How to Move Your Offline Business to an eCommerce Platform?
With a large part of the consumer world now moving to the digital space, it is time to move your offline business into the e-commerce space. You can sign up with popular online sellers such as Amazon through the Amazon seller registration feature to explore the digital marketplace. The digital space might seem mind-boggling at first, but if you follow these simple steps, you can easily set up your online seller registration.
Steps to Convert Your Offline Business into an eCommerce Store
1. Choose Your Online Products or Services
The first step towards setting up your online business is to select the products or services that you would like to offer through an online marketplace. Check your inventory to understand if you have high-selling products or services that have high potential in the online space. Or you may want to list out all your products and services in a smaller tab on the website and highlight the high selling products on your page. Once you register yourself, consider listing and cataloging the items.
Write a Copy That Sells
The next important step is to create content that can arrest the interest of your audience and create a successful sales pitch. The copy describing your product should have a compelling headline. You may point out a common problem that your target audiences face and explain why your product is unique in solving this problem. Establish your credibility as a solver of the problem. Throw in a few testimonials from other happy customers to further emphasize credibility. Following this, make a compelling offer and provide a strong guarantee. To round it up, you may also create urgency by specifying a deadline for a deal and or a sale. Hiring an agency that specializes in eCommerce marketing services can help you accomplish this!
Design and Build Your Website
Once you have chosen the products you want to sell online and have devised the selling process, the next step would be to set up a website. While building your website, you should remember that the attention span of an online user is very short - just about five seconds. So you need to use the best possible approach to keep the consumer hooked. Pick a simple font on a white background, cut down on the text, use graphics, pictures and videos to explain your products and services better. Also remember to keep the navigation simple, consistent and quick. You can add an opt-in option to collect e-mail addresses. Most importantly, keep it customer-friendly!
Use Search Engines to Drive Targeted Buyers to Your Site!
Post your online seller registration; you can use pay-per-click advertising to drive traffic to your website. PPC ads appear immediately on search engines. Besides, they allow you to review the keywords that result in maximum conversions for SEO Optimization of your copy. If you plan to become a seller on Flipkart or Amazon, hiring professionals who provide Flipkart and Amazon SEO and PPC campaign management services and help.
2. Define the Customers for Your Online Business
Your online customers could be very different from your regular offline customers. It is important to define your target audience before starting your online business to drive sales. This will require you to analyze all data you have from your previous sales, doing more research on the potential customers and building a buyer persona. Several tools are available online to help you set up this buyer persona.
Develop a Pricing Strategy to Get Your Business Online
Developing the pricing strategy is one of the most important tasks to undertake after online seller registration. Research your competition and factor in the additional taxes that you will have to pay while deciding on the price of each product. Keep in mind the following:
A Doing Business As certificate (DBA) is required if you are going to operate your online business under a name different from your offline business.
If you are launching an online business to resell merchandise, you will have to get a resale certificate to protect you from paying sales tax.
Your state may require you to obtain a sales tax certificate. It helps to get a better idea of the legalities and financial liabilities involved.
Create a Content and Promotion Strategy
Having a content and promotion strategy in place before you hire a writer can help you promote your business easily. You need to consider the issues your target audience is facing, understand the kind of content they respond to the most and plan the strategy with the help of keywords that are used the most. Once you have the strategy in place, you can list out the topics that you want to cover and set a timeline for posting. Mix up your content with text, pictures, videos and graphics for greater appeal.
Develop an eCommerce Marketing Plan
The next step would be putting in place an e-commerce marketing plan. All the research you did to understand the kind of audience you want, your products, their prices, and more will pay you off now. You can now decide and plan your digital marketing strategy with the help of the information you have already gathered. You can also contact a professional agency for eCommerce marketing services in the USA and India, such as Amazon marketing services.
3. Getting Traffic for a Profitable Online Business
Besides your content and digital marketing strategies, you might want to invest in a newsletter that talks about your upcoming products and services or market your products on social media. You can also get local bloggers and influencers to talk about your products. Offer a special discount or coupon code to your offline customers on shopping online. These approaches put together can drive a lot of traffic organically to your online store.
10 Advantages of Having an Online Business
If you are still in two minds about moving your well-established offline business to the new and unknown digital space, here are a few advantages of having an online business to help you decide better:
a. Reduced Operational Costs: An online business is far more economical as you do not have to worry about rent and other operational costs. All you will need for an online business is a domain name and a web hosting package.
b. Effective & Targeted Marketing: Marketing on the internet is far more effective and affordable as compared to traditional media. You can also measure the impact of your marketing and advertising campaigns and tweak them for better results. Furthermore, you can use targeted campaigns to reach out to specific regions, age groups, and more.
c. Eco-Friendly: An online business will help you reduce carbon-footprints and save on electricity and water. Documentation can be done online, which reduces the use of paper.
d. 24/7/365: You can keep your business running throughout the day, week and year. All business will happen online, while you can attend to other business-related commitments and engagements.
e. Build Brand Credibility: Your website or social media pages can serve as an interface between you and your consumers. By engaging with your audience, you not only build brand credibility but also build a relationship with them which can help you in the long run.
f. Social Media Phenomenon: With the growing popularity of social media, more and more people are now turning towards social media for their shopping needs. By building your presence on social media platforms and engaging with your audiences, you can not only tap into new customers but also enhance your brand value.
g. Go Global: The best part about running an online business is that the world becomes your playground. You can expand your reach and target customers in any part of the world.
h. Flexibility: You can run and manage your online business from anywhere, instead of restricting yourself to a particular location. You may use a mobile device and a stable connection to take orders or set up deliveries on the go.
i. Relevance: In today's digital era, not having a website can be a severe blow to your reputation and credibility. Having a well-designed one can help enhance the reach of your online business.
j. Niche is nice: You may have doubts about the market potential of your product. However, you are yet to explore the vast expanse on online consumerism and you would be surprised at the response that niche products receive from the global audience.
Launch
Now that you have identified your products or services, your target consumers, your pricing strategy, the marketing and promotion strategy for your products and website and obtained all the required licenses and certificates - you are ready for the big day!
You can plan an offline event or make your page go live without any fanfare. Pat yourself on the back and sit back as the online consumer world unfolds itself before you!
Let Our Experts Help You!
If you need help with Amazon seller registration in the USA and India for your business, let us help you! Your Seller specializes in eCommerce marketing services, Amazon seller registration, listing and cataloging, marketplace onboarding, and other Amazon services. You can reach out to us by calling +91 9909513312 or e-mail us at contact@yourseller.in for more information. We'll be happy to help you!
Also Read:
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