The good news is that there are more than 5 billion people on the Internet searching for products to buy on a daily basis. There’s plenty of room for growth in the ecommerce industry.

We created this ultimate guide on how to start an ecommerce business to save you time and remove the guesswork. We’ll teach you everything you need to know from starting out to growing and scaling your ecommerce business.

Remember, opportunity waits for no one. Let’s turn your dream into reality NOW.

6 Steps To Starting A Successful Ecommerce Business

The saying “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish” doesn’t apply to business.

If you don’t map out a strategy that will help you navigate past the challenges that come along the way, your ecommerce ship might sink and never arrive at its intended destination point – entrepreneurial success.

In this section, we’ll take you through the 6 steps you need to take to start – and manage – a successful ecommerce business.

1. Conducting Market Research

Every business idea sounds like the greatest invention since the can opener. Until you realize reality is far different from expectation. To find out if your business idea is viable, your first step must be to conduct market research.

Identifying Target Audience

If you’re selling steaks online, you don’t want to target vegans. You want to target consumers who love to eat meat, specifically steak.

• How much do they spend on steak?
• How often do they eat steak?
• What cuts of steak are popular?
• Do they prefer steak from Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, or the US?
• Do they prefer dry or wet-aged steak?

These are just a few of the questions that your market research needs to find the answers to.

By learning more about your target audience, you’ll have a better idea of how to reach potential buyers and what types of products you should sell on your ecommerce store.

Understanding Competitors

The person who invented and sold toilet seat covers might have thought he had the market cornered.

He didn’t know he was also competing with other players in the toiletries and disinfectant industries – sellers of toilet paper, alcohol, sanitizers, and hand wipes.

Your competitors aren’t just the ones selling products that are similar to yours. They could be businesses that have products that can be perceived as alternative solutions by the market.

To understand your competitors:

• Do they have optimized, well-designed, and fully-functioning websites?
• Find out their strengths and top-selling products.
• Uncover their weaknesses, poor selling products, and flaws.
• Create a profile of their buyer.
• Learn what their market/audience likes about them.
• Learn what their market/audience dislikes about them.
• Identify the big players; how are they performing in the market?
• Identify the small players; how are they performing in the market?

Going back to our previous example, you might be competing for market share with an entrepreneur who’s selling Bison steak online.

Conduct a study on your competitor and on Bison meat. Find out what makes it a better alternative. Is it cheaper or more expensive? Is it healthier? Is it easier/harder to cook Bison meat? Is it more tender than traditional steak meat?

Analysis Of Market Trends

After eating US premium rump and chuck steaks at a friend’s house, you think there’s an untapped niche for these less popular cuts of steak in the market. You can validate your theory by doing an analysis of market trends.

• Find out if the market has been trending upwards and if growth is sustainable.
• What are the most popularly-bought products in the market?
• What are the other growth niches in the market that aren’t saturated?
• What is the average net profit margin in the industry?
• What are the possible threats to growth?
• What are the external and internal risk factors? For example, if you import, your costs will be affected by unfavorable fluctuations in the exchange rate. Internal risks include changes in consumer behavior, inflation, weak, and political and social factors.

When performing market research, use only credible source materials. Don’t limit yourself to online research. Reach out and talk to entrepreneurs who have been in the same industry for decades. Utilize social media which can be a reliable source of information.

2. Choosing A Business Model

Ecommerce isn’t just limited to selling dry goods to consumers. You can sell to other businesses. Consumers can also sell to other consumers. Do you have a product or service that might be useful to the government? You can sell that online too!

There are 6 types of ecommerce business models to choose from:

Business-to-Business (B2B)

You sell a product that can be used by another business to create its products.

Examples:

• Meat products to refineries
• Textiles to clothing manufacturers
• Chemicals to pharmaceuticals

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

You sell products that consumers use.

Examples:

• Household products
• Fashion accessories
• Food

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

You sell products to consumers by transacting through third-party websites.

Examples:

• Facebook Marketplace
• Amazon
• eBay

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

You offer products or services that can be used by businesses.

Examples:

• Selling stock photography
• Offering freelance services
• Offering back office outsourced services

Business-to-Administration (B2A)

Your company has a product or service that can be used by the government and its agencies.

Examples:

• Create hiring software
• Design proprietary accounting software
• Develop software that creates national IDs

Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)

You have a product or service that can be used by the government and agencies to fast-track its processes for the public.

Examples:

• Business registration
• Payment of taxes
• Renewal of licenses and permits

3. Building An Ecommerce Website

An integral part of running an ecommerce business is the website. You can’t and shouldn’t depend on social media platforms to grow your business.

Having your own ecommerce website has several benefits… 10 and counting.

• Build your business brand
• Create a one-stop-shop where you take the customer through the entire buying process
• Open a new stream of revenue
• Keep your business open 24/7 and 365 days a year
• Reduce business costs
• Build credibility
• Enhance your online presence
• Give your reputation as a proprietor of quality products and services a boost
• Expand your market/audience reach
• Retain your current customers

But not ecommerce websites are created equal. To be effective, your ecommerce website must have the following qualities:

• Mobile responsive
• Optimized for search engines
• Web pages have a fast download time
• Contain fresh, useful, relevant, and optimized content
• The home page must have a compelling Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
• Web pages must have strong Calls-to-Action (CTA)
• The website must look beautiful; aesthetically appealing with high-resolution images
• Fully-functioning buttons
• Easy to understand and quick to fill out contact forms
• Complete contact details

With all of these qualities, you should only entrust the design of your website to an experienced and reputable Shopify developer in the Philippines.

4. Creating A Market Strategy

With an ecommerce business, you can reach more potential buyers compared to a brick-and-mortar store. Add to this, the fact that your online shop remains open 24/7 and you have a business model that can generate sales for you 365 days a year without taking holidays off.

That said, just because you opened an ecommerce store doesn’t mean “they” – meaning your customers – will come.

You need to create a marketing strategy that will place your products front and center of the consumers who are most likely to become paying customers. Also, don’t forget the ones who are already your customers.

Existing customers are a gold mine. It costs less money to generate sales from existing customers compared to new ones. They made their choice – you. Now, give them more reasons to buy from you again.

