Selling things over the Internet is not a very complicated process, the success of which completely depends on preliminary preparation, namely: calculating investment risks and developing a strategy to attract customers. It is not enough just to purchase goods and create a platform for implementation. At the very beginning, it is important to develop a marketing plan, conduct an advertising campaign and begin the formation of a customer base.
What you need to sell things over the Internet
The choice of site for the sale of goods also plays a role, there are several options, but it is small. This can be your own online store (at the first stage that you can create yourself and completely free of charge), message boards and social networks:
- Online store. To create it, you need at least minimal knowledge in the field of SEO, unique texts with descriptions and photos. Also, to attract customers, advertising works effectively.
- Message Boards. It requires perseverance, unique content and photos. A great option to empty the wardrobe and sell things boo.
- Social networks. You need to have thousands of friends or an advertised community, where the sale of handmade things through the Internet is great, and you need photos and a description of the goods.
The specifics of creating an online store
How is selling things over the Internet, where to start? Not a single Internet project will be profitable without a quality selling site. The resource should not only be outwardly attractive and convenient, but also “cling” to living people, not search engines. The basis of the selling site is informative and unique content. This is helped by search engines that are designed to improve sites, as they require high-quality text, unique photos and the availability of products with a description. For the convenience of customers, you can add a discussion forum and the opportunity to contact specialists on the site. As a result, search engines will display the online store on the first page of the search due to the frequent mention of keywords and unique text, and you will get new customers.
Promotion
It is found that the site contains high-quality text, unique photos of excellent quality, a forum has been created, but buyers do not come. In this case, you need to do promotion of the resource on the Web, and most importantly, find a good specialist. Not many of those who are just exploring a new area called “Selling things via the Internet” can boast that they are well versed in promotion and are familiar with its capabilities. Therefore, it is better to contact a specialist who will do everything in the best possible way.
Popular Resources for Selling Things Online
Not sure how things are sold online? On the Web you can find a huge number of platforms for the sale of goods, each of them has its own characteristics. Consider the three most popular:
- Avito. A free website with excellent tools for selling different categories of goods (you can put up used things for sale), and also there are a large number of online stores. Even unregistered users can view ads, which is undoubtedly a plus. Selling things over the Internet on Avito is carried out through your personal account, respectively, you need to go through a simple registration procedure. Ads can be placed free of charge for 30 days, and there are also paid options for those who want to highlight their ad or raise it in the search.
- Ebay.A global platform designed to sell completely different things, there are both private sellers and large corporations. An obvious plus of the resource is free registration, but you will have to pay for each item displayed, which is an obstacle for some.
- "Bag. Ru." A platform that provides the opportunity to auction goods for free. The seller needs to register on the site, add quality photos and a description of the product. According to the rules of the site, for each successful transaction, the user must pay the owners of the resource 2-3% of the price of the goods sold.
Selling products online through social networks
It is very easy and simple to sell goods through VKontakte. An online store is created for free, you can quickly create catalogs of goods and upload photos there. In addition, the owners of the VKontakte site are interested in attracting new users, therefore, the seller has all the conditions for work. It is possible to attract buyers for free by sending an application to friends and sending personal messages with an offer to visit your online store. And you can also conduct advertising campaigns, however, in this case you will have to spend a certain amount.
So what is needed to sell things over the Internet and how to open a VKontakte store? Everything is pretty simple. Many create a resource in the social. networks parallel to the site, although at first, if you have a large number of friends, you can limit yourself to the VKontakte platform. Successful sales require much attention to SEO promotion, content filling the page and increasing the number of subscribers. If you doubt your abilities or are not ready to devote much time to social networks, you can hire a freelancer administrator.
How to work with the VKontakte service
- Check in.
- Creation of an online store.
- Filling the page with goods and content.
- Conducting an advertising campaign.
- Work with clients (holding promotions, incentives for repeat purchases).
