Online Merchants – 1™
CONSUMER JUSTICE CONCORD
Your Online Store
Because the global Covid situation has so skewed the employment market, many people have seen their household incomes destroyed as a result.
People are seeking out relief so they can add supplemental income to their household. These folks can and will consider just about anything and everything to gain some measure of relief. So, for some of those folks wanting help, they jump into becoming an online merchant! Many people understand just how big and powerful online shopping is. What that in turn has done, has spawned many new merchants to jump into the market, trying their hand at offering their own brand of online store.
Easy and Not so Easy
A new website domain can be registered for as little as just $10. You can then seek out an online service to help you erect a simple online store. So, you can open a simple store and first build that online store for a few hundred dollars.
Once reality sets in however, you will discover that becoming an online merchant will mean facing many more hills & valleys throughout the process. Don't start counting your money just yet.
The list of challenges that a newbie will face in becoming a new online merchant includes:
- Determining which product or service to sell or market through the site”. There are already so many things already available online. Having something fresh, unique, or special, something which no one else happens to offer may not be as easy as it sounds. It is not. After the fact of finding something special or unique to sell, what will the price be and the the joy of INVENTORY Are you ready for that?
- Then the new merchant then has to secure a payment platform for your site. Who is going to process your payments? Will you be offering competitive prices? How is that all going to work, as you move forward?
- Are you personally or your family member or a friend going to deal with the logistics of shipping or product fulfillment, once a sale is made? Who is going to be dealing with that?
- How are you going to promote the goods or services you look to offer? You may have started the website easily at the beginning, but is that initial site going to bring you sales? Or even lots of them?
- Are you going to take the time to become Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest proficient to get your site promoted on social media?
- Or are you going to deploy outside advertising or social media advertising to get some attention in the vast world of online shopping? (READ: expensive)
- Are you going to contract somebody to get involved in Search Engine Optimization, so that the online world can even find you? You may come to offering something very special or even unique, but how are people going to come to find you in the first place, if no one knows you even exist?
- Are you or are your family members going to dedicate the time and attention which this new online store is going to require? Are you going to do that or are you going to bring on somebody who will take the time and energy to promote and move your online store forward?
The 'sticker-shock which you'll come to discover is that you have to spend a lot of money then you may have first anticipated. Things like on website development, social media & Search Engine Optimization contractors, graphics and other development people. What appears to have appeared easy in the beginning soon turns into a nightmare. Especially, if you want to look good, look professional and make sales.
Sales & Promotion
If you expect to see that your online store makes sales, you must come to the realization that how and where you come to promote your store will make all the difference in the world. How are you going to promote the goods or services you look to offer? You may have started the website easily at the beginning, but is that initial site is not going to bring you sales all by itself? Or even lots of them?
Are you going to deploy outside advertising or social media advertising to get some attention in the vast world of online shopping? (READ: expensive) Are you going to take the time to become Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest proficient to get your site promoted on social media? What are you going to do, to get your site noticed or appreciated?
Being successful in the online shopping world takes time and effort and even money. We as Consumer Justice Concord are bringing forward an exciting new program, ONLINE MERCHANT - 1™ to help all online merchants be more successful. It is a program which will you in some important ways. More ways that you will come to discover beyond that which is discussed here. Our goal is to expand the numbers of successful online merchants and to expand the industry world-wide. Just know that if you are an online merchant, of any size, we can help you.