Posts Tagged customer service
Creating Your Very Own E-Commerce Online Business
Posted by Wholesale News in Bulk Drop Shipping, Ebay, Home Based Business, Wholesale, eBusiness on August 28th, 2009
Many people in today’s dwindling economy have started to look at the the possibility of starting their own online business to take advantage of the internet while they still can. With the cost of living on the rise, this can be a very good idea.
The internet has become so widely available that many people from all over the world have access to it. The internet has become a place where people can socialize with friends, look up information, or even go shopping. The internet is growing everyday, so why not take advantage of these potential customers by starting your own e-commerce business.
Most people on the internet are classified as customers, or users. These are the people that are using the services provided on the internet instead of providing services. There are thousands of ways to start an online business, from banks to shoe stores, the list is endless.
Your best option is to create an e-commerce business selling retail products. This means you are selling items based on the demand of what your customers want. A wholesale supplier is the most efficient way to source these items. There’s a wholesale supplier for almost everything, from clothes to automotive goods. This is the most important thing you should look at when starting an online business.
First, you should determine what kind of products you would like to sell in e-commerce. You should try to carve yourself a niche instead of just selling a wide range of wholesale products. For example, maybe you would like to sell pet goods. Before you get your pet goods online business going, you should always make sure that there is a market of potential customers who are going to buy your products. If you are offering cheap and high quality products, though, you can rest assured that there will probably be customers buying from you.
After you have thought about what you want to sell, your next step is to create your e-commerce website. There are a couple of options when doing this, whether you want to use a generic solution or create a store that is specifically designed to meet your needs. Both ways are perfectly fine, just as long as the customer can purchase your products with ease.
Unless you have set up an e-commerce website before, it might be helpful to hire someone to do it for you. As an alternative method, you could see if your wholesale supplier offers an e-commerce solution that you could use.
Once your website has been created and you are ready to sell products through your online business, it’s now time to find your customers. This is easier than it sounds so don’t let it deter you. All you need to do is market and advertise in the right places and you should have customers in no time at all. Your goal when running an online business is to make as much profit as possible while also doing as little work as possible. If you are looking for some extra money to come your way, starting an e-commerce online business is definitely a viable solution. While it may be hard work at first, it will certainly pay off later on.
Coupons plus Discount Codes Impulses Volume Orders
Posted by Andrea in Home Based Business, eBusiness on June 15th, 2009
Every seller should know that the quickest way to a consumer’s heart is offering discounts and freebies on a purchase. Free gifts make people feel as though they are getting something for, well, free, and thus they will spend a bit more to get it. The other day I was faced with a free gift with a purchase of $50 or more. I had only intended on spending about $30 on the purchase but when confronted with the lure of a free gift if I spent just $20 more I went ahead and took the plunge. I am not alone and consumers around the world love the idea of getting something free, even if it means spending a bit more than they intended.
Business owners have long considered offering freebies and discounts to customers, but in these lean economic times it is more important than ever. Coupons and discount codes are regularly searched for on the internet and entire websites are dedicated to providing discount and promo codes to Google searchers. An e-Business can profit greatly from offering discounts, even if logically it makes little sense.
According to WOW Voucher Codes research consumers spend considerably more when they are given a voucher code and are almost definitely more likely to visit an online store that is offering a discount. The more a person buys using a voucher code the more the seller makes plain and simple.
The most popular and lucrative coupon for most businesses is free shipping. When a customer spends a certain amount not only entices customers to shop but it entices them to spend more than they would have in order to receive free shipping. Another popular variety of coupons is the percentage coupons. Percentage coupons offer a certain amount of a total purchase; most consumers spend more when they receive a 20% off or more coupon code.
The business that is generated by offering codes and advertising those codes can create a lasting loyal customer base that is absolutely invaluable to a business, especially a small business that is just beginning to flourish on the internet.
Found a New Wholesale Source? Proceed With Caution!
Posted by Andrea in Bulk Drop Shipping, Home Based Business, Wholesale, Wholesale Sources, eBusiness on June 12th, 2009
There are thousands of wholesalers on the internet. They all promise to deliver great quality wholesale goods for a great price so that you can resell them. While many of the wholesalers out there are legitimate businesses there are some that are scams. In order for your business to get off the ground you need to be able to spot a legitimate business and a scam or “cover” business.
A legitimate business will offer contact information and will answer the phone when you call. Before you call check the number with a reverse directory. A legitimate business will have a business line and you should be able to get the companies name when you check a reverse directory. If the reverse directory suggests the number is a cellular phone number you should begin to worry. Try calling during regular business hours. If you receive a voice mail message you can leave a message. If you don’t receive a call back it should raise a red flag.
Legitimate businesses should also be willing to send you samples of the product you are interested in for you to take a look. A company that is a true wholesaler will have products in stock and is almost always more than willing to send out a sample product. If the company says they can not send a sample of the product you are looking at you should look for another wholesaler.
