4 Things to Consider When Starting a Sustainable eCommerce Business
You’ve probably heard that you can make a ton of money by running an eCommerce business. But the one thing most people don’t talk about is the tons of failed eCom businesses in the marketplace.
Research shows that 80-90 percent of all eCommerce businesses fail, usually within 90 days of launch. That means only 10-20 percent enjoy any success. And most of the businesses that fail do so because of many reasons. If you want to improve your odds of success in eCommerce, there are things that you must consider before launching the business. Let’s take a look at them.
Product Source
Before you start an eCommerce store, you need to first ascertain that you’ll have a dedicated product source. This can be a manufacturer, supplier, or you can even manufacture the product yourself.
Most successful eCom store owners just source the bulk of their products from China, sign an agreement with the supplier, and receive steady shipments. This is how they’re able to sustain their inventory and make sure that they never run out of product.
So, after choosing a product, make sure that there’s a reliable supplier who can consistently maintain the quality you want and can meet your order volume.
Ensure There’s Adequate Demand
This is pretty obvious, but it bears repeating. ECommerce should be about your passions. It should be about demand first and foremost. For example just because you like your machinist tool chest and think it’s cool doesn’t mean that other people like theirs.
They may just be indifferent. The same applies to model trains. You can love them and talk about them all day. But not everyone does. In fact, the percentage of people who like model trains is simply not enough to sustain or grow an eCommerce business.
However, there are few instances where product demand lines up with passions. When this happens, you can easily hit a home run in your eCom business.
Optimize Your Product Delivery Process
How long will it take for customers to get their products if they order from you? Remember, we live in a world where Amazon is currently doing same or next-day deliveries.
And while many customers will understand that you’re not Amazon or Walmart, they’ll expect a relatively fast delivery process nonetheless. So, make sure you have your order fulfillment and delivery process thoroughly lined up so there are no delays when the orders start flooding in.
Secure Adequate Manpower
One of the biggest complaints that eCommerce business founders have is not having enough manpower particularly during the seasonal rush. As a result, they often have to work overtime and with little sleep to get orders out the door to customers.
Unfortunately, this often leads to order mix-ups with customers receiving products they didn’t order. And when customers are unsatisfied, they tend to spread the word about their negative experiences. This is why you must make sure that you have enough manpower to fulfill customer demands at all times.
In fact, some eCommerce operations have a temp staff roster –sort of like Amazon- that they call on when the order volume skyrockets. If you have to hire temporary staff, do so.
