Posts Tagged ecommerce
The Most Profitable Ecommerce Products: What are They?
Posted by johnb in Closeouts, Drop Shipping, Liquidations, Wholesale, Wholesale Sources on November 17th, 2009
A lot of people wonder what the most profitable ecommerce products actually are, particularly when they first begin trying to run their own online business. The reality of this situation is that there are many thousands of items that could make you great money, and money in the bank won’t be required for getting started. You could actually begin to sell successful ecommerce items without having so much as a penny billed to your name. Therefore, we have come up with the following tips that will help you to get on your feet and move forward.
If you are considering a standalone store online that is managed by an ecommerce program, you will initially be required to purchase a domain name and web hosting service. You must pick something that won’t be hard to remember and will reel in customers to your website; for instance, if you were to sell kitchen items, you would probably want to register as ‘buy-kitchen-stuff.com’, or something to that effect.
Installing an ecommerce program onto your website won’t be terribly difficult, but if if you are feeling apprehensive, go ahead and contact your website host or just hire out an expert to accomplish this for you.
Next, you are going to be required to organize your ecommerce store to begin selling your merchandise. Your ecommerce program will feature an interface that enables photo uploads, written descriptions for those photos and the ability to divide your products into different categories. You will be able to sell as much or as little as you want to.
Then, you will have to come up with an approach to lure customers onto your website. If you don’t carry items that are in big demand at the moment, you should consider hosting your store on eBay. That is because eBay is usually the first stop that people make when they want to buy a certain item.
Now, we are going to talk about the most profitable ecommerce products you could sell online. Before we start searching for a specific item, you should think about searching for merchandise being sold in overstocks, liquidations and closeouts. More often than not, these items can be purchased below the wholesale value, meaning there will be more money left for you with every sale. As you look through the different products being offered by a wholesale supplier, look to find out whether or not they deal in overstocks and liquidations and browse through what is offered. Do not feel discouraged when you find closeout items, liquidations or merchandise that is irrelevant to your store, and always check from time to time to see what new items are being offered.
electronics are some of the most profitable ecommerce products you could purchase from a wholesale supplier. The current demand for electronics is enormous, particularly when it comes to music and video players; additionally, there is a high demand for products that are constantly being updated with the progression of technology.
No matter what you choose to sell, consider selling a vast array of corresponding inventory since you could generate more money through further sales without being required to spend more money on the labor or postage to have them shipped off. As soon as you have determined the best approach for your business, you will soon find yourself on the road to imminent success.
Earn Money Reselling By Buying Wholesale
Posted by johnb in Ebay, Wholesale, Wholesale Sources, eBusiness on November 4th, 2009
The internet offers many ways to earn a profit, but making money by purchasing wholesale goods is one of the best methods. Here’s a closer look at purchasing items from wholesale and turning them into profit.
- Ecommerce
It’s probably simpler than you realize to establish a website for the purpose of retail. The internet has many options available to you that offer pre-made web shops that will let you change your inventory on the fly. If you’re uncertain about this, you can consult someone for assistance also.
You just need to choose your store’s name, set it up, and then earn a profit by selling wholesale items that you purchase. This whole process only costs a few bucks to start off, and your prices are cut even more significantly when you use a dropship wholesaler, as you won’t be required to buy any stock prior to making sales.
You may also want to see if your chosen wholesale supplier will give you access to a turn-key site. A lot of businesses offer this to their sellers, and they barely require any regular daily maintenance.
It’s also important to point out that you can earn a profit from buying wholesale without ever owning a merchant account to make this happen. All of your payments can be channeled through PayPal, and your supplier for dropship wholesale items will give you all of the product details and information you’ll need to run your site.
- Catalogues / Leaflets
Many individuals have discovered that they can make significant sales while buying individual wholesale returns is to give out leaflets or catalogues in your immediate location. This presents you with a good reason to establish a dropship contract with your supplier, since you’ll simply deliver the product orders to the wholesaler and they’ll handle the shipments to each of your customers from their own location.
Production of these catalogues or leaflets can happen locally at a printer, and there are also many other options available online and overseas.
