In 2020, when COVID-19 was raging, people have achieved a lifestyle of doing most of their work and study at home. With the surge in demand, a large number of e-commerce entrepreneurs have poured in. Even in 2021, many people will consider carrying out e-commerce and avoid commuting to a dangerous work environment. Are there you in these people?
When considering entering a new working environment and adapting to a totally different work, you need to face a variety of choices. Entering the e-commerce industry, the first thing you will choose is the product you sell and which e-commerce platform to enter. Some people will first determine the nature of your product and then choose a more suitable platform. What we are going to say today is, assuming you only have an entrepreneurial idea, but there is no product and platform choice direction, how do you determine the first step?
Commodity nature
First of all, let us see the nature of your product. Is your product a small batch of handicrafts produced by your interest or a large batch of wholesale products? If you are the first one, then you can first consider Shopify or Etsy. Books, clothing, paintings, or art stickers designed by yourself will be more popular on these platforms, especially Etsy, everyone is a small business Lord, you will do weaving, painting, pattern design, home design, and so on at home. If you happen to be this type of person, then you will find your own world in Etsy, like your grandma's basement.
It’s worth noting that neither of these two platforms is very difficult to settle in, and the operation will make you feel easy to get started. If you choose Shopify, it does not require you to spend too much effort to create a website, you just need to be in it. You can start your business by choosing a theme from the multiple options listed, and a series of extended services in line with your business. But you have to know that the beginning of any new thing will not be easy. The traffic that Shopify gives sellers is very limited, which means that you need to be a very social person to make your website popular.
On the contrary, let us see if your inventory is large, you are planning to dropship a brand's products, or contact the factory for direct sales, then the platforms you can choose are Alixpress and Amazon. Amazon’s requirements for items and sellers are relatively high, and shipping costs are issues that you should consider. If you are not prepared for your meticulous process planning, from preparing high-quality products to logistics and shipping decisions, you will soon be eliminated on this world-class e-commerce platform. However, if you have good enough external conditions and economic foundation, you can enjoy the great traffic and opportunities on Amazon.
Compared with Amazon, Alixpress adapts to different products. It is the third-largest online English shopping platform in the world. The traffic volume of this platform is also large. Even if the products are mixed, the low price strategy makes AliExpress gradually decreasing. I have to say that AliExpress is more suitable for learning entrepreneurs. It will lay the foundation for you when you just start your business, so that you may have considerable profits in the early stage.
Target user groups
Who are your users? In which regions/countries will you start your sales? This is the second question you must consider. Some products are divided into male and female audience groups, and there are also national groups. Etsy's buyers are mostly women, and small objects such as maternal and child products, artworks, and home collections are the favorites of women. If your potential customers love electronic products, technology, or smart home furnishing, then this category of products on Amazon is very popular. As long as your products are good enough, they will gradually gain Amazon's favor. Next, focus on regions. Amazon and eBay’s buyers mostly come from the United States; Alixpress has grabbed market share in Russia, Brazil, and South Korea; Lazada’s Southeast Asian buyers are mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Wish, OTTO and eBay also target European groups.
Settlement cost
For many new entrepreneurs, the cost is a very important part. First of all, for some people whose business budgets are not high, Amazon should not be your first choice, because of the high advertising costs, rent, and storage costs, some cumbersome procedures will make you spend more. Lazada and Shopee have relatively low store opening costs, but the industry price competition is also obvious; Wish can be settled by individuals and companies, and the deposit is 2,000 US dollars. Although it will be refunded in the future, it is still a large fee. Opening a store on Etsy is free, and there is no monthly membership fee, but the listing fee is $0.20 per product, the product expires in four months, and the transaction fee is 3.5% of the sales price. In general, Etsy's fees are suitable for sellers with low budget costs.
It is always difficult to open a store. This article is a guide-type article that will give you a general direction for screening. You can start with your product selection, and then comprehensively consider the nature of your product, inventory, customer unit price, user group, store cost, and difficulty of entering. The development of every new business will be accompanied by a lot of sweat, and the nature of each platform also determines the different aspects of the problems you need to consider. But once the decision has started, it will always be closer to your achievement, perhaps the first, the hundredth, or even the ten-thousandth sales.
If you have any doubts, MUNBYN will accompany you at every stage of your business：D
