Sunday, May 18, 2014

E-Commerce is hard but can be easier than Bricks and Mortar commerce

I saw a recent article claiming that Ashton Kutchers Pickwick Weller Closes Up Shop Reminding Us That E-Commerce Is Plain Hard and thought I would clear up a few things.

E-Commerce is hard as this article details but no harder than bricks and mortar commerce but it can be easier than Bricks and Mortar commerce if you start up right.  Here are some simple steps:

1) Choose a product to sell.  This is the hard part, I suggest taking some time to ask some friends and brainstorm more than one idea for a product.  To reduce risk keep the cost of making a product low and the amount of time to make them low. This will allow you to make them as they sell rather than having a large inventory. Keep a small inventory to start.

2) Do some market research.  This is a bit simpler.  Once you come up with some products, create a free survey on survey monkey and send it around to your friends and connections, ones you trust not to copy your idea.  Which product would you buy? Why and Why Not?

3) Creating a store.  The simplest and most economical way to do this is create a Shopify Store.  A basic store starts at $29/month.  Test selling for a couple months.

4) Market your product.  There are cheap ways to market your product. You can create a blog on blogger and write a couple articles on it.  Be sure to put Google Analytics and Adsense on our blog to get your article noticed on search. Describe all the good uses for it.  Share this article on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.  You may also take advantage of Facebook or Google Ads.  Google often offers $100 free ads for new signups.

5) Analyze the results. Check on our store, are you selling well or not.  As you started with a single product idea and a Shopify store you kept your investment small, less to lose. If that item sells well you can upgrade your Shopify store to contain more items. If your store is doing amazing and you are really expanding then you can invest in a larger e-commerce solution and a larger store front. If it does not sell well you can pick another product and try again J

In conclusion, the important thing is don't dive into the pool without checking if there is water. E-Commerce is hard, but there are lots of ways to keep it simple and investment low to reduce risk.  Maybe your first product will not sell but with this approach, using minimal investment you can try multiple time to be successful rather than diving in with a large investment once.

If you would like help getting started please email us at chris.williams@readwatchcreate.com

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