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Think about this. You are planning to engage in eCommerce”, to take your business online. So, you need to
learn a new set of business rules, a new way of doing things, because
online business is “different”, right?
Well, actually, no, not really. You still have a product or service to
sell. You still have a store with a shop “window” (your
website) and you still need the customers to visit your store, in order
to buy whatever it is that you are selling.
The only major difference is that (continuing the analogy) your local
store window can only be seen by a small group of people, whereas your
online business can be seen by the whole world.
By engaging in
eCommerce, you can take your business “global”.
For many businesses, this is truly an advantage, representing a
wonderful opportunity. But that is not the case for everyone,
particularly for companies who sell a physical , tangible product. When
planning to go online, therefore, you should spend some time thinking
about your product and exactly who your target market is, because this
will be a crucial factor in determining whether your venture is a
success or a failure.
What it is that you plan to market on your eCommerce enabled website,
and who will want to buy it? Some products will, by their very nature,
not be totally suited to a world wide market. Pork based food products
for example, will not be popular in Muslim countries, nor will wine,
whisky or beer. Sales of open toed sandals may be disappointing in
Iceland, Greenland and the frozen polar North.
Secondly, give very careful thought about how you will get your product
to the customer. For example, if you were to make laser toner
cartridges in Asia (as one of my client companies does) there is
absolutely no sense in trying to sell one or two cartridges at a time
to a customer in the USA, because of the cost of delivery.
So, if your product is bulky or heavy, selling outside your locale may
not be practical.
Furthermore, you need to consider that, whilst most countries use the
same Standard International Trade Classification (S.I.T.C) codes for
deciding on how much import duty to levy on a particular product, the
actual duty to be paid varies from country to country, and such
variations can (and will) lead to disputes.
Again, using my client as
an example, they sold a consignment of toner cartridges to a customer
in Finland, which got held up in Customs for several weeks on arrival
in Helsinki, because of a dispute over the Import Duties to be paid.
Likewise, if you plan on selling a service online, can that service be
provided outside your local area in such a way that you still make
money? Do you need to have one of your own staff actually work with the
customer (in which case, you need to stay local) or can the work be
easily subcontracted on a global basis? Would it be easy to find such a
local subcontractor capable of supplying your advertised service in
such a way that both you and the customer are happy?
How much would
such a subcontractor cost?
Unless you can get positive answers to all of these questions, then,
again, it may pay you to keep your services local, rather than
overreaching, in order to become a global player.
The simple truth is that, while the global nature of the internet
allows you to sell to the whole world, it is the nature of your product
or service that will ultimately decide whether this is practical for
your potential customers, and profitable for you, or not.
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Handy Guides: eCommerce
Gal Recommends...
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Here are
products and guides I personally recommend for building your online
business. There isn't a guide or tool recommended on my site that I
haven't personally used and found to be helpful. My philosophy
is to bring quality, affordability and value to as many
people as possible.
Check out my latest product recommendations.
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