- eBay
Currently, auction websites are the most widely-used method of kicking off a small business. eBay now rules the world of auctions, and is definitely the biggest website. eBay will provide you with almost everything you should know when starting out.
It’s critical to understand the market for your product before you source and buy wholesale items for resale if you expect to turn a profit, since eBay tend to be a marketplace that’s extremely competitive. eBay’s ‘completed listings’ search menu will show you every auction that’s recently finished, as well as if they’ve sold at all, and for what price they sold for. This research will save you a lot of time and effort from the beginning. wholesale returns tend to be less expensive to purchase and also are solid sellers on eBay, so think about this option as you’re deciding what to sell.
No matter the route you choose, finding a good source for wholesale items is essential for earning a real profit. Locate a reliable wholesaler with good prices and everything else will happen naturally.
How Ecommerce Can Help You Gain an Additional Revenue Stream
Posted by Wholesale News in Home Based Business, Wholesale, eBusiness on September 1st, 2009
Many people are seeking additional revenue stream to help them pay the bills and resume their typical lifestyle since the recent economic troubles have cost them to lose their regular employment. The benefits of ecommerce on business, however, can help your own home business flourish by utilizing resources on the Internet.
People are discovering that by sourcing products and then reselling them at a higher cost is one of the best ways they can make an additional revenue stream. You can do this via mail order, Craigslist, through auction services provided by eBay or even classified ads, or your own personal website. You can utilize the benefits of ecommerce on business marketing and promotions mechanisms to help you cut costs while also spreading the word about your products to as many potential buyers as you can no matter which method you choose.
It’s important to locate a wholesale supplier to begin in this business. There are a plethora of wholesale suppliers to choose from; some will deal with many products from a variety of manufacturers, and others will only focus on one product. Additionally, you’ll notice there is a big variety in the methods these suppliers use to take order, some catering to the benefits of ecommerce on business and providing a website with an ordering system and complete electronic catalogue.
Since you are operating a small business, conducting business with a supplier that gives this kind of option will be conducive to your schedule; you will be able to take your time doing research on products you use since you can conduct business activities throughout the day at your convenience.
Therefore, whether your job takes up a small or large amount of your time, you can perform additional revenue stream business when it’s easiest for you to fit it into your schedule. It can often be problematic when you try to conduct this type of business within the confines of traditional business hours.
Electronic catalogues often showcase high quality photographs that provide details about the product you are about to purchase; when you have time to look through them, you can better assess the quality of the potential products available online. It’s also helpful that you can reuse these photographs and product descriptions provided in the electronic catalogue for your own marketing purposes.
You will be alerted by your wholesale supplier when new product lines hit the market, which is possibly one of the largest benefits of ecommerce on business. You can become knowledgeable about the latest trends so that your business can cater to these items sooner than your competitors know they’re available. This competitive advantage, in conjunction with excellent service and reasonable prices, will help you and your business succeed since customers will rely on you as a trusted provider of up-to-date and quality products.
Do you need PayPal?
Posted by Dan Blacharski in Ebay, Home Based Business, eBusiness on July 2nd, 2009
The quick answer is, yes, you do. As a general facet of customer service, you as a merchant need to provide your customers with as many conveniences as possible, and that means providing them with several different ways to pay. Having a standard credit card merchant account is a start, but that in itself isn’t enough. There will be plenty of clients that don’t have a credit card, or prefer not to use one, and look to options like PayPal as an alternative. Of course, you should also allow for old-fashioned mail-in payments with paper checks or money orders as well–there is still a surprising number of potential customers who prefer not to send any financial information online at all.
Not offering a PayPal option will lead to lost sales, plain and simple. Many buyers prefer it, because of the “buyer’s protection” option it affords. It’s not that hard to set up an account and include the option in the checkout page on your web site.
That said, there is an element of caution. You should realize that PayPal is not a bank, and was never meant to be a bank. As such, you should not treat it as one. You will have a PayPal account of course, and there will be money in it as your customers pay you, but this should be approached as a convenience only–not as a place to save your money. It is advisable to regularly take funds out of your account so they do not accumulate, and transfer the funds to your regular bank account.
