An increasing number of people who are looking to earn some income on the side is starting to run small e-commerce websites. With some initial investment in getting the platform up and running an online store that operates using drop shipping can be a relatively useful money maker while at the same time not being overly demanding on time. It is certainly not something that can run completely by itself, but at the same time, with the right strategy in place and a structured plan for operations and finance it can tick over quite comfortably. If this is a side-hustle that you are considering, then here are a few tips to help you on your way to success.
You need customers
In order to justify the expenses involved in setting up the whole platform, you are going to need to ensure that you are getting traffic. A strategy to drive users is key and in this regard, you might want to make contact with an eCommerce SEO agency. These people are experts in their field, and they will help to position your site so that it is top of the results. Top of the results is where you need to be as this is where the most clicks derive from. And given the size of the global audience, if you have no restrictions on where you will post to, a well-optimised site has almost limitless potential.
Pay for users
Do some sums and implement an arbitrage model. Search traffic is not just about SEO Melbourne based agencies will tell you, it is also about paid search. This is nice because it can be done on a CPA or CPC basis which means that although you are paying more per click than you would with a CPM model, you are only paying for when users come through to your site. If you are converting a good number of these into sales, then the cost is justified, and it can even be added to the price of the items that you are selling.
Know your niche
In setting up an Ecommerce shop you need to know your products and your market. There is no point in trying to offer too much as you simply won’t be able to compete with the big players. Stores like Shopify, Amazon, Wish, and Alibaba are global brands that offer access almost everything and who will deliver anywhere. Then most major retailers also have an online presence and a regional focus on the countries in which they have stores. So, competing with them will just see you get lost in the noise. Rather focus on a narrow niche – one where you have experience and knowledge. Maybe you want to do fly-fishing goods or Ultimate Frisbee kit. Maybe it is lipsticks. Whatever it is make your store the online destination for people who are looking for those specific products. The bigger stores are for general shopping, yours must cater to a specific audience in order to justify being more expensive.