Here are 5 tips on how to create an effective ecommerce marketing strategy:

• It all starts with having a beautiful, well-designed, and optimized ecommerce website. If your site isn’t optimized, Google won’t be able to find it.
• Create amazing content that’s unique, well-researched, useful, relevant, and optimized for search. Then, post them on your social media pages.
• Set up a Facebook Store and link your ecommerce website. Facebook is the largest social media platform with more than 2.9 billion users every day.
• Add image-focused social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest to promote your ecommerce site.
• Run contests on social media that offer amazing discounts and giveaways to customers.

The primary objective of your marketing strategy is to drive more people to your ecommerce website. Once there, the CTAs that are in place must be able to do their job and move the visitors along the sales funnel.

5. Fulfillment And Logistics

One of the key online behaviors that consumers possess and presents challenges to an ecommerce business is fulfillment. Shoppers want to get their orders right away as soon as possible.

When a transaction is completed on your ecommerce site, you must fulfill that order and have it shipped and delivered to the customer within an acceptable time frame.

Customers understand that “delayed gratification” is a tradeoff for the ease and convenience of online shopping. However, there’s a limit to their patience.

• 53% of consumers revealed in a survey that speed of delivery is an important factor for their continued patronage of an ecommerce business.
• In the same survey, 25% of shoppers will abandon the purchase if delivery is slow.

Order fulfillment involves different areas of responsibility:

• Storage – Your products must be stored in a clean and secure environment that is accessible.
• Inventory – Your stock of products; you must make sure you have stocks of products on-hand that are of good quality and up to standard.
• Processing – The processing of orders goes through the following stages; retrieving the item, packing the item, and shipping the item.
• Shipping – You can have the item shipped by courier service, sent via the local post office, or picked up by the customer.
• Returns Processing – You must have a process in place that attends to customer returns. You can offer refunds or a replacement of the returned product.

As you have read, inventory management is a crucial component of running an ecommerce business.

You don’t want your ecommerce website to read “Out of Stock” for a long time. Initially, a shopper might view that situation in a positive light; that your items are in demand.

But over time, frequent incidents of having insufficient inventory might be perceived by customers as the ecommerce business’ inability to pay suppliers or simply poor management practices.

Without stocks, you have no sales. Meanwhile, your costs continue to run.

6. Growing And Scaling Your Business

How do you know that the time is right to grow and scale up your ecommerce business? To know with confidence that your business is ready to enter an expansion phase, you have to assess its performance objectively and subjectively.

An objective assessment means that you have to review and analyze your business metrics because numbers don’t lie.

Financial Statements

Sit down with your accountant and go through your income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet and uncover the answers to these questions:

• Have you steadily maintained profitable operations for an extended period?
• Have you recovered your initial investment?
• Is your current level of profitability sustainable?
• Are there factors that can affect cash flow if you decide to expand operations?
• Are you in a position to internally finance an expansion program?
• What are your top-selling items?
• If you decide to expand operations, what is the effect on your monthly expenses?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Find out if your business has consistently added to its database of existing customers and the rate by which you are acquiring new buyers.

Website and Social Media Analytics

Find out if your ecommerce platform and social media pages are consistently gaining more activity in terms of the number of followers, engagement levels, and transactions.

It’s very important to evaluate how your current SEO strategy is performing. If your ecommerce website has consistently ranked near or at the top 3 positions of the first page of the SERP – that’s a powerful signal for growth.

Inventory Management

Talk to your suppliers and vendors and find out if they have enough stocks to support your growth/expansion plan. Then, check the capacity of your warehouse or storage facility.

You might have to lease another storage facility or if the numbers show it, the time might be right for you to buy a warehouse for your business to cut down recurring costs.

A subjective assessment means getting feedback from your customers. It’s subjective because your customers can be passionate about your business that they want more of your products.

You can run a subjective assessment simply by reaching out to your loyal customers.

• Send out a survey via email or social media. You can also tally the number of comments you received on social media that are urging you to expand your business or add to your product mix.
• Contact a good number of loyal customers and ask them at least 3 questions one of which is “Do you think it’s time for us to expand the business?”
• Talk to your team. Are they ready for a growth phase? What are their future plans? Do they envision themselves working for you in the next few years?

Expanding a business can be a very exciting time but when you allow emotions to overcome rational thought, you might get misled by growth signals. It’s all about consistency. If your business has consistently been on an uptrend, then you should seriously consider expanding operations.

Keep in mind that entering the growth phase doesn’t happen in 24 hours. You have to plan for it.

For example, if your current facility is operating at full capacity, then you’ll have to set aside time to look for a new place plus manpower to handle more inventory and the increased output.

Start Your Ecommerce Business

If you’ve always wanted to be in retail, an ecommerce business would be the ideal venture for you. The timing can’t be any more perfect than NOW to become an online entrepreneur!

Work and life have continued to use Internet-based channels to address their needs. As the world becomes increasingly influenced by the Internet and digital technology, you’ll have greater opportunities to run a successful ecommerce business.

Once you’ve committed to the ecommerce entrepreneurial lifestyle, invest in an ecommerce website that’s designed and developed by an experienced and credible Shopify developer.

That ecommerce website will be your store on the Internet where you will welcome guests and customers 24/7 and 365 days a year.

Follow our tips and in a few years you might find yourself challenging the giants of the ecommerce industry.

The post How To Start An Ecommerce Business: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Your Shopify Dev.

Like other startups, they went through their share of hardships. They wouldn’t have overcome these challenges if they didn’t have a roadmap to chart their path to success – an ecommerce business plan.

If you were inspired by these online retail giants to start an ecommerce business, the first thing you need to do is to visualize your plans. We created this article to help you lay out your business ideas on paper or Google Docs and create an effective business plan for your ecommerce business.

What Is An Ecommerce Business Plan?

An ecommerce business plan is a document that outlines, organizes, and summarizes your purpose, targets, objectives, courses of action, risk factors, exit strategies, and analysis of the industry.

Why is an ecommerce business plan essential?

• Provides the blueprint for your venture.
• Becomes a ready resource for solutions whenever you have questions or are faced with unforeseen situations.
• It’s a requirement by banks and other financial institutions if you’re applying for a business loan.
• If you’re trying to get external funding, potential investors and partners will request a copy and explanation of your business plan.

