More and more people see the potential that the Internet has to sell. And it is that, not only because people are hyperconnected, but because it is the way to reach many more. Internet gives access to everyone. And that allows your products and / or services to reach many parts, not only in the city where you are established. But, how to sell online?
If you do not know exactly what to do, or how to achieve success in this "macro world", today we are going to explain the guidelines with which learn how to sell online. You just have to get down to work.
How to sell online: previous steps
Very well, you have made the decision to enter the digital world and put your products and / or services on sale. But how to do it? Many go crazy to build a website and think that, by having a presence on the Internet, they will already have sales. And that worked at the beginning of the digital age, but not now. If you notice, for each market there are thousands of stores, pages and other presence on the web that sell products. That translates into a lot of competition.
So, before reproducing "The Milkmaid's Tale" with your life, why don't you take some previous steps into account?
Think about what you are going to sell online
It must be said that the Market niches are very saturated today. For example, there are many electrical appliance stores, many of erotic toys, clothing ... So, if you get into a market where it is ruled by x stores, how are you going to compete with them? They have seniority, good (and loyal) customers and sales that promise profits and that they can invest in advertising.
In this case, it is better to choose smaller niches, as long as you can sell those products and that they are of quality, in addition to understanding that market.
Try to differentiate yourself
What makes your product different from others? That is what you have to encourage when it comes to knowing how to sell online. Do not look at the price, but what you can give value to a person if he opts for your product and not that of the competition.
Do not rush
Doing things running will only cause them to fail. And the presence on the Internet has to work perfectly. For example, imagine that you build a page and that, when they go to buy the product, it does not work, or it simply does not give the confidence to buy. It would be a total failure.
Therefore, you have to design the sales channels very well, since you not only have a web page (online store) to sell, there are many ways that we will talk about next.
How to sell online: sales channels
Before, we could say that the only way to sell was through online stores. And the truth is that we were also wrong. And the thing is that the Internet has been such a multidisciplinary place that, anywhere, you could sell your products. In fact, these are the channels that, even today, are still good sources of customers:
Forums
The forums were one of the main platforms when the Internet started to sell. In fact, it became the ideal place to buy and sell, both second-hand (individuals who sold their products), and new.
When they saw the potential, many who had stores or blogs were encouraged to join the forums and used to write there to advertise their products. Now, although the sale of individuals is allowed, in the case of companies it is not so simple because they see them intrusive in the forums. But it is an option to sell, especially if what you are going to work with are second-hand products.
Online store
It is perhaps one of the best options today. But also where you will find a lot of competition. In addition, it is not cheap because building an online store requires an investment that, depending on your budget, will be higher or lower.
Creating an online store can be done in several ways: Do it yourself, especially if you have enough knowledge to set it up, even using templates like WordPress and Woocommerce; request the services of a professional (it will be more expensive but you have more guarantees that you will not fail); or make use of companies that set up online stores on their servers (you must weigh whether it works for you since sometimes the positioning is not achieved for this reason).
Blog
Before online stores proliferated, there were blogs to fill that place. And it is that in a blog you could talk about many things, and also sell. In fact, today you can too.
Social Media
Social networks are one of those that, recently, have been put the batteries in terms of selling online. And it is that both Facebook and Instagram already have the option to sell, and surely the others will join soon.
When it comes to selling through social networks, you have the advantage that you don't need to have a web page. You can create your catalog on a Facebook page and start marketing and selling through it. It is ideal if your products are very customer-focused (and especially since practically everyone is on social media).
Amazon, AliExpress, Ebay ...
We have saved this for last, but in reality they are places that, sooner or later, you can end up in them to sell your products.
Both Amazon and AliExpress, Ebay and many other "big" names that we left ourselves, are one source of sales that you can take into account. And in fact, they are not exclusive, that is, you can sign up as a seller on these platforms and at the same time sell through more channels.
Of course, you have to take into account the quota they ask for to sell, since, if you do not obtain benefits in them, sometimes it is better to give them up. But they are places where many people enter, especially at Amazon, and by proposing a strategy that makes you stand out from your competitors, you can achieve results.
The same would happen with second-hand sales platforms, especially if what you are going to sell are products that you no longer use or are dedicated to second-hand products.