By 2021, e-commerce sales will reach nearly $5 trillion. It’s a huge market but you don’t need to spend a fortune to break into it.
Let’s look at 5 money-saving tips for starting an eCommerce store on a shoestring budget.
1. Sell the Right Products
The products you sell are the most important piece of the puzzle. If you’re selling something that nobody wants to buy, it won’t matter how many visitors your store gets or how great your prices are – you’re not going to make any money.
Choose products with proven demand that you can buy at wholesale. Or even better, that the manufacturer will drop ship for you.
2. Choose a Platform for Your Ecommerce Store
Once you know what you’re going to sell, you need to decide how you’re going to sell it. Are you going to sell it through Amazon or eBay? Will you set up a Shopify eCommerce store?
Or will you install eCommerce software on your own website and self-host your store?
3. What Type of Payments Will You Accept?
Once you’ve got your store set up and your products ready to sell, you need a way to accept payment from your customers. PayPal is one of the easiest payment systems to get started with and it can process payments from around the world.
Or take it a step further and set up a Stripe or Square payment account so you can accept credit cards. Once your online eCommerce store gets some traction, you can look at setting up a merchant account, which typically has lower fees than the other options.
4. Buy Targeted Traffic
“Build it and they will come” doesn’t work on the internet. There are millions of eCommerce stores on the web and when you’re getting started, people aren’t going to magically find yours in the mix without some direction.
Buy targeted ads on Facebook Ads and Google Ads to get traffic to your new store. Both platforms let you target specific groups of people with particular interests. You can set up your ads so only the people who are most likely to buy will see them.
These types of ads won’t cost you much and can start bringing in sales and revenue almost immediately.
5. Automate Your Follow-Up Process
A big part of a successful eCommerce store is repeat business so you need a follow-up system to keep in touch with your customers. Set up an email autoresponder account with a service like ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign and add your customers to your list.
You can send them “stick” emails to help them get the most out of their purchase as well as special offers and promotions for new products in your store.
Get Started on a Shoestring Budget and Grow from There
The key to running a successful eCommerce store on a budget is to start small and expand as you start generating more revenue. Don’t jump in with both feet and try to corner the market from day one.
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