Before making a final decision to start an ecommerce business, you must prepare a comprehensive and objective business plan. By doing so, you’ll find out if the venture is viable and if the risks are manageable and worth taking.

If the business plan can convince you that an ecommerce business is a worthwhile venture, invest in a mobile responsive and optimized ecommerce website.

The ecommerce website is your store on the Internet. Its URL is your online business address. Make sure it’s done right by having it designed by a Shopify developer in the Philippines.

How To Write An Ecommerce Business Plan In 7 Steps

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not preparing a business plan before pushing through with the venture.

Some think it’s unnecessary because the business idea is a “sure win” or “risk-free”. If you’re of this mindset, you might end up losing more than the shirt off your back. There’s no such thing as a  “sure win” or “risk-free” business.

Some believe otherwise but aren’t sure how to go about making a business plan. If you’re of this mindset, we’ve got you covered. In this section, we’ll show you that writing an ecommerce business plan isn’t hard and can be done in only 7 steps.

Let’s get started!

1. Understanding the Ecommerce Market

Even an experienced sailor studies the ocean before he sets out to sail. While presenting a sea of opportunities, the Internet can be a dangerous place for business if you’re not familiar with the market you’re exploring.

Overview of the Ecommerce Industry

Conducting research on the ecommerce industry is important to find out if there’s room for growth or new players. Industry research seeks to identify the businesses that sell products or services that are similar to yours.

What areas are covered by an ecommerce industry study?

• Key/major players in the industry
• Growth prospects
• Trends and current developments
• Strategies of main competitors

Include the latest numbers, figures, and statistics on the industry. Compare and contrast statistics from the previous years and calculate the growth rate to know if there are profit opportunities.

Market Research and Analysis

In contrast to an industry study, market research focuses on the potential customers or end-users of your products and services. With an ecommerce business, your products might cater to multiple markets.

For example, if you’re selling shoes online, your product mix might include items that appeal to specific demographics:

• Crosstrainers – Regular gym-goers
• Athleisure – Casual users
• Running shoes – Frequent runners
• Walking shoes – Older people
• Basketball shoes – Basketball players, hip-hop fashionistas

For each market, you must create a specific Buyer/Audience profile that summarizes their key demographics, unique spending behaviors, and online activities.

Identifying Target Audience and Competition

Identifying your target audience is a crucial component of market research. Knowing who you are selling your products to sets the direction of your marketing campaign.

How do you identify your target audience?

• Conduct surveys in person, via social media, and through email channels.
• Post frequently on social media and monitor the levels of engagement.
• Visit the social media pages and the websites of your competitors. Go over their posts, assess the engagement levels, and create profiles of the people who are frequently engaging with the posts.

Another wonderful resource for customer data is your website. You can access website analytics, and retrieve and analyze data to learn more about your potential buyers.

As previously mentioned, the website plays a key role in the success of your ecommerce business. Only have your ecommerce website designed and developed by a reputable and experienced Shopify developer.

2. Defining Your Business Goals and Objectives

Of course, you want your ecommerce business to succeed. But how do you accomplish your goal?

Even though there is a market for online selling and the numbers show that an ecommerce venture is viable, success is never guaranteed. You have to take a realistic approach to running your ecommerce business by defining your goals and objectives that are within reach and your capabilities.

Short-term and Long-term Goals

You can set several short-term goals that will help you achieve your long-term goal. Again, the goals you set must be realistic.

For example, if you have a budget for managing an inventory that’s valued at US$100,000, it’s not realistic to target a year-end net income of US$1,000,000.

If you sell your merchandise at twice its cost and assume a net profit margin of 40%, targeting a net income of US$80,000 to US$100,000 would be more realistic.

The question now is how do you attain that number?

• Goal #1 – Hit 10,000 followers on social media by month  #2.
• Goal #2 – Generate 2,000 leads by month #2.
• Goal #3 – Convert 2% of leads to sales by month #2
• Goal #4 – Have the ecommerce website rank on the first page of the SERP in 3 months.
• Goal #5 – Hit 50,000 followers on social media by month #6
• Goal #6 – Generate 1,250 leads by month #6
• Goal #7 – Convert 2.5% of leads to sales by month #6

You don’t have to set a list of goals for the entire year. You can set goals per quarter or every 6 months. Then, make adjustments as you go along.

Defining Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are benchmarks that are quantified by data as a reliable measure of your performance toward achieving a specific goal.

In our example, one of our short-term goals is to hit 10,000 followers on social media. Possible KPIs to measure this goal are:

• The number of shares and likes.
• The volume of social interaction via comments.
• The number of unique website visitors.
• Social media impressions.
• Audience reach.

You don’t have to use all 5 KPIs. Select 2 to 3 that are most relevant to your goal. Keep track of changes in KPIs because the data will be used to measure progress and as the basis for making decisions.

Establishing a Unique Value Proposition

The Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is a statement that explains to your target market what makes your business different from your competitors. This difference or unique feature about your business is why your products offer the best solutions to their problems.

As a statement, the UVP is short in length but high in value. In one statement, the UVP must be able to articulate why the consumer should choose your business over the competition.

In an ecommerce website, the UVP is found on the home page which is the usual landing page when someone clicks on your URL. The UVP is the first thing a visitor sees on the home page. It must make an impact within 6 seconds or the visitor might click out of your website.

3. Developing Your Product and Service Offerings

At this point, the ecommerce business plan has identified the following:

• Who – Your target audience and competition
• Why – Your goals and objectives
• How – The KPIs

Now, you’ll have to identify the “what” – what types of products will you sell online?

Identifying Product Niches

You’ll have to return to your industry study and determine the key niches in your proposed line of products.

Again, let’s assume you’re planning to sell shoes online. Based on your research, the top-selling types of footwear are:

• Athleisure – 45%
• Cross trainers – 28%
• Basketball shoes – 15%
• Running shoes – 10%
• Walking shoes – 2%

Given the data, it would be a good strategy to carry more inventory of athleisure shoes because they account for nearly 50% of the market share. Likewise, the bulk of your marketing budget should be focused on these top 3 selling niches.