A true wholesaler will always ask for your business tax ID number or your reseller’s license. They are in the business of doing business with real businesses not random consumers. A company that does not ask for the information is likely not on the up-and-up.
Finally legitimate wholesalers will almost always accept credit cards. If a wholesaler is asking for a wire transfer instead of a credit card payment you should dig very deeply into the company. Wire transfers are commonly used by scammers because once the money goes it is gone for good and tracing the person is difficult.
While there may be a few exceptions to the rule a wholesaler that is truly in the business of wholesale goods will behave like any legitimate business. Remember to trust your instincts. If you feel that a business is shady do your research and dig around about them. You have a right to know what is going on.
Ecommerce Wholesale Drop Ship Suppliers - Are They Reliable?
Posted by Andrea in Bulk Drop Shipping, Drop Shipping, Home Based Business, Wholesale Sources, eBusiness on June 11th, 2009
The internet is packed to the brim with horrid tales of drop shipping problems. Looking around quickly on some forums I found several people who have made the mistake of trusting a drop shipper who was only interested in getting their money and less than enthusiastic when it came to customer service. Sadly these stories are not the exception, they are the rule. The problem that many of these people are facing has to do with the size of their account. A small business owner is considered “small potatoes” to a drop shipper and thus they do not receive the same customer service that a large account holder would.
Large accounts (those that order a large volume of product) will find that drop shippers will bend over backwards to help them. In the end a drop shipper is getting paid more from large accounts and thus they are more willing to do good business with them than they are with small-time buyers. It’s sad and disgusting, I know, but it is the truth.
The drop shippers out there that do want to do business with a smaller operation and offer service are often fly by night companies that have a short life spans. Many drop shippers begin their operation without a solid business plan in place and thus are gone in six to eighteen months. While you might get several good months of service from the company you will have to find another shipper when they fall out of the shipping race.
So how do you find a good drop shipper as a small business? Well, that is sort of like the riddle of the Sphinx. You have to call around a lot and repeatedly call back to ask questions. If you have found a business that is willing to answer questions more than once you are onto a pretty good shipper.
Next you need to take to the internet and read up on the company. You can often find out if a company is registered with the BBB and how long they have been in business online quickly. If there is information about the company dating back 5 or more years you are onto a really solid prospect? If you have a company that has only been in business for a year or who has only been using their acquired name for one year you might want to walk away. Don’t get me wrong, not all shippers who are new are out to get your money and kill your business and livelihood but with the army of bad drop shippers out there you are better off looking for an older company. You wouldn’t gamble away your entire life savings on a long shot horse at the races so there is no need to do it with a drop shipper.
Ecommerce Tip - Simple Ways to Keep Your Customers
Posted by Andrea in Home Based Business, eBusiness on June 11th, 2009
Customer retention is one of the corner stones of business. While getting new customers in should be an important part of a business’ growth plan keeping the customers needs to be equal as important if not more important.
The first step of retaining customers is keeping them happy. A happy customer will come back to do further business with your company. A customer who feels cheated or who has a negative experience with your business won’t be back. There is far too much competition on the internet and customers can always go elsewhere. While you can never keep everyone happy you can do your best to keep the majority of customers comfortable and secure with their transaction.
Offering specials is a great way of getting new customers but it is also a good way to keep customers loyal as well. Shipping costs are a big deal breaker for some customers. No one wants to pay exorbitant shipping costs so if you can keep your shipping lower than your competitors you will get more customers and retain them. Free shipping is an enticing offer that few people can refuse.
A solid and generous return policy also helps to retain more customers. I’ve discussed return policies in depth before but it is worth repeating. A return policy can help customers feel secure and comfortable shopping with you. Your return policy will help you keep customers around by making them feel comfortable with repeated purchases.
Customer service is another big building block in customer retention. Your customer service needs to be well above average for customers to continue to come back. While most customers will never have to contact you the ability to do so makes them feel comfortable. Keep your contact information easy to find. Don’t hide the phone number or e-mail address in some random page. If the information is upfront and obvious on your website customers will feel as though they can contact you at any time if there is a problem. Once those customers do contact you do your best to answer their questions quickly and accurately.
Finally deliver on what you promise. A lot of small businesses make the mistake of promising things that they can not do within reason. Don’t say you ship packages daily if you only ship them three times a week. Don’t tell a customer you can work with them on prices if you really can’t. When you don’t deliver customers will be annoyed and they won’t be back.
Pump Up the Sales Volume: Bulk Drop Shipping Instead of Retail Drop Shipping
Posted by Wholesale News in Drop Shipping on April 20th, 2009
We’re seeing drop shipping e-business boom all over the digital world. Ebay stores, Yahoo! Stores, even private e-commerce web sites– who doesn’t love a business model with very low risk and easy maintenance? As a drop shipper you don’t have to store any inventory, hold very low overhead (if any), and just concentrate on advertising your popular items and providing great customer service. Eyes go wide when e-business owners realize orders come in and ship out without any interference or work from them!