There are some complaints around about PayPal–although to be fair, any financial institution of any type, anywhere, will have complaints against it. Because it is not a bank, first of all it is not subject to the same regulations as a bank. If there is a dispute, the customer making the claim is assumed up front to be correct, and the funds will be taken from your account while the case is reviewed. The review process can take several months.
The Advantages of Hosted Ecommerce
Posted by Bob in Drop Shipping, Home Based Business, eBusiness on July 1st, 2009
If you’re just opening your online dropship store, or if you’ve been considering redesigning your online dropship store, you should consider using a hosted ecommerce solution. A hosted solution gives you many benefits that you probably can’t get on your own. Here are some of the most important:
System stability
When you use a hosted ecommerce solution, your online dropship store’s stability doesn’t depend on whether or not you goof something up on the system or miss a bug fix. The hosting company will do all of the maintenance you need on the system, and they’ll do it professionally. This means that everything from small bug fixes to large security holes are handled by a team of professionals.
When you don’t use a hosted solution, you have to maintain system stability on your own. That means that it all rests squarely on your shoulders if the ecommerce application suddenly stops working. You’ve got to troubleshoot it and get it back online or you won’t be able to sell a single item.
In addition, hosted solutions are usually redundant. They have multiple servers, often at multiple data centers, so you can be sure your online store is available all the time.
Security
As with overall stability, security should be a concern. In fact, security is one of the most important aspects of running your online dropship store. If someone hacks into your system, they can steal your customers’ information, as well as your own. They could even, in theory, create false orders and wind up costing you thousands of dollars.
Installation and upgrades
While you might have the technical ability and know-how to manage an ecommerce for your dropship business, you may not be able to get it installed and all of the databases working correctly to start with. Even if you can, you may find yourself sorely in need of upgrades that you’re not able to perform. If you make any changes to the source code of your ecommerce software, for example, you’ll lose those when you upgrade.
Upfront costs
Finally, hosted ecommerce solutions for your online dropship store have a relatively low cost of entry. While many ecommerce software platforms may be free, the time that you spend installing, configuring and customizing can cost you plenty in terms of your own time and energy.
Basic Ecommerce Terminology: Business Terms
Posted by Bob in Drop Shipping, Home Based Business, eBusiness on July 1st, 2009
Whether you’ve just started your online dropship business or whether you’ve been at it for a long time, there are some specific terms related to ecommerce that you outght to be familiar with. This list focuses on some of the terms related to business processes. Next time, we’ll take a look at those terms that specifically relate to sales and marketing in an ecommerce environment.
AVS (Address Verification Service): This is a service that verifies the zip code and the billing address that a customer supplies during an online transaction. It checks to make sure that the information matches the information on the credit card statements. This, in turn, helps to reduce fraud.
Authorization: A request that the processor of payments approve the reserving of customer funds.
Auth: This is a transaction that is authorized immediately, that doesn’t require physical shipment.
Batch: A group of credit card transactions that are waiting to be settled.
CVM (Card Verification Method): This is a process by which the 3 or 4 digit code on the back of a credit card is recorded during a transaction.
Chargeback: When a customer disputes a transaction and the merchant bank takes the amount of a sale from the merchant’s account.
Digital receipt: An email notice of an order from an ecommerce website. It has no legal standing.
Merchant: The organization that accepts a credit card payment. In the case of a dropship business, it would typically be the business itself.
Order: A request of services or goods that your customer initiates, or that you initiate with your wholesale supplier.
Partial Shipment: A situation where only some of the goods in a given order are provided.
POS (Point of Sale): The place at which the customer’s order is entered. In the brick and mortar world, it is typically a cash register. For online dropship businesses, it is a web form.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer): This is an ecommerce technology that encrypts data when its sent across the Internet.
Settlement: When money is actually transferred from the cardholder to a merchant.
Transaction: A record of an action that is taken during the process of an order.