Defining Product Features and Benefits

Where will you source your products? Are these branded items? Will you import them or source them locally? To have an idea, revisit your UVP. What makes your products unique and stand out from the competition?

Staying on with our example of footwear, this type of merchandise can be differentiated by:

• Aesthetic appeal
• Specific function
• Technology/Innovation
• Price point
• Brand endorsement

For athleisure, you might decide to sell shoes that have been designed for urban/everyday wear with more emphasis on looks and comfort than function and technology.

In comparison, cross trainers, running shoes, and basketball shoes have specific functions and should be promoted based on the latest technologies used during the design process as well as special features.

Pricing Strategy and Cost Analysis

Once you’ve determined the niche you want to participate in, you’ll have to come up with a sound pricing strategy.

Pricing can be a tricky proposition. As a new player, you don’t want to price yourself out of the market. Similarly, you don’t want to drop your prices so that your products appear more as commodities instead of something unique and high value.

Review your industry study and find out what the average price is for each product or similar ones in the market. Calculate your costs for selling the products.

Run tests to see which price points will give you acceptable profit margins without compromising the perception of your brand in the market. Moderate profit expectations for the first year.

When you’ve built up your market and brand reputation, you can dictate the prices you want for your products.

4. Building Your Ecommerce Website and Technology

The ecommerce website is your central hub of retail operations on the Internet. From sharing your UVP to product descriptions to the checkout counter,  shipment, and after-sales support, the ecommerce website takes your customer through the entire buying process.

Choosing an Ecommerce Platform

Without a well-designed ecommerce that consistently functions and performs at optimal levels, your ecommerce venture might be cut short.

The ideal ecommerce platform has the following characteristics:

• Mobile responsive
• Optimized for search engines
• Strong security features including SSL certificates
• Web pages have fast download speed
• Complete product descriptions
• Fully functioning buttons and icons
• Multiple payment options
• High-resolution images
• User-friendly and highly-navigable
• Strong Calls-to-Action (CTA)

Of course, your ecommerce website must look beautiful and appeal to your target market.

Designing and Developing Your Website

Have your ecommerce website designed and developed only by an experienced agency with qualified Shopify theme developers.

The ecommerce website is an investment, not an expense. Don’t scrimp on it by going the DIY route or hiring the cheapest freelancer. You want to give your shoppers the best online experience every time they are on your site.

Integrating Payment Gateways and Logistics Solutions

One of the challenges of running an ecommerce business is managing the rate of cart abandonment. This is a situation where a shopper has all of his items in his cart and abandons the purchase just before checkout.

Oftentimes, a shopper might end up abandoning his cart because the payment gateways and logistics solutions aren’t convenient for him. For example, the availability of Cash-on-Delivery (COD) as a payment option.

Review your Audience Profile and survey results to find out which payment gateways and logistics solutions are preferred by your market.

5. Marketing and Sales Strategy

A sound marketing strategy can help boost the sales of your ecommerce site. There are a lot of processes and tactics you can pull out from the ecommerce marketing toolbox.

However, to keep you from getting overwhelmed, here are 6 of the best ways to market your ecommerce site and generate long lines at the checkout counter.

• Implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices to make your website and content easily found by Google.
• Utilize image-driven social media channels like Instagram.
• Open a Facebook store and integrate it with your Shopify ecommerce site.
• Include a live chat feature in your ecommerce store.
• Run a content marketing campaign with blogs, guest writing gigs, a podcast, and YouTube videos.
• Optimize social proof by highlighting positive reviews, 5-star ratings, and favorable testimonials from customers.

Stay active but you don’t have to post every day on social media. You can make a solid impact on consumers by posting 2-3 times a week. Focus more on quality posts.

6. Financial Planning and Budgeting

If you think that running an ecommerce business only entails expenses for your website, Internet service, electricity, a computer, and your products, think again.

An ecommerce business can run up the following expenses:

• Inventory management
• Warehousing
• Business permits and licenses
• Logistics
• Software subscriptions
• Transaction charges
• Marketing
• Payroll

You must also set aside funds to cover contingencies such as refunds and returns, and maintenance of your assets.

If you don’t keep track of your expenses, you might be disappointed when you see the year-end financial statements of your company. For this reason, prioritize financial planning and budgeting activities.

• Project your target revenues and expenses. At the end of each month, compare your projections with the actual figures to find out how your business has been performing.
• Identify your break-even point. It’s not realistic to expect a windfall right away. Every now and then, you’ll experience sluggish sales. By identifying your break-even point, you’ll have a better idea of your tolerance levels if the sales downturn period continues.
• Secure multiple options for funding and investment opportunities. Getting external funds is a great way of stabilizing your cash flow, especially at the startup stage.

Many entrepreneurs will apply for a small business loan but there are other ways to secure funding.

For example, you can bring in angel investors, venture capitalists, or new business partners involved in the business in exchange for funding.

Another option to consider is to keep your 9-to-5 job and bootstrap your ecommerce business.

7. Ecommerce Site Security and Customer Data Protection 

The biggest threat to your ecommerce business is hacking. In 2022, 43% of hacking attempts were made on small businesses and mostly ecommerce websites.

Ecommerce websites are a favorite target of hackers because it’s a valuable source of confidential information that can be quickly monetized. Because of the rise of hacking activities, consumers have become wary of shopping online.

If you’re committed to starting an ecommerce business, be prepared to invest in security and customer data protection protocols that can rival the US Department of Defense.

• Get Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificates for your website. If your ecommerce website doesn’t have SSL certificates, Google will make it “Not Secure”.
• Regularly update security plugins.
• Remove outdated plugins and ones that are hardly used.
• Restrict administration access to your ecommerce website.
• Sign up for website maintenance services that are offered by a reputable agency.

The cost of hacking goes beyond lost sales. Your business brand will be tarnished and customers might file a class-action lawsuit against your company.

Conclusion

Selling products and services on the Internet is a great idea. With more than 2 billion online shoppers every day, you’re assured of a busy market. And running the enterprise from your home sounds like a wonderful proposition.

But like any other business, you’ll surely encounter problems and unforeseen situations.

