In today’s fast-paced world, time has become one of the most precious commodities. People are always on the hunt for convenience and quick fixes and are increasingly looking to shop online for a smoother customer experience. With 22 billion monthly visits and a market nearing $5 billion, the eCommerce trend is predicted to escalate manifold.
With the eCommerce boom, now is the best time to move away from the brick-and-mortar model and start devoting your energy to building your eCommerce brand. Here’s how you can start your very own eCommerce brand in 6 simple steps:
6 Steps to Start an Ecommerce Brand
1. Research Your Ecommerce Niche
The first step to starting an eCommerce business is identifying the niche. Instead of going after a general audience, eCommerce businesses have more chances of success by targeting a specific audience. Amazon started in a niche; only after it became successful selling books online did Amazon get into other categories.
Whatever niche you choose, make sure it represents your interest. Like any successful business, consistency is a must. And if you don’t feel passionate about what you sell and do, you will lose interest along the way. Your passion will be the fuel to add value to your business and customer’s life.
Don’t choose oversaturated niches already filled with hundreds of established competitors. Their strong domain presence would be a downside for your business.
2. Research and Evaluate Your Product
Develop a clear and well-defined customer persona to target the ideal customer. Customer personas are a great tool to direct your marketing efforts, helping you communicate with your target audience with the right messaging at the different stages of the customer journey with your brand. A clear picture of the customer segment you are going to serve will help identify the right product ideas.
To hunt for your product in your chosen niche, try to think about how you can add value to people’s problems and gain a competitive edge. You can pick insights directly from talking to the people buying similar products to ask what they find lacking in their customer experience and purchased products.
Another way is to go for a micro niche selling complementary products like smartphone accessories. To gain ideas and fill in on any potential gaps, engage in online communities or relevant forums and look at product reviews on Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, etc.
Before jumping into selling the product, test the waters. Make sure to evaluate your product research. Some of the factors included in the evaluation are competition, profitability, marketing, and growth potential/trends. Try this product evaluator tool to evaluate your product’s strengths and weaknesses.
3. Choose Your Ecommerce Business Model
Take your time to learn about the different eCommerce business models. Depending on what each model requires and offers, you would better be able to structure your business.
If you don’t want to get involved in the physical handling of the product, you can choose between dropshipping and print-on-demand. And if you are interested in dealing with physical products, you can explore wholesale or retail business models. You can get into manufacturing if you have a product idea to develop, sell, and build a brand.
Also, deciding the channels you want to sell is the next logical move. Ask questions like ‘do you want to sell products on selling sites and online marketplaces?’ or ‘do you want to start your store?’ to pin down your eCommerce business model.
4. Establish Your Brand Identity
In this oversaturated market, the importance of building a brand can not be ignored. Whatever product ideas you might come up with for your venture, there may be businesses selling products in that niche. Instead of beating around the big names in your niche, be strategic about your brand positioning. Your product might not be entirely unique, but positioning it to speak to your ideal customer’s needs can establish your presence.
Choose a brand name and look consistent with your niche. Get a logo for your business and a slogan. A logo is always specific to a brand, the first thing people recognize when visiting your store. It does not have to be complicated, just be thoughtful about it and choose a design that’s light on the eyes and easy on the mind. A slogan is optional but can help your customer connect with your brand ideology.
Decide the colors of your brand consistent with your target audience and niche. The overall brand look, including fonts and imagery, is vital for any business and should be given due consideration. Go for a brand look that costumes can identify at a glance. And use this handful of colors on all of your digital (website, email, social media) or physical (product, packaging) assets.
5. Finalize Your Legal Requirements and Business Plan
After gaining clarity on what your business will look like, make it concrete with a solid business plan and complete the registration of your business and all the legal requirements.
Get your Tax Identification Number, also referred to as Employer Identification Number. Find out the process of registering your business followed in your geography, and get a business license and permit. If you need help meeting all the legal requirements, you can seek mentors and hire experts.
Having a reliable vendor is another critical piece of the e-commerce business puzzle. Your time, money, and business reputation are directly linked to the vendor you work with. Therefore, extensive research and satisfaction are imperative to finding a reliable vendor. Consider price, product quality, customer service, market reputation, communication, product-related policies, and work ethics while deciding on the vendor.
6. Create Your Online Store
Once you have decided on your niche, product, and business plan and are also done with the legal requirements of starting an eCommerce business, it’s time to go online & show your presence. Register a domain with your brand name, and build the store using the brand colors and theme chosen in the previous step.
There are plenty of eCommerce platforms to choose from. Consider factors like compatibility with payment gateways, scalability, SEO friendliness, and your web development skills while deciding on the right platform that fits your needs. Some famous names include Woocommerce, Magento, Shopify, and Big commerce.
Don’t fret too much about aiming for a professionally designed online store when building your online store. Choose a free theme or a template for a few dollars. Make sure your website copy speaks to your audience and products are listed correctly. Set up your social media accounts and email marketing workflows. Ensure your chosen eCommerce platform can integrate with different eCommerce marketplaces.
Next, you need to market your store to drive traffic to your site. Based on your budget, determine your marketing strategy to be paid, organic, or both.
Summary
Here is a quick summary of the steps covered in this article to build an ecommerce brand;
- Research the ecommerce niche of your interest
- Research and evaluate your product ideas
- Choose an e-commerce business model that meets your needs
- Establish your brand identity
- Finalize your legal requirements and business plan
- Create your online store and market it to attract customers
Ready for success? With so many successful examples to serve as motivation, it is time to think big and embark on your adventure. Stay tuned for more industry insights and eCommerce tips!