Basic Ecommerce Terminology: Marketing Terms
Posted by Bob in Drop Shipping, eBusiness on July 1st, 2009
One of the most important aspects of your dropship business is the marketing. Without effective marketing, you’re not going to sell anything. Becoming familiar with some of the basic terms surrounding ecommerce in general and ecommerce marketing specifically can help take your dropship business to the next level.
Here are some of the most common marketing-related ecommerce terms.
B2B: Business to Business. This means that you sell dropship products to other businesses, rather than to consumers.
B2C: Business to Customer. This means you sell your dropship products, you guessed it, to consumers directly.
Banner ad: An image advertisement used to drive traffic to your website.
Click through: When a potential customer clicks on a banner ad and comes to your website.
Conversion or conversion rate. This refers to the percentage of site visitors who take the desired action (usually a purchase) on your website.
Cost per click: When you pay for advertising based on how many click throughs you have, it’s considered cost per click.
Email marketing: Using email to market your dropship products.
Ezine: An electronic magazine that is either web-based or actually sent through email.
Hit: A single visit to a web page.
Impression: One instance of an ad being displayed.
Inbound link: A hyperlink to your website from someone else’s website.
Keyword: A word that a web user uses in a search.
Key phrase: Like a keyword, but a phrase instead of a single word.
Keyword density: The percentage of your web page text that is a given keyword or key phrase.
Keyword research: The process of finding good keywords to drive traffic to your dropship website.
Merchant account: A service offered by a bank that allows you to accept a credit card transaction.
META tags: These are parts of the web page that are not displayed, but help to describe various aspects of your page such as the META Description or META Title.
Natural search results. When your dropship website shows up naturally in a web search, as opposed to a pay per click listing.
Pay per click: When you pay a search engine a flat fee for each time someone clicks on a link to your website.
Permission marketing: marketing to customers based on their consent. Popularized by marketing gurus, including Seth Godin.
Spam: Unsolicited email marketing efforts.
Search engine optimization: Building your web pages to get better ranked in the search engine listings.
What is drop shipping and can I use it? Part Two
Posted by Dan Blacharski in Bulk Drop Shipping, Drop Shipping on June 30th, 2009
One of the primary benefits of drop shipping that many newcomers fail to recognize, is that you can increase your product line with different drop shippers who offer different products, and often with different countries of origin. In this way, drop shipping can be a real boon. But it depends really on knowing your drop shipper, and going the extra mile in cultivating drop shipping relationships, whether they are local or international in origin.
And therein lies the negative in drop shipping for the online retailer. You have to make the effort to cultivate those drop shipping relationships–there’s really a lot more to it than just signing up online and picking products from a catalog. If you simply dropship with someone based solely on the convenience factor, you might find yourself without product or even worse, you might find yourself without a drop shipper at all. This happens as a result of one of two things. First, if you are without product for a long period due to production delays (which will happen regardless of source, by the way), it means your drop shipping source didn’t tell you he was running low, or you didn’t make the effort to inquire as to his projected inventory or production that would affect your product lines. If you cultivate those relationships, drop shippers will tell you in advance when things are getting dicey, and they might even tell you without your inquiry. Always keep up to date on your product. Always.
Second, and even more importantly, drop shippers who have cultivated relationships with you might tell you if they are going out of business. Think of the drop shipper as your friend: a friend will tell you before he goes out of business when things are out of control, whereas the general public will not get notice until the business is already liquidated and gone. When you cultivate these overseas or local relationships, you can save a lot of headache for your business, and you can keep your product and cash flow running smoothly because you know what is coming down the road that others might not get wind of until it is too late to do anything.
Seeing the hurricane and watching the weather reports can save a world of pain long before the hurricane ever comes ashore. Take it from someone who has seen the hurricane and prepared, and from someone who didn’t plan for the coming storm and paid the price many times over.
How Tradeshow Attendance Can Fuel Your Business
Posted by Alex in Home Based Business, eBusiness on June 30th, 2009
If you’re in the business of wholesaling or an integral part of the e-commerce industry, then you’ve likely shown your face at a few tradeshows far and wide. Despite the type of product that you’re manufacturing or selling, there is almost definitely a tradeshow devoted to showcasing and highlighting your spin on an otherwise “common” product. From furniture to area rugs to tools, cookware, lighting and everything in between, many manufacturers and wholesalers set up shop in a dedicated showroom several times each year to demonstrate the value and versatility of their particular product offering.