This is where having an ecommerce business plan comes in.  You’ll be better prepared to handle problems that arise in the course of running a business and remain on track to meet your goals and objectives.

A study by Harvard revealed that startups that created business plans had a 16% greater chance of succeeding than those without business plans.

We made this comprehensive guide to help you create an ecommerce business plan. It’s also a good idea to delegate some of the areas of a business plan to people with the right skill set. For example, you can ask an accountant to make the financial study and budget.

Hire a freelancer writer to do market research on the ecommerce industry. Meanwhile, talk to other entrepreneurs who are doing online selling. Pick their brains, learn from their experiences, and get as much information as possible.

While business success is always uncertain, what is certain is that there’s plenty of room for growth in the ecommerce industry.

The post How to Write an Effective Ecommerce Business Plan appeared first on Your Shopify Dev.

Importance Of The E-commerce Industry

If there was a silver lining to the 2020 pandemic, it was to prove once and for all the importance of e-commerce for business.

The businesses that had set up an e-commerce website were able to survive – even thrive – during the pandemic because consumers had no choice but to shop online for their needs.

The 2020 pandemic shed light on the benefits of e-commerce for consumers and businesses:

1. Protect businesses from uncertainty.
2. Create a new stream of revenue – one that runs 24/7 and 365 days a year.
3. Set up the infrastructure to allow your business to run remote work or telecommuting arrangements.
4. Offer customers an easy and convenient way to buy your products.
5. Provide a platform to expand the product and service menus.
6. An inexpensive way to expand your business.
7. An efficient way to diversify your business.
8. An effective way of generating more customers.
9. Establish another channel for customer service.
10. Create and expand opportunities for niches such as delivery service and personal shopping.

It’s not too late to get into the e-commerce race. To give you a head start, here are 20 of the best e-commerce business ideas you can consider for 2023.

20 Best Ecommerce Business Ideas To Start for 2023

Before we go through our list, let’s discuss 2 important factors that are crucial for the success of your e-commerce business.

Choosing The Right Business Idea

The “right business idea” isn’t always something you’re passionate about. There must be a demand for it otherwise, you’ll have a hard time generating sales. The good news is we’ve saved you research time by creating this list of e-commerce businesses that have ready markets and consistent demand.

An Ecommerce Website

To run an online business, you need to invest in an e-commerce website. Having social media business pages isn’t enough. An e-commerce website gives you a platform on the Internet to run your business.

From promoting your brand to describing your products to closing a transaction and scheduling deliveries – everything can be done from an e-commerce website. And when it comes to setting up a top-performing website, your best choice for an e-commerce platform is Shopify.

You can get started on your e-commerce website by contacting a Shopify developer in the Philippines.

Now, let’s find out which e-commerce business idea is for you.

1. Online Clothing Store

While working arrangements have changed, one thing has remained the same. People still love shopping for clothes and going online has made the experience easier and more convenient for them.

What are the most popular fashion items bought online?

• Athleisure Wear
• Cargo Pants
• Mini-Dresses
• Business Casual Wear
• Street Wear

Shopping online gives consumers more brands and styles to choose from and is comparatively cheaper than store-bought ones. The drawback is the buyer can’t fit them. Be sure to have an exchange policy available for your customers.

2. Beauty and Personal Care Products

When work and life get stressful, one of the things people do is pamper themselves. If you can’t go to a spa or beauty, treat yourself to a makeover at home.

What are the most popular beauty and personal care products bought online?

• Hair Oils
• Skin Moisturizer
• Face Ice Roller
• Makeup
• Body Wash

The online marketplace will give you a wide range of brands to choose from both imported and local.

3. Furniture and Home Decor

The saying “never bring work at home” no longer applies because in this day and age of remote work, the office is located in the home.

Many homeowners who have adopted the work-from-home lifestyle have renovated rooms and small spaces into places where they can conduct business.

What are the most popular furniture and home decor items bought online?

• Office Tables
• Ergonomic Office Chairs
• Book Shelves
• Rocking Chair
• Outdoor Tent

The lockdown has also made people realize that a home can be an office and a recreation facility as well.

4. Sports and Fitness Equipment

Sales of home gym equipment doubled during the pandemic and have created a niche in the health and fitness industry that will continue to grow in the next few years.

It’s estimated that sales of home sports and fitness equipment will grow by 75% from 2020 to 2026.

What are the most popular sports and fitness equipment bought online?

• Treadmill
• Resistance Bands
• Barbells and Dumbbells
• Squat Rack
• Yoga Mat

Even with commercial gyms open, more people prefer to work out at home because it’s more convenient and they can save more money.

5. Health Supplements and Vitamins

With sales of personal healthcare products and home gym equipment soaring as a consequence of the pandemic, it’s not surprising that health supplements and vitamins have become a growing niche in the e-commerce market.

What are the most popular health supplements and vitamins bought online?

• Multivitamins
• Vitamins C and D
• Whey Protein Powder
• Ashwagandha Supplements
• Matcha and Other Herbal Teas

Although it’s important to carry affordable supplements and vitamins, consumers don’t mind spending a  bit more for reputable brands.

6. Pet Supplies

Pets are considered members of the family. But the pandemic created a shift in consumer behavior. Pet owners want to make sure their favorite 4-legged friend’s needs are covered in case of another lockdown.

What are the most popular pet supply products bought online?

• Pet Food
• Pet Carriers
• Cat Bed
• Kitty Litter
• Slow Feeder Bowls

The Asia-Pacific region showed the highest growth in pet supply sales at 9.3% followed by Latin America (5.9%), Middle East and Africa (5%), Eastern Europe (4.2%), and North America (2.3%).

7. Electronic Devices and Accessories

Mobile phones, gaming consoles, and video games don’t need lockdowns to trigger record sales. No longer luxuries, these electronic devices have become part of everyone’s daily ensemble – like a wallet.

What are the most popular electronic devices and accessories bought online?

• Mobile Phones
• Video Games
• Phone Straps
• Power Banks
• Phone Stands

If you plan to sell electronic devices and accessories online, offer products with unique features that will differentiate them from others in the market. Consumers won’t mind spending more money on gadgets that will make them stand out from everyone else in their community.

