If you’re thinking of starting your own ecommerce business, then now is the ideal time. People are increasingly heading online for their shopping and the number is continuing to grow, with 68% of 16-24 year olds in the EU making online purchases and 69% of 25-54 year olds.
Setting up your own ecommerce business can provide a source of extra income, especially if you have a useful hobby that produces products that you can sell online. Here’s a few things to consider when setting up your ecommerce business.
What Are You Selling?
Maybe your hobby is calligraphy, or embroidery, or knitting, or customising clothes or furniture. Whatever you’re planning to sell, try to develop a unique selling point (USP) to help your business stay ahead of competition and to give your customers more reason to buy from you.
In fact, your USP could be your quality customer service. For example, you could provide a number of delivery options at cheap prices to encourage customers to buy from you. The delivery service you provide is one of the most important things for an ecommerce business to consider. Research shows that it can influence a customer’s decision-making process – 66% of people will buy goods from one retailer in preference to another if the delivery options are more appealing.
Building a Brand
Once you’ve decided on what you’re selling, next up is deciding on your brand. This is important as it can build value for your business – you can use it to create a recognisable logo on your website, business cards and advertising materials.
This brand recognition creates a sense of trust as consumers are more likely to buy from a business that appears polished and legitimate. Plus, it can influence the recommendations that customers will make to their friends – if they can’t remember your business name then they can’t tell friends about how great your business is.
Choose Your Online Platform
There are plenty of online platforms that you can use to sell your products – you don’t necessarily have to set up your own dedicated website for your ecommerce business.
Online marketplaces like Depop and Etsy are incredibly popular for setting up ecommerce businesses, but perhaps the most established is eBay. Figures released by Whistl showed continuing strong growth for eBay and they have detailed how setting up a shop there can significantly boost the exposure of your business and its products.
Don’t forget to consider your USP, your brand and the online marketplace you use when starting your ecommerce business. These can all contribute to how visible your online shop is and whether consumers will decide to do business with you. If you get these things right and your business is successful, your hobby could become an enjoyable full-time job.