Posted by Dan Martin on Fri, 20/08/2010 - 15:15
Ecommerce is no longer hot news, and with nearly 10% of retail sales happening across the web, most of us are pretty familiar with the subject. It was only a few years ago that opening up online was a great way to make your fortune, as with the right idea you faced little competition in a growing market. Nowadays it’s more difficult.
However, two things remain. Ecommerce is still growing by double digit percentages while other markets are at best static, and starting up online is still hugely more cost effective than opening a conventional shop.
So if ecommerce remains an attractive place to start or expand your business, what are the keys to success?
The current big opportunity comes from the new area of social networking revolving around Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. If you start a straight ecommerce store, you’ve got to do things much better than the competition. If you use social networking for marketing, you have the opportunity to jump ahead of the competition.
So here are my tips:
- If you are a start up, focus on a niche where you can have good stock availability, a good range and a lot of expertise. You can’t compete with Argos across their range – but maybe you can do BBQs better than them.
- Understand the twists of search engine optimisation, email marketing and advertising on Google. Make sure you measure exactly what you do, and only continue with what makes money. Alternatively focus on social networking.
- Social networking is growing like topsy. Unfortunately that doesn’t automatically mean that you can make money. You have to immerse yourself in this area to try and identify a way to make a profit from social media. It takes a special person to unlock the keys to success in a totally new field. Do you have that talent?
Is there still a chance to make your fortune in ecommerce? Yes, but it has become much harder. You either need to apply traditional business disciplines fantastically well or be one of the few first people that learn how to profit from social networking. Fail to do either of these and you will probably add to the statistics on business failure.
New developments are exciting because they change the business landscape and provide a chance for newcomers. There are still great opportunities in ecommerce, so happy hunting.
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