Started a new ecommerce business, need advice

[Compu Parts]

Hello,

I'm posting it 1st time, I have started a new online business offering computer accessories and peripherals. Have started to use social media for marketing and just started listing a few items on ebay. The website has been live for the past month but not having a great success.
Can someone point me to the right direction please?

 

[MOIC]

Patience and as much marketing as is physically possible.

 

[NewGardenStyle]

What are you doing to market your site / products / services? It's a highly competitive market that you have entered; what is your strategy to stand out and take business from the competition?

 

[Compu Parts]

I am using social media to market the business, the main aspect of the competition is the price and product which I can price it cheaper than major retailers.

 

[NewGardenStyle]

Social media can work but it may take a long time to reap any benefits. In the case of your website, have you considered a PPC campaign? What are you doing SEO wise? It can take a lot of work, time and money to build up a website so don't be disheartened if you are yet to gain any traction with it. What you need though is a solid strategy to bring in targeted visitors.

 

[stevebrownlie]

Computer hobby builder type forums might be a good place to have a presence in addition to the other suggestions people have made.

I haven't looked but I'm sure there will be some notable brands/media outlets in the niche too where you could target their audiences with Facebook ads. Depends on your profit margin, of course, whether that kind of advertising will work - what % of revenue can you afford to spend on marketing to get a good return?

 

[fisicx]

Have started to use social media for marketing..

That's your first mistake. People buying accessories will use google and shopping platforms to look for their gizmos and gadgets.

If you want people to find your products you need to advertise just like everyone else. SM is not the platform to do this.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

SM will spread awareness of your company if done right but as others have said you also need to focus on other areas of marketing. Is your website using any particular platform (WordPress, WooCommerce, Joomla, Drupal etc) and does it have tools for managing your SEO. Consider Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising if you have the funds, you can sometimes get Google Adwords vouchers to start you off.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

As above social media is about twits talking to each other who are not looking to buy anything , all you are doing is informing them you are there, just like a restaurant or any other company

You need to sell and to do that you need to be where people are looking for your product be it Ebay , Some other auction type site or on one of the main search engines

Realistically you stand no chance of being in the top two pages of any search engine for computer parts except:-
You pay per click
You use pay per click local (cheaper)

I invest many thousands of pounds each month to advertise my sites to get enough customers, you will need to invest whatever you can if you want to get anywhere, there is really no cheap or free route to sales on the internet without cost as a start-up, SEO takes a long time and again with so many big companies you are a David with lots of Goliath's all with money to fight

So my realistic view is you only have Ebay or Amazon to try and get sales in this particular field or a local shop in your town

 

[fisicx]

SM will spread awareness of your company if done right...

Even if SM raises awareness of the company people will still shop around for the best deals. At the moment the OP is just one of many hundreds all selling the same things.

 

[Compu Parts]

Thanks foor the advice, what would be the best way forward?

 

[Compu Parts]

Having very limited funds, what would be the best way to advertise the business. My website is live now, using wordpress and paypal as the payment gateway. I have listed a few items on ebay as a private seller to start of with.

Thinking of doing the same on Amazon but i've heard that it's a bit different from eBay.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Not trying to be rude but did you make a full business plan before you decided to start, or did you just jump in feet first

 

[Compu Parts]

I did a business plan and had the funding side sorted however,at the last minute everything changed meaning that I had to fund the business myself.

 

[fisicx]

If you have limited funds then focus your efforts on eBay and Amazon. But unless your prices are comparable to your competitors you will struggle to attract buyers.

The website will just be sideline until you have the funds to market it properly.

 

[DD-Matthew]

Hello,

I'm posting it 1st time, I have started a new online business offering computer accessories and peripherals. Have started to use social media for marketing and just started listing a few items on ebay. The website has been live for the past month but not having a great success.
Can someone point me to the right direction please?

Are you getting much traffic through your website?

Social media is a good free option, however it can take a while before you see any real results depending on your products. There are lots of computer accessories shops out there at the moment, what makes your business different? Why should I order from you?

Look at sales closer to home your local market, once your name starts getting around you will see those sales flying in.

- Matthew

 

[japancool]

If your only USP is price, ebay and Amazon may be your best options. In order to use SM successfully, your product will need to be something people want to share with their friends, and "I can get a graphics card £10 cheaper" isn't.

 

[IanG]

Competing on price against people doing hundreds of times your quantities is never going to end well.

 

[Jamie R]

For new website I recommend using Google Display Network as it's a lot cheaper than regular PPC and gets traffic coming to your site (I'd also setup Google Remarketing as well).

Good luck!

Jamie

 

[Lovelybear]

1. keep updating new products.
2. improve your products description.
3. Social media marketing, it's a long term plan.
4. if the budget is limited, eBay or Amazon would be better.
4. Be patience and wait.

 

[bizzyrizzy]

Have a way to capture your visitors email address (email pop-up) using a discount voucher or other benefit to visitor then add to mailchimp or similar. Then send well designed newsletters out frequently with the latest industry news, and your store offers etc.

Maybe even add your own well written computer heading with a summary they can't resist of how to/tips to the same email newsletter to get them to click the link back to your website to read the whole article..

The above certainly doesn't cost much to do..

 

[frederik van lierde]

I would first see who are your buyers
Where do they hang out
As stated several times above, you are in a very competitive area.

We see Social Media more like a customer service. This means they need to be customer first.

Make a list
- Who buys from your competitors, (start asking questions on SM who bought from them, check your competitors followers etc. See if they "chat" or not etc.
- Make a list of other website / forums where they hang out. (if they do)
- Go Off Line. Check out market places where people, future customers gather.
It is a lot of work, but mandatory to success. Start blocking 1h a day , in the morning. To check out your future competitors

Good luck

 

[Paul Roberts]

As mentioned, the market you have entered is extremely overcrowded, margins are general low & you need to sell a lot to make any decent returns. However, if you can differentiate and make your business stand out from the rest you may have some luck with lots of determination and patience.

I founded TheCoolingShop.com in 2001 and sold the business in 2005 after 4 amazing years. One of our clients WaterCooling UK is a big player in the enthusiast market, therefore my advice would be:-

- Try and build and sell custom products and bundles so it's harder for your customers to price compare your offering. You want to sell solutions that help customers solve a problem and makes life easy for them, for example, Ready made bare bones bundles & barebones PCs kits.
- Follow the EBay route, find a product that works, ie makes good margin, and try to sell 10 a day of that one item. It will take time to gain traction with this, and it depends on your current eBay account status, feedback etc.
- Try to start small and expand from there, your choice of product and price is crucial
- Offer all eBay customers a discount code with their purchase, ie 10% off at your website.
- Over time your website will grow, but it will take time and clever planning.
- if you get known for hot deals, you'll gain a following, and people will start pinning your site on places like HotUkDeals, which can bring in 300 visits in one go (if it's a great deal). However don't be tempted to post offers on these sites yourself, you need genuine customers to spread the word.
- Don't overly rely on social media, it's really hard to get sales that way!

 

[antropy]

Here's an overview of things you could try:
http://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/ecommerce-marketing-strategies-overview/

Having said that, eBay is a good place to start to test the market and build up sales.