There are many people right now thinking of selling online due to the current covid-19 pandemic and the resulting impact on busines. Small to medium sized businessed may have limitations in opening and operation hours for their stores and offices. But online sales operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week all year around. eCorner is trying to help small business with our eCorner Now Platform which is the easiest way to start an online store.
According to the National Australia Bank online retail in Australia exceeded $29 Billion in 2019 with sales estimated to exceed A$35 billion by 2021. In 2019 online retail sales worldwide will exceed US$3.4 Trillion. Australian eCommerce continues to grow and represented 9% of traditional bricks and mortar retail in 2019. This leaves enormous opportunity for new online businesses or for existing retailers to grow online.
There are over 2.5 million small to medium sized businesses in Australia and New Zealand but less than 20% have an online store. The web influences more than 80% of all retail sales, and that percentage is growing annually, so failure to have a web presence with your product catalogue means it is harder to be successful and grow sales.
Significantly Lower Cost Online
Starting an online business can mean significantly lower start up costs compared to a bricks and mortar retailer. But don't be fooled, it is not free and a plan and budget are essential for success.
Existing retailers considering starting to sell online shoud also look at what their competitors are doing online. You should never copy what your competitors are doing but you can use it as a guide and then even improve on what they offer.
So getting started means doing some research so that you are best informed and ready to move forward.
eCommerce strategy and plan
Having a plan can help save you from making mistakes and getting off target from your original objectives. A plan does not have to be long and complex you can just jot down the ideas as they develop. But the key is to HAVE A PLAN. Consider the key issues:
eCommerce strategy and planning - core considerations
Take some time to put a plan together. Here are some planning points to consider. Remember that the business plan does not have to be complex and it is a continual process. That means that the plan will change and improve with age and experience.
- Make sure you know your market - who is going to buy your product?
- Multi-channels to market (i.e. online store, eBay, Amazon, Facebook shop, Google Shopping) - proven to improve results up to 400%
- Integrate the shopping experience
- How you will deal with Content - where will you get content and images Pricing & inventory - what are the competitive issue Logistics - storage, packing, shipping and returns Service & support - how to service your customers Payment & refund/returns - handling of payments and what methods to accept Security & Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Compliance
- Easy-to-use purchase process
- Consider localisation requirements - currencies & languages
- Consider customer relationship management and personalisation
- Make sure that you select a scalable platform or solution
- Make sure you have support in place (staff, partners or suppliers)
- Marketing campaigns and requirements (including search engine marketing)
- Integrate to external systems, suppliers or logisitics providers
- Prepare a social media plan
- Prepare a mobile commerce plan
- Prepare a content management plan
What are the options available to start an online store and what do they really cost?
What are the real costs associated with starting an online business or adding an online shop to an existing business? This is a question we are hearing often and the answer is not always clear as there are many different views and opinions in the market place.
There are a number of options to sell online, here is some useful information about the options available.
Marketplaces - eBay, Amazon and others
Using an existing service like eBay or Amazon you will pay fees to list your products and also a “Final Value Fee” which is a percentage of the sale price. If you are selling your old books or stuff eBay is a great solution. Many businesses also sell on eBay as Power Sellers, however costs can get high and there are limitations on what you can do.
Amazon marketplace has continued to grow in Australia and has lead sweeping changes to the Australian retail http://landscape.To compete your business needs to have an online presence and be able to reach across multiple channels.
However, these marketplaces can be good places to get found by customers and build brand awareness. As such, marketplaces like eBay or Amazon can form a critical part of successful mulit-channel online retail business.
Open source eCommerce software and self hosted software
Historically, it was quite common to buy or download some open source online shop software, have a developer build a store and find somewhere to host it yourself.
There are pro’s and con’s but it is NOT FREE although the software maybe free and the hosting cheap there are other cost implications.
The initial build cost will be higher with open source due to the customisation needed and the longer term costs of maintenance and management can be very high (often as much as 50% on the initial cost annually).
You need to be responsible for everything yourself. That means managing and maintaining the software; finding, managing and maintaining the hosting; and finding and maintaining the relationships with developers and designers. Unless you have a technical background and some web skills it is not recommended, as this approach needs time to learn technical skills that might otherwise be used to manage and develop your business.
Hosted eCommerce solutions
Use a fully hosted eCommerce solution such as eCorner. There are many to choose from and a quick Google search on “hosted ecommerce” will find many companies that offer a package. My tip is that if you are based in Australia or New Zealand make sure that the hosted solution is here and not in the USA or Europe. That way support, service and maintenance will be based on your own time zone. We commonly hear about companies having to be on the phone late at night to get technical support, or websites getting pulled down at peak shopping times for maintenance because its an off-peak time in the US.
The hosted solutions in general are based on some proprietary software but the setup and maintenance is much easier, as the hosting supplier is responsible for maintenance. These systems are in general also upgraded in features and functions free in the hosting environment and with a maintenance agreement if on a dedicated server.
The major benefits of a fully hosted solution (Cloud or 'SaaS' - Software as a Service) is that you have a known fixed monthly cost that includes software, hosting, maintenance, upgrades and support. These systems are also often built to be more user friendly for people with less technical skills.
Issues to look for with hosted eCommerce packages
- Limitations in packages - e.g. number of products - every package will have some limitations so you will need a package that fits your business requirements
- Transaction fees - some suppliers charge a fee in addition to monthly package fees based on your revenue or turnover each month
- Annual revenue limitations - some providers apply revenue caps and then will force an upgrade or charge more if you exceed the cap
- Setup fee - some providers will charge an initial fee to set up the online store
- Storage allowance - this is about how much data, images etc you can store online. Check to see if there are excess storage charges.
- Bandwidth allowance - this means the amount of data that can be transferred monthly to and from your online store. Check if there wil be excess data charges.
- Location of hosting - the country where you are hosted can have implications on performance, support, maintenance and search engine optimisation
- Support fees - if you need technical help is it free or will they charge. How do you get support i.e. phone, email, live chat, FAQs etc.
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