Posted by Starting an online dukaan or an e-store can seem daunting, but with the right guidance and strategy, it can be a lucrative business venture. This guide will help you navigate the world of online retail and set up a successful online store.
Whether you sell on a platform like Shopify or QueueBuster, or through an online marketplace like Etsy, this guide will provide you with the information you need to get started.
To ensure the success of your online dukaan, follow this guide.
Selling Products on an Online Store
Find a Niche
The internet is full of online stores. To make your online dukaan successful, you must stand apart from them. Start this by making a list of anything that interests you or, preferably, has expertise in. Once you have a list of niches or interests, evaluate them to ensure you are on point. Here are some ways to evaluate an idea:
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Customer feedback: Gather opinions from potential customers to validate your product idea.
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Production cost: Calculate the cost of producing and delivering the product to ensure profitability.
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Target audience: Identify the target demographic and preferences to ensure your product appeals to them. More on this later.
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Sales potential: Project the potential sales and revenue generated by the product.
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Legal considerations: Ensure the product complies with legal requirements and regulations.
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SWOT analysis: Evaluate the product’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to identify potential challenges.
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Competitor Research: Who are your competitors? What products are they selling? What price points are they using?
Once you validate the idea, write a business plan to organize the idea coherently. A business plan should ideally outline your company’s mission and vision statement, competitive analysis, financial analysis, and marketing strategy.
Establish your Target Audience
While you have roughly defined your target audience in the previous step, now is the time to refine it and make it more targeted, so to speak. Follow these strategies to ensure you are catering to the right people:
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Customer Surveys
You can send out quizzes, usability tests, or general surveys to get in your audience’s mind. It will tell you whether or not you’re selling or building the same product that solves their needs.
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Evaluate Competitor’s Audience:
What geography, demography, or persona of the audience are your competitors serving? If your product has extra features, you might want to diversify from their audience or cater to the same one.
Decide Products to Sell
Now you have a niche and the audience you want to serve — you also know what kind of products they are looking for. It’s time to combine this information and arrive at a product idea. The key is to find in-demand products — the more in-demand it is, the easier it will be for your customers to buy them. It will keep you from investing in product ideas your target audience isn’t interested in.
A Business Model
Now that you know which products you want to sell, make a business model. It should ideally define the various models, types of products, how you will manage storage and inventory, and the likes.
Pricing Products
You could follow one of the following models of pricing:
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Cost-plus pricing: Setting a price based on the production cost plus a profit markup.
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Value-based pricing: Setting a price based on the perceived value to the customer.
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Penetration pricing: Setting a low initial price to attract customers and increase market share.
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Premium pricing: Setting a high price reflects the product’s high quality and exclusivity.
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Psychological pricing: Setting a price that appeals to customers’ emotions and perceptions of value.
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Dynamic pricing: Adjusting prices in real-time based on demand and market conditions.
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Bundle pricing: Offering multiple products for a discounted price.
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Geographic pricing: Setting different prices for different geographic locations.
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Freemium pricing: Offering a basic product for free and charging for premium features.
Create an Online Dukaan
An online dukaan or store, is where your customers will buy your products, and it’s time to give them an address. There are several places on the web where you can set up an online store; here are the most common ones:
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Shopify: It will help you set up and launch your store quickly.
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QueueBuster: QB e-store provides a smart way for customers to order contactless and queueless online. You can also set up POS alongside and manage your store seamlessly.
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Ecwid: If you want to start with a free plan.
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BigCommerce: This one is more suited for stores with many customers.
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Wix: With Wix, you can set up a website, a blog, and your online dukaan.
You can also sell via online marketplaces such as Etsy and Amazon or set up your website and store.
Manage Inventory
Managing online inventory can be tricky; here are some measures you can take:
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Accurate tracking: Keep accurate and up-to-date records of stock levels and sales.
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Reorder point: Determine a reorder point to ensure inventory levels are maintained.
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Safety stock: Maintain a safety stock to avoid stockouts and lost sales.
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Lead time: Factor in lead time to ensure timely replenishment of inventory.
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Automated systems: Use inventory management software to automate processes and reduce errors.
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Product grouping: Group products based on demand patterns to optimize inventory levels.
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Order fulfillment: Streamline order fulfillment processes to reduce errors and shipping time.
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Returns management: Implement a returns management process to track and manage returned products.
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Regular audits: Conduct regular audits to verify inventory accuracy and identify discrepancies.
Payment Processing
A payment processor facilitates online payments — they ensure you get the payment from your customer to your bank account while keeping the sensitive information encrypted throughout the process.
Payment Modes
While you may have a preferred payment mode, it is recommended to set up all payment modes on your online dukaan. This is because your customers also have a preferred payment mode and might not make the purchase if they don’t find a trusted/preferred payment mode on your online store.
So, along with debit and credit card payments, ensure you accept payments from digital wallets, online banking, and a buy now, pay later strategy.
Shipping Methods
Shipping products domestically is, as you can imagine, cheaper than shipping internationally. Evaluating courier partners, packaging materials (customers prefer sustainable materials), and shipping zones can significantly reduce costs. If you ship internationally, you can broaden your target audience and make sales that way. But keep in mind the rules of the country you’re shipping the product to and the costs of cross-border shipments.
That brings us to fulfillment — that is, how you pick, pack, and ship your products, you could hire a third-party logistics partner or a dropshipping supplier or choose to manage fulfillment in-house. The first two could be beneficial if you’re looking to sell internationally.
Market your Products
Promoting your online products is critical to increasing visibility and driving sales. Effective promotional strategies include the following:
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Search engine optimization (SEO)
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Paid advertising
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Influencer marketing
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Email marketing
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Social media marketing
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Content marketing
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Referral programs
Conclusion
Initially, your strategy shouldn’t be about just generating sales or making profits. You should use the initial data to understand your target audience and demand. You can use this time to enhance your product-market fit and value proposition if required. Focus on your advertising, marketing, shipping, and customer experience strategies to gain some ground.
Whether you are looking to launch your first online store or expand your business, QueueBuster is your one-stop shop for all things related to online retail. So, let’s take your first step towards a profitable and successful QB e-store or QB online dukaan.