8. Food and Beverage

Selling food and beverage items online is a wonderful idea because your margins are better. Rent has always been a killer of gross profit and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.

What are the most popular food and beverage products bought online?

• Baked Goodies
• Liquor
• Bottled Food
• Coffee
• Frozen Food Products

Keep in mind that if you plan to sell liquor online, you must first secure a “packaged liquor license”.

9. Handmade and Vintage Items

Are you gifted with the skill to make beautiful items from scratch? Do you have a wonderful collection of keepsakes from the past? You can have a fun and financially-rewarding career selling these items online.

What are the most popular handmade and vintage items bought online?

• Bags
• Footwear
• Soap
• Vintage Shirts
• Vinyl Records

The best part about selling handmade and vintage items is that you can price them at a premium. Handmade products are unique and vintage items are rare finds.

10. Art and Craft Supplies

Art and craft can both be a relaxing activity or a potential business. People can surprise you with their hidden talents. All they need is to get their hands on top-quality art and craft supplies.

What are the most popular art and craft supplies bought online?

• Stationary Packs
• Tagua Seeds
• Recycled Sari Strings
• Crayola Paint
• Jewelry Making Kits

Art and craft supplies are comparatively inexpensive. You can get generous volume discount deals from a reputable supplier so you can improve your profit margin.

11. Children’s Toys and Games

As if the market needed it. Online sales of Children’s Toys and Games were already growing by 39% before the pandemic. Like the vaccine, the pandemic gave the industry a shot in the arm as online sales of toys and games exceeded targets by 16%.

What are the most popular Children’s Toys and Games bought online?

• Action Figures
• Dolls
• LEGO sets
• Play-Doh
• Pokemon Cards

Now that you don’t have to worry about rent and other overhead costs, get high-quality toys and games for your eCommerce business. You can still enjoy good margins even if your toys and games are priced competitively.

12. Books and Learning Resources

You might be surprised to learn that people still enjoy reading paperbacks and novels even though most of the time they have a mobile device in their hands.

What are the most popular books and learning resources bought online?

• Paperbacks
• Graphic Novels
• Harry Potter Series
• Classic Literature
• The Bible

Books and learning resources remain popular because reading is part of our daily habits. Nothing beats the experience of reading a paperback – the smell of paper and the feel of a good book in our hands!

13. Gardening and Outdoor Living Products

You don’t need to have a green thumb to enjoy gardening. Growing things from nature can be a relaxing activity for anyone. People have learned to spend more time in the great outdoors to breathe in the fresh air and admire the beauty of Mother Earth.

What are the most popular gardening and outdoor living products bought online?

• Plant Containers
• Germination Kit
• Hedge and Grass Shears
• Camping Grills
• Outdoor Furniture

Even those who live in condominiums and apartments get into gardening. They can grow plants on the window sill. Some have balconies where they can grow miniature plants like bonsai and succulents.

14. Automotive Parts and Accessories

Cars are quite expensive. Unlike other assets, cars depreciate very fast. The moment you drive your new car from the showroom, it’s already depreciating! So people love to take care of their cars and make sure they’re always in road-worthy condition.

What are the most popular automotive parts and accessories bought online?

• Car Charger
• Car DVR
• Jumpstarter
• Bluetooth Car Kit
• Navigation Systems

Since you’re in the business of selling automotive parts and accessories online, you might want to consider offering mobile car repair services as well.

15. Office Supplies and Stationery

Office supplies and stationery at a time when business processes have migrated online? Yes, there’s still strong demand for office supplies and stationery because more people are working from home.

What are the most popular office supplies and stationery products bought online?

• Bond Paper
• Envelopes and Folders
• Whiteboard
• Ballpens
• Whiteboard Markers

As remote workers or work-from-home entrepreneurs, we still need office supplies and stationery to organize our work, print documents as hard copies, and seal important communication.

16. Jewelry and Fashion Accessories

Making handmade jewelry and fashion accessories is a good e-commerce business idea because it doesn’t cost much to create and has steady demand. You can price them competitively and still earn a solid income.

What are the most popular types of jewelry and fashion accessories bought online?

• Rings
• Earrings
• Necklaces
• Bracelets
• Vintage Brooch

Another great thing about jewelry and fashion accessories as an e-commerce venture is that you don’t have to worry about wastage and spoilage. You just have to make sure your items are stored properly.

17. Music and Entertainment

The sales of music and entertainment products skyrocketed during the pandemic and show no signs of slowing down. With malls closed, people found a way to entertain themselves with musical instruments and gaming equipment.

What are the most popular music and entertainment products bought online?

• Guitars
• Turntable Player
• iPad
• Classic Vinyl Records
• Gaming Consoles

Storage will be your number one concern if you decide to sell music and entertainment products online. Make sure there’s enough air circulation in the storage areas to prevent the growth of molds.

18. Travel and Tourism

Now that countries have opened up their borders, people are starting to mark dates on their calendars for the next vacation. There are quite a few niches you might want to consider in the travel and tourism market.

What are the best travel and tourism business ideas you can run online?

• Travel Agency
• Vacation Rental Booking Service
• Air BnB
• Tourist Information Guide
• Online Travel Discussion Forum

Everything on the list is self-explanatory but for an online travel discussion forum, think of TripAdvisor. You can set up a website that allows users to give reviews and rate popular destinations for tourists.

19. Subscription Box Services

Do you frequently have customers asking you when you’ll restock your products? If so, coming up with a subscription box services business is a good e-commerce idea.

What are the most popular subscription box services that are availed online?

• Beauty Products
• Health and Fitness Products
• Wine
• Toys
• Books

When it comes to this type of online business, even the packaging or the box itself is important. Create a box that best represents the value and quality of the products you’re selling.

20. Customized Products and Services

If you’re constantly in creative mode, then offer customized products or services online.

What are the most commonly customized products and services offered online?

• Giveaways
• Shoes
• Clothes
• Personal Fitness Training
• Digital Marketing

The key to running a successful e-commerce business selling customized products and services is to have a compelling UVP – Unique Value Proposition. Consumers must easily see why your business is different from the competition.

