How do I start an e-commerce business?

What does e-commerce mean

E-commerce simply is the purchase and sale of products and services via the Internet, and this term is often used to describe all steps of a merchant throughout the buying process, and it begins when the potential customer knows about a specific product and then continues in a complete buying cycle until the product is purchased and used.

The difference between e-commerce and digital marketing?

E-commerce and digital marketing are a complementary process to each other to breathe life into your business, because digital marketing attracts customers' attention to your product, while e-commerce actually sells your products.

The difference between the two is clear and being voracious is important because being good at one type is not necessarily a condition that you are great at the other - you may be great at digital marketing and bring a lot of visitors to your website, but if you cannot sell your goods to save your life, what is the use of that?

Examples of e-commerce.

E-commerce has various forms that include different relationships and transactions between companies and consumers in the long term, in addition to various bodies that are exchanged as part of these transactions, including: -

1. Retail:

It is the sale of a product from a specific company or brand directly to the wholesaler without having any intermediary between them, whether on the ground or through the Internet.

1. Wholesale:

It is the wholesale sale of products, through a retailer that sells products directly to consumers.

1. Dropshipping:

It is the sale of products that are manufactured and shipped to consumers through a third party, who have a site through which to market a specific company, such as Amazon and Alibaba, they have a commission marketing system.

1. Crowdfunding:

It is the process of collecting money from businessmen or an investor, with the partnership system if he likes the idea, and the aim is to increase the company's capital before the start of manufacturing the product that needs to be put on the market or if it was a service before it was tried by individual companies.

1. Subscription:

It is that a site provides a service in which individuals or companies participate in exchange for a certain amount, often on a monthly or annual basis on a regular basis, until the subscriber chooses to cancel that service.

1. Physical products:

It is any tangible good that requires inventory replenishment and is ordered to be shipped to customers while sales are made.

1. Digital Products:

In the form of digital products such as templates and courses or media, graphics and downloadable virtual goods that the customer purchases for consumption or licensed for use.

What kind of e-commerce can you start?

There are tons of different ways to start your own ecommerce business.

The more traditional option is to sell products online that you store and package yourself. However, this is no longer the only option. Today, you can receive credit card payments online for your online services. There is also an option to develop retail sales through products that are being delivered by other people through dropshipping.

Here are some ways to categorize the different types of e-commerce stores available:

• Physical Goods Stores: These are the typical Internet retailers you see everywhere. Shoppers can purchase their products through smartphones or desktop computers. If you run a store with physical goods, you can either store and send the items yourself, or you can have someone else handle the products for you. If you choose an alternative delivery method, such as dropshipping, someone else will handle the packaging and shipping. Examples of physical product stores include everything from Warby Parker to Zappos.

• Service retailers: You can also sell services online in the form of everything from advertising support to graphic design. Thanks to the digital landscape, services are becoming increasingly popular as a sales solution. There is no limit to the talents you can offer your clients for cash. Just look at companies like Craigslist and Fiverr, which act as a platform to provide services to freelance workers. There are also service-based companies that do everything they offer on a quote basis and build in-depth customer relationships.

• Digital Products: E-commerce transactions are handled over the Internet, this means that in addition to providing physical products and services to customers, you can also provide digital products that they can download online. Often these types of products include things like online courses, software, or even graphics for use on a website. Digital products may also come in the form of guides or ebooks.

Best Online Platforms:

1- Amazon

Statistics show that Amazon is the largest e-commerce platform in the world, with net sales of $ 280.5 billion in 2019.

It has about 101 million Amazon members in the United States who spend an average of $ 1,400 a year on purchases through Amazon.

2- eBay

EBay connects retailers and customers from all over the world, because it is an online marketplace that helps small and medium-sized businesses create an international customer base. EBay is easy to use and intuitive and offers a number of payment options. One of the needs that distinguishes eBay in particular from other online platforms is It allows dealers to conduct auctions through their platform.

3- Etsy

Etsy is the ideal platform for creatives looking to find an online marketplace to showcase their unique and handcrafted products, as it has a particular popularity from freelance creators and people who want to purchase unique, valuable, exclusive and rare items.

4- Alibaba

Alibaba is one of the largest online e-commerce platforms in the world, considered to be a particularly effective platform for reaching out to major manufacturers and purchasing products in bulk from them. Alibaba dominated the Chinese market in 2019, with an estimated 960 million active customers.

5- Fiverr

Fiverr provides independent services, this platform connects companies with remote workers who specialize in all types of services, including digital marketing, montage, programming and design. Entry to Fiverr is free for freelancers or as it is known in the Arab world as freelancers, and the costs of hiring a remote worker for a specific job start from Dollars.

6- Upwork

Known for providing freelance services, Upwork connects companies with remote workers from all over the world, either part-time or for long-term employment spanning months. Teleworkers who use Upwork specialize in all types of services including accounting, marketing, content writing, and web development. An account on Fiverr and presenting their knowledge and services to companies from all over the world

Conclusion

A dream that you are a person who has a website and one of the largest e-commerce sites is not impossible, e-commerce and marketing do the impossible if you have a strong product and a clear and easy-to-implement marketing strategy.