But why only drop ship retail goods in ones and twos when there is an entire business to business market willing to buy in bulk? There are so many headaches in drop shipping at retail prices to an end consumer. An initial problem is finding retail customers in the first place. The Internet is an instant cost comparing tool– if your wholesale feed is available elsewhere on the web you will be competing in a race to rock bottom prices. With so many web retailers drop shipping in similar circumstances, there is just no wiggle room in the price to entice customers and keep e-businesses in the black.
Once you have a retail customer buying from your drop shipping web site, rarely will an end consumer want more than one item. Therefore, retail drop shippers are forced to carry the higher end products just to make a profit. Higher end wholesale products come with hefty shipping fees, either due to weight or value, and end consumers are conditioned now to expect free shipping on most orders over $50. No big deal, you will just lose shipping costs out of your profit margin right?
What happens when the customer also expects impeccable customer service by demanding a return? You’re now wasting man hours on resolving the issue trying to avoid a return– one that is completely reasonable to the customer but completely unreasonable to your business. The customer doesn’t like the color of the item, it doesn’t look right, it arrived too late as a gift (because they ordered it at the last minute) so they bought something else, or any other excuse in a long list of worthless complaints. Bottom line the product works, but the customer doesn’t want it anymore. Now, they not only want a refund on the order, but you are also stuck with the shipping costs of getting the item back.
Retail drop shipping only one or two items per order means each transaction is typically smaller than a business to business bulk drop shipping order. This is a problem for any e-commerce merchant as transactions have costs. There are administrative costs, whether it’s your time or an employee’s, fees from banks or Paypal, shipping costs, and insurance and business operations costs as merchants protect themselves against fraud. As a retail drop shipper you just can’t compete with any low priced single items available at a store.
So how can we make selling a $1.00 kitchen spatula work in a drop shipping model? Easy, sell them in case lots of 20, 50, or even 100! Where the retail drop shipping market is very over-saturated with every person able to buy and sell on eBay, the business to business (B2B) market is still in need of quality bulk drop shipping web properties. Wholesale vendors and even direct from the factory suppliers are usually too busy to trifle with selling on the Internet. But they’re more than willing to take your orders if you are willing to develop and run the web site and deal with the customers!
Or it may be smart business move for the wholesale supplier to protect their prices by selling through a third-party: YOU! There is so much that goes into pricing a durable good– how many is the buyer purchasing, what additional items will the buyer also procure from the same company, how often is the order to be filled? Large wholesale distributions don’t have the time or expertise to deal with smaller business buyers. Bulk drop shipping for B2B purposes protects wholesale suppliers from selling goods on various complicated contracts at the same price.
If you’re a drop shipping e-business owner used to only thinking retail, you’re probably wondering who on earth will buy from a drop shipping web site specializing in business to business? Easy, tons of people! Here are just a few:
1. Small Brick-and-Mortar Retail Stores
You know these as specialty stores or “Mom and Pop” companies. Often these are the small stores in malls or shopping centers. These business owners can’t afford to run around town to gather business inventory, they have a shop to run! Buying direct from a big time wholesale distributor doesn’t work either as they usually only need a case lot of two of an item in the stock room.
2. Swap Meet, Flea Market, or Online Auction Sellers
Even in a booming economy, there are always those customers looking for a bargain. They can be found at local public swap meets, flea markets, or bidding at online auction sites. The small business owners running these stalls or virtual auction houses need inventory to sell! Take a local trip to the flea market and give out information about your wholesale business to business website.
3. Offices, Nonprofits, and Charities
Most of these entities use a super store card or bulk membership to stock the break room, office supply closet, or any other needs. The employee responsible for buying in bulk at the local mega store will be thrilled to just point, click, and ship directly to the office!
So why don’t all of the online business men and women running retail drop shipping web sites diversify into business to business (B2B) transactions? Some don’t even know the market exists; others don’t want to take on a completely different web property. There is a saying “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” There are eBay and Yahoo store owners out there satisfied with their e-business earnings and dealings. They don’t want to rock the boat.
History has shown truly successful business men and women are always after that next mountain top so to speak. Running a B2B bulk drop shipping e-business isn’t any more difficult than a retail one. In fact, it so much easier in many ways. A business customer is usually more reasonable to deal with than an individual end consumer. B2B customers are repeat customers, eventually little effort is needed to bring in new customers. Compare that to one-time retail customers you have to replace with other first-time customers! Orders are also larger on a B2B bulk drop shipping site, meaning more profits per transaction. B2B bulk drop shipping is just a better e-business investment by far.
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