Turn Your eCommerce Business Ideas into Reality

It might seem like things are back to normal – and maybe they are. However, what remains certain is that the Internet has opened a sea of opportunities for you to start an e-commerce business.

And as we mentioned earlier… it’s not too late!

Go over our list of 20 e-commerce business ideas and pick out the ones that excite you. Then, conduct market studies to find out which idea is the most feasible. Talk to an accountant and run the numbers to come up with a budget and identify your profit targets as well as exit strategies.

Remember that to run a successful e-commerce business, you must invest in an e-commerce website. Make sure you earmarked funding for a Shopify developer in the budget.

The great thing about having an e-commerce business is that you can run it while still holding your regular 9-to-5 job. With hard work, persistence, and patience, the e-commerce business might become your full-time career.

The post 20 Best Ecommerce Business Ideas To Start for 2023 appeared first on Your Shopify Dev.

Your to-do list might include transacting with a bank, shopping for groceries, collaborating with your team, meeting with prospective clients, and giving your parents some love.

It used to be the stuff of science fiction but thanks to eCommerce, all of these activities can be conducted over a desktop computer or your mobile phone.

Welcome to the world of eCommerce.

What Is E-commerce?

You’d be forgiven to think that “to shop online” is the definition of eCommerce. After all, 27% of the global population prefers to shop online.

But eCommerce caters to more than just online sellers of products. You can pay for professional services, sell merchandise and assets, and carry out transactions with financial institutions online.

So what is eCommerce?

ECommerce is an Internet-based platform that allows companies and individuals to facilitate the buying and selling of goods and services.

A Brief History Of eCommerce

ECommerce has its origins as far back as the 1960s when companies used a platform called the Electronic Data Interchange to transmit documents. However, the first commercial transaction occurred in 1994 when a CD was sold on a website called NetMarket.

Innovations in digital technology helped the Internet become accessible to more countries.

In 1995, only 16 million people, or 0.4% of the global population had access to the Internet. 10 years later, 888 million people, or 12.7% of the global population had Internet access.

Today, there are 5.16 billion people on the Internet every day. That’s 66% of the world’s population! Likewise, there’s a positive correlation between the growth of the Internet and the growth of eCommerce.

In nearly a decade, the eCommerce global industry has grown from US$1.3 trillion in 2014 to US$5.7 trillion in 2022. It’s expected to earn US$6.23 trillion in 2023 and US$8.15 trillion in 2026.

The 2020 Pandemic: The Booster Shot To eCommerce

One of the most significant jump-off points in the history of eCommerce was in 2020 – the year of the pandemic.

With people confined to their homes because of the enforced lockdowns, eCommerce websites became the go-to destination sites for consumers looking for food, medicines, exercise equipment, and groceries.

COVID-19 transformed work and life as we knew it. Consumers migrated online out of necessity. They discovered how easy and convenient it was to transact with eCommerce businesses.

People preferred to work from home. Employees requested telecommuting assignments. Companies had a hard time finding warm bodies to occupy workstations in their offices, an event called “The Great Resignation”.

All areas of the buying process were covered – product selection, customer service, payment, checkout, and delivery – from the comforts of their respective homes.

No traffic. No need for parking. No hour-long queues. No fear of getting infected.

So while global economies opened for business, consumers continued to patronize eCommerce businesses. The pandemic led to a 3% surge in the growth of eCommerce – and based on its current numbers and the aftermath, there’s no way to go but up.

6 Types Of ECommerce

Since you’ve gotten this far, you might already be thinking of what kind of eCommerce business to start. You might be surprised to know that there are 6 types of eCommerce businesses.

1. Business-to-Business (B2B)

Business-to-Business (B2B) is a type of eCommerce whereby the transaction is between 2 businesses.

The seller is a business that manufactures products or provides professional services and the buyer is another business that uses the products as raw materials, components of finished goods, or for resale while the professional services are acquired to provide specialized technical skills.

Examples of a B2B eCommerce would be a business that imports meat for local food refineries or a textile manufacturer that offers its products to department stores that have their line of fashion wear.

2. Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

When people hear the word “eCommerce”, the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) business model is what they have in mind. The online transaction in a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) eCommerce is between the retailer and the individual consumer.

The seller is a retailer or reseller of products and directly sells them to an interested customer. There’s no middleman involved as the transaction is carried out between the buyer and the seller on the eCommerce website.

For example, a reseller of pest control and home care products could have a Shopify developer in the Philippines set up an eCommerce website to showcase his line of insecticide sprays, cockroach bait traps, and cleaning supplies.

The reseller can promote his eCommerce website directly to potential end-users such as homeowners, office workers, healthcare workers, and students.

3. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

If you’ve transacted in Facebook Marketplace, then you’re already familiar with Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) eCommerce.

With the C2C business model, the online transaction is between 2 consumers but it’s carried out on a third-party platform. In this eCommerce type, the C2C website functions as the intermediary or marketplace that connects the buyer to the seller.

C2C platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Amazon, and eBay offer the advantage of having large communities of prospective buyers to these sellers. There are also safeguards and policies in place that protects each party from fraudulent transactions.

4. Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

The Consumer-to-Business (C2B) model is a type of eCommerce whereby the consumer offers products or services to companies that may have use for them in their line of business. A good example is Shutterstock.

This C2B eCommerce site gives talented photographers a platform to showcase their amazing work. Businesses that need captivating images for their websites or marketing materials can go to Shutterstock and negotiate for the images with the photographer.

Another example of C2B eCommerce is freelancer websites such as UpWork, Toptal, and People Per Hour.

Companies that want to outsource specific tasks can post the job description and project cost on these websites. Freelancers who are interested in the job can submit bids to the company.

5. Business-to-Administration (B2A)

If you have access to products and services that can be useful to the government, you might want to consider starting a Business-to-Administration (B2A) eCommerce website.

For example, if your company designs and develops software programs that can be used by a government agency to automate its processes, a B2A website designed by a Shopify developer in the Philippines can get you started.

Your B2A website can have separate web pages for programs that handle different organizational functions such as accounting, hiring and recruitment, and document processing.

6. Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)

If you have the expertise to create an online-based service that helps the public complete payments to government agencies in a fast, effective, and convenient manner, then you should put up a Consumer-to-Administration (C2A) eCommerce website.

