sell products like
these will struggle to compete against biggerecommerce stores.The better strategy is to find a niche product
or set of products that appeal to a particularaudience.How do you do that?Start by making a list of product ideas you
want to sell in your ecommerce store.Ask yourself what your friends, family, and
other like-minded people might be interestedin buying.Then go online and see how easy it is to find
the products on your list.What can you find on sites like Instagram,
Pinterest, or Etsy?If there are limited options on those sites,
you might be on to a great product idea.Moving on now with our checklist to: product
sourcingNow that you’ve picked your product, it’s
time for you to find a supplier.This is where the dropshipping business model
is worth mentioning.Among entrepreneurs, dropshipping is growing
more popular every year.Why?It requires less investment up front, because
there’s no requirement that merchants stocktheir own inventory.Here’s how dropshipping works: You find
products on an ecommerce marketplace likeOberlo.Then you import those products into your store.When a customer purchases one of those items,
you then place the order with a third partysupplier, and they ship the item directly
to the customer.With dropshipping, you never have to handle
merchandise.You can also swap out products in your store
in minutes, giving you the flexibility tostay on top of current trends .In addition, apps like Oberlo automate a lot
of this process for you.This gives you more time to focus on things
that will help you to scale your business– like coming up with a great ecommerce
marketing strategy.We’ll get to that later.If you’re looking for products to sell on
Oberlo, make sure you also look for the blueOberlo Verified badge.These are top dropshipping suppliers.Suppliers with the Verified badge have successfully
completed a minimum of 1,000 orders with Oberlo.They deliver on time, meet
expectations, and they provide fast supportOberlo vets all of these suppliers to ensure
they have their paperwork in order, maintainexcellent warehouse conditions, and consistently
get positive merchant feedback.Then and only then do they become Verified
suppliers with Oberlo.Next on our checklist: Ecommerce marketingAlright, you’ve set up your store and are
ready to take orders.You have a great product and you’re working
with a great supplier.Now what?It’s time to find some customers for your
store with a sensible ecommerce marketingstrategy.We can’t emphasise enough how vital it is
to focus your energy and time on marketing.Before you do anything else with your store,
ensure that you can generate traffic and reachpotential customers.The key to ecommerce marketing is to find
the right channel for your products.After that, fine tune your strategy so that
the cost of finding a customer is less thanwhat you earn from the sale.This is quite a meaty subject, with lots to
get your teeth into.In fact, we’ve written an eight-chapter
ebook with all you need to know about marketingchannels – click the link in the description
to download your copy for free.The marketing to-dos on our ecommerce store
checklist don’t stop there.The next point on our checklist is Customer
Service.Research suggests that 45% of US customers
will abandon an online transaction if theirquestions or concerns are not addressed quickly.Having customer service is critical to your
online store’s long term success.Luckily, there are several ways to offer great
customer service:First, you can create self-service content
and a detailed FAQ page.This helps your customers answer their own
questions without emailing you, which savestime and energy for both of you.Second, you can offer live chat support if
you have enough time.This might be a good thing to do in the beginning,
when traffic isn’t quite flooding in.And you’ll learn a lot about your market
by addressing customer questions directly.Finally, you can ask your first customers
to give product reviews.These reviews go a
long way towards answering other customers’questions about how a product fits or functions.Plus, reviews give your store valuable social
proof and create repeat customers, which arefive times cheaper to acquire than new ones.Yep, five times !Our checklist continues with: Conversion OptimizationOn average, 69% of your website visitors will
leave your site without completing a purchase.How much more profit would you make if that
69% completed a purchase?It’s certainly worth investing some time
to find a way of capturing your abandonedcarts at the checkout.We’ve seen several tactics work well for
dropshippers.For example, you can create limited-time offers.Or you can launch a cart abandonment emails
campaign.You can even set up a retargeting ads campaign.Get creative.This is an aspect of entrepreneurship that
requires constant experimentation.If something comes to mind that you think
will make customers more likely to buy yourproducts, try it out.Measure the results.And try again.We’re almost at the end of our checklist
with: Store OptimizationHere’s something worth remembering: 44%
of online shoppers will tell their friendsabout a bad experience online.This is why you should always keep the performance
of your website in mind, and seek to optimizeit wherever possible.Improve your website speed.Create an intuitive navigation bar.Focus on creating a great product page.Display related items.Optimize your store search.Lastly, check how your store looks on mobile
and tablet devices . This is when those littlestore tweaks can add up to a big impact on
your bottom line.Let’s tick off the final two items on the
checklist.Starting with: InventoryBest selling products come and go.After all, remember the fidget spinner?That’s why your
inventory is vital.As an entrepreneur, you should always be curious
about new product ideas that could enticevisitors to your store.At the same time, you should always be revisiting
your stock of steady-selling product.If something isn’t selling, replace it with
an item that’s flying off the virtual shelf.Get into the habit of testing products every
day.Research new products using Google trends,
and add promising new products to your existingones to help drive sales.And the last point on our ecommerce checklist:
Learn by doingIt’s all part of the fun of being an entrepreneur.It’s fine to make mistakes.In fact, that’s often how we learn best.And anyway, what are you going to do if you
mess up?Fire yourself? Probably
not.Be curious, be bold, and build your store
sooner rather than later.You can see how the creme de la creme of Shopify
store owners set up their stores in our BestShopify stores YouTube videos.Simply click the link in the description and
get inspired by the most successful storeson the Shopify platform.What do you think of our ecommerce store checklist
– did we miss anything?Do you agree with how much emphasis we put
on marketing?Are there any apps that you would recommend
to first time store owners?Tell us in the comments!I personally read the comments and will get
back to you.For more tips and guides on ecommerce and
dropshipping, click subscribe and turn onthat notification bell.Thanks for watching – until next time: learn
often, market better, and sell more.
Source
