New to online retailing-general guidance needed!

[DZ1.]

Evening all,

I'm looking for any guidance that could be given to me as a starting point to build up my knowledge/understanding of the online retail world. General questions? How/where are products sourced? General levels of margin (presumably better than bricks and mortar outlets?)

Ideally if you have any books or websites that you feel will have a wealth of info for me to swat up on it would be more help than you can imagine!

Apologies for the basic nature of the post, just ensuring I'm not papering over any cracks in my knowledge at this stage!

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Products are sourced from wholesalers or made yourself. Go to Amazon and type Ecommerce.

 

[Andy777]

Evening all,

I'm looking for any guidance that could be given to me as a starting point to build up my knowledge/understanding of the online retail world. General questions? How/where are products sourced? General levels of margin (presumably better than bricks and mortar outlets?)

Ideally if you have any books or websites that you feel will have a wealth of info for me to swat up on it would be more help than you can imagine!

Apologies for the basic nature of the post, just ensuring I'm not papering over any cracks in my knowledge at this stage!

Take a look @ my free blog & free video lessons covering eCommerce, eBay, product sourcing and related topics:

http://andrewminalto.com/
http://www.easyauctionbusiness.com/products-to-sell-on-ebay/

If you have any specific questions, let me know!

Thanks,
Andy

 

[serendipitybusiness]

It all depends on your setup, look at your market, your type of supply ie direct despatch or distribute yourself, demand for the product, possibility of repeat business and the cost of aquisition of your order, how long it takes to process, fault rate, fraud rate and then margin.

If you have an easy product with still a good amount per sale that covers your cost to get the customer, cost to process the order and covers costs of losses etc, then you can accept a smaller margin. If you are making £1 and a 100% margin on the order but it takes you 20 mins to process, pack and post then it is not worth it.

It sounds like you are starting from the beginning so I would recommend two books that arn't specific to ecommerce but are great business books and will help you set the right foundation and point you in the right direction with starting your business in general. They are a must in my opinion for any new internetprenuer if they are serious about getting ahead.

4hr work week by Tim Ferris
$100 startup

 

[rayvellest]

Research, research and a bit more research, that's the best advice you'll get around here. Be sure to spend a considerable amount of time learning everything that there is to know about the specific market you want to work with, and then give a special attention to understand how the competition behave in this market. Do your homework and that will help you understand if you are making the right choices regarding your business.

 

[antropy]

Hi there

I'd say initially look at testing the market by selling products on eBay. That will tell you if there's demand and if you can compete. It will get you used to keeping customers satisfied and get your fulfilment process (wrapping, posting stuff out, printing labels and invoices) all sorted.

Once that's going well, look at setting up your own website too. The website should have at least these 12 features and probably a lot more!
http://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/12-essential-ecommerce-website-features/

Paul

 

[jams111]

poster program is which program or software that is provided best poster printing software and solution.

 

[amac]

Hi there

I'd say initially look at testing the market by selling products on eBay. That will tell you if there's demand and if you can compete.

Exactly, these marketplaces are perfect to see both if people are interested in your products and crucially, if they're willing to pay enough to afford you margin.

 

[wayzgoose]

Exactly, these marketplaces are perfect to see both if people are interested in your products and crucially, if they're willing to pay enough to afford you margin.

Have to disagree there. I can get at least 25% more on website sales than ebay sales. So if I'd tested on Ebay to start with I may well have decided that the margins weren't large enough to carry on.

 

[DominicVaz]

They are a must in my opinion for any new internetprenuer.

 

[iKam]

Take a look @ my free blog & free video lessons covering eCommerce, eBay, product sourcing and related topics:

http://andrewminalto.com/
http://www.easyauctionbusiness.com/products-to-sell-on-ebay/

If you have any specific questions, let me know!

Thanks,
Andy

Great website Andy

 

[naturalinthemaking]

Have to disagree there. I can get at least 25% more on website sales than ebay sales. So if I'd tested on Ebay to start with I may well have decided that the margins weren't large enough to carry on.

Agree
I did some research based on my products I intend to sell and my overall feedback showed that for my product the customer audience would rather buy from a website small business than an ebay or amazon seller.
Exactly like the above quote if I go with Amazon or Ebay I will almost certainly fail. I think it depends on your sector as to what will work.

 

[Ecommerce Web Design]

we have a ecommerce setup guide here http://willows-consulting.com/ecommerce-setup/ecommerce-setup-guide.html
and we do an ecommerce blog too here. http://willows-consulting.com/blogs/E-Commerce/

You just need to keep reading and reading and the more you do the more you learn, but beware ecommerce is always changing so you'll need to stop reading at some point and take action.