Good examples are C2A eCommerce websites that facilitate payments for taxes, license renewals, and business registration.

The Main Characteristics Of eCommerce

You might be asking yourself, “Does eCommerce mean the same thing as eBusiness?”

These terms are commonly interchanged by people who think they’re the same thing. There are similarities but eCommerce and eBusiness are 2 different things.

An eBusiness is a business that runs most, if not all, of its processes online. These types of businesses have systems and workflows that run through a network of apps and software programs some of which are proprietary.

ECommerce can be considered a subset of eBusiness because it is a business. However, what differentiates eCommerce from eBusiness are the following characteristics:

1. Online Transactions

Regardless of the type of eCommerce business you choose, the transactions are completed online.

You can run the transaction through your eCommerce website or a third-party eCommerce website.

2. Use of Digital Devices

Because the transactions are coursed through the Internet, you need to use a digital device to do eCommerce.

The best and most reputable eCommerce platforms are mobile responsive and can accommodate laptops, notebooks, tablets, and mobile phones.

3. Electronic Payment Systems

With an eCommerce business, the customer goes through the entire buying process.

• Product selection
• Placing products in a virtual shopping cart
• Lining up the shopping cart at the checkout counter
• Paying for the products via an electronic payment system

eCommerce websites offer multiple payment systems including debit cards, credit cards, bank transfers, and a payment processing app like Paypal.

4. Instant Access to Information and Products

An eCommerce website is like a virtual shopping mall. Everything that you need to learn about the product can be found on a specific page on the website.

In addition to the ePortal and “Products” page, some eCommerce websites have blogs that share information on the benefits of these types of products and the best ways to use them.

The website is an important digital asset for an eCommerce business to succeed. If you decide on starting either a B2B, a B2C, or a B2A eCommerce business, make sure you invest in a website that has the following qualities:

• Mobile responsive
• Fast download speed
• Optimized for search engines
• Highly navigable web pages
• Beautiful design that’s not distracting

You must also incorporate features that make it more convenient for customers to ask questions and relay concerns. These features include chat support and contact forms.

Examples Of E-commerce

To inspire you, we’ve listed 4 popular eCommerce sites with a brief history of how they started and how they achieved success.

1. Amazon

Every billionaire had to start somewhere and Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, had his from his garage. Bezos left his job as the Vice-President of a Wall Street firm to pursue his entrepreneurial dream of starting an Internet-based business.

Amazon was originally an online seller of books. After learning more about the possibilities on the Internet, Bezos expanded Amazon’s offerings to 20 items that included compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, and videos.

Initially, Amazon was only accessible in the US. Limited accessibility made it possible for Bezos to assure customers of the availability of stocks. Bezos grew Amazon at a pace that could be accommodated by logistics because he wanted customers to be happy with their service.

Today, Amazon is valued at US$1.01 trillion and founder Jeff Bezos’ net worth is estimated at US$171 billion.

2. Etsy

Etsy started as iospace and was founded by Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire, and Haim Schoppik in 2005.

Similar to Jeff Bezos and Amazon, Etsy started by selling a few items – handmade jewelry and vintage items – to make sure they can handle the demand. As sales improved, Etsy added new categories such as craft supplies, bags, clothing, home decor, toys, and art pieces.

The idea behind Etsy was to provide online shoppers the feel and experience of shopping at a community marketplace or state fair. The concept carried over to sellers who were given virtual storefronts on the site to showcase their merchandise.

Etsy is worth US$17.29 billion. In 2021, Etsy generated an income of US$2.33 billion.

3. Lazada

Maximilian Bittner was inspired by Jeff Bezos and wanted to create an eCommerce platform that would be the equivalent of Amazon in Southeast Asia. For Bittner, the timing was perfect because Amazon wasn’t open to SEA and the market for online shopping was still growing in the region.

Bittner founded Lazada in 2012 and set up the company’s principal office in Singapore. Lazada had a difficult startup phase because Asians still preferred to do their shopping at brick-and-mortar malls.

To get more people to shop online, Lazada focused on its convenience aspect. The eCommerce site introduced more payment methods, accepted COD payments, and improved the delivery system.

Lazada presently services the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In 2021, Lazada earned US$21 billion in sales.

4. Shopee

Shopee was founded by Forrest Li in 2015. Unlike Amazon, Etsy, and Lazada, Li had experience running a technology company, Sea Limited.

Thus, when Shopee was launched, the site was promoted as a mobile-friendly, social-first virtual marketplace where users can buy and sell merchandise. Shopee already had built-in logistical and payment support systems.

Li wanted Shopee to compete against the eCommerce market leaders in Asia namely Coupang, Lazada, AliExpress, and Tokopedia. As its unique proposition, Shopee introduced Shopee Guarantee.

Shopee Guarantee is an escrow service that protected buyers by withholding payments to sellers until the merchandise was received.

To further improve its delivery service, Shopee has partnered with more than 70 courier service providers including Ninja Van, Pos Malaysia, Pos Indonesia, Delhivery, and ECom Express.

Conclusion

Even if science found a solution to end the coronavirus for good, consumers have already embraced the eCommerce lifestyle. In Asia where eCommerce had sluggish growth in the second decade of the new millennium, the market has continued on an uptrend since 2017.

There was a slight dip in 2022 but that was because of the Ukraine-Russia war. But eCommerce in Asia is expected to resume its growth trajectory in 2023 as the industry is expected to earn US$2.138 billion.

The good news is that it’s not too late to join the race. ECommerce remains a viable business model but you have to learn from the lessons of the market leaders.

These lessons include:

• Start small; sell a product you’re familiar with.
• Scale according to your capacity to meet demand with supply.
• Prioritize customer experience.
• Streamline expenses.
• Invest in a well-designed, mobile-responsive, optimized, and top-performing eCommerce website.

Despite its rising popularity, success in running an eCommerce business isn’t guaranteed. You have to put in time, money, and effort to grow your eCommerce platform.

With persistence, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to giving customers a fun and memorable shopping experience, your eCommerce business will become a success.

The post What is Ecommerce? Definition, Types and Examples appeared first on Your Shopify Dev.