Because product communities gather to market their updated lines and new additions a mere handful of times each year (generally quarterly), it can be a pivotal time for wholesalers and retailers alike to be caught up to speed in regard to product categories that are likely to experience significant growth trends. By attending tradeshows, you allow yourself to pick and choose from the best of the best in order to seek out a selection of products that will likely propel your overall business sales.
In addition to viewing fresh product first-hand, tradeshow attendance allows you to network with other industry professionals. Here is where you can not only catch a glimpse of product designs and ideas, but where you can also converse with experts and gain insight into styles and patterns that can positively influence your current or future product offering. These perks alone will enable you to effectively determine what is and what isn’t working for your target audience, and then allow you to capitalize on ways to capture potentially lost sales. Perhaps a particular manufacturer has designed a product that could work with a few modifications – use this opportunity as a chance to revitalize your product offering so that you can garner the interest and attention of a particular sector of your audience.
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Further, tradeshow attendance can be instrumental when it comes to branding. Getting your name out there in markets that are generally already quite saturated can help your cause significantly. Introduce yourself to prominent market players and try to solidify partnerships that boast the potential to drastically assist your brand or your goals. Showing legitimate interest in your business and in your competitors can help you to stand apart from the rest. Respect your competitors and allow their successes to aid yours. Don’t be short-sighted, look at how past mistakes have affected both your business and the industry as a whole, and work to remedy these issues.
Tradeshow attendance is critical to the overall success of a given market. These venues help to spark new ideas, new partnerships, and new market players. Wholesalers are generally looking for credible retailers to help them with their sales while retailers are seeking the same benefit. It’s this type of mutualistic relationship that enables product markets to effectively and efficiently continue to grow and develop over time.
Selecting a Wholesale Product Category
Posted by Alex in Home Based Business, Wholesale, Wholesale Sources, eBusiness on June 30th, 2009
While the business of wholesaling can result in tremendous profits, there are a number of factors to consider prior to simply beginning your company. From surveying and understanding your potential market to weighing cost factors and margins to finding a product niche that suits you and your competitive needs, there are a plethora of elements to analyze as you get started.
With so many product markets seemingly becoming increasingly over-saturated, it can be challenging to find a niche that has the bandwidth to accompany yet another fresh, new idea. However, this shouldn’t deter up and coming wholesalers from overcoming potential obstacles. Do your research and get a firm grasp on your competitive landscape. Closely monitor what competitors are doing, including concepts that have worked as well as those that have not. See if you can modify any of the less successful ideas and transform them into top-selling products. Investigate ways that will enable your line of products to stand apart from the rest. Understand what your target audience is looking for and how you may be able to modify existing products so that they more effectively appeal to your consumer base.
Does a particular product category boast more potential in terms of margin, revenues, and profits? If you’re fortunate enough to have the option to choose among several various product categories, then profit margin is what you should use as your determining factor. Because it can be difficult to differentiate your product offering from those of competitors, you’ll want to ensure that you’re earning money with the items that you’re able to sell – particularly with those items that virtually sell themselves. Further, ensure that your total costs are significantly less than the amount of which you can realistically sell a high volume of product.
While you may not be able to create a totally unique product, it’s important that your offering boasts distinct features unique to your mission. Find products that can be and distributors that are willing to dropship so that you can reduce your overhead costs. Moreover, ensure that there is substantial demand for your products and services. If there isn’t a distinct market need for what you’re hoping to sell, then cut your losses immediately, and develop an alternative business plan. Adding a new facet to a standard, convenient product can add to its resale value.
Despite your specific financial goals, it’s important to understand your market before you move forward with developing your business plan and just jumping into a product category. Make sure that you can identify potential pitfalls and drawbacks and immediately strategize ways to prevent these issues from affecting your future successes. Perhaps most importantly, refrain from spreading your resources too thin. While you may see potential in selling a vast variety of products, it’s best to start with one targeted niche and to work on expanding from there.
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