Learning to survive in Ecommerce? Lets face it.
This industry just isn’t doing well. Even the pay rate is on an all-time low for any position in Ecommerce.
The covid spike had caused a hype in this digital economy that so many sellers (esp: from China) had jump on the band wagon and flood the market with products. The advancement in their logistics capabilities caused the massive spike in cross-border good access. Think about the times when you had to take a plane, travel distances, walk through rows and rows of stores in Yiwu in order to find quality products at the best prices to just ordering something with the click of a button. This convenience as much as it is.. is all taking a toll on the market.
NOT A BAD THING AFTERALL
The market may be overly saturated now, products may flood the market and quality produce may be hard to find. However, it isn’t such a bad thing after all. Let me tell you why
Change in sentiments – Covid definitely changed sentiments, people feel more comfortable buying online. There are trusted websites or apps that people trust to go purchase their items. The only thing now is to differentiate the legit ones vs the scam listings.
Departure of sellers – Businesses flood areas where there are opportunities. However, with the saturation and opportunity for big gains gone, only the ones that are truly passionate will stay. Massive and quick profits bring in businesses like bees. But once the opportunities are gone, sellers who aren’t able to make as much will leave.
More quality produce – Ecommerce is often seem as the go-to location for cheap items. This low margin highly competitive marketplace leads to the generation of low-quality produce and high return rates. Don’t admire those guys on the other end with high sales, their return rates are high!
The Honest ones stand out – The ones with quality products and genuine sales are the ones that are going to stand out from the pack.
Easily manage your sales – While you grow steadily in Ecommerce, you get to manage both low sales and peak periods. This allows you to learn from the basics up, forming strong fundamentals to your business.
How to continue to survive in Ecommerce?
Understand Your Market – Learn about your consumer and competitor. Find great products to sell and the ones people will buy.
Value proposition – Like I always ask my clients. Whats the value proposition? Whats the thing that makes you unique. Before you can answer that, you need to first understand your business.
Optimize the look – Your website, Product images, Descriptions, Categories, Brand, Tagging. If consumers were to buy from you, you need to stand out. Not just in product quality or exceptional customer service. The pictures, description, pricing and tagging all have to be spot on. This is why we always tell our clients that Digital commerce is not a business, its a pilgrimage and learning experience. Not sure how to do it? See the best ones in your category and mimic them!
Effective Financial Management – Learn to run your passion like a business. If your business is not rolling, its probably time to take it behind the barn and shoot it.
Fast shipping – Unless you own a logistics company, you probably can’t control 3rd party courier. The only thing you can do is to ship out fast.
Customer Experience – Keep your customers happy and the possibilities are endless. If your customers are happy, leave you quality feedback etc. You will definitely be happy to know what you can benefit from them.
Finally, if you are still striving hard to keeping your passions alive, sticking to your guns and continue producing good quality produce like these stores, you are probably going to do better as a legit online business.