The main attracting factors for buyers are price and assortment. Selling clothes over the Internet is a responsible matter, but if you try and thoroughly fill out the catalog and offer the customer a favorable price, he will undoubtedly prefer to make a purchase from you. To attract the target audience, the use of hashtags (#sale, #obnova, etc.) is recommended, many buyers use them to find the right product.
Working with social. networks, it is important to start forming a base of regular customers from the very beginning, to do everything so that selling clothes via the Internet is profitable, and customers are satisfied and come back to you again. How to attract a buyer:
- Help in choosing colors, sizes, styles and so on.
- Placing in catalogs not only photos, but also videos for maximum product demonstration.
- Using special programs for the virtual selection of clothes.
- User-friendly interface and fast page loading.
- The possibility of online communication with the seller.
Payment system
The next moment is opening an account in a payment system convenient for both the buyer and seller. Opening an account with a Russian bank, the seller will immediately encounter the topic of taxes, which will nullify all the benefits of selling on the Internet. An account with a foreign bank will save the seller from paying taxes, but buyers will not transfer funds there. The question is: what to do? The best option is to pay for orders from an electronic wallet account, the system is not yet controlled by tax authorities. Of course, not everyone still has electronic accounts open, but every day this method of payment is gaining popularity.
Sales increase
The most exciting question for every entrepreneur is related to increased sales, online shopping is no exception. To monitor the quantity of goods sold (for example, it can be the sale of children's things via the Internet) and the quality of service, several factors should be taken into account:
- The number of store visitors for a certain period.
- The number of buyers who completed the purchase.
- The average amount of a check.
- The number of repeat purchases.
- Margin Percentage.
With regular monitoring of these indicators and changes occurring in them, the seller will be able to identify weaknesses and eliminate deficiencies, thereby increasing the number of sales.
Why do not you buy
- If you acted as described above, and selling on the Internet still does not make a profit, then the reason is either the overpriced cost of the goods, or the target group simply cannot find you.
- Online store. It is necessary to make a portrait of a potential buyer and set up an advertising campaign for him.
- Bulletin boards and auctions. The same, only instead of advertising, use the settings and services of the resource.
- Social networks. Your friends and subscribers do not need a “anti-aging foot cream” and therefore look for buyers either on bulletin boards and auctions, or create an online store.
Advertising is created to stimulate sales, and not so that the seller was idle. With online sales, you should resort to it only if you are sure that the money will be well spent. If you have a quality product, the site is correctly and beautifully designed, where all contact details, cost, description, photos are indicated, then the buyer will certainly find you, otherwise no advertising campaign will help.
When selling goods online, you should consider some features of online sales:
- The buyer should always be informed that the appearance of the product may differ slightly from the picture.
- Warn about possible delays or assign a delivery time with a margin.
Legal Online Sales
Before you start an online store, you should formalize your activity and select its legal form - IP or LLC. The second option makes sense to use only if several people create the store. In other cases, it is enough to register as an individual entrepreneur (individual). As regards the choice of a taxation system, USN is considered the best option with a rate of 6%, which can significantly reduce the tax burden on the entrepreneur.
How to find a supplier
The supplier plays an important role in the coordinated work of the online store. You can find a good supplier through the Internet search engines, special attention should be paid to the offers of factories, wholesale suppliers and official distributors, view ads on the Web, thematic forums and study electronic catalogs and databases.
One of the advantages of an online store is that you can create it in different formats.
Own warehouse:
- No need to make large purchases and look for a place to store.
- Fast shipment of goods.
- There is a possibility of a large amount of illiquid assets.
Sale of goods after receipt from the supplier’s warehouse:
- No costs for the purchase and storage of goods.
- The ability to create a wide range of products.
- The delivery time to the customer is increasing.
- There may be problems in case of return.
Dropshipping (the seller acts as an intermediary between the supplier and the buyer).
Affiliate program (the product is sold through the partner’s resource, when the buyer presses the “Buy” button, it automatically switches to another resource from which the sale is carried out, the partner pays a certain percentage for this